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In order to improve my sculpting and casting I'm working on a project that I'm calling the last war. Basically it's set around five hundred years into the future, mankind has spread out to the stars and mankind has made contact with a vast number of alien species.
Seeing them as a threat the other races turn on them and wipe them out to the point of near extinction and they are forced to exist as an underclass salvaging scrap from the derelict vessels of the war.

I'm going in a slightly different direction to scale with the humans mainly for conversion and proportion reasons, it also makes for a change to have the humans as one of the larger races.
I'm currently working in 42mm scale as a result. As it's intended to be a skirmish system you are probably only talking about twelve human models to a crew it shouldn't be too much of a problem and the other races will be either larger or smaller to balance things out a little.

WIP

Here are a few of the test minis that I'm currently working on at the moment. They are intentionally static as they are test pieces but if I ever get the opportunity to go into production there will be a greater number of dynamic action poses.
The models are intended to be multipart in that the heads are separate and so are the weapons that will have the hands attached. What I'm working on at the same time is upgrade packs of heads and weapons to allow greater customization.









I am also working on multipart interchangable combat walkers and some light tanks and apcs to go with them.

Dude this sweet!

Wow.

Very Titan AE in initial premise, but very unlike it in aesthetic. I really like the models so far. There are some cool ideas coming through with these first few models.

Have you done any sketch/concept work for the models or are you just free form sculpting? For something like this, I'd definitely consider working in 2d after you've got a good idea for the look you're going for/able to achieve. You can get good feedback on the 2d's before moving into full sculpts that way, saving some time trying to rework a full sculpt.

This could be really fun to follow, be sure to keep us updated!

Oh wow! I'm going to have to buy up an army of those Guardsmen if you offer any beret or helmet heads for them

Well... Okay... Maybe not an army... but a handful for sure. They'd make some great display pieces.

Stunning work, can't wait to see more. Consider me subscribed!

Exceptional work here, keet it up!

Cheers guys!

grey_death: I just goggled Titan AE and can see what you mean, I'll definitely have to watch that. I will go into greater detail for the premise at some point but for now I really like the idea of the humans being in the minority rather than the majority.
I'm still playing around with the back story for humanity but I'm thinking about setting it somewhere between ten and twenty years after the war so that there will be a few ex-squadies floating about.
I do a bit of both regarding sketches, some I start off free style and just go with what works like the big alien where as others I plan in advance like the humans with rough sketches.

metallifan: Yeah I'm already making beret heads, gas-mask heads, bare heads, caps, boonies, shemaghs, re-breathers, the whole nine yards and all of which should fit 32mm models. I'll be making female humans and I might even have a bash at realistic space suits kind of like the ones NASA use at some point which would be very cool for zero atmosphere games.
The humans are a little bigger than the regular 32mm stuff but only use a little more material to make because of the elongated proportions which is a bit weird.
I do intend to include platoon sized battle rules at some point so small customizable armies may a possibility where you can field criminal syndicates or armies supported by APCs, tanks and walkers but the focus will be on the small salvage ship crews to begin with. Space ship battles are another thing I'm considering as well.

This next picture is of the first combat walker (going by the working name of a battle rig) that I'm working on. There are three that I'm building and all the parts are interchangeable between the designs. It's a little rough around the edges because I'm just trying to find out what works in terms of multiparting but the final version will be a lot cleaner.

The idea behind them is that they are old military designs left over from the war that have been salvaged from the war. These will play two major roles, firstly they are there to bring fire support or be adapted to carry heavy loads for salvaging purposes.

Secondly they can be used in a gladiatorial style combat sport where you are pitted against other teams with sponsorship and tournaments to gain cash. The idea is that you'll have the battle rigs supported by small teams of infantry or lighter exo suits and compete in an arena as an alternative style of play.

This first design is still very much WIP but it will have two crane like arms hanging from the back that have the main weapons suspended on. It'll also have two shortish stubby legs. The other two designs I'm working on are a little taller and are much more mech like but you can swap the arms and legs to create your own designs.
It'll kind of work like formula one in some respects with pit crews, sponsorships, etc, but in addition to being run as a seperate game system you will be able to drop in and out between this and the salvaging game.
So you can have a team hard up for parts going off and raiding a derelict vessel or a salvage team hard up for cash taking part in local tournaments to get some quick cash. It'll also have a unique set of skills that you can't get in the salvaging system.

What I want to include with each kit is a battle rig, a separate pilot on foot and a used ejector seat for marking bail out spots.

WIP Battle Rig

Awesome stuff! Especially like the brutish looking cow-alien guy. Larger scale models really interest me.
I agree with Grey Death with regards to sketching before sculpting though. It'd certainly be a cheaper way of getting ideas down. Obviously whatever works for you though mate!

If you go into production, I am so buying this.

Golden Eyed Scout wrote:If you go into production, I am so buying this.

QFT!

I will buy this is you go into production.If you need me to draw up a set of rules,i make good rules for these types of things.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the vote of confidence.

Grambo: Thanks for the offer mate but I've already got the rules written. I will be putting them up for playtesting in the nearish future though and any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

I know this is a skirmish game but could you provide rules for largescale battles? Along the lines of 1500 pts battles?

you're the man, Doghouse...
i am always inspired by your work...

cheers
jah

This definetly looks interesting. I can't wait to see where this is going.

Cheers guys!

Munch Munch: The game mechanics I have were originally designed as a proper battles system so a full scale wargame won't be a problem and I've also got rules for space ship combat as well so that's another possibility as well.

This is all very interesting indeed. I'll have to keep an eye on your work.

Thanks mate!

Scale

The scale on the humans is weird to be honest but it works really well for some reason and because of the proper proportions it uses only a little more material to make than a regular 32mm. The added material is basically the length of the shins and feet but it's still less than you'd get in a metal terminator model and maybe a little less than this metal stormtrooper I'm using here for scale.



The camera doesn't really show it off that well but it looks really good in person which is something I'm having trouble getting my head around. I think it may be possible to produce them for the same price as the metal stormtrooper with any luck.
The human is mounted on a 30mm base, the alien on a 25mm and the big guy on a 40mm.

Hey i got a question

In this game of your's, which sounds pretty cool, are these teams of scavengers inter species? Or are the teams segregated, like all humans, or all giant aliens?

Very cool, love the scale and proportions!

Like the fluff .

VERY nice, If only i could sculpt anything LIKE that!


But, just to be picky, I think the helmetless soldier's head is a bit too small

Cheers guys!

ghosty: You can take whatever you want for the teams/crews so you can have whatever mix of aliens, humans and robots that you see fit.

P4NC4K3: Nah you're not being picky mate. The head was the hardest part for me to get my head around because I thought that it was too small as well at first. I had scaled the body to fit the head before I got a mate of mine who is an engineer take a look at it to make sure it was right. And after doing the maths he confirmed that the proportions were about the right size in regards to the size of the head. Not believing him entirely I took it to another friend who was a former art teacher and she said the same thing but also said she thought it could be a fraction smaller more like the beret head below.

Head Swap

To give you a better impression of how the multipart works for the humans I've got some rough pictures to demonstrate what I mean.
The first head is just a hasslefree miniatures head with a beret I've sculpted on, the second is an old dodgy looking helmet design that I will be reworking and the third is a plastic scout head.

Helmets are awesome!

The test heads are a little scrawny, but I love where you're going with the design. Could I request a helmeted head with Balaclava & Ballistic Goggles instead of a Gasmask?

Something like this:

Cheers guys!

metallifan: Yeah I think the heads thing is because they have a body builder profile rather than a regular human. I'm planning to do a number of different profiles to suit different styles, so there will be more slight bodies, fatter bodies, etc, along with some females. I want to get some sort of mix of sizes in height and body types.
These test guys are leaning more towards a working out lifting junk every day kind of profile.
They'll most likely form the basis of the ex-military miniatures in the game.

Yeah balaclava & ballistic goggles are doable no problem, I'll be doing as many head variants as possible so it shouldn't be a problem. I also want some army of two style ballistic masks as well.

Loving your work, especially the helmeted gas mask head, great work keep it up!

Absolutely stunning work there Doghouse, I think the proportions for the humans look fine myself. Good call on the different sizes and shapes for bodies, its one thing that has always bugged me with GW, everyone is the same size!

Definitely subscribed, can't wait to see where you take it.