What's on My Desk: Another Look at Two Favorite Projects

This week I'm revisiting two projects, one from a year ago and another from only a few weeks back.  

I'm excited to show off a revisit of the extreme Ghetorix conversion that I originally did for long-time customer Michael P.  Kevin M. saw the conversion I did for Michael last December in the galleries and knew it was the next piece he wanted for his Circle or Orboros army.  I really enjoyed working on Michael's E.G. and was eager to give it another shot.  Let's take a look at the work!

The extreme warp wolf model is a full pewter piece, which brings a whole list of challenges when attempting to do even the simplest manipulations to the model.  We live in a resin and plastic age, but there is something to say for a stout pewter model, it has a certain gravitas.

The E.G.'s right arm needed repositioning so that it could hold its axe with both hands.  A move of 1/4" was needed to bring the arm back and away from its body.  Since I was working with pewter there was only one thing that would do to get the job done, the bone saw.  After cutting about a 1/8" into the top of the E.G.'s shoulder I brought out another heavy duty tool (one that I have only used in this conversion), a pair of adjustable Irwin toothed pliers.  The teeth on the pliers do a moderate amount of damage to the arm, so a good amount of resculpting is necessary to bring the arm back to form.

Some expense was shaved off this piece by bending the extreme warp wolf's existing fingers to hold its axe instead of resculpting each finger for a perfect grip.  The one I did for Michael was a complete resculpt of each finger, which is great, but this method is excellent when trying to keep costs low.

When all is said and done, this version of the extreme Ghetorix conversion takes seven hours and is a piece that I'm proud to put the Monster Lab stamp on.  I even like the way the left hand is lightly gripping the axe haft, it's like the force behind the swing is so great he's having trouble holding on!

Last month I showed off my second original sculpt for casting, a dragon chariot base.  I'd like to take one last look at the piece and a few castings that were made of it before it leaves for the Netherlands and becomes a part of the client's product line.

Jeremy G. over at Prairie House Miniatures did a fantastic job casting and resculpting the base, creating four test casts.  I was really pleased with how the piece turned out, it looks even better as a single cohesive resin sculpt.

It was a proud moment packing the dragon base and its copies away for mailing to their owner, and another exciting step down my road as a professional sculptor.  I can't wait to do more!

That's it for this week, come back next time to take a look at Michael P.'s Fimir themed army which contains two nasty demon princes and a custom Llamasu!

What's on My Desk: Dragon Chariot Base!

I've got an exciting project on my desk this week, a custom sculpted dragon base!  The client who commissioned this piece requested a 50mm x 100mm chariot base that featured a dragon's nest with a few eggs and one with an emerging hatchling.   I loved the idea; I've been a dragon fanatic ever since I can remember and jumped at the opportunity to make my first themed piece.

To get started, I needed to make the base's foundation.  To do this I cut three pieces of 1mm plasticard to dimensions and lightly glued them with super glue.  Two brass pinning rods also added some stability to the plasticard sandwhich before a rough sanding on the sides created the edge gradation.

A layer of Apoxie Sculpt gave the foundation some natural terrain variation, and Procreate rocks began to build the scene.  Larry the skeleton also did a great job providing scale reference.  Thanks Larry!

What I envisioned was the dragon-mother digging out a bowl for her eggs, and breathing dragon-fire out from her nest to clear the surroundings.  Each of the rocks has been sculpted to be "slagged" away from the nest, showing the intense heat they were under from the she-dragon's cleansing fire.

What to do to represent the nest was the most exciting part for me, there were so many cool options when it came to building a dragon's roost.  I decided to go with a simple earthen base, strewn with artifacts in its foundation and bedding made of a pile of coins!  Dragons love treasure, and this seemed to encapsulate that perfectly for me.

The she-dragon used a round shield, heraldic shield, sword, dagger, and skull to build her nest.

And here's the completed piece! 

One early bloomer is already pushing its way out of its egg.  The skull is evidence that some unfortunate human became the dragon's lunch, and then part of her nest.

This unlucky horse calf was another meal for the waiting mother.

The coins were sliced from a round plasticard rod and pressed into a green stuff foundation.  Though many casting companies use a "cold casting" technique that doesn't require vulcanization these days, I wanted to play it safe and go easy on the use of glue, which can melt in high heat casting and ruin the mold.  Most joins are made by adhesion to green stuff or Procreate.

The shield is beaten and worn, and was of no use to its bearer in defense against the expecting mother!

And here's Larry again with the finished piece, hopefully the dragon-mother doesn't come home while he's shambling about or he'll likely find himself part of her next nest!

That's it for this week and what's on my desk, I hope you enjoyed the custom sculpted dragon base.  I'm looking forward to making a whole series of these so an entire army can be dragon/wasteland themed!

Until next time, good gaming and happy hobbying!