We return to a new issue of “Epic Gamer Artists!” Tim here, sitting down with sculptor, Oliver. His main focus is on weapons and mechanical design. He’s also sculpted quite a bit for NECA! So if your Gears of War figure is sporting a Boomshot, Hammerburst, Torque Bow, or a Lancer, best chances that Oliver has done work on it.

So, let’s say hello to Oliver!

Tim: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Oliver: I originally went to school with the intention of getting into special effects for films. That never really worked out but I did learn some modeling building techniques and I thought it would be good to know in case I couldn’t find enough make up work.

 T: Looking at your gallery, you have quite the eye for detail and accuracy. How long have you been sculpting?

O: My first model building job was for an architectural model company, I learned how to work very clean and to be accurate. I kind of fell into toys by accident, but almost fifteen years later I guess you could say it worked out OK.

 T: Would you like to tell us a little bit about your process in sculpting these weapons?

O: A lot of my gallery is mechanical-looking: guns, machines or vehicles. One thing I have always tried to do is machine something in miniature that would have been machined in real life. That means I do a lot of work on my lathe or mill, I cut or sand or file plastic or modeling board to get the shape I need.

It’s one shape at a time, you look at an overall image of a gun or whatever you are making and figure out the individual parts. So if you start with the handle you are working on just that little component of the whole model then move to the next part.

T: I’ve noticed you have quite a number of shots of “Gears of War” weapons. You mentioned that you used to work for NECA; how was that like? What were you in charge of doing?

O: When I worked for NECA, I was the only full time model maker there. I was mostly in charge of building almost all the weapons and bases. I also did the mundane stuff, like order materials and tools. The nice thing was that at the time I was working mostly from home. I have a studio next to the house and I would get the reference emailed to me and I could just ship out the prototype to the main office when it was done.

T: Are you a gamer at all? Have you played Gears of War?

O: Sorry to say, no I haven’t played video games since the Atari 2600. But some of the best designs I have ever had the pleasure of building were from games. There are a lot of very talented designers and modelers in the gaming industry.

T: Do you have an artist that you look up to?

O: As for artists that I look up to, if you’re talking about the same type of work I do, I’d say CornBoy at the FourHorsmen. He’s a great model builder. The guy can do stuff with just an X-acto knife that will blow your mind.

T: Anything to say to the aspiring Epic Gamers Community?

O: To all the Gears fans all I can say is, I hope I got it right. I loved working on those lines some of the best designs I’ve worked on and I hope I did them justice.

Thanks for the time, Oliver! I certainly enjoyed taking time to really look at the details you put into your work. Looking forward to seeing what you’re bringing in the future!

If you want to see more Epic fan art, or if you have your own to show us, be sure to show us at the Official Epic Gamers group on deviantART.