So I've been getting my 8 year old into gaming. He's a keen story teller and one of his favourite characters in his storys is a little hedgehog toy of his that he calls Hedgee.
Hedgee is the hero of countless tales and it's only fitting that that should continue on the gaming table too. So now it's down to me to sculpt a Hero Hedgee for us to use.
So here's the man himself, er hedgehog that is.
Now I've never done this before. I've done some sculpting of bits and pieces but never a full miniature from scratch. So this'll be a first for me. I asked him to do a little artist sketch to base my sculpting on and here's my little wire armature to start with. I've read that that's the first thing.
So here we go, one Hero Hedgee on the bench. Wish me luck.
Looking fantastic already! The pose is especially nice - something about the size in relation to the sword and his lil left arm sticking out for balance makes him look really innocent and pure, like a bonafide kids character! Great work, and a lovely way of playing with your boy! I'm sure he'll be thrilled with it when you finish!
Thanks PMcB. I was really just going off the sketch! Obviously the boy knows what he's doing when he picks up a pencil.
Next stage has been on with any hedgehog's most defining feature,
Thanks to a couple of (different coloured) brushes for donating some plastic bristles.
Next thing is his little snout. And glue that sword back on.
Automatically Appended Next Post: One little Hedgee face on.
I had a crack at a cobbled floor too. Just some little feet to add. And maybe a cute furrowed brow, think angry pikachu.
That is a bold and powerful looking hero of hedgehogs! I would have loved seeing one of my childhood stories made real like this and I am sure that your 8 year old will too
Next up, my younger son now wants one too. His toy, also a Mini Motsu beany plush, is a little black and white kitty called Kitty Mitty.
I wanted to have Kitty Mitty be a magical kitty, little wand and maybe a hat but no. My 6 year old has some pretty hard restrictions in place. No wands or weapons or additions of any kind. Only cuteness is allowed.
Not the strongest wire frame but I'm going with it.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Filled it out with a bit of paper and cut it down some because she was a bit taller than I wanted. Still is. I might drop the legs down a bit too. Looking forward to getting the green on and seeing the shape coming together.
Stage one of greenstuffing on Kitty Mitty.
My 6 year old (who has a will of iron) has made one concession. Kitty Mitty may have a butterfly on her hand.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sculpting almost done for Kitty Mitty. Might tidy up those spaghetti arms. But otherwise in pretty happy with that.
And Kitty Mitty is done! Bit of a different feel to this one. All sweetness and light and not much by way of smiting the enemy. Unless you count being smitten as a kitten.
Automatically Appended Next Post: One more shot for another angle.
I should've gotten a shot with the original Kitty Mitty toy. It's the same kind as the Hedgee one.
Thanks M–C. They've been hitting the Heroquest board hard.
Also...
Here's the original Hedgees heroes. Including the subject of my next sculpting attempt, a panda called Noodles.(Sorry, that's the name the Mini Motsu people gave him!)
Thanks very much. I am enjoying the project a lot and am pleasantly surprised at how it's been going. I think furry animals are maybe a particularly forgiving subject for sculpting.
So here they are, Hedgee's Heroes.
Very happy with how they've turned out and they're a hit with the kids too so that's all the better.
But I'm not done yet. As everyone knows every good hero story needs a good villain. And the bad guy of the story is
Armour Dog
Spoiler:
In the boy's original story, "Hedgee's Brilliant Rescue" They discover Kitty Mitty has been cat-napped by the evil Armour Dog. Because cats and dogs right? Apparently it's not that simple.
Armour Dog also hates all Hedgehogs because they eat dog food. He wears armour to protect against their spikes and is constantly developing technologies in his evil headquarters (Doggie HQ) to destroy hedgehogs. These mostly include lasers and bombs most often deployed by his doggie henchmen.
Now armour dog is not another toy. He's purely a made up character. And the drawing is basically a round blob with a face and arms and legs. And an R for R-mour on his armoured chest because Armour dog can't spell. There may be a story in there about how being bad at spellings didn't hold him back in life.
So first off it's wire frame time.
We're going for an anthropomorphic Alsatian. Your typical guard dog/police dog type but up on two legs.
And again I've bulked it out a bit with paper. Looks like a mummy. I mix a bit of PVA and water and tissue for this. It lets me mould it into shape on the wire frame and then when it's dry and its greenstuff time i have a semi solid base to start from the will still yield to a bit of stiff pressure if I need to shape it a bit for whatever reason.
gobert wrote:Interesting technique you’re applying to the wire frame. Rmour Dog sounds an interesting character, looking forward to him developing
Its the only "technique" I know. I'm honestly open to any know how anyone might have on how this kind of thing is normally done.
ScaryEd wrote:This is amazingly professional stuff. Get them on sale!
Thanks, but how would I even begin to do that? It's a nice idea, and I'd be delighted if people wanted to buy their own set of Hedgee's Heroes but in terms of producing versions to sell? I wouldn't have the first clue.
Thanks both of you. Glad you've found Hedgee's Heroes and glad you're enjoying the results. I'm loving the experience and learning a lot. Still a couple of Doggie henchmen to go after rmour dog is done. Not sure I'd be havin so much fun if we didn't get to keep and play with them.
On the theme of playing with them. Here's the Heroquest character cards we made.
Automatically Appended Next Post: In other news...
That armoured dog looks great! And with all the slightly older bits in there, it reminds me a lot of some of the classic hand sculpted models. Awesome work!
Chuffed with how this guy has turned out, especially now the paint is on!
Found a nice old plasma pistol.
Some bits off an old plastic Necromunda Goliath arm.
Necron Scarab for a backpack
Old plastic termie power fist and 2nd ed 40k ork shoulder pad
And of course a space marine power armour chest piece. (And a few other Space marine bits.)
Got a nice little 'r' on the chest plate too as per the specific brief from my creative director.
CaptainWaffle wrote: I'd gladly place R-mour dog on my table. What a great work! The cards are icing on the cake. Is there more to this universe after the doggie henchmen?
Well let's see now. Rmour dog has a brother called Sneaky Dog. He's a bad guy from another book. This book is a super hero comic starring our cat Banjo - it's called Banjo SuperCat. He's a crime fighting feline with a little sidekick called Super Budgie. (We don't have a budgie) So after the 2 doggie henchmen I'm working on (pics to follow soon) I can see me doing Banjo SuperCat, Super Budgie and Sneaky Dog.
Sneaky Dog, I've been told, has a long nose. So despite the fact that he's Rmour Dog's brother he'a not an Alsatian. The boy has picked a log nosed Russian hound type of a thing.
So plenty more to come if I don't run out of greenstuff.
First stage of greenstuff on the doggie henchmen beside the artists rendition of them at work. Still lots of detail to do including their entire heads!
Stage two of greenstuffing on the doggie henchmen.
And apparently stage 3!
They've come together well enough though I'll be happier once there's some paint on them I reckon.
They're kinda just generic poses so I can stand them in front of a defensive laser or bomb launcher. I've been raiding the old bits box to build those too.
Thanks. They're at a halfway stage of painting but that hasn't stopped play. Hedgee's Heroes have been making an assault on Rmour Dog's lair.
So here we have Rmour Dog and Doggie henchman number one in action atop Doggie HQ with a their WIP bomb launcher.
It's half a Skull Pass dwarf cart attached to some kind of fat ordinance gun barrel mounted on comically oversized airfix wheels. It'll have a big cone on top so the bad guys can toss stuff inside to fire at our heroes and I'm totally going to give it a red circus clown canon paint job.
Meanwhile Doggie Henchman number 2 is manning the perimeter defence laser.
It's a standard guardie lascannon on an improvised base, bit of rough sprue for legs and some greenstuff for detail. It's pretty much finished, just needs some paint.
Kitty Mitty isn't a bit bothered though...
Paint or no paint she'll happily turn the big laser against Rmour Dog's tower. She's all cute and cuddly on the outside but she's no softy!
It tends to be a bit more free play but we'll use Heroquest combat dice and the occasional Necromunda based mechanic; initiative checks or the doggie henchmen if Hedgee is trying to fool them with a clever disguise or leadership rolls if someone might get scared or scatter dice for random movement. There are no real hard and fast rules more just ways of telling the story.
It'd be funny to do a full battle report on one of these games.
Sounds really fun. Kids and rules tend to be a challenge when they’re young, but I bet the story keeps them interested. That and the awesomely sculpted minis you’ve made for them!
Thanks Argive, not much chance of that. There's no shortage of enthusiasm from the wee man.
So here the Doggie Henchmen are, all painted up and ready to defend Doggie HQ
Look at their wee hats and hi-vis tabards. Safety first pups.
Not the tidiest sculpting from the back I have to say but I'm very happy with their little doggie faces.
And what's next?
I've got a new gaggle of wire skeletons on the bench all ready to go.
Bit of the old green on another pair of Doggie Henchmen. These two will be a Scottish Terrier and an Old English Sheepdog. At least that's what I'll be aiming for. We'll see if they come out looking anything like. Still lots of detail to go on both.
Man, this stuff just keeps getting better and better! I think their little hi-viz jackets look great! The Old English Sheepdog already resembled his breed. I can’t wait to see where this goes next!
Thanks guys, its encouraging to hear that real grown up gamers also dig what I'm putting out there.
Tonight's progress comes in the form of a mummy-stage Sneaky Dog and a wire skeleton Banjo SuperCat.
The photo's not the best really but you can see the long neck on Sneaky Dog. There was a whippet tied at the school gates this morning and the boy and I both took one look at it, looked at eachother and went "Sneaky Dog!" So thats that.
Then on the wire frame Banjo you can see he's in a dynamic action pose, one foot planted the other out behind, bit of a superman pose in the arms and a cape flying out back. Well maybe I you squint at this pic you could see that. The mummy stage might be easier to see the shape.
Anyway, I'm super excited for this one!
Green stages on the doggies is progressing, slowly.
Whilst I don’t see myself as a real grown up (despite the years), I am loving these minis! The mummy stage of super banjo is already looking the business too!
Tonight's update sees one more Doggie Henchman done with greenstuffing and ready for some primer.
f
Still not sure if he needs a hard hat so I reckon I'm gonna get some paint on the guy and eyeball him for a while to find out.
Considering their scale - superb! And thank You once again for providing some sculpting stages. I personally can't overcome my fear to go below 32mm. But maybe envy will do the trick one day...
Well Wirecat I'm not achieving anything close to your level of precision. I actually had a look at your sculpting WIP pics before I started this whole process to get an idea of how to go about it. So thanks for showing us those they were very helpful.
Tonight's progress is another completed doggie Henchman.
Rocking out with a spanner!
Thanks cap. Glad you like them. Not much of an update tonight I'm afraid. There have been a few issues. The Old English Sheepdoggie got stood on! Not to worry he's been mended now and painting has begun on both. I also thought his nose needed a bit more fur too so that's got to cure before I can get back to painting him.
I've also been working on the Doggie HQ defensive weapons but sadly nothing is finished so nothing to show yet.
Automatically Appended Next Post: The doggie face of evil!
Automatically Appended Next Post: The epic struggle between super cute good and super cute evil continues. Also. Kitty Mitty now has a magic top hat. You know, for magic tricks.
Wirecat wrote: Great group shot(s)! Wonderful opportunity to show off their individuality. This would need an industrial or a suburbian battlefield though...
(goes away to kick the "Suburbia" out of the stupid wire head)
Let's take a ride, and run with the dogs tonight
In Suburbia
You can't hide, run with the dogs tonight
In Suburbia.
Break the window by the town hall
Listen to siren screams
There in the distance, like a roll call
Of all the suburban dreams.
Haha, Petshop Boys. Wierdly appropriate.
I was actually thinking just that, about an urban setting for this. I was thinking of adapting old Necromunda rules for a full on Raid Scenario. Proper industrial setting that.
And AT you're right, those doggies are just too cute to be proper bad guys. Turns out I can't sculpt evil. Good job I'm not doing vampires and zombies for the boy's "Halloween Army" (that's really a thing. He has an undead skeleton T-Rex and everything!) Imaginethe blood curdling terror of a super cute zombie giving you those puppy-dog eyes because he wants your brains.
Godert, I can't claim the genius. I just do as directed. But I agree, it was a top idea. The child is full of them.
Work begins on SuperCat's sidekick SuperBudgie.
Not so much a wire skeleton as a... Magnet skeleton?
And with the obligatory coat of greenstuff. Not very impressive at this stage I know but they all gotta start somewhere.
I've also been required by my creative director to show you all this.
He's seen all your comments and encouragement and is a very happy boy. So thanks from both of us.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Some proper WIP for tonight's post.
Banjo SuperCat and Sneaky Dog get some green. Spent most of the time on Sneaky Dog's leather bomber jacket.
Today I've gotten some painted artillery to show.
The lascannon is a bit rough and ready and admittedly not so exciting as the big clown cannon but they're both very useful.
I have also been producing some bombs for the launcher. Their design owes much to the style of bombs in Danger Mouse. One big counter for the supply of Bombs the doggies use and another smaller one so we can place the bomb they just launched beside the hapless hedgehog (Bwa ha ha!)
In proper sculpting news. Super Budgie has some features.
Actually I'm not at all sure you could call that proper sculpting. Wings and legs have been done separately and all will be assembled tomorrow.
Banjo and Sneaky are also coming along slowly too. I'm hoping to get them both more or less finished tomorrow too so hopefully all three to show soon.
Some solid progress on the sculpting front today. Firstly we've got this guy done!
It's Sneaky Dog, fresh from his latest bank robbery. But what's that ominous shadow behind him?
It's this guy! Super Budgie is complete. Not surprising that he's done before Super Cat as he's so small.
Here's the crime fighting duo beside the cover of the boy's book.
Unfortunately Super Cat isn't quite done yet. Still some facial features and his shrink ray to complete.
But also, I've been having fun with magnets on these three.
As you can see in this shot Super Cat has taken the magnetised swag bag off Sneaky Dog. (Thanks to the wire skeletons inside each sculpt)
and Super Budgie (also magnetised) has swooped to the rescue grabbing Super Cat in the nick of time.
We can put the bag on the budgie, the budgie on Sneaky Dog's hand and so on. The play potential is looking great! I could see more magnetised items in the future.
Absolute genius work you’re producing theCrowe. The kids must be loving the magnetised bag and budgie! It’d probably last about 5 minutes in my house though! I can’t begin to imagine what you’ll produce next!
Super budgie is looking impressive! Those little goggles are excellent
He's the quickest he's the bravest he's the best!
Love me some DM. It really does make me laugh.
You'll notice the goggles look different on the first pic from the second one. That's cause after they dried I managed to bust them off and then went and glued them on upside down! Still, looks ok.
gobert wrote:Absolute genius work you’re producing theCrowe. The kids must be loving the magnetised bag and budgie! It’d probably last about 5 minutes in my house though! I can’t begin to imagine what you’ll produce next!
Thanks gobert. I'm in painting mode for now with these three. I'll post a pic of the completed SuperCat sculpt soon.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Here he is. Might do a bit of something around the face maybe I'll see what it looks like with some primer on. Pretty happy with how the "shrink ray" turned out. It used to be a little Necromunda stub gun.
Sneaky Dog looks great, is that a can of pepper spray he’s holding? I still love that the swag bag is interchangeable! That’ll make for some great chasing games
It's actually "Invisible Spray" (straight outa Dog Man by Dav Pilkey) He can use it once per game to make himself invisible for D6 turns. What a sneaky trick!
Tonight's update comes in the style of a battle report. Or at least the story of one of our games.
Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls, we give you...
Sneaky Dog's Sneaky Bank Job
Spoiler:
It was a Bank Job and Sneak dog laid the plans out on the table for his gang of no-good criminals.
The Bank was a high security multi storey facility and heavily guarded. But that never stopped Sneaky Dog before.
All he needed was a good distraction and a bit of luck. So the gang split up and made themselves conspicuous.
They drew the guards away from their posts allowing Sneaky Dog (with the aid of a little invisible spray) to sneak in the back door unnoticed.
Down in the basement Big Ed managed to score a big hit on the buildings main generator and knocked out the power and the alarm system!
But the alarm had already been raised as a shoot out was developing over on the east side of the tower.
Super Budgie was first on the scene swooping into action on an unsuspecting bandit.
Super Cat (in his Catmobile) and the Chief of Police weren't far behind and they soon had the bad guys in cuffs. (Sadly SuperCat hadn't been painted yet)
But Sneaky Dog is already inside and he's spotted a guard with a key card that he needs to get into the vault.
With that guy bumped off its time to get his dirty paws on the cash.
Over in the south west the decoy squad were busy breaking into the security store.
They scored some handy new gear but the cops were still on their case.
They let off a smoke grenade and escaped in the confusion.
They didn't get far however because Super Cat's remote control Cat Mobile was onto them.
One of the bad guys managed to get inside but the other fella wasn't so lucky... (rough justice I guess.)
Meanwhile Super Cat has been interrogating the boys in cuffs and threatening to shrink them with his shrink ray.
They've blabbed the whole plan telling Super Cat all about Sneaky Dog. He's in the Vault!
Super Cat and Super Budgie waste no time but fly right on up there just in time to see that Sneaky villain making a getaway down the back stairs. Looks like his invisible spray has worn off!
Super Cat and the guard open fire while Super a budgie swoops.
Super Budgie wins the fight relieving the sneaky thief of a bag of cash but he's still getting away with the suitcase of gold bars!
Down on the ground the Bad Guy in the Cat Mobile has had a bit of an accident.
And over in the east a couple more bad guys have made an attempt at rescuing their captured buddies.
But the long arm of the law prevails in short order.
However, while the chief and the guard were dealing with them the other prisoners escaped and met up with their boss who breaks their cuffs.
We're back in business boys! Now where is that dog with the swag?
He's on the run and Super cat is hot on his heels. But even though the guards are well out of position he still has to run their gauntlet of laser fire in a bid for freedom. But then...
He is headed off by Super Cat with the guards closing in behind. He has nowhere to run. Unless...
Sneaky Dog's lurking surprise-goon was lying in wait. He fires at Super Cat and misses but the momentary distraction is all Sneaky Dog needs to make a break for it.
He doubles back hoping to join up with the rest of the gang but this time it's the cops' turn to shout "Surprise!" He's shot down like a dog in the street!
And Super Cat makes the arrest, while Super Budgie secures the gold.
The chief closes the net around the remaining gang members and the guards mop up the last goon on the ground.
All that remains now is for Super Cat and Super Budgie to hand over the Sneaky culprit and the stolen swag to the Chief of Police.
Another great day for justice!
Super Cat Banjo is looking a bit cuter after a facial fix up.
And Super Budgie is.... A much simpler paint job.
I just slapped on the Hawk Turquoise and called it a day. Maybe because I sculpted this one to be very like the original picture It maybe didn't make sense to start looking at actual budgies for the paint job stage.
Great game/story you guys had! Well done to the brave cop who shot Sneaky Dog down.
He maybe a simple paint job, but you’ve captured the cuteness on SuperBudgie that’s for sure. I love his goggles, perfect injection of humour! I’m not normally a cat lover, but Banjo looks aces!
Thanks CB, very kind of you. Glad you enjoyed the game.
Tonight Rmour Dog's R&D team at Doggie HQ have been working hard.
So that's two more doggie henchmen on the bench getting the green treatment with a view to giving the dog squad some serious armoured fire power.
Watch out Hedgee!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, in an unrelated story.
We now also have this guy. This fella is simply called The Monster. More on him later.
Missed a pic of the wire stage on all of these but you get the idea by now.
You might be right about the base on SuperCat. Not sure if it's just the photo but I'll have a look at it when I next have it out. I hadn't really considered it.
Also, it's not a Great Dane I was thinking of it's going to be a Doberman. Think I might be done with dogs after these two.
Hello again. Been busy building a kitchen so updates have been slow this week but I've gotten some progress pics for you now.
Sculpting on one of our mechanised doggies is now done!
So here we have the little guy in the big walker.
I think he looks a bit cat-ish but I'm hoping the paint will fix that. Maybe.
Then there's this guy for the tank.
Coming together nicely with a good Doberman shape around the face and ears. Not quite done yet though.
I can kind of see what you mean about the sentinel dog, but a bit of paint and he’ll soon look canine. Will the sentinel have a lead for walking the other dogs?
Thanks everyone. I'm lookig forward to seeing these two painted and on the gaming table.
So here goes with some progress for the weekend.
First up its the tank commander doggie henchman.
Now honestly I hadn't planned on this look for him but then I saw a pic of a certain Prime Minister in a Challenger tank...
Well, it's a bit of a joke that makes me smile anyway. Not sure the boy would get it. And though I was a child in the 80s I was only 2 at the time myself so I'll not pretend I remember it happening. I remember her though, she stole my milk!
And next up. Super Budgie has got a little perch to sit on when he's not flying.
That's it for now. Back to fitting the new kitchen for me. (Check out my new Wooden worktops!)
Pretty happy with this little fella.
My old Russ is showing its age a bit though. The paint is a bit of a slap job, but I don't care enough to redo it. Plenty of other projects to be getting on with.
Like a chihuahua in a sentinel!!! That coming next. Probably.
Doberman Maggie looks great! I like how she’s got a scarf as she did back in the original pic, great little touch! I think the inspiration and the dog breed are well matched, but being from a mining area I would say that. The old Leman Russ stands up pretty well and would be great fun for the super hero’s to smash it to pieces in the next game!
Didn't get a chance to rebuild the sentinel but here's a quick pic of the little fella all ready for the job.
Looking forward to seeing him in action soon.
Did I forget to show the progress on this guy?
This was The Monster a few days ago. Bit on the hairy side.
Then this is The Monster after another greenstuffing session. Looking a bit more feathered and characterful.
See, he used to be a chicken but a crazy witchy guy poured a power potion on him and turned him into this.
Yep, I can definitely see the chicken, the feathers are much more feathery in the second pic. Don’t want to come across him in the alley behind the fried chicken shop!
The pooch in the sentinel looks great too, are the colours on his controls the right way round? Port = Red = Left Hand and Starboard = Green = Right Hand? Or ignore gobert if the colours were coincidental? Either way he’s going to be cool prowling the Doggy base!
The little guy just became the big guy!
Nice aggressive stompy pose.
It's tricky to get a good angle for a photo of this guy. I think maybe his booster seat is a bit too big so his face is a bit obscured by the bars.
Anyway, he seems like a happy little guy in his giant stompy war machine.
Unfortunately gobert the red/green is backwardsed. I just wanted the dome on the one controller to be a big red button and the flat square on the other to be a little green screen.
Anyway, just the Monster to paint now. Not sure what else I could add at this point. Some spooks maybe. (The Monster's henchmen)
Most go on about goggles, but I will rave about their ears. They are adorable, and dogs speak with them almost as much as with their tails. That sentinel dog is clearly enjoying the walk!
So here's the latest bit of progress. The Monster is painted up as is the base for Super Budgie.
ChaoticMind you're right, he does put me in mind of an owlbear. The boy has never heard of owlbears and was quick to assert that no, he's a chicken monster. But look at him he's totally a purple owlbear.
Hi folks. Been taking a break from sculpting to (wash my hands excessively and) paint 1:300 scale ww2 planes (of course!) but now I'm back at it with a plan to sculpt the latest notions from the 8 year old brain of my child. I'll let this page from one of his books explain.
So now we have the Monster it's time to have some spooks. The boy loves drawing Spooks. They're very much in the line of bed-sheet style ghosts. But they can have elemental aspects like fire spooks or water spooks, or jobs like fixed spooks or security spooks. You can see the wire armatures on bases that I aim to be my first 2 Spooks. Maybe 4 planned. Two white spooks, a red fire spook and a blue water spook. At least that's the plan. And then there's still his evil witchy friend.
Yet more WINNING on this blog! I’m looking forward to seeing how the spooks develop and the now inevitable evil wizard! I hope you guys are keeping well, the story telling must be helping with the isolation.
Please make on eof the generic spooks a.security spook with sunglasses and a.curly wire earpiece in the best tradition of stereotypical Secret Service style security types
Thanks all. Really glad you're still enjoying the madness. Tonight, the first two spooks get some insides.
Just a couple of waste chunks of kids modelling clay that I found. Glued the wire in there and shaved it down to roughly the right shape. Pretty rough but it'll hold a sheet of gluey tissue paper.
But the real fun of the evening was when my younger son wanted in on the action. We recently finished "publication" of his book 'The Construction Workers' featuring a slug called Slimon.
So of course I had to make him a little Slimon to play with.
The balls of green stuff will be drilled and stuck on the eye stalks once they set. Better and closer pics soon when it's all painted up. Although, Slimon is a black slug. I'll maybe have to dig out the real camera for a proper picture. (if I can find the plug for the battery charger!) all my pics of late have been crummy phone pics. Last decent camera job I did was for Rmour Dog.
You'd have to go to my kid's p4 class and give him 20p, but unfortunately school is closed due to lockdown.
I suppose I should try to get them online for him. Is there a free and easy and child safe place I can host my own webcomics? That sort of thing could work I guess.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Time for a progress update.
The purple blobs of clay have been covered in a sheet of PVA soaked tissue and left to dry. Then I hit them with a liberal blast of (I kid you not) stone chip paint, like you'd use to underspray a vehicle. It's heavy globby stuff that I hoped would round off the roughness of the kitchen roll I used for the ghostie sheets and give them a more cartoonish feel. Worked well enough I think. Once that was dried off it was onto the green stuff.
With a nice later of green on the front of the spook I let the boy do some of the sculpting to draw out the face and give him whatever expression he liked.
We also had some fun with balsa wood and the exacto-knife. (Don't tell mum!)
And here we have...
"Special Delivery!" It's the Post Ghost!
In other news.
Slimon got some primer and he's ready to paint.
@gobert- not Simon, it's Slimon (SLIME-on) These kids crack me up.
Lots more spooks cominacha!
And then, starting to look a little more spooky.
I'll hit these with some anti-stone-chip paint tomorrow morning as I'm happy that it works well and kinda thickens and rubberises the surface of the tissue paper. And it smoothes and fills the roughness out of the surface. It works.
And the big red invincible King Spook. He now has a face and some arms.
I've been told he needs a melty crown. So that'll be fun.
His buddy is also coming together. No theme in mind yet. I'm sure I'll be told what the plan is for him shortly. As for the rest, if I can slip a CIA spook in there I totally will.
Hi everyone. Another exciting update from the world of Hedgee's Heroes today as another member of the original Hedgee crew, a founder member in fact, is finally taking his rightful place among the miniature collection. It's none other than...
Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar, known to Hedgee and friends as Caterpillee. The guys ride on him like their trusty steed.
Sorry for skipping photos of stages but this one is a wire strung with balls of the same pink clay as the spooks are made of. He was hit with a coat of stone chip paint (to hide my finger prints and sloppy work) and mounted on a card base.
After a few minutes the stone chip paint is actually quite good to etch into with a pin. I did some flagstone detail before it was fully set and added some toothbrush bristles for grass. Then he got some static grass fur along his back and some green-stuff horns and eyes and a "world of Eric Carle" label on his tail. (Just like our plushy caterpillar). And a coat of grey primer. (I obviously didn't wait long enough for the other paint to dry as there are little bubbles coming through) Looking forward to painting this guy up as he's a bit of an art legend.
And on the subject of painted minis...
Post Ghost is done.
And also fully painted and apparently an instant fan favourite...
It's SLIMON!
I can see thy Slimon is so popular, and it looks like someone is amazed by him! Post Ghost looks great too, but I can’t wait to see caterpillee. Will you be doing half eaten fruit for terrain!?
Painting on my sculpt of Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar is done and I have to say I'm delighted at how he turned out.
And most importantly the kids are happy too.
Back with the spooks. There's been some good progress with some simple green stuff faces added and wire arms ready for some more.
These aren't nearly as detailed as the doggies so I should turn them out quick enough... I hope.
Thanks everyone for all the comments and support. We're all still having a great time on this project. Glad you're all enjoying it too.
the caterpillar looks amazing! Even Mrs Gobert approves, which is saying something. Great idea with the codex, will you be getting the kids some inks and charcoal for some Blanchitsu illustrations?
Always a joy to see what you and your kids are up to, crowe, and that you all are staying well! Excited to see how the ghosts turn out. Gives me things to look forward to when my offspring get older.
Thanks tinfoil. Really glad you're enjoying our shenanigans.
Now before this caterpillar chows down on another tasty gaming morsel I'll slip in some proper sculpting progress on the spooks.
Here we have a pirate spook (Avast Ye!) and a water spook.
Automatically Appended Next Post: On Thursday he ate through four grimy grots.
Thanks gobert.
And because home lockdown affords me plenty of time to hobby...
All four spooks sculpted, and primed ready to paint. Spot the Secret service spook (as requested Flinty, great idea!)
This is going to be a fantastically powerful butterfly with all these foes the caterpillar is munching through! There’s definitely a PacMan vibe on the ghosts, looking really cool
One Gnasher Squig, one Skeleton, one Beastman, one Night Goblin Fanatic, one Zombie, one Mutant Cultist, one Genestealer, one Chaos Space Marine Sorcerer, one Stone Troll and one Giant.
love the idea of a drop pod for a cocoon. I look forward to him emerging in two weeks time. Awesome storytelling, were your creative directors involved?
This is absolutely brilliant, it's put a massive grin on my face. A shame I can only subscribe once! Loved the adventures of the caterpillar, the drop pod cocoon had me in bits Keep it up, everything about this thread is superb.
Side note - how are you doing the books? Is it some sort of DTP software, or just a clever way of using Word?
gobert wrote: Awesome storytelling, were your creative directors involved?
A little bit. He did come up with the scale shift plan for the big fat caterpillar (though he wanted some battle mechs involved like some kind of caterpillar b-movie.) I thought the tiny 6mm soldiers would convey the idea better.
Skinflint Games wrote:***ROUSING APPLAUSE***
This is absolutely brilliant, it's put a massive grin on my face. A shame I can only subscribe once! Loved the adventures of the caterpillar, the drop pod cocoon had me in bits Keep it up, everything about this thread is superb.
Side note - how are you doing the books? Is it some sort of DTP software, or just a clever way of using Word?
Thanks. Very kind praise. To make the books I scan the original drawings into the computer and the boys tell me theit story and we type it up and arrange it all on Microsoft Publisher. It's a bit of a faff but I'm pretty well versed in how to arrange them by now. Then they print off a bunch of copies and sell them to their classmates in school!
gobert wrote: Awesome storytelling, were your creative directors involved?
A little bit. He did come up with the scale shift plan for the big fat caterpillar (though he wanted some battle mechs involved like some kind of caterpillar b-movie.) I thought the tiny 6mm soldiers would convey the idea better.
Skinflint Games wrote:***ROUSING APPLAUSE***
This is absolutely brilliant, it's put a massive grin on my face. A shame I can only subscribe once! Loved the adventures of the caterpillar, the drop pod cocoon had me in bits Keep it up, everything about this thread is superb.
Side note - how are you doing the books? Is it some sort of DTP software, or just a clever way of using Word?
Thanks. Very kind praise. To make the books I scan the original drawings into the computer and the boys tell me theit story and we type it up and arrange it all on Microsoft Publisher. It's a bit of a faff but I'm pretty well versed in how to arrange them by now. Then they print off a bunch of copies and sell them to their classmates in school!
Oh, that is so cool! Very creative boys you have there. I might try and do that with my own lad (just turned 5), he digs reading and stories, the idea that he could tell his own would really interest him. Thanks
SO EXCITED! I’d built myself up to expect a 2 week wait and then you throw a spoiler like that! It’s a bit dull in Bristol, do hopefully it’s nicer in Norn Iron... though my experience would tell me that is a naive hope!
And not just that. Hedgee's heroes can all ride on top for some excellent flying transport action!
I took some WIP photos along the way so we can all do a peak inside the cocoon when I get it drawn up.
Thanks for reading along with the caterpillar and all the encouragement that helped get such a huge piece onto the tabletop. Very exciting!
Very glad to have randomly stumbled across this thread. Just went through it from start to finish and loved every second of it. Such great things in here!
Thanks everyone. I feel I can hardly take credit though when Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar is such a universally beloved children's classic. All the design work was done for me and I just followed the plan.
That said I'm well chuffed it's come off so well. The size was a surprise and the wire mount gives it a pleasant bounce on the table top. The base is maybe a bit overwrought though. Too much clutter and not really suited to the style of the butterfly. I feel like a grassy hill would've served just as well if not better. Anyway, thanks for all the support and comments.
Hopefully I'll get back to painting the spooks now and thinking about what to sculpt next.
Thanks all. Glad to be bringing some brightness into the grimdark.
Now as promised...
A peak inside the cocoon. No pupating insects were harmed during the making of this documentary.
The build began the same way as the rest with a paper clip wire inside some pink clay squashed into the shape of the butterfly's body. I lined up the body I had made against the picture in our big cardboard book and was suddenly aware of the size it was going to end up.
I put the book into the scanner and printed off some copies of the wings. I glued them to some thick card and cut them out. Assembly would require some stiff wire so i stripped some out of an old electrical cable I had and cut it to size. I didn't want the copper to react with the glue so i left the insulation on. I ground out a nice bendy track on each wing for it to sit in. And also added a couple of magnets on each side.
I fed the wires through the centre of the body and glued it all into place with epoxy and left it to set. Once that was dry I printed a reverse image of both wings, mounted them on some card and glued them on top.
The next issue was how to make him fly. While disassembling our old washing machine (to use the barrel for a garden fire barrel, it's really great!) I found a nice firm springy wire holding the rubber seal in place. I cut tree lengths and fed them up inside the rear of the body and glued them into the back of an old square base.
I glued that in place on an oval of hardboard with more epoxy and clamped down to set. Then it was time to think about the smaller details.
The legs were made with some garden wire and I used some more washing machine wire for the antennae with a couple of polystyrene balls on top.
I threw a lot of crud on the base including some walls I'd made, a big stone and some flock. I masked off the wings and some of the base features to hit the whole lot with a grey rattle can. Had to remember to mask those polystyrene balls!
Then it was time to throw a lot of static grass around the base. Some paint, some more bits of lichen and moss etc. All that good organic stuff.
The butterfly itself took a coat or two of yellow acrylic. I used proper artists tube acrylics to try and keep the crafty theme going.
No need for highlights and shading here. The edges of the wings did look pretty messy though. So I went all around the edge with a thick line of yellow acrylic right out of the tube.
Now the big guy's wings were all trim and ready for action. In this photo you can also see the page fold line in the original scan of the book. Love it!
And best of all, because there are magnets in there...
Hedgee's Heroes can ride into battle! Oh yeah!
Thanks Skin. Glad you're getting so much out of it.
Alright, now for something (not)completely different.
It's back to the traditional wire-frame on a single base sculpting.
Abracadabra diggity Noops. It's the Evil Wizard. (AKA the Monster's Witchy Friend)
Our first actually human character so I'm a bit nervous how this'll go. Wish me luck.
I'll set the evil wizard aside for a bit. Put some filler stuff on him, (the same stuff I've been building spooks on) which I hope will be good when it sets, otherwise I'll just pull it off and do the old PVA and paper trick.
In the meantime, I've finally got around to painting these guys.
Left to right its a Secret Service Security Spook, the Dread-Pirate Spook Captain, a Spooked Spook and a Water Spook. Nice to have this little collection done.
But what's Hedgee got here?
More spooks maybe? We'll have to wait and see what he gets up to.
Nice to see some of the spooks getting some individual appreciation. There's a favourite spook for everyone and probbably a favourite doggie henchman or Hedgee's Hero too.
Now as you might have gathered Hedgee is a pretty big deal in our house despite being only a few inches tall. But as with all beloved teddies it's a bit of a problem when Hedgee gets lost, which due to his miniature size has happened a good few times. This has meant that there have been a couple of replacement Hedgees over the years. (Gasp!) But funnily enough he's always been found (eventually) and all the replacements have just become much beloved cousins, Nedgee, Sledgee and Wedgee.
So as you can see we felt that seeing as Hedgee has his own Hedgeehammer (TM) miniature it's only fair that the rest of the Hedgee crew should have one too. So here are the wire frame beginnings of Naval Officer Nedgee (he might be a pirate) , Sledgee the Sledgehammer (he's a Hedgeeweight boxer) and Wedgee the Wise (he's a good wizard and super smart).
Sorry to spam you all with yet more wireframes. It's been a productive day.
My creative director has advised me that I've mixed up Sledgee and Nedgee. He's quite adamant that I redo this picture with the right wire frame in front of the right hedgehog.
Progress from today.
I almost forgot to take a pic of this guy at the filler material stage. Turns out this stuff isn't so good as the old PVA and tissue paper trick but I stuck with it.
So here's the wizard after a first round of green.
I've been thinking about his clothes a lot. It's by no means decided what he should be wearing. Boots maybe, a big sleevey shirt? A bow tie? I've no idea.
In other progress...
Paper filler stage is complete on all three hedgehogs. (Correctly identified and arranged this time!)
Hedgee also has an update on his side project and it's not Spooks!
It's Nop and Dop the stars of the boys latest book "Square Cops"
More of that stupid rubbery plastic foam/clay stuff on the go again. I'm going to hit it with a heavy layer of grey primer once it finally stiffens up. I mean, Hedgee is gonna do that, of course. Hopefully that'll solve the greenstuff plus wet tool issues when it comes to face sculpting time.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And today has also seen some detail in green appearing on the (too cute to be)Evil Wizard.
I'm going to tackle his actual face and head next I think. Then it's arms and hands and shirt etc etc.
So many hedgehogs! one of my nephews had a similar experience with his beloved stuffed rabbit, except he didn't know that there was more than one. Until the day he walked into the laundry room and saw one hanging up to dry while he had the other in his hands. Came out with his eyes huge, just saying "TWO BUNNIES" in the most stunned voice possible.
Ahem, anyhow. Wizard is looking good! I love his hat
So now we have some facial features and I've got to say with the pointy hat and the beard he's beginning to look more gnomly than wizardly. But not to worry. He'd be a pretty big gnome. And he'll have a suitably wizardly looking paint job.
Here's the back view. Nice proper starry wizard cape too.
This is without a doubt the greatest thing I have ever seen on the internet!
In one thread you have managed to encapsulate everything that is great about our hobby, parenthood and frankly life in general!
Its easy to get mixed up with negativity and general cynicism in this day and age, but here you are proving that being a good person and thinking about others first can lead to great things!
I'm sure you`re son will go on to do great things in life with someone like you as a role-model!
I don't post much but this thread just makes me so happy!
This thread shows skill, technical ability and caring
I salute you Sir!
PS. Do you think we could get an "adventures of hedgees heroes" series of battle report type things thread? Would really love to hear how all your hard work worked out in the end.
Square cops and the Wiz are looking great! Maybe a rim on his hat would make him look more wizard than gnome? That might be hard, so maybe his power have gone to his head and grown it? Looks awesome... kinda hoping he gets blue clothes, red hat and a white beard too... sorry!
This is without a doubt the greatest thing I have ever seen on the internet!
In one thread you have managed to encapsulate everything that is great about our hobby, parenthood and frankly life in general!
Its easy to get mixed up with negativity and general cynicism in this day and age, but here you are proving that being a good person and thinking about others first can lead to great things!
I'm sure you`re son will go on to do great things in life with someone like you as a role-model!
I don't post much but this thread just makes me so happy!
This thread shows skill, technical ability and caring
I salute you Sir!
PS. Do you think we could get an "adventures of hedgees heroes" series of battle report type things thread? Would really love to hear how all your hard work worked out in the end.
Well thank you very much. I do appreciate your encouragement and support. But honestly it's much more fun doing this and having an enthusiastic gaming buddy than trying to convince an eight year old that all the rules and points etc in 40k are super important. Nothing kills the fun and creativity quicker than a heavy rule book full of words you don't understand that probably don't even cover the cool thing you want to do.
The boy is really down for bat reping a series of games, (one for each hedgehog) when they're all finished. We'll brainstorm some plans and see if we can make that happen some time in the future.
gobert wrote:Square cops and the Wiz are looking great! Maybe a rim on his hat would make him look more wizard than gnome? That might be hard, so maybe his power have gone to his head and grown it? Looks awesome... kinda hoping he gets blue clothes, red hat and a white beard too... sorry!
Well yes his head is too big. I think his little unfinished arms don't help. By the end I'm hoping his head will be more "heroic scale" than just big and fat. I'll probably bulk out his boots too. But anyway, it'll be arms and hands next. And a shirt of some kind. Maybe even a magic talisman or medallion of some sort..
Wirecat wrote:That wiz is evil enough.. Making him more evil would require turning the star on his wand upside down - or painting anarchy symbol on it.
Very good greenstuffing here! Great progress, please keep up and keep us informed and in the news! Cheers!
Thanks for the encouragement, I do feel like I'm groping in the dark a little on this one. Just figuring out things as I go along. There's not been any progress the last couple of days. The boy and I have been working on his next book (Square Cops 2: The Underground Adventure) so no more sculpting has occurred. That and a delivery of wall paint for the dining room. A roller is not my preferred size of brush. :(
I love the line up of the replacement cousins... you can see the different degrees of love they have each received in their turn in the worlds most important role
I feel like you need an old school warhammer command group. Hero, champion, standard bearer and musician
Flinty wrote: I love the line up of the replacement cousins... you can see the different degrees of love they have each received in their turn in the worlds most important role
I feel like you need an old school warhammer command group. Hero, champion, standard bearer and musician
You think GW would take me on to sculpt them a new AOS army? The Hedgehog Hegemony! A faction known for its unmatchable cuteness.
I've been adding a layer of greenstuff one side on each everyday and filing it flat when it hardens up trying to make them as flat and squared off as possible but it's tricky enough. This is the rear view. Just the face sides to go now but I need a chance to work on the faces without being interrupted which in home lockdown with the kids isn't always possible. Hence no further wizard updates either. Soon hopefully.
theCrowe wrote: Progress update on the Square Cops ... I've been adding a layer of greenstuff one side on each everyday and filing it flat when it hardens up trying to make them as flat and squared off as possible but it's tricky enough.
Actually greenstuff is one of the worst kinds of putty to sand or file. You could try Milliput or other clay-like putties for this kind of work, maybe going for heat-hardened "plasticines" like FiMo. Stuff people use to make larger dolls (mostly Japanese made), that hardens in the air may also work.
Well, amazing stories and works of art continue! GW may or may not take a notice, but there are a lot of other companies and individuals out there that may take a notice at such an unusual style and subject. Cheers!
Slow progress on this guy with only tiny chances to sculpt a tiny bit at a time. This update adds a wooden wand handle, the right hand, curly toes on his boots and a spell book under his left arm.
Still smoothing and filing the square cops. Filing the greenstuff doesn't seem to be too bad. It's working OK for what I'm going for. I still have both of the faces to do so not much progress worth showing there. I'll just take a pic to show when they're done.
Wow, you’ve been busy since I last stopped by. The Wiz and Nedgee are looking fantastic. The wizard almost looks like he was thrown out of hogwarts and couldn’t afford new clothes his entire life! Apart from a hat and cloak!
I’m getting an “Old School” Early American History Teacher vibe from the wizard, which is perfect.
You know the one, EVERYBODY hates him but he’s had tenure forever, apparently hates anyone who isn’t at least 20 years older than him, and hasn’t updated his information since graduating college so beyond the basics it’s been considered at best apocryphal for the last 10 years. Not intentionality evil, just sanctimonious and out of touch to a dangerous degree.
Yes Gobert. The Hogwarts Hufflepuff colours tie is a deliberate nod. And yes, ChaoticMind, I was going for Annoying Grown-up. But I like your version a lot.
One other progress update for today...
Nop and Dop the Square Cops have had a nice lick of paint.
So many new and wonderful things! Coppers and wizard are very in-style and in-mood. Loving them to the point of love-and-envy. Nedgee and Sledgee are coming to life too! Have a good time with them, theCrowe!
Nice job on the square cops. Can I make a request for a bent cop? It’s an obvious pun, but that’s how I role! Clearly it’s down to your creative directors decision though. Keep up the awesome sculpts!
Gobert, Have you ever seen the Bent coppers -Line of Duty supercut? Very funny.
The square cops mostly chase a guy called Nober the Robber who keeps escaping from jail. They usually square him away by the end of the book. (There are many square puns)
Thanks everyone. Glad you're all enjoying the project.
Tonight's update is another finished sculpt having got the prickles on Nedgee.
Thanks DJJJ - glad you found the Heroes. It's funny, everyone has their favourites. I'd be fun to do a poll and see which is the most popular. I suspect Kitty Mitty might score well. But strangely enough, my first is still my fav too. Never bettered the original Hedgee.
Thanks Wirecat. Not too hard to access that foot but unfortunately no painting progress to show on Nedgee yet I'm afraid. I have been working on Sledgee's arms and legs but he's not done yet.
I'm also working on another odd one from the miniature mind that brought you Slimon (and Kitty Mitty as it happens, and Wedgee!) It's a little fella called Mallow. And yes, he is a marshmallow. With arms, but not legs. Apparently he just hops about on his pink marshmallowy behind.
I'll post a pic of both Mallow and Sledgee soon.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sledgee is taking shape.
Work on Wedgee the Wise continues. Yes Gobert, he does fly and the exact mechanism for this is yet to be established but you may be onto something. It's all to do with his magic golden collar the source of all his powers.
Update for today, Wedgee the Wise has gotten half of his prickles on.
very nearly complete now.
And as mentioned before...
Mallow the Marshmallow guy has come together somewhat.
But i'm most excited to share this.
Nedgee (the naughty) Naval Officer is all painted up and ready to take on any adventure!
Sledgee is also very nearly fully painted but I had to do a quick greenstuff addition to his face because it was a bit weird. Looking forward to sharing another painted hedgehog hopefully soon.
But, see Gobert, he doesn't have legs. This was a very specific part of the brief. I was specifically instructed, just arms, no legs. I have propped him up on a little wedge underneath but that's all. The "sculpt" is complete now, such as it is.
It's a bit overly simple but that's how my little fella wants him and who am I to say otherwise? A nice marshmallowy pink paint job will see him come to life no doubt.
And in hedgehog news...
The last of the Hedgehogs comes together as Wedgee the Wise is fully sculpted and ready for paint!
That’ll teach me for not paying enough attention. Wedgee looks to have a bit of a pained expression! He’s gonna look even more awesome with a bit of paint!
And now sledgee is done too, awesome paint job to go with one mean looking Champion Hedgehog!
Thanks everyone, can't wait to see the Skedgehammer in action myself.
In the meantime, gaming with the lads has been (bonkerz) lots of fun, and to give you all an idea of what we've been up to I'm going to present a few episodes of our latest epic adventure.
This tale was told (game was run by) my eldest son (8 years old) with occasional embellishment from his little brother (6) I had the pleasure and privilege of taking the heroes on an epic sea quest, calling their moves and rolling them bones. So without further ado, All aboard, it's time to set sail with...
Nedgee's Navy - Part 1 - Skull Island
Spoiler:
Nedgee was a Naval captain who sailed the seven seas in search of treasure and adventure on the good ship Red Ned.
His salty crew were Noodles, (his First Mate), Kitty Mitty the Ship's Cat, and Caterpillee the Ship's Cook.
They were on the trail of the Dread Pirate Captain and his ghostly crew aboard the terrifying ghost ship the Dreadfish.
The Dread Pirate had stolen Nedgee's treasures, a priceless Vase from the temple of Wedgee, a golden dinner plate that belonged to Caterpillee and Kitty Mitty's gilded butterfly cage. With these priceless items in their ghostly grip they set sail for Skull Island with Nedgee in hot pursuit.
When the Red Ned arrived at Skull Island there was no sign of the Dreadfish but there was definitely something strange going on. Nedgee and Noodles went to investigate.
On Skull island a morose looking skelly was pacing about. He told us that a bunch of ghost had been here. They dug him up and threw his grave goods into the sea before they buried something else in his grave. They also left these three elephant statues behind to guard their treasure. (Because six year olds have interesting ideas about the use of elephants ornaments in games)
The skelly was not at all happy about the situation.
Nedgee and Noodles offer to fish the snake infested waters and soon uncover an ancient Golden Axe. (Not in a sega megadrive game cartridge)
The skeleton is delighted and immediately sets to, smashing at the elephants. He breaks open the ends of their trunks and the resulting fountain washes the sand away revealing something golden beneath.
It's Caterpillee's food dish! He's a very happy, and very hungry Caterpillar.
The skelly tells that he was very surprised to be raised from the grave by ghosts. He marks our map with the location of an island where legend tells of an immortal necromancer. If all this isn't his doing then he must know how to stop it.
He returns to his grave and the heroes go back aboard the Red Ned. They mark their charts and set sail for the Wizard's Island.
Tune in again for part two as soon as I get it typed up. In the meantime I've got painting (and homeschooling) to get on with.
Shiver me timbers! Sounds like Nedgee’s Navy had a good time helping the poor skellybob. I look forward to the next instalment, keep up the internet winning theCrowe.
theCrowe wrote:But i'm most excited to share this.
Nedgee (the naughty) Naval Officer is all painted up and ready to take on any adventure!
Very cool! Nice shading and highlighting from the brim of his hat to the ends of his needles. A bit insane stare... but maybe he tends to overcalculate his odds. Great mini!
theCrowe wrote:And in hedgehog news...
The last of the Hedgehogs comes together as Wedgee the Wise is fully sculpted and ready for paint!
I am at a loss here. Lost between which joke to play, a sooper trooper one, a Greybeard howl, spellsinger one or pure wonder. This will depend on how You will paint him. A base representing a small tornado would be fun.
theCrowe wrote: And Sledgee the Sledgehammer is ready to rumble!
For some reason here I would have thought hair/needles going all the way down to his brow and a bald belly would be more fitting, but he is nice and colorful as he is. Great company, theCrowe!
Update for today
A fully painted Wedgee the Wise with an attempt at a magic tornado base. Not totally convinced with this paint job. I was going for All-powerful, like Storm from X-men but he's a bit more shocked or surprised looking than I'd intended.
Then there's this guy.
A bit of an odd expression. The crack that became the mouth is actually from when one of the boys grabbed the blob of clay not realising it was going to be Mallow the Marshmallow guy, and started squashing it up before it was fully set. Was able to squash him back into shape and the crack was a happy bonus.
Yes, Wedgee the Wise looks like someone else has picked him up. Maybe a little green stuff to make his mouth less round and more of a scowl for those simple folk bothering him?
A bit of an odd expression. The crack that became the mouth is actually from when one of the boys grabbed the blob of clay not realising it was going to be Mallow the Marshmallow guy, and started squashing it up before it was fully set. Was able to squash him back into shape and the crack was a happy bonus.
So the boys have both artistic and serendipitous influence on the projects?
Love the adventures of Nedgee and the crew of the Red Ned. I hope they can get their priceless vase back, too. Though I have full confidence.
In the meantime here's a victory shot of all four Hedgee cousins. Left to right Sledgee, Hedgee, Wedgee and Nedgee.
Cap, you make a fair point and you might be right but my boys are happy with Wedgee as is so I've decided just to let him be.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And of course a new sculpting project has begun.
This is Sniffy (one of our IKEA mice, the grey one) Sniffy is a lab mouse who is smarter than the scientists in the lab. By night he works on a giant Robo-Rat (which I am also building, with a hatch and space inside to fit Sniffy in!) to defeat the local cat "the Evil Mog"
We also have (or had, maybe we'll find him) a brown IKEA mouse called Cheesy. I'm told he's a Pizza Chef.
So Sculpting for the Kids continues and hopfully we'll see all of these characters in miniature form coming down the pipe, plus Nober the Robber from Square Cops and maybe even more. I'm gonna need more greenstuff.
That’s one fearsome band of hedgehogs! Awesome work as ever theCrowe. The tale behind Mallows smile is a bit joker-esque and works pretty well imho. Looking forward to the tivo-rat!
Yeah CM, it's just painted masking tape. I had to snip Sledgee off the base to put it down though. Glad I did, very happy with the result.
Quick update on the mice.
Sniffy is coming along well with just the head to cover and sculpt. He has a nice fine little tail at the back. Still no giant rodent-bot though. And Cheesy is just a mummified wire frame at this stage. I aim to make him a bit fatter and he'll be carrying a big cheesy pizza and waring a tall chef's hat.
Sniffy is all ready or paint. Deffinately one of the smallest so far.
Not totally sold on the giant lever of doom in his hand. I'll see how the paint takes and fix it if it looks off. And yes gobert, that's an adjustable spanner in his other hand.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also,
Can anyone ID this wireframe?
It's going to be someone some of you may already know.
gobert wrote:Is it sad that I’m hoping for Happy from Hey Duggee? I’m probably wrong though
Aw, I miss Hey Duggee. What a lovey little show. And Happy is a cute little crock. Doesn't he have Elelphant parents? Unfortunately, no it's not Happy. I may have to abandon Dakka and go post on the CBeebies forum if I started that.
monkeytroll wrote:The nose makes me think it might be one of your grots...
You got it! And of course it has to be Smirking!
Update for tonight, it's Cheesy with (empty) pizza board and pepper mill and no head.
Looking forward to adding facial features and a tall hat soon.
Wirecat wrote: I wish You'd look into casting them, at least a limited series.
Thanks Wirecat, I'd love to give it a go. I've never attempted anything like that. Where would I even start?
Automatically Appended Next Post: I though I was all ready with this one to go ahead and prime and paint so i took this shot.
And went on ahead. So then I was going in with the brown base coat and spotted, of course that he has no eye balls! Yikes. Back to the greenstuff for Cheesey the mouse.
Wirecat wrote: I wish You'd look into casting them, at least a limited series.
Thanks Wirecat, I'd love to give it a go. I've never attempted anything like that. Where would I even start?
I've done some research and ordered some silicone and resin! Goin to have a crack at it.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hi folks. Got on with a bit of painting today. Unsurprisingly these fellas being so small I got them both finished pretty quickly.
In fact they're the smallest minis I've done so far. The Hedgee's and the doggie henchmen are all about grot size but these little mice are more like snotling size. Here's a little scale shot to demonstrate.
And while I was at it I took the opportunity to do a little tribute shot.
Little chef has history of controlling men, he’s ramping it up to Raven Guard now! Awesome sculpts, particularly impressive give their diminutive size!
Not the best picture (when are they ever) but you can see Smirking is taking shape.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Sculpting is complete on my very own Smirking!
Quite happy with the shape of him. He looks quite like he does in my drawings. Think I'll probably try to tart up the base a bit. Some orky scrappy plate metal maybe. But otherwise he's ready for paint.
And Smirking is painted!
I have to say after I think 5 years of writing chapters of this little fella's story it's actually a delight to finally have my very own miniature of him.
So I suppose a shameless plug is in order. If you'd be interested in reading his story it's all here in Dakka Fiction.
Smirking Da Chosen One
And as many of you will already know this little guy has featured in many of my Grot-Life sketchbook
pictures. If you want to see all those just bounce on over there.
Now I better get back to sculpting for the kids. Up next I've got Nober the Robber from square cops, a large rat-bot and possibly minitures of my own two boys!
What a delightful idea Captain. Truth be told nothing would delight me more. I'm planning on making all future sculpts suitable for molding and casting. Smirking's wings would take a deal of careful plasticine work to make a proper cast but I'd like to give it a go. Then the question of course is who is next? There are plenty of characters to choose from.
The crew of Smirking Da Chosen One.
SkagNet's rabble from Give it Your Best Grot. (Before they killed him)
Or the original Grot Kommandos from a Grot's Life.
Too many characters to choose from is no bad thing I suppose. The long sculpting war continues.
Nice choice gobert. I'll be interested to see which one gets the most support but I have a few favourites myself. My alternative grot collection may turn out to be unarmed crew, riggers and general dogsbodies. ie no guns, maybe. That may reduce their desirability for tabletop use. We'll see. At any rate I don't want to produce anything too obviously tied to the 40k universe (despite my stories) especially if I'm planning to cast and sell them. Goblin deck swab, Goblin pack lugger, Ammo goblin, that sort of thing.
Anywho, update for today,
Nober the Robber is done. Bit of a rush-job if I'm honest. I just wanted to get him done. Not a massive fan of these (not actually) Square characters but hey, you can't play cops and robbers without a robber.
What I'm really excited for is this!
Two little mice in Lego jail all packed in plasticine about to get slathered in silicone. I think I'm doing this right, I hope I am. I gave it a bit of a shudder with a bit of DIY drillbit vibration to get the bubbles out then left the first silicone half to set overnight. Then it's on to the tricky second half.
Had to check out your sculpting too. I remember the Smirking comics, I really enjoyed those! And the mini for him is absolutely perfect!
Honestly all the litter guys look pretty good
theCrowe wrote: What a delightful idea Captain. Truth be told nothing would delight me more. I'm planning on making all future sculpts suitable for molding and casting. Smirking's wings would take a deal of careful plasticine work to make a proper cast but I'd like to give it a go. Then the question of course is who is next? There are plenty of characters to choose from.
Too many characters to choose from is no bad thing I suppose. The long sculpting war continues.
Pneumo wrote: Had to check out your sculpting too. I remember the Smirking comics, I really enjoyed those! And the mini for him is absolutely perfect!
Honestly all the litter guys look pretty good
Thanks Pneumo. Always good to have more knowledgable sculpting know-how around. Dakka is a great place.
Update for today.
A new character is in the making. Sniffy's arch nemesis The Evil Mog. He's a nasty old tomcat that comes round our house sometimes.
The base is a round MDF disc but there's no room for the wire underneath it's a bit rubbish. If it's solid enough after sculpting is done I might rust snip the wire out from underneath.
And then back to Sniffy. (And my casting ineptitude)
Hmmm. This is not how it's done. For anyone else trying to do this at home my advice is make sure you have all the right gear including small measuring cups. Don't guess the silicone/catalyst ratio amount. It is NOT worth it. I added too little and a now painting catalyst on top in an attempt to stiffen the silicone. What a mess. Aw well, first time for everything I suppose. If I get two decent casts out of this mess I'll be amazed.
Another update for today sees progress on the Mog.
Still have his paws to do. I've been directed to make sure he's showing his sharp claws so that'll be fun.
Then we have the mouse moulding project. I finally got the first side of silicone to set so I cleaned up the other side of Sniffy and Cheesy. Painted the lot with some oil to help release the the mould and went ahead with the second silicone pour. Silicone pour number two went well. It set properly this time. So I merrily did away with the Lego only to find it was Han Solo time and Sniffy and Cheesy were totally encased. I may have growled like a wookie.
No to worry. I managed to snip, pry and slice them free. Cheesy will need his tail glued on again and they're a bit messy but otherwise they'll be fine.
So that leaves me with this.
It's as rough as they come and honestly I have very little faith in my ability to produce anything recognisable but I'm going to give it a go. Just as soon as I get my hands on a syringe to squirt in the resin with. What a faff.
This casting lark looks a lot harder than some make it out to be. There must be some knack to it. Maybe more oil or a different type? Perhaps the unset first side played a part? Sorry I’m not much help!
In any case the new evil cat is looking good, the claws sound like they’ll be a challenge! Will your toothbrush bristle technique work?
Sorry, slimon was a level of genius beyond my comprehension! Awesome sculpting on post ghost, dad had better watch out!
the caterpillar looks amazing! Even Mrs Gobert approves, which is saying something. Great idea with the codex, will you be getting the kids some inks and charcoal for some Blanchitsu illustrations?
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66208405/cute-success-kid-1920x1080.0.0.jpg)
