Recently I've been rebuilding my entire desk / work area and built in a cubby hole for all my controllers. Most of the new area is vinyl wrapped but with Final Fantasy 7 remake just around the corner and still playing the original + Crisis Core, I decided to give the storage area door a nice little touch.
Anyone who's played the original will know that when attempting to escape from the Temple of the Ancients you will face Demon Gate. Back in the day this boss was quite a challenge so its only fair I do the model justice.
The original model was sourced from:
https://www.printables.com/model/217491-demon-wall-from-final-fantasy-vii-wallfridge-decor/
I've made some tweaks and adjustments but nothing too major, at this scale however finer details on a FDM printer (Creality Ender 5 pro) like the teeth just won't print. In this project I used:
- Sunlu White ABS filament.
- Revell primer spray paint
- Various Revell paint colours
- Airfix weathering powder kit
- Plasticote matt lacquer spray
The original model as downloaded was a perfect jump point to convert into polygon surface from mesh and tweak away details I knew wouldn't print so well.
The print took 9 hours in total and used tree supports to support the neck / arms etc without wasting too much material. The teeth did attempt to print but pulled out with the support material due to them being so small and fragile.
Next I gave the whole model a primer coat of blue and went about fixing the teeth.
To recreate the teeth at scale I used some while filament and heated it up then flattened it.
Once cooled I used a scalpel knife to cut out teeth manually and glue them in place. This was a test of trial and error lol.
Being printed with an FDM printer was always going to show layers and pit detail, however given the low polygon nature of the original model this actually works in my favour. First coat is just block colour to get the correct base coats down.
Next is the orange tone and greys. However given the actual original model is a bright orange but in the game its dark as its in a passage way with low lighting. I prefer the "in game" look of the monster as we actually remember it back on Playstation 1!
Each coat the back "wall" gets an additional coat of red. Next is the header green tones, eyes and teeth with better defined orange / grey on the hands. Again in the style of sharp edges / low poly.
To weather the model and bring all them bright tone colours down to the original style I used a weather kit powder. For the actual Demon Gate model I used a mix of brown and black powder watered down into a thin solution to brush on. This was simply trial and error applying and rubbing off until I got the look I wanted.
The back wall in the original game was slightly deformed to appear as being pushed out by the boss. To recreate that effect all the back plate weathering was directional from the centre out to corners.
Once the model had a coat of matt (not gloss) clear lacquer it was safe to mount in place on the new cubby hole door.
Now Demon Gate protects my controllers :D
Luckily I don't need to fight it each time I want one though!
Final Fantasy 7 original Demon Gate - Temple of the ancients
