Concept:
When I first discovered the Hi-Mock, a great urge to try my hand at heavily customizing a kit over came me! The broad frame with little added detail, and the good scale of this guy, made for the ideal candidate to try new techniques!
The end result definitely seems to be hugely inspired by these guys, and admittedly they did terrify me during my first playthrough of Dark Souls. So perhaps this was an attempt by my subconscious to cleanse my brain of them once and for all?
That being said, one theme that I absolutely wanted to play on was a robot who had become twisted and corrupted by an eldritch combination of technology and dark magics. Hopefully the end result does convey this to you readers. And thus, the Hi-golem was born!
Tools and build process:
My first task was to make the entire kit appear to have a rocky surface. To achieve this I applied the same technique that tank modelers use to create a factory finish surface(by thinning out putty with cement and painting the mixture liberally over the entire model).
Next I used Tamiyas 2 part epoxy putty to create raised areas and to fill in details I no longer wanted to appear, next I used a toothpick to create jagged raised edges. The last part of the crysalization process was to cut up the runners into little crystalline shapes and attach them at random to the kit. The crystal areas I wanted to look like terrible growths that were erupting right out of the inner frame of the robot!
Vallejo Model Color paints used:
- Black
- Ivory
- Black Grey
- German Periscope
- Blue Green
- Sky Blue
- Gunmetal grey
For the paint I mixed vallejo light grey primer with their black primer to create a dark grey base, that I felt would set a good rocky shade to the kit. Then basically just dry brushed the entire kit by adding Vallejo model colors Ivory to create a lighter shade for each step.
Backstory:
Suddenly and without warning, proximity warnings began flashing on my display *Caution. Movement detected. Hostile approaching > 3 o’clock*.
‘I looked to my right, attempting to identify the threat my visor had indicated.’
And suddenly there it was, striding forward to block our path. The corrupted form of what was once the gatekeeper of this place. How long had the corruption gone unchecked in here? The cyclopean monstrosity fixed its gaze upon us while hefting a massive hammer.
‘Hostile… forces detected………. In….itiate.. Defence. Protocol!!’
The voice was unexpectedly horrifying, rather than the usual familiar speech synthesis of all other automatons. This voice was… discordant, and sounded as if many human voices were bound together and crying out in agony. No doubt these were the voices of the former inhabitants.
Hearing the audible gasps from my team behind me. I understood that like me, they realised how terrorizing the mission before us was going to become.