What have you been up to?

I've been SCULPTING!

The role out sheet contains a cheap but sturdy set of metal sculpting utensils that I got off of Amazon.com. Now traditionally people use green-stuff to sculpt. I detest the stuff because I have to decide pretty quickly if what I've made is worthwhile or crap before it cures and solidifies forever. So I looked for a material that would be a little more forgiving: FIMO clay is cheap but really really soft AND you have to bake it. Not something for gap filler or conversions. It is really hard to work with because of the overall softness. Not really the material for sculpting fine detail BUT if I don't like what I've made I can squish it and start over.

These were made with FIMO, the body I created to attach these arms to, sadly, was not spared my wrath.

After attempting several different sculpts a friend of mine gave me something he calls sculpty or something. It is more of a firm material than FIMO so it is much easier to attempt finer work (you still have to bake it).

So I started Mylecia, she was supposed to be my first Slaanesh fiend and thus I started to compose each part separately with the intention to cast and mold the figure (more on that later).

Several problems became immediately apparent:

+ I started with a plan.
- I had no concept of scale (see last picture).
+ The wireframe (made of paperclips) really helped define a pose.
- I tried to make each piece separately.
- Despite the wireframe clay still seemed to slip off.
- I did not have a good way to hold the model while I worked with it.
+ I intend to work on an intermediate stage: you can see here Mylecia is darker than the original sculpty clay as she has been baked and assembled. Now I can add extra layers of clay for further detail.
-This is really hard and potentially time consuming.
+ This is really fun and there's no where to go but up from here.

What's next:

1. Add a fur/feather/something detail to her and the legs. The original plan was a sort of fin that connected the legs and tail but I might leave that out.
   
2. Sculpt a full model and not in pieces. I'll mold things some other day.
   
3. Plan the scale out a little better.
   

Here's the other thing:


I sculpted a mouth full of teeth. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it but I love it. This is the power of making your own stuff: only you will love it, at first...

Let's turn to my other endeavors: molding and casting!

I mentioned awhile back that I found a fantastic dead beetle and attempted to mold and cast it. BEHOLD! The legs... they did not turn out but the body did and for once I was enthusiastic about my future with being able to cast and mold things.

Custom bases:

I just realized I didn't take a picture of the mold itself. The white plastic bases are the new casts with the underside full in order to provide a little more density to the cast. The molding provides fantastic details of the original: the electric chips I used for some of the bases casted so well you can see the grooves in the them (could NOT get that detail in a picture). Also my skull-covered base turned out rather well.

And finally, painted scarabs:

I used the Reaper Mini inks on these and I felt it turned out well. I also tried my hand at layering the yellow lights with a darker yellow and then working my way up to a white highlight. You can't see that in the picture but that's fine as it didn't turn out particularly well. Next time I would like to include more scarabs to truly make it a swarm base, like 10 scarabs crawling over each other towards one edge like a wave! That and more dynamic bases. I like my dark sand but this is basic paint then flock.

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That's all for now. I'm going to be playing a 3000 point game with the new rules and the High Elves this weekend. Asur, ho!

Scarabs and Beetles

I finished painting and basing my 10 scarab swarms and I FINALLY and SUCCESSFULLY molded and casted something that didn't end in disaster!

Pictures to follow tonight!

Demons at Adeptacon?

Several new things to post today:

1. Went camping out in the Shenandoahs, lots of fun. There I found a completely intact, albeit dead, horned beetle! Given that I wanted to make a more scarab looking figure for my Tomb Spyders I think molding this guy and then adding bits and pieces will do the trick.

2. Adeptacon: the tournament scene where GW doesn’t have a strangle-hold on what you can and can not do. For example: not all of my figures have to be GW’s. I can scratch build an entire army and I won’t be thrown out the front door but rather I’d be praised for doing so. The particular tournament my camping friends want me to go to is team-based. 4 people each with 1000 points play in teams of 2. You get your standard 2 troops and HQ but only 1 fast, heavy, and elite.

So your army list is a little limited but you’re playing with someone who is supposed to coordinate with you. That said this particular group would like to do a themed army, chaos. I started throwing things. After I calmed down they said, ‘What about demons?’

‘Say what?’

…Demons… What about demons? 1000 points of demons is, what, 25 models? I could have that assembled and painted by April. I bet I could even learn how to play it quasi-effectively.

So let’s take a look at the demons line: huh, all of the HQ is metal, all but the elites but the bloodcrushers are metal, all of the fast attack but seekers are metal, all of Nurgle is metal. And do you know what metal means? BLOODY EXPENSIVE, that’s what it means. OR how about a soul grinder? $62. About $400 for 25 models or 1000 points.

The new question is now: could I scratch build a demon army and have it painted and ready to go by April?

Consider what it would take: how about 10 pink horrors, 10 bloodletters, 3 nurgling bases, 5 fiends, a soul grinder, and a keeper of secrets.

I’ve got my soldering iron due to arrive today. Even if the models don’t look 100% awesome, they are the perfect testers because they are demons! All I would really need to do is buy the bases (I tried to make my own but that ended in tears).

Hmm… maybe this would work?