The Sculptor as a magical tool maker
A sculptor (prototype master) is a person who has the ability to create prototypes and statues of models, industrial product designs and their parts, prototypes, etc. on bronze statues, precious metals and toys.
-From Wikipedia JPN.
“By the time you notice, you have already been taken into the world.”
Sometimes a model toy less than 30 cm attracts us and drags into the world where itself resides.
I’d like to introduce you the 3DCG sculptor, Masato Ohata.
Character figure making process
It has been a long time since character figures as toys have been recognized as collector’s items.
At the production stage, the planner formulates a plan, and a prototype that serves as a template is created. Some are carved by hand (called hand-made prototypes), but now that digital modeling is the mainstream, so, 3DCG modeling is performed using software such as Z-brush, and the digital modeler is in charge of the process.
After that, a mold for mass production is manufactured from silicone rubber based on the prototype by a molder and a caster. When the product is mass-produced with PVC or ABS resin, it is dropped into the metal mold, but in the case of digital modeling, the process is skipped and the metal mold can be cut out directly from the data.
Because the prototype is not colored, a craftsman called a finisher creates a completed sample and a coloring sample that is called “decoration master” (commonly known as “decomas” in Japan.) As the name implies, there is basically only one, and the finish is generally precise.
In the case of mass production, the paint master designs the colors of the mass-produced products. As an aside, there may be color discrepancies between mass productions and a decoration master.
At times like this, the unlucky owner laments, “It’s a decomas scam! “
The above is the flow of character figure making process.
Now, let me tell you the story of the “sculptor.”
The 3DCG Sculptor, Masato Ohata
Most of the time, people come across various things by chance.
I found out about Masato Ohata on the Twitter timeline. My finger suddenly stopped scrolling when pictures of his works flowed up to my screen.
These works of art was clearly speaking something to me, and I tapped the photo to enlarge, and in fact, was drawn in to the world where itself resides.
I got the impression that the idea and world setting put into the prototype are solid, as well as the precision of the finish of the prototype and the depth of painting.
I think it’s a “magical tools” that goes beyond character figures.
This is just like the tools in the popular manga “Jujutsu Kaisen” as a “weapon with the power of a curse.” In a story of “Jujutsu Kaisen”, it is used by those with weak curse and those without curse to confront the strong enemy, and sometimes has great power to reverse the formation.
I wondered how these tools would be made.
Build your own world in the imaginary space
As in the character figure making process, it is necessary to set the world (planning) in order to create something out of nothing.
Depending on how detailed the world can be constructed in the creator’s mind, that is, in the imaginary space, the amount of information brought by the “prototype of the idea” in the step of putting it into the physical dimension changes greatly.
* Kazuma Kamachi calls this world construction as a “calculation” in his remarkable novels “Toaru…” series.
The character figure is the output of the character’s time clipping.
The sculptor clip the characteristic moments of the character in a series of stories and draw them to the physical dimension.
It can be said that it is “the work” of the sculptor to do that.
Select a moment from the changing facial expressions of the character a sculptor envisioned, read the emotions, details of the costume, the balance of gravity, the intention for the next movement, etc., and draw it in a three-dimensional space.
Its concentration is sharp, thoughtful, beautiful and strong.
Perhaps the magical tool is the result of compressed concentration.
Power to overwrite the sense of presence
I think that the power common to masterpieces and statues is “the power to overwrite the sense of presence.” When human beings try to live, they are based on the sense of reality that is there now. Reality is formed based on the environment surrounding oneself and the information emitted by the objects facing each other. And human beings think and judge in a way that is in line with reality.
Powerful beings forcefully overwrite the sense of presence and form their own reality within us.
This should be called “pulled in” phenomenon.
Leaving the reality of the individual, sensitivity and sensations are sometimes greatly slid.
Masato Ohata’s work is small in shape, but it must seem to have a strong overwriting power. (Most of his works are less than 30 cm)
Talent blooms suddenly
Only “one image” attracted me strongly to Masato Ohata.
After that, I learned the details of the world of charactor figures and eventually his career.
Masato Ohata, who was inexperienced and suddenly jumped into the world of charactor figure prototypes and was engaged in digital modeling at a prototype production company.
-2017.07.11 Mame blog / Mame blog: From the figure review of the Mame-BLOG
Jumped into suddenly !!??
For the time being, I think it would be good for Jujutsu College to hire Obatake as a part-time lecturer from next spring.
(Check the meaning of this joke in the animation “Jujutsu Kaisen”!)
😂
Work introduction and some information
■ Masato Ohata Twitter account
https://twitter.com/shiyumaimai
■ Masato Ohata Garage Kit Shop (Sold out 😭)
http://manurunekoshiyumai.stores.jp/
■ Masato Ohata Works ZBrush + Modeling Technique
At the end
I didn’t have a deep knowledge of the world of charactor figures, and as a result of a chance encounter, I came to know Masato Ohata.
I learned that many sculptors are active, including Keiki Fujimoto, who was a senior at the company where Masato Ohata worked.
Also, this time it happened to know a group of works called “Dark Art”, but there are various genres, and I was impressed that it was profound.
All of them are wonderful works, so please take a look at this beautiful world of modeling if you like.
At the very end, I would like to introduce the 3D digital modeling artist Keiki Fujimoto.
https://twitter.com/YOKKI_munchkin
Thank you for reading.
I hope you will continue to meet good works of them.