Here is my idea for a mythical creature with a futuristic twist: a cybernetic mermaid.
This inquisitive creature went one fin stroke too far when it encountered an ancient type of ship powered by a screw propeller… and I believe it is unnecessary to elaborate on what happened next.
Rescued and “reconstructed” with the help of modern technology, she gained a mechanical arm, one eye, and almost her entire tail.
This opened up completely new opportunities and perspectives on the world for her. Now she uses her modified body to get to places even the most advanced submarines cannot reach and collects all kinds of samples for scientific purposes (here I have an idea for sample containers distributed on the mechanical tail and forearm, which can be unfolded into two independently operating units).
Her curiosity now serves science, and science serves her every day.
I wonder if you can read my tiny handwriting xD
Okay, so here’s a brief overview of what a mermaid is in folklore and myth:
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Appearance: Half human, half fish (human upper body, fish tail)
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Nature: Usually neutral or kind; sometimes curious or playful (And here lies the fundamental problem, because at some point the stories of mermaids and sirens became mixed up and began to overlap [in terms of nature and appearance - a siren is not half fish…]. So opinions are divided on the nature of mermaids, but I remain in favor of them being helpful and friendly creatures)
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Role in stories: Can help humans, fall in love, or simply live in the sea (In some stories, a mermaid needs a cap or belt, or her comb, or mirror to move between the surface and the depths of the sea - in my case, one of the sample chambers will probably be occupied by a mirror, but I forgot to add that to the sketch 
/ Why is this important? Because if a man takes it away from her, he also takes away her ability to travel, hence the stories of marriages with mermaids who ran away as soon as they found their property!)
Regarding the sketch:
I would definitely like to ask you which joint of the tail you think is best: 1, 2, 3, or 4 (they are on the left edge)?
In general, I tried to approach this project from two angles: maneuverability and usefulness for scientific research (here I was partly inspired by submarines used to explore the seas and oceans… although these have serious depth limitations).
Maneuverability:
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The first thing is the mentioned joints - they must be able to react quickly to changes in direction, which is why most of them are based on a spherical joint.
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The second issue is how to set it in motion? Magnetic magic or a mechanical contraption…? Theoretically, I have come up with something mechanical, but I need to see how it works with the spherical joint on a 3D model first – not that it matters that much, but that’s probably just my own approach.
Usability:
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Of course, we have an arm with grippers, typical scientific equipment (the main one can be extended while the other stabilizes the main one)
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12 sample chambers (one always occupied by a mirror), of various sizes and covered with something like brown glass, which protects delicate deep-sea samples from UV rays on the surface
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A scanner in the artificial eye, because how could she not have a scanner?!
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The elements most vulnerable to damage and the tail fin (a stiffer version) are covered with a flexible material with a honeycomb pattern.
Colors:
I won’t do anything more on the concept because I don’t have time for it, but I’ll try to discuss the colors.
Generally, I assume that the main colors should be orange and pink - I’ve never done this combination before, so it’s an interesting experiment that should look nice and emphasize the mermaid’s nature.
I’ll probably make her skin darker (but not too dark) and her hair with lighter pink highlights.
I was wondering how to approach the color scheme of her accessories, until it finally hit me that light beige would go well with it - even if green and blue go with orange and pink… But blue underwater? No, the deeper you go underwater, the more colors lose their value (I can’t remember which ones were which, but I once watched a program where they tested different colors and how they gradually fade with depth). But again, not that it matters much in 3D art xD
I’ve written so much…
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I forgot to put my screenshot from the PureRef:
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There’s some blockout… All in all, it’s going faster than I expected, so it probably won’t be that bad.
I even made one element, more or less - I’ll probably start with the mechanical stuff, then do the HP for the organic parts in zBrush and adjust the LP to whatever comes out.
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Aaaa! I was going to upload this yesterday, but I didn’t have time xD
Anyway, that’s it for hardsurface for now – before I do anything else, I need to know what the soft parts will look like.
Besides, I came up with an interesting (I think) idea to weave a few cables coming from the mechanical elements on her head into her hair.
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Well, I suppose it will be reasonably acceptable. At least for a start.
Generally, I decided that a mermaid should be visibly athletic, since she is constantly swimming underwater (and this is not an excuse to practice with anatomy at all!).
Recently, I lost the ability to say “enough work for today” - mainly because “today” is already “yesterday”… but today I’m not doing anything more than this post.
And on the subject of progress, I finished HP for soft parts:
A or B? - I don’t know if it’s better without the upper part of the dorsal fin or with it?
(I don’t know how visible it is in this screenshot, but this piece of clothing is designed to give the impression of being moved by water… at least that was the idea. It also fits the situation above water, where the fabric may partially cling to the body and partially wrinkle.)
Somehow, I never had a good reason to use nanomesh for anything… let alone make my own.
This topic is not entirely new, but the braid brush was created specifically for this model.
I also changed the concept for the eye. Instead of one, I made three on one side, which gives the mermaid a wider field of vision and allows her to scan her surroundings.
For LP purposes, I kept HP relatively close to the body - this applies to clothing and hair.
That’s all for now, tomorrow I’ll probably try to finish the more technical part of HP… but I already know that the tail will annoy me… tbc!
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I didn’t have much time today [yesterday…] (as usual on Saturdays… Saturdays don’t exist…), but I think the tail is ready and it doesn’t look too bad.
Now I have to put it all together X_X
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Well, we’ve got a tail, and I have to admit that overall, I’ll probably have to resort to some magic tricks to make it within the 150k xD
Especially since… oh wait, I can’t write that 
And finally, all the elements together.
I made a very simple render to show how the HP looks.
Now I just need to get an answer to my question in the challenge rules so I know how to approach LP and UV…
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I managed to get the character retopo done… I have to admit that the braids were the worst part. I didn’t know how to go about it to do it right and not waste a whole month or 30-40k tris on it. I ended up having three approaches to this topic and finally combined two of them into one. Very general retopo in Maya and mesh from zBrush zremesher.
Now, before I move on to UVs, I still have to make three models… well, two, but here it will depend on the availability of tris.
To save time, I will also use zremesher for them and hope for the best xD
(good thing they’re super simple)
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I made a mirror, something that looks like coral, but it will definitely be an interesting discovery for our mermaid xD.
And I scraped out my surprise!
All the accessories have already been retopologized, mostly with the help of ZRemesher, but corrected because there was too much of it.
The fish-like thing is here for a reason. But that story will appear in my final presentation.
Now I need to do the UV… and fast!
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