David’s Renaissance

When I first tested the NX-Nardcotix “David” mesh body I wasn’t quite sold on it. Partly it was the rushed marketing that rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn’t understand why a brand which already had lingerie for female avatars in their product range, hadn’t come up with a nice pair of undies to go with the release of their new male mesh body. While I appreciated the overall look of the body, I was also slightly disappointed that this was yet another mesh body without its own head. SL is so Sleepy Hollow!
Not long after the launch, NX-Nardcotix showcased the next release of David at Men Only Monthly and lo and behold, this time a nice pair of black swim trunks were thrown in to sweeten the deal. Also encouraging was the skin applier made for this body by VYC shown at MOM at the same time. For my personal taste the Catwa applier from VYC that matches this skin, is a little bit to slick and chiselled. I prefer something friendlier looking for every-day use, but from a creative point of view it’s a good thing to step out of that particular comfort zone.

This brings me to one of my pet peeves that is part and parcel of using a mesh body in SL: the neck seam. If you are already using a Catwa head, then you know that it has its own set of neck fixes for several brands of mesh bodies, but not yet for NX-Nardcotix. The body does come with its own neck fix which goes a long way to blur that very sharp seam, but this solution is far from perfect. Viewed from some angles, it visibly stands away from the body, because that is how these things work. From time to time it will appear as if you are wearing a collar, whenever you land at a sim with a particular windlight that makes the neck fix stand out instead of blend in. I also looked at this body in combination with my system head and found that using the neck tattoo that should have been matching, did not work at all. You will be better off using the neck fix even in that situation.

But enough with the negativity! Let us focus on the overall well defined musculature of this body and the wrists, knees and ankles which were clearly created with an eye for detail. The pectorals can be made large without becoming droopy and the shoulders are nicely rounded. Those of you that appreciate an ample posterior will be pleased to find that this body more than provides that. As a matter of fact, the derriere was toned down a little bit in the latest version because with the first one I demoed, I could have given any of the Kardashian girls a run for their money. With the butt size on 100%, my ass would have arrived at a sim 5 minutes later than the rest of me. Well I suppose that would have made it fashionably late.
Speaking of being fashionable, let us look at the wardrobe options for this body. If you have read my previous post about July’s Men Only Monthly, you will know that this body made the shopping experience rather challenging. But I went through my inventory and found some things that work.

Left: This knitted cardigan with leather collar by Gild rather tones down the muscular arms of my shape but doesn’t leave them looking entirely scrawny. It is well worth this small sacrifice in my opinion. The jeans by Body Factory featured at Men Only Monthly, are a near perfect fit and of course putting on Deadwool’s “Chase” sneakers was no problem at all, because I can simply hide my feet completely with the alpha hud.
Right: This oversized high collar coat by Gabriel is still available as a gift if you wear the L’Homme Magazine group tag and if you have a look around in the store you’ll find a black version of it available for sale. I’ve paired it with jeans by L&B Swear and boots from a gacha also at Gabriel.

Left: These dark khaki chinos from Gabriel  slim my legs down somewhat (I guess I have been skipping legs-day at the gym), but the effect isn’t too severe. They go well with the very sharp looking “sneakers” from David Heather.
Right: It took some serious compromising of my shape to make this t-shirt and shorts combination from Deadwool work, because even though these two items were made to be worn together, if your butt is too big, the shorts’ fabric will poke through the hem of the t-shirt. I’m wearing the “Two-Plat” Sneakers from Semler in Signature size, which work fine with the feet alphad out.

Left: The Deadwool Peak Suit works very nicely with this body (and the Catwa head). Obviously most of your body will be alphad out when you wear a suit like this, but it is still a small blessing that my neck isn’t poking through the shirt collar. As this suit grows and shrinks with your body size, you can always increase the muscle mass to make your arms look more impressive once they’ve been hidden by the sleeves. The shoes are from Deadwool as well and work fine as long as you wear them with socks to bridge the gap where your ankle should be.
Right: This is what happens when you’ve been hanging out at home all day in just your L&B Swear jeans and make the last-minute decision to head out and grab your tweed vest and jacked from Hoorenbeek cause all your shirts are dirty. With the impressive collection of  Deadwool’s “Chase” sneakers (well okay it’s a hud) you’ll always have a pair that matches your spontaneous outfits.

When it comes to underwear there isn’t what I would call an embarrassment of riches. There is very little room for error with these things so they pretty much need to be rigged for each specific body and none of the underwear creators seem to have picked up David yet. You can try altering your shape till something fits if you are willing to make that compromise. Another route you can take is to find unrigged mesh items which you then can move and stretch into place. Here are some examples of what you can use to keep David’s eggs in a basket to speak.

Left: A very daring colourful thong from Mat Kungler Atelier with tons of texture options and a somewhat mind boggling hud. This one is unrigged so I pulled and stretched till it fitted.
Middle: A modest pair of classic boxers with a little cat paw pattern from Vitamen which I was able to squeeze into with some shape alterations.
Right: A simple but fun pair of briefs by Baxter Colman, unrigged so you can freely resize and move them till they fit. If there would be more underwear available for this body, this one probably wouldn’t make the cut, but for now it’ll do.

A kinkier option is this sexy little unrigged number by Mat Kungler Atelier, with an exposed schlong and of course an explosion of textures and options. With the same hud that allows you to change the texture, you can also hide the penis which is actually included with this jock, but that just leaves an awkward gap. If you don’t like the included appendage, you can get creative with your own wiener, as I have done here. I would recommend you take a copy of your pecker first or you may find yourself perpetually pissing in your pretty face. You can make it a little more tame by wrapping a hoodie around your waist, which is also available at Mat Kungler Atelier.

That’s it for now with “David”, but I do have the vague intention to maybe try out some different skins at a later date. You can find some more technical information about the body on NX-Nardcotix website.