Looking back at the astronaut projects I realized how much they evolved from the first astronauts based on the models designed by Momo for the "Beyond your imagination" challenge.
While I really love them and like to work with them (obviously with all the astronaut projects) I came to realize I needed a format that's a bit more flexible and could be used in various settings
First experiments without helmet and just heads were semi-successful
But funny :)
After some consideration I decided to design a new body - still very stylized, as this is the very charming aspect of the astronauts. As stylized as they are one can project many different aspects and roles onto them.
The first iteration was not so bad, and I also experimented with various roles 
Like the Beach Campers
Or the Selfies
But somehow Astronauts were also a bit limiting.
Don't get me wrong, Wilma & Vladimir will always be astronauts, but also scientists and explorers.
So I looked into new versions, like this (female) Archaeologist
Or Indiana Jones 
Ouch! Almost like on the original bodies!
So another round of body modification was in order.
Hmm, there are elements that did carry over to later versions, but still not anything that would easily work
Nope! Absolutely not!
Let's start from scratch and make it a bit more realistic - still stylized, but better proportions
OK, but the original Wilma head wouldn't work here. So I experimented with various stylized concepts.
From very Kindergarten level
To a baby face
But that baby face could work!
And so the Adventure Wilma was born!
With some equipment to it
And what about Vladimir?
I had that really crazy idea, based on this amazing Polish paratrooper
Damn! That's a character!
Could I baby face him?
Well, I did :)
Vladimir the Adventurer!
With the separated pieces the models are relatively easy to pose
Though not every pose really works out in the end (not only the pose, the hover-bike was also a clunker)
But with some facial variations almost everything is possible
With the style and level of detail set, I decided to give GB-2 a try.
He would be the muscle, the good natured and stoic backup. He'd be there to do the heavy lifting and carry out the mundane tasks, while Wilma & Vladimir had their adventuring fun.
GB-2 is admittedly based very strongly on K2SO from Star Wars.
And with that the little cast around Wilma and Vladimir slowly started to grow as well. But there are more to come - later.
Gee, sometimes I really wonder about myself - Slash?!?
But the model did work super well for some of my projects.
In these projects I picked "Wilma & Vladimir" back up and now continue and deepen their narrative.
They stopped being just two recurring models. Wilma and Vladimir had developed their own personalities – and increasingly the projects were built around them rather than the other way round.
In these projects I picked "Wilma & Vladimir" back up and now continue and deepen their narrative.
They stopped being just two recurring models. Wilma and Vladimir had developed their own personalities – and increasingly the projects were built around them rather than the other way round.
Like the Beach Campers
Or the Selfies
But somehow Astronauts were also a bit limiting.
Don't get me wrong, Wilma & Vladimir will always be astronauts, but also scientists and explorers.
So I looked into new versions, like this (female) Archaeologist
I even created a huge 8x8 explorer vehicle
But what about a face?
Ouch! Almost like on the original bodies!
So another round of body modification was in order.
Hmm, there are elements that did carry over to later versions, but still not anything that would easily work
Nope! Absolutely not!
Let's start from scratch and make it a bit more realistic - still stylized, but better proportions
OK, but the original Wilma head wouldn't work here. So I experimented with various stylized concepts.
From very Kindergarten level
To a baby face
And so the Adventure Wilma was born!
With some equipment to it
And what about Vladimir?
I had that really crazy idea, based on this amazing Polish paratrooper
Could I baby face him?
Well, I did :)
With the separated pieces the models are relatively easy to pose
Though not every pose really works out in the end (not only the pose, the hover-bike was also a clunker)
But with some facial variations almost everything is possible
And they are TINY!
As their story continued (at least in my head) I envisioned more "sidekicks" - after all they couldn't continue all by themselves, could they?
With the style and level of detail set, I decided to give GB-2 a try.
He would be the muscle, the good natured and stoic backup. He'd be there to do the heavy lifting and carry out the mundane tasks, while Wilma & Vladimir had their adventuring fun.
GB-2 is admittedly based very strongly on K2SO from Star Wars.
The models so far were then used in "First Steps" (workbench post to come!)
And "A Storm is Rising" (Gee, another workbench post I still have to do!)
Though I think I went a bit over the top and made him older than planned. But the wrinkles provide so much character, it's easy to over-do.
As a special gag for the "Beyond the hatch" project I attempted to sculpt CWO Klausz with myself as reference
Admittedly I "optimized" myself :)
But who wouldn't if he had the chance
And so I had the three for "Beyond the Hatch"
But I think this is not the end of the evolution! The stylized versions will remain and I will continue to use them like in "I know the way" (workbench post to come!)
Or in "Carsendo Base" (Ouch! another workbench post I owe you)
But once I had Wilma's face on paper, I wanted to see if I could get her sculpted
And so with the "original" Wilma in mind
I am currently working on a new Wilma bust
She's not perfect yet, but I'll get there!
She came a long way and I'm sure there are still many adventures to have for her :)
Remember, I envisioned her as my go-to heroine, a mix of Miss Marple, Adele (Blanc-Sec), Natacha or Barbarella. A traveler between worlds - akin to the STORM comic series.
So this isn't really a straight evolution from stylized to realistic. Both versions have found their place in my little universe. I have ideas for a "traveller's guide to the universe" as well as the "Journeys of Memory", a notebook style picture-book around the dioramas. I even have the absolutely insane vision of a comic, made of Wilma & Vladimir dioramas. (Yeah, yeah, shake your head! We'll see).
The tiny stylized Wilma and Vladimir are perfect for telling their stories in dioramas, while the more realistic versions let me explore the characters in a completely different way.
Let's see what's next!
To further develop the story of Wilma and Vladimir I thought about their "first encounter" and how they met at the Academy. 
And so Wilma and Vladimir continue to evolve.
Even becoming more realistic
Vladimir was the first to get a realistic head sculpted
And so Wilma and Vladimir continue to evolve.
Even becoming more realistic
Vladimir was the first to get a realistic head sculpted
As a special gag for the "Beyond the hatch" project I attempted to sculpt CWO Klausz with myself as reference
Admittedly I "optimized" myself :)
But who wouldn't if he had the chance
And so I had the three for "Beyond the Hatch"
But I think this is not the end of the evolution! The stylized versions will remain and I will continue to use them like in "I know the way" (workbench post to come!)
(you see, there's GB-2 lugging boxes)
But once I had Wilma's face on paper, I wanted to see if I could get her sculpted
She's not perfect yet, but I'll get there!
She came a long way and I'm sure there are still many adventures to have for her :)
Remember, I envisioned her as my go-to heroine, a mix of Miss Marple, Adele (Blanc-Sec), Natacha or Barbarella. A traveler between worlds - akin to the STORM comic series.
So this isn't really a straight evolution from stylized to realistic. Both versions have found their place in my little universe. I have ideas for a "traveller's guide to the universe" as well as the "Journeys of Memory", a notebook style picture-book around the dioramas. I even have the absolutely insane vision of a comic, made of Wilma & Vladimir dioramas. (Yeah, yeah, shake your head! We'll see).
The tiny stylized Wilma and Vladimir are perfect for telling their stories in dioramas, while the more realistic versions let me explore the characters in a completely different way.
Let's see what's next!
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