Week 6 - Sentry's part 2

   Authenticity, trying to make my sentry practical and be a potentially real life object became hard to control. Modeling through iterations and tweaking to final product before its finished. More iterations on paper and working out what would be a good solution to the base issues I was having. And finally, its just a basic bloody sentry gun. Just some of the tings that happened this week for this project.

   Employ ability week. A week where we get a change to work on our skills and progress towards getting a job. Which means, no lessons/lectures for the entire week. More time for this project is what came to mind when I found out we had the week to ourselves. So that's what I did, I've barely left the house this week. Not good for my sanity but worked well for my education as it turns out.

   So what exactly did I do after last week. Well, I carried on from where I left off, as you probably guessed. After finishing my first iteration of silhouettes...

Here they are just in case you forgot.

 ...and took into account what others said about them, I made some more, based on the favorite three designs. The three people liked the most were, Numbers 15, 7 and a joint third between 1 and 13, but as I only wanted the top three silhouettes, I picked 13 over 1 as I liked it better as a design. After that it was a case of working into those designs to create more interesting silhouettes. I only used the same pieces as the original to keep the designs similar. Otherwise what would be the point of the feedback.

Second silhouette iterations.

As with the first iterations, I asked around as to what people thought of my new designs. But sadly not as many people voted or gave feedback. Despite this, I was given a clear winner, with the public voting for 1C 7 times, while others got a maximum of 2 votes each.

Pole results 2

  As the results were so clear, I set to work expanding on my designs and figuring out what was going where, what practical uses I wanted on my sentry, like an easily interchangeable magazine on the rear of the gun to make it easy to reload. The magazine would also be very similar to the drill I have at home, in the way the battery is shaped and how its removed. I also wanted the barrel to have recoil, and expose a hole in it as it retracts, thus allowing the shell of the projectile to be discharged easily. Very similar to the way real guns work. I thought more about the stand as I preferably wanted my design to be pretty portable. After all it is based on a Black and Decker design. It wouldn't make as much sense if it was bolted to the floor, only to be used in one place as it would to be something easily transported. So I thought about the size, shape, how it could be carried, maybe in a box/suitcase, or simply a strap around it. Like a standard assault rifle would have.

Magazine/decal/barrel ideas.

Stand ideas/other notes.

Originally I decided to go with the box/suitcase idea, and have it fold out. This idea I really liked as it could be easily transported secretly, kind of like a hit man would do, and then popped up in seconds ready to shoot down whomever got in its way. Pretty deadly stuff, but then again it is a sentry gun designed for such a job, if you want it too that is.
   But then as I got into the modeling stage I realized I wouldn't be able to make that base within the tri budget, so I went back to the drawing board and decided on a tri pod. Nothing fancy but it would do the job, and be light enough to make the sentry easily maneuverable. Along with not being able to make the base I intended on, I also wanted to add a strap down the side of it, making it seem like its just been placed.

Sentry rises form a box idea. (Final sentry idea)

   A few of my other ideas didn't get put in either, but that was because I went a little overboard with the idea of realism. I saw too many ideas I wanted to incorporate, and it would have looked stupid. Such as the idea of making the side barrel the same way as a single shot bolt action rifle works. You lift the bolt, pull it back to expose the hole in the barrel, you then insert the round and put the bolt back in its original position then your ready to fire. A cracking idea, but why oh why would such a thing exist on a sentry gun? It quickly dawned on me, you wouldn't, and that was that idea out the window. The designs I had in mind and jotted down on a variety of silhouettes are shown below.

Idea generation on silhouettes.

Favorite bits from each.

   After finishing the idea generation over the silhouettes I highlighted each section I liked or thought was remotely interesting, so i could consider it for the final. The sections I chose and collaborated into one final design are shown above with the box stand.
   Next week I plan to work on importing and testing my design in UE4 and working on the textures and colours I'll be using for my final piece.