The Grandfather…..Cthulhu inspired

Well have not done a great deal of painting recently, but I have done a little sculpting!

When Frothers Unite announced their Cthleudo 2010 Sculpting contest (mix of Cthulhu mythos and Cluedo for a game at Salute 2011) I thought ‘nope’ can not think of anything to do with that and know very little about Cthulhu anyway. Until that is 2 weeks before the deadline I had one of those Time Bandit moments of an ‘idea forming in my head’ and rashly decided to proceed. After about 3 days of fine tuning the idea and working up a 3d sketch in putty to test the engineering aspects for casting, there was a week and a half to sculpt it…never again! Any way I am happy that it placed 2^nd in the Evil Lurkers category, and will be cast up and made available. Overall an enjoyable if stressful change from swinging the brush and some useful practice in pushing the putty!

The piece is designed as nominal 28mm and stands a total of about 54mm high

Citadel Imperial Dwarfs (Part 2)

Well… have had very little painting time over the past month which is typical when starting a new project! So a bit surprised I’ve actually managed this much. So here are the next six which takes me to just over a third of the unit being done.  Painting time per figure has come down when compared to the first batch, helped by treating them as unit pieces rather than individual display pieces and not getting too hung up on imperfections.

Imperial Dwarfs

The unit so far

I really need to start some other projects soon as these were only designed as a secondary project to practice skills etc. but I’ve got into them so will make sure they are progressed!

Citadel Imperial Dwarfs

Well the first 5 are done in what I hope to be an ongoing series between other projects. To be honest these poor critters have been subject to ruthless experimentation and re-learning mistakes, but as  they are to be part of a unit I didn’t have to get too hung up them individually, and by the end was moving along quite quickly…..for me!

I have to admit the enjoyment of finishing anything has been a pleasant experience and with only another 25 or so to do in this unit, things do not look too daunting! Now where is the primer…

Citadel Imperial Dwarfs

Have gone for an on campaign look down and dirty!

On the attack!

On the run!

Asgard Half Troll Chieftain WIP

Well this was just supposed to be a simple single figure job……but has now become a vignette, don’t know how that happened!

I think that classic enigmatic expression on the half troll combined with the wonderfully character rich slave orcs just screamed to be placed in context. This is now in the painting queue, and hopefully will not take too long, more work being required on the basing once the figures are painted.

Meanwhile I have been practicing on my painting, and I need it. The unfortunate painting fodder has been some OOP Citadel Imperial Dwarfs, the first few of which are being based and will be posted in the next few days!

Asgard Half Troll Chieftain Vignette

Asgard Chieftain with a pair of slave orcs

Whilst Watching Paint Dry

Minifig Neat and tidy 

I made a commitment to myself that this time round I would not put my feet up in between stages whilst waiting for things to dry. Looking for an ideal candidate for these brief interludes, I got all nostalgic and thought I might develop a unit of 35 year old Minifig Marines.It would also be an opportunity to get up to speed with the Vallejo acrylics without worrying too much about quality before committing them to more involved pieces.   nice simple figures……easy I thought! 

How wrong I was, it actually took a lot more work than I thought, coping with sometimes vague and missing detail, it made me appreciate the quality of most modern sculpts with their defined detail and reasonable proportions. Well I did complete one and am actually quite pleased with it but not sure I have the staying power for a whole unit, which is a shame because I quite like the uniform ranks.

Minifig proportions are easily recognisable

I think it’s time to open a box of Perrys, at least until another fit of nostalgia takes hold! 

Minifig Marine

Anyway back to the 80’s Imperial Dwarfs and that Asgard half Troll Chieftain.

Grendel Leviathan 1995

This was the final piece for Forge magazine, and finally I felt I had got to grips with the W&N Griffin Alkyd paints, this piece being the best of the three to date. Unfortunately Grendel went under at about this time and the piece never appeared in the magazine, I am not even sure if issue 4 materialised in which this piece was due. Hey Ho it was time to take a break from smelly polyester resin anyway I think!

the beginning

basic bits added

clay goes on

and on

and on

figures done

drums added

standard and spears added

another standard

undercoated and ready for painting

all painted!

There ends 1995!

Grendel 1994 second piece

Another piece that no longer exists, this was my second attempt using W&N Griffin Alkyd oil paints that appeared in the second issue of the now renamed Forge magazine. A bit better than the first piece but on reflection the zombie dragon wings are not that convincing. Some stage-by-stage black and whites included from the magazine.

The Grendel bits

work starts on the first dragon

finished

zombie dragon started

finished

work underway on the tower

Finished and undercoated

finished and painted

hand tinted backdrop, oh for Photoshop!

detail

here ends 1994!

Grendel 1994

In 1994 I was approached by Grendel (thanks Phil!) to nock up a few diorama pieces for the new magazine Anvil, to be produced in collaboration with Heartbreaker. The format was to be a stage-by-stage picture guide from which I have included some of the black and white here for the sake of completeness ( still using film in those days!) It also turned out to be an opportunity to try some different paints, as I always like to make things more difficult where I can! These being Windsor and Newton Griffin Alkyd quick drying oils, which after initial testing seemed quite usable. In the end this first piece was very much an experimental piece that I was only just happy with, the colours on the lizards being a bit bright and saturated. I also remember using a matt medium to reduce the sheen but this in turn increased the drying time so was dropped on later pieces.

Grendel bits and pieces

The start of the base from clay and mesh

a few bits added

pretty much done

the figs get a little attention

all done!

All airbrushed white ready to paint

Figs painted

Complete

This piece no longer exists other than in bits, so these are the original film shots of which there are not that many.