KantCon 2013 Sculpt: Help! the Gnome

Wow, it seems like not too long ago I was writing about the Knight of Vidnuar and the Grular Bludgeoneer I painted, but two weeks have already passed since then.  In that post I talked about how I had to wait five months before I could show off the pics since they were unreleased models by DGS Games.  There's a creepy amount of symmetry between that comment and this post (I'm showing off a sculpt done months ago and just completed a commission that won't debut here until it's released).  Actually, I think that means I've finally made it to the higher leagues of contract painting/sculpting, that done on a release schedule.  And in all honesty, it feels good.

Like I said, this week I'm showing off a sculpt done last December for KantCon 2013.  The commission was for Help! (quite an unorthodox name, I know) the gnome.  He's the guy who assists on raids and dungeon crawls and brings anything you need from his Trusty Trunk or bag-of-holding at the call of, "help!"

Let's take a look at the finished sculpt.  

Help!'s an expressive guy and I love the comical grin he has on his face (maniacal even, if you consider he's holding an explosive).  You may be wondering how Help! came to be...

Once upon a time he was a wire frame, paper-clip in this case. A bit of soldering held him together and readied him for his green stuff body.

I work in the "body part steps" fashion, making body part groups and then then moving on.  I start with the lowest (closest details to the frame) details and then build on top of that.

This was a satisfying landmark in Help!'s creation, one that told me I was on the right track in terms of capturing his character and that his primary body proportions were correct.  I was starting to breathe a little easier.

Help! comes with some cool gear, among which are his 50 inch rope, Bomb! bomb, and bag of holding (satchel).

To make his trunk I cut pieces from a plasticard sheet and fashioned them together in a box shape.  The lid was made by scoring the sheet on one side and then bending it into a curved shape.  The whole thing was filled with green stuff for added stability.

I was most nervous for this step, forming his head and features.  He's at what my fianceé (I proposed this last weekend!) and I called the "old man" stage.

The addition of his hair started to bring him into the "gnome" phase.  I was still sweating it a bit here, unsure if his features would truly turn out the way I wanted them to.

And viola!  His teeth and beard really brought the whole thing home, at this point I sat back and breathed a sigh of relief.  With the deadline looming, I finally felt like he was on his way to being a successful sculpt.

That's it!  There were a few minor modifications (if you could call completely resculpting his left hand minor...) to be made, but at this point he's pretty much done.  I added a few rocks to his basing, put hinges on his trunk, and fleshed out the knuckles on his right hand before splitting his basing in two, separating him from his trunk.

Attendees to the convention and contributors to the KantCon kickstarter will all have a chance to get their very own Help! miniature!  This is the first model I've sculpted for large scale production, and I have to say it's really exciting.  

Those who get their Help! model will have the option to put him and his gear on the same base, or split the two pieces up between two bases (think objective marker) for added gaming opportunities.  I'm pumped to paint my own!

That's it for this week, thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest project here at the Monster Lab!

Remember to drop by KantCon's kickstarter page and contribute to their stretch goals (they've got awesome stuff planned, from cook books to special guests) and congrats to the guys for meeting their primary goal!

As always, happy hobbying and good gaming!