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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Aug 9, 2011 19:40:20 GMT
damn what program do you use for those? i failed with inkscape...
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Post by Federico on Aug 9, 2011 21:27:54 GMT
The mk3 especially. It's the combination of the curve on the edge, the ricasso-like first third and the big fuller on the back. It makes the tip of your concept look like an unokubi zukuri, and the fuller reminds me of the false edge on those katanas.
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Post by Anders on Aug 9, 2011 23:57:44 GMT
The Kern does have a bow-tie guard, it's just that the curveing isn't part of that definition. It's rather that it's flat and widens outwards. You know, like a bow-tie.
Though, to be fair, Ichigo did get a normal sword once he developed his bankai - Byakuya even accused him of trying to pass off his normal shikai as a bankai. And once they got to Hueco Mundo, he actually stopped using his shikai altogether.
I just use Photoshop. I scan the drawing in parts which I then piece together in the program. Then I define the outline with the line tool while the image is huge and use layers to color it all, after which I shrink it down to a less absurd size.
Wait, unokubi don't have false edges, do they? Are you perhaps thinking of moroha?
Either way, I honestly don't really see the similarity at all.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 10, 2011 0:22:04 GMT
That he does. That was actually my favorite fight from the series, to be honest, but that's just because I love Senbonzakura. Anyways, constantly using Tensa Zangetsu throughout the Hueco Mundo arc had more to do with the fact that Zangetsu in its shikai form was just too weak to stand up against the Arrancar; speaking of Zangetsu, it's gone through a redesign since Ichigo regained his powers in the last chapter and it's still absurdly huge. Of course, real world physics rarely play into Bleach swords. Like Sogyo no Kotowari; what the hell is the point of the blades on the back and how would you use them?
I also don't see the similarity between any style of katana (except perhaps kiriha-zukuri) and the MK3; unokubi don't have false edges. That's kissaki-moroha-zukuri. Moroha-zukuri is completely double edged. However, with that fuller in the front and the extended ricasso, it's almost entirely fantasy with a European flair.
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jhart06
Member
Slowly coming back from the depths...
Posts: 3,292
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Post by jhart06 on Aug 10, 2011 1:45:20 GMT
As a major Wheel of time fan, the Nobilis and Hawkwing are AMAZING! You do great work!
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Post by Anders on Aug 11, 2011 16:37:40 GMT
Okay, I'm going to nerd out for serious now. Anyone not interested in Bleach can just skip the following text:
Actually, Tensa Zangetsu was just about the worst bankai in the entire series, in terms of usefullness. It was impressive when he used it the first time, but the only thing it did was boosting his speed up to being comparable to the faster captains. That's seriously all it does. He'd get the exact same results by practicing his shunpo for a few years like everybody else, except he didn't have time for that. So, when fighting captain-level opponents like the Espada, using bankai wasn't a trumphcard but rather a necessity.
People sometimes accuse Ichigo of pulling powerups out of nowhere but if you pay attention, the guy was always one step behind and the powerups was just a way for him to compensate. He needed bankai just to keep up with people most captains could take on with shikai, so his bankai basically became his shikai and his vizard mode ended up his bankai. And he still almost died against Ulquiorra and needed his hollow to bail him out again.
Meanwhile, Shunsui managed to beat the top Espada with only his shikai. See what I mean? Ichigo kinda sucks.
I think Kubo kinda regretted how he dealt with Ichigo's development, hence the whole "Oh, that isn't your real bankai" shenanigans, then taking all his powers away and starting over. I wouldn't be surprised if this new shikai of his is way more useful then his old one.
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Post by Anders on Aug 11, 2011 16:42:44 GMT
Oh, and I'm working on a tsuba model in thermoplastic based on the design on page 1, though it's somewhat simplified: (The photo didn't turn out too well - it looks better in real life. Still needs some work, though.) I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I love this material. It's basically plastic that melts at 60 C, then hardens again when you cool it down. It's extremely easy to shape.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 11, 2011 17:08:22 GMT
You have a very good point. Tensa Zangetsu was seriously the worst bankai that's been shown, though I personally think Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou is worse. I mean, sure he had to use his Final, Absolute, Seriously Last Resort to beat it, but Ishida wiped it out and nearly killed Mayuri in the same shot and he's human! The main reason I enjoy the fight between Ichigo and Byakuya is all the hype that Byakuya gave his bankai; I enjoy seeing people like that beat to hell.
Anyways, Ichigo had a seriously ridiculous amount of reiryoku, as evidenced by his comments to Unohana when they're returning to Kurakara; however, that and his adaptability are really his only strengths. The problem is, most of his original abilities are focused purely on brute strength with little flexibility, so he'd already be at a disadvantage even if he were of captain quality, rather than just quantity. His hollow form is what bailed him out of just about every pinch he got into after regaining his shinigami powers the first time: it saved him from Renji's blow during their final fight, saved him from Zaraki's during their fight, bailed him out against Byakuya to at least even the playing field (and even then he didn't decisively win, since Byakuya still had the strength for shunpo), he had to use it just to damage Grimmjow during his invasion, all throughout Hueco Mundo, and then fully Hollowfied during his final battle with Ulquiorra.
In all fairness, Shunsui has been a captain for at least 210 years (longer, likely), whereas Starrk was probably little more than 100, since I believe Aizen found them right after he'd become captain. Ichigo on the other hand is 15 and was a shinigami for less than a year at the time he lost his powers, so I'd say his growth is nothing short of amazing; however, he has nothing but brute strength, as I mentioned earlier, so there's only so much that can be done with that. In that regard, he does suck, but I think he's getting better, since his Fullbring was quite unexpected, since it had more to do with speed and defense, something he really didn't have before.
I actually hadn't thought of it that way, to tell the truth, but now that you say it, that seems a pretty logical choice. In addition, while still being absurdly huge, the new zanpakutou (assuming it's still Zangetsu) looks a lot cooler than the old one. The original looked like a big knife; this one actually looks like a sword, what with the clipped point and the actual hilt.
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Post by Anders on Aug 11, 2011 19:13:55 GMT
I don't think that's really fair. For starters, Ishida was easily the strongest member of Team Karakura at that point, even though Ichigo eventually caught up at the end of the arc. Out of all of them, he was the only one who could take on a captain and at least not get humiliated, suggesting he was probably higher then liutenant class. Even so, he still needed to burn out all his powers to beat Mayuri. (Which you might recognize as the same thing the Final Getsuga Tensho did.) Plus, Mayuri only pulled out his bankai after Ishida broke his glove.
So, it's not that Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou is weak - it's that Ishida was ridiculously powerful. He could probably have taken on most of the captains at that point with similar results.
Edit: Oh, and he still got poisoned by Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou, and would have died if Nemu hadn't given him the antidote.
While Ichigo did have mad reiatsu levels from the start, that probably had more to do with all the times he almost died. It was established early on that spirit power goes up when you get close to death, hence why Ichigo came back stronger from every fight. He can probabably thank Ulquiorra for quite a bit of his spirit mojo.
Eh, I don't think Ichigo's problem was his reliance of brute power. After all, people like Zaraki or Komamura are all about brutal strenght and they are doing fine.
Rather, I think he just got his bankai too early, while his baseline powers were still underdeveloped. It would have been better if he had gotten good enough at shunpo to keep up with Byakuya on his own, or Kubo could have gone with the whole "your bankai is defective" angle right at the start of the Hueco Mundo arc to explain why it sucked so bad.
Still, we did get the vizards out of all of that, so I guess that's okay.
Well, kinda sorta. Ichigo did pick up new powers absurdly fast, yes, but his baseline skills were still so mediocre he couldn't make full use of them. He can't use kido, meaning he needs to rely of Getsuga Tensho for ranged attacks, and his shunpo kinda sucks.
I know comparing him to a master like Shunsui doesn't make much sense, but I was trying to illustrate the problem with Tensa Zangetsu - it was never an advantage. Ichigo is so slow that he needed to use it full time just to keep up with guys like unreleased Grimmjow. Most captains could probably do that without even going shikai. For quite a lot of them, we haven't even seen their bankai simply because they haven't needed to use them yet.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 11, 2011 20:04:08 GMT
That's true. I haven't actually read the Soul Society arc in ages and when I get nostalgic and rewatch parts of the anime, I normally skip that because, frankly, Mayuri creeps me the hell out. Although, I suppose that was Kubo's point when he designed him. Plus, since removing the glove gave him the ability to break down the bonds between reishi and turn them into his own power, he probably could have defeated all of Soul Society if they'd converged on him; when the whole world is literally part of your power, including your enemies' bodies, you tend to have an unfair advantage.
Hmm. You bring up a good point with Zaraki; Komamura, however, I think is capable of using kido at the least, even if I can't recall him ever doing so. Ichigo got his powers in, what was it? April or May, and fought his way through Soul Society barely 3 months after that. So his training in swordsmanship was first-hand experience in life and death battles as opposed to the formal training every other shinigami (with the exception of Zaraki) went through. Add in that he gained bankai in three months, became relatively proficient at shunpo (though nowhere near the level his bankai takes him), and you get someone who's struggling to keep up with their powers. I find that's a common problem in many stories; they just hand the character some powers and progress the story at an accelerated rate.
Speaking of, another example is Hitsugaya. Though he's had his powers far longer (approximately 40 years, since he went to the Academy after Hinamori, who was there at the same time as Rukia), he's still considered very inexperienced with his bankai, since he can only maintain it for a short amount of time. He came into his powers considerably faster than most shinigami because of how strong they were, similar to Ichigo.
With regards to kido, I think Ichigo would be able to do it if taught; remember when they were practicing with the Kuukaku's cannonballs? Ganju said that the basics of all kido was to picture a black circle in the mind and then jump into it. After that simple explanation, Ichigo picked up on it immediately and produced a cannonball, though his concentration sucked and he exploded shortly after.
Well, I think that may be more that Kubo may not have an idea for those characters' bankais. Look at Soi Fong: she was probably the only captain in the fake Karakura to use her bankai (aside from Hitsugaya), but she's quite the powerful fighter without it. The most we get for several characters are vague hints. And sure he's Super Badass #1, but there was never any mention of Aizen ever attaining bankai, just an assumption. Meanwhile, Tousen, Komamura, Gin, Byakuya, and most other major characters capable of bankai use it at one point or another, whereas those capable of it, but not shown to use it, are fairly minor characters in the overall story.
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Post by Anders on Aug 11, 2011 21:10:21 GMT
Somewhat better picture:
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Post by Anders on Aug 16, 2011 23:01:35 GMT
I give you the Royal Guard warder: The idea here is that if the Hawkwing is a dedicated war sword this is a more specialized ceremonial model, though still a perfectly servicable weapon. The shape of the hilt is supposed to aid single-handed use by curving away from the hand.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 16, 2011 23:33:36 GMT
Anders... I am speechless. You managed to capture so many things I love about swords in one design.
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Post by Anders on Aug 17, 2011 0:14:34 GMT
Toldja you'd like it.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 17, 2011 0:25:42 GMT
Indeed you did. I'm tempted to add it and Hawkwing to my list of customs to eventually have made.
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Marc Kaden Ridgeway
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Awful lot of leaving and joining going on here for me .... And gosh I can't recall doing a bit of i
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Post by Marc Kaden Ridgeway on Aug 21, 2011 21:02:56 GMT
Hey ... wow , I like the Hawkwing a lot.
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jhart06
Member
Slowly coming back from the depths...
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Post by jhart06 on Aug 22, 2011 1:17:42 GMT
That royal guard is *really* close to how I always pictured Lan's sword.
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Post by Anders on Aug 24, 2011 23:19:29 GMT
Thanks, guys.
Going through my old stuff to see if I have anything worth putting up here. There's a cutlass I definitely want to finish, a new version of Rebellion with a different hilt, and I'm also planning on drawing my enterpretation of Conan's sword.
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Post by Anders on Aug 28, 2011 22:57:46 GMT
Here we go, redesigned version of the Rebellion sword: Same blade, new hilt. Also, now with measurements.
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jhart06
Member
Slowly coming back from the depths...
Posts: 3,292
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Post by jhart06 on Aug 28, 2011 23:01:19 GMT
The overall curve is a bit much for my like. But it's interesting, Almost a norse feel to it.
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