Update 03.02.2015: Added hex/flower pattern to darkest grey area, a few colour tweaks and additional icons, radial pattern added to the forestock, shadow noise reduction.

Update 01.01.2015: Added some subtle weathering to areas of the skin, fixed the alpha so the barrel wasn't worn at factory new

M4A4 | 'Daimyo' option 3: grey red

Daimyo: (in feudal Japan) one of the great lords who were vassals of the shogun.

The Daimyo design began in my head as a general thought about a muted-solid colour gun with a cut-away accent colour section that was more vibrant than the rest of the body. A few weeks ago while walking down the street I passed an imported 4x4 that was a painted a deep-deep purple-blue, and when it passed it put the brake lights on - vibrant red. That colourscheme was the beginning of what would later become the ‘Raging Daimyo’. The grey-red option I came up with later on as an alternative as the purple and red might be too wacky for most peoples tastes.

As a 2D designer/illustrator I had no idea how to approach making a gun skin which to me is more product design rather than illustration. Until I recently saw Coridiums video which was fascinating as it showed the process, including him making lots of mistakes and doing/undoing which is great to see as brings down the illusion that people just output great works of art - and that it’s all in their minds rather than a gradual trial and error process. That video gave me a lot of confidence. I also figured out how to project and bake a flat texture to a 3D model in cinema 4D which was was a massive timesaver as previously I was editing directly on the UV map which is a slow and painful process!

The design itself features fractured polygons which would seem to be part of the graphical zeitgeist right now, along with patterns applied to specific sections of the gun. I didn’t want to over-complicate the design as it’s the colours and shape that are most important.

The symbols were designed after the fact in an attempt to put together a cohesive concept. The car I passed was a Japanese make, and I have a love of Japanese graphic design which stems from college after reading a book about the life’s work of Ikko Tanaka. I couldn’t use outright Japanese symbols as nationalistic/religious graphics are technically forbidden from steam workshop, and I didn’t want to use a symbol with the wrong meaning like a poor choice tattoo. So I designed my own. I settled on the name ‘Daimyo’ - being a fan of the game Total war: Shogun - it seemed appropriate as everyone thinks big of themselves. So one symbol is a combination of a triangular shield with crossed katanas - altogether (at a push) resembling a Noh Mask/Menpo, and the Daimyo symbol which is essentially a Kabuto - but also as a byproduct looks a bit like a space invader which is a nice link to vidya games.

I’ve paid close attention to the alpha channel - removing sections such as the sight and stock and a few bits on the gun. Also I’ve paid attention to the clip itself which reveals a symbol during reloading. The handle I would have liked to wear even further but theres a rather nasty UV overlap which causes a crease on the farside with any amount of wear - so I avoided this! I think overall it wears pretty good.

Let me know any feedback or if you think the colours are too vivid. I thought that too, but I liked it for that reason!