(Not) Santas Workshop of the Strange, Wierd, and Wonderful - 8 Jun 22 - EREBUS and ALALA - pg 78!

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**Camkierhi**

Truly stunning work sir.

**Klaus, not Santa**

I forgot that I'm thinking about adding a shield too

IF I add it, I will most likely add a kind of mural to it...
Ideas?

Klaus, not Santa wrote:
Wow, thank you all for your kind replies and feedback!

As previously noted I'm in process of moving. The house is coming along nicely with most of the renovation already done. Our target date for the move is still the 16th of December.
So most of my man-cave is already packed.
The "Executioner" diorama is also packed and awaits unpacking and re-evaluation on how to finish it. But I need some time away from it to determine if there's still anything to do or if I call it done.
With everything packed away I thought I wouldn't do any hobby work until the move. I started some computer games, but none really captivated me.
By sheer luck I came across a second hand Boudicca bust.

Many of you have already seen this wonderful sculpt by Pedro Frenández.

It is available at FeR Miniatures - http://ferminiatures.com/shop/women-by-pepa-saavedra/boudicca/

Most Boudicca's I have seen so far follow the traditional paint scheme of a red haired woman.

There aren't many modifications I have seen so far, except for this really nice Elf version.

The bust I came across was dirt-cheap, and when it arrived I realized why.
It was in bad shape with many small pieces of the hair and braids broken off. There was also a considerable amount of some kind of plaster in some of the deeper recesses.
Apparently the original owner tried to make a mold, was VERY unsuccessful and decided to sell it and cut his losses.

I'm not very upset, as the price already suggested there was something wrong.
However, in the state she was in I'm unable to make a "standard" Boudicca.
So after some back and forth I decided to try a Gothic vampire warrior princess *lol*

Unfortunately I forgot to take an image of her initial condition.
Here you can see her after I shaved most of front tunic and belt off. In addition you can see some of the pencil marks of what I plan.
She will wear some heavy leather armor for the chest and arms, with lighter leather mesh underneath. Most likely in a very dark red.

First she got some longer eye lashes, a gem on her forehead as well as some neck/throat armor.

On her chest I also added some structured material - not really chain mail, but similar.

I used the same structure for her arm.

In addition her main braid got a new ornament as well as the gem on her forehead.

I have never done a bust before and haven't spent much time on a plinth so far. As a working base was planing to use this piece...

But for the time being, I glued her to a metal lid.
Here you can see additional details on her chest line as well as the leather mesh for her lower abdomen.

The lower part of the arm also got the mesh structure.

The following day I started with the lower section of the leather armor.

With some first details at the seams and the hip armor.

The next evening I added the actual beast armor - as you can see I'm aiming for a worn and battered look with marks and scratches.

With the cure time for the GreenStuff of several hours I can only do a small section per evening.
So the next evening I completed most of the chest armor.

Then I closed the last gap on the front with a gem and ornament and mounted her arm.

As you can see I also changed her spear against the weapon I had originally created for Allayah - http://fischers-design-shop.blogspot.de/2017/03/allayah-barduch-9.html

And I started to sculpt her leather armor for the upper arm.

I'm quite pleased with her appearance so far.

So what do you think?
Any suggestions or criticism?
Thanks
Klaus

**whalemusic360**

That armor work is fantastic. I'm not sure on the shield. Without the arm to go with it, it would just be floating which is kind of strange.

**Meer_Cat**

If I didn't know how hard greenstuff (any two part epoxy putty) can be to work with, I wouldn't truly be able to appreciate what you've achieved here. Very, very nice work. Excelsior- ever upward, ever onward!

**Anvildude**

She's got a bardiche-style polearm- that's not something used with a shield.

Also, bardiches were usually not so long as, say, halberds (which themselves weren't that long). I'd shrink the shaft down so that the weapon tip is only a little bit above her head. Especially with such a thin shaft.

**Red Harvest**

Hmmm, It could also be a glaive, another weapon that requires 2 hands. Or a faussart. (Thanks to D&D for my odd knowledge of pole-arms. Who knew it would ever prove useful knowledge ~35+ years later. :S )

That is some fantastic work Klaus. You have the mad skillz with the green stuff.

**Anvildude**

Nah, a Fauchard is more of a fork-looking thing. And it's not any sort of Guissarme, because it doesn't have the back hook on it. It's definitely a Glaive or a Bardiche. Maybe a Glaive-Bardiche.

**Klaus, not Santa**

Thank you guys!

I think the shield is "on ice" for now.
Eventhough, there seem to be plenty of historical samples where soldiers with spears, hellebards, and glaives are using a shiled

just sayin'

But please kkep the feedback coming.
I especially look for ideas for a plinth, as the current idea won't really work.
Thanks
Klaus

**Red Harvest**

For a plinth, it is impossible to go wrong with the classic cylinder with a black satin finish. Are you looking for something thematic instead?

Klaus, any ideas about adding some sort of raised embroidery on the hem of the cloak?

If you want to experiment with some sort of shield, go right ahead. I would not be too worried about "realism" if you are making a Gothic Vampire Warrior Princess.

**Klaus, not Santa**

Hi all,

thank you for your feedback - it means a lot to me.

Speaking of feedback - Anvildude pointed out that the weapon was probably too long and the shaft too thin.
I based the size on the original spear

But the new weapon has a bigger and heavier blade, so I cut the shaft shorter.

and started with the arm and shoulder armor.

Then I added ornaments to the shaft, making it thicker at the same time.

Looks better now (Thank you Anvildude)

obviously the lower part got the ornaments too.

Another armor section for the upper arm.

While the shoulder armor cured I added a new seam to the coat on the finished side.

Then the final shoulder section.

And the next evening I added a new seam and folds to the other side of the coat

Close to finished. I'll add a new ornament/medallion for the coat

So this is as far as I got.

What do you think?
Cheers

Klaus

**Anvildude**

Glad to be pedantic for you. Looking much better, now.

**Meer_Cat**

I think this is a terrific sculpt, Klaus!

The figure herself is wonderfully augmented by your greenstuff work. As for the weapon, I saw an example of what was called a 'Wojeiwieki Chopper' (don't hold me to the spelling) at the Museum of the Infantry at Fort Benning Georgia. This looked something like what you've created here, right down to the heavily leather-wrapped shaft. IIRC, it was a Polish weapon and the card for the display speculated that it might have been used by infantry- one or two handed, or cavalry- one handed. If by a cavalryman, then the weight of the weapon's head would help add force, kinetic energy, in a swing and cut through, punch through or bowl over whatever it hit.

In any event, I think you've created a very believable figure with a believable weapon. I think you could still do the shield if you wanted- although that would obscure some of the beautiful detail work you've added. Certainly a buckler, or small target strapped to the forearm would be in balance- but I like the figure just as she is.

At the end of the day, we fantasy and sci-fi modelers deal in imagination. Our best pieces incorporate elements of reality- they have to, to help us suspend belief for the rest. But those projects do indeed include elements of 'magic', or else we would all just paint Napoleonics and WWII stuff!

Forgive my disjointed maunderings, please. It is always a pleasure to come here and see what new wonder is on your bench. I have a handful of Dakkanauts whose sigils I look for every day when I log in to the P&M blogs, and yours is one of them.

**MeatShield**

I've been following you for I think 6 years now and your thread is still one of my favorite parts of the internet.

**Dr H**

Lovely sculpting as always, Klaus.

**Klaus, not Santa**

Anvildude wrote:Glad to be pedantic for you. Looking much better, now.

As usual, feedback, suggestions and critques are most welcome

THANKS

Meer_Cat wrote:I think this is a terrific sculpt, Klaus!

The figure herself is wonderfully augmented by your greenstuff work. As for the weapon, I saw an example of what was called a 'Wojeiwieki Chopper' (don't hold me to the spelling) at the Museum of the Infantry at Fort Benning Georgia. This looked something like what you've created here, right down to the heavily leather-wrapped shaft. IIRC, it was a Polish weapon and the card for the display speculated that it might have been used by infantry- one or two handed, or cavalry- one handed. If by a cavalryman, then the weight of the weapon's head would help add force, kinetic energy, in a swing and cut through, punch through or bowl over whatever it hit.

In any event, I think you've created a very believable figure with a believable weapon. I think you could still do the shield if you wanted- although that would obscure some of the beautiful detail work you've added. Certainly a buckler, or small target strapped to the forearm would be in balance- but I like the figure just as she is.

At the end of the day, we fantasy and sci-fi modelers deal in imagination. Our best pieces incorporate elements of reality- they have to, to help us suspend belief for the rest. But those projects do indeed include elements of 'magic', or else we would all just paint Napoleonics and WWII stuff!

Forgive my disjointed maunderings, please. It is always a pleasure to come here and see what new wonder is on your bench. I have a handful of Dakkanauts whose sigils I look for every day when I log in to the P&M blogs, and yours is one of them.

Thank you Meer-Cat!
This means soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much to me

Thank you

MeatShield wrote:I've been following you for I think 6 years now and your thread is still one of my favorite parts of the internet.

Well, first off: congrats for your patience

And thank you for being part of the journey - I hope to have you on board for even longer

Dr H wrote:Lovely sculpting as always, Klaus.

Thank you Doctor!

Again,
thank you for the feedback and suggestions.

Since my last post I was thinking a lot about adding a shield.
I don't know why, but somehow I have the feeling she needs a shield.

So here's the first try.

That was too big!
So I made it smaller and positioned it lower.

Putting this aside for a moment I finished her right arm by sculpting an armored glove.

Based on feedback from Facebook I decided to make the shield smaller once more.

Ah!
That's a lot better now, and I think it balances the figure nicely.

I used Milliput to sculpt a leathery and worn finish.

In position.

I think the original sculpt of the shoulder (red) pretty much suggests the position of the arm and thus the position of the shield, does it not?

So here she is

Finally I added rivets to the shield and completed the brooch for the coat.

Gothica, the Vampire Warrior Princess

I'd like to call her (sculpting) complete. But I'll let her sit a few days before I decide.
In the meantime all the paints and stuff are already packed, so I won't be able to do anything else anyway

The move is still scheduled for the 16th of December.
Cheers

Klaus

**Viktor von Domm**

stepping in latte to comment this beautiful model...
twofold reason: first...´m lurking...
secondly... i find that model highly disturbing...she is for that size way too hot of a chick...the model was a beauty from the start...mind you...so many brilliant versions of her out there, just as you showed in the beginning...but you stepped even further...she strikes a special chord in me, i always had a thing for hot goth damsels...i love your GS work all around...

if i may add one thing tho...i would add a bucker handle...at least the outside referrence to that...like:

the general look of her suggests in my opinion this type of shield...the flat look there is for me a bit too bland...but i bet you have probably already plans for painting that big space...

**Red Harvest**

But Vik, the Goths are East Germanic and you are West Germanic. It's like the Jets and the Sharks.*

Klaus, it looks like the start of a proper targe to me, although more riveting or other decoration may be needed to look closer to the historical targes.

*Yes, I made a West Side Story reference.

**Viktor von Domm**

Red: the apples in the neighbouring garden are always sweeter...rings a bell?

**Meer_Cat**

I'd have to chip in on Red Harvest's side on this latest discussion- the size and shape of the shield as is does remind me of a Scottish targe- you could actually add a small metal plate or boss to the center and a spike (or just the spike) and it would have the added benefit of looking even more 'vampire-y' (everyone knows the bad guys- no matter how hot- always have lots of spikes). Although again, as it is, the weapon and shield combination put me very much in mind of a horsewoman (equine vampyr?) and work together very well just as they are.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to clarify from my earlier comment that Napoleonic and World War modelers also must combine the right amount of 'real' with the right amount of 'imagination' to create a pleasing effect in their miniatures. I paint British Peninsula and WWII US Airborne myself. It's tough painting as realistically as you can, then altering reality so that the right number of figures fit on a 'stand' and still look reasonably good alongside the armor that supports them (or, if you're not a former paratroop like me, that the infantry in turn supports). 'Real War' modelers have to pick their paints carefully or blend them to get accurate, realistic colors that still let you see all the details- even when the real camo patterns were intended to achieve just the opposite effect! The comment was made with tongue firmly in cheek.

Bottom line: I would never disparage _any_ of our brothers and sisters who paint and game, or game then paint. Ours is a great hobby and Dakka is a terrific website for learning and gaining encouragement.

Again- terrific sculpt Klaus. I really like what you've created here.

**Reaper Man 2020**

Hi Klaus!

What a great model! I am very impressed with your greenstuff work it looks great.

I know you are going with the vampire princess vibe but the model really reminds me of Larry Elmore's depiction of Laurana from the Dragonlance novels by Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Here is the picture I am thinking of in particular;

Anyway keep up the good work, amazing as allways!

**Dr H**

Looking lovely, Klaus.

I'll "third" the suggestion of adding a boss to the shield, middle looks a bit bare.
However, I'm sure you've found examples of boss-less shields and are probably planning some epic freehand to fill that space?

Great work with or without a boss.

**Klaus, not Santa**

Hi all,

the first post of this year!
So Happy New Year to you

Hey Reaper Man 2020 - this is amazing! It really looks very close (except for the hair

)
The move to the new house is complete and went well.
However my little man-cave is a lot smaller than my original Santa's workshop and I still play Tetris with the existing furniture to make everything fit.
It's complete chaos.

To gain space I decided to build a paint rack for my colors.
So I used a wooden board - 100 x 60 cm - and mounted L-shaped racks.

I thought with this I would have enough room to get all my paints stored...

Aehm, not quite

So I built an additional rack for the smaller Citadel and GW paints, keeping the Vallejo in the main rack

The Scale75 paints are still in a box on the side (but I don't use them often, as I don't really like them).
Despite the racks, the man-cave is till chaos

But hey!
The book shelf looks orderly

Kind of

I left off last year with my Gothica being ready to be painted.
Since I want to have a specific light setting, I decided to take some photos of the model with the proper lights.

I printed some of these photos and keep them on my desk as guidance

With this covered I primed her black.

I had a basic idea of the colors she would wear, but wasn't sure if they'd work.
So I gave her a quick lick with these base colors.

I think they work well together.

But these colors would be "daylight" colors and not in the atmosphere I'm looking for.

My first attempt was to paint the desaturated colors and shadows on top of them

However this didn't work the way I wanted.
So I repainted her using a completely new (very limited) palette, based on ONE (dark blue-grey) color.

At first it wasn't quite convincing

But once all colors were done with this palette it came together quite well.

So now I have all the base colors

in the proper atmosphere

and I can start adding

shadows and lights.

So what do you think?
Cheers
Klaus

**Meer_Cat**

Happy New Year, Klaus! I think the 'limited palette' you've used (which has more subtlety and nuance than I could achieve with every paint I own) is fantastic. I really like the sense of emerging from shadow that you're creating. And of course I've already indicated how much I like the figure you've created.

Glad the move is over- it is surprising the amount of energy it takes to contemplate- let alone undo- the labor of months and years as we build up our modeling spaces one item at a time. I look at my own space and wonder how all that junk got in, _I_ certainly didn't bring it! Very much like your paint rack solution. I'm getting to the point where I can't see all my colors, and it makes it hard to set up a scheme when I have to shuffle them around to see them next to each other, tested on scrap, etc. Your modeling space looks very complete and lived-in already.

I look forward to seeing how you proceed forward with your Gothica- shaping up to be an amazing piece of work.

**CommissarKhaine**

Amazing work as usual!

**Anvildude**

I'm curious, Klaus, have you considered a career in Fine Art?

I think that your sort of small-scale, highly detailed, finely painted sculpture could sell for decent money, and I could see some of them in galleries.

**jabbakahut**

Nice workshop, I'm envious.

**Klaus, not Santa**

Meer_Cat wrote:Happy New Year, Klaus! I think the 'limited palette' you've used (which has more subtlety and nuance than I could achieve with every paint I own) is fantastic. I really like the sense of emerging from shadow that you're creating. And of course I've already indicated how much I like the figure you've created.
Glad the move is over- it is surprising the amount of energy it takes to contemplate- let alone undo- the labor of months and years as we build up our modeling spaces one item at a time. I look at my own space and wonder how all that junk got in, _I_ certainly didn't bring it! Very much like your paint rack solution. I'm getting to the point where I can't see all my colors, and it makes it hard to set up a scheme when I have to shuffle them around to see them next to each other, tested on scrap, etc. Your modeling space looks very complete and lived-in already.
I look forward to seeing how you proceed forward with your Gothica- shaping up to be an amazing piece of work.

Thank you Meer_Cat!
I gotta admit it is fun to work with a limited palette - different but fun. And the Boudicca simply is an excellent model that is beggin to be painted - even in my Gothica modification

Oh I still struggle with the workshop. But at least the display cabinet now found a good spot in our "office" - which is the "clean" room we both use for home-office - I spent Monday about 6 hours to unpack models and display them...forgot to make images thoug.
But the workshop feels a bit more home every day

CommissarKhaine wrote:Amazing work as usual!

Thank you Mate!

Anvildude wrote:I'm curious, Klaus, have you considered a career in Fine Art?

I think that your sort of small-scale, highly detailed, finely painted sculpture could sell for decent money, and I could see some of them in galleries.

Wow!
Thank you Anvildude - from you, one of my most critical (and honest) followers this means a lot

Honestly I swore myself never to combine hobby and job/making-money again. I tried it before and it completely destroyed my hobby for me. Took me years to have fun painting again, and it still isn't the same as before (some of you may know that I made my hobby my job and worked as graphic designer for some years - it took the fun out of painting, airbrushing and all of that).
Now that I have a different job I slowly start to appreciate painting again. But I also learned that I'm never satisfied with my work, and as such I could never really selel it - because I would always know about the flaws. So I could try to sell them full, high priced, despite knowing of the flaws and feel like cheating, or sell them cheap and feel betrayed as the amount of work put into them would be beyond all of it.
Again to put it short, no

But thank you!

jabbakahut wrote:Nice workshop, I'm envious.

Thank you jabbakahut!

Well progress is rather slow right now as the wife and house still need some attention

But I got some painting done.
After I had my basic colors down I started to add the first shadows.
Oh, and I added a freehand to the shield

I started off with the coat and then did the chest armor.

I'm happy with the chest armor and the gems.

The dark areas of the chest armor already border close to black.

While I was happy with the chest armor and the gems, I was totally not satisfied with the coat.
So I re-painted the coat, smoother shades, less blue, more black.

It now fits better with the armor and everything.

Once pleased with the new coat, I painted the arm.

There are quite a lot of transitions into almost black.

And last night I did the rest of the coat.

It's like 50 shades of black

So this is where I stopped last night.

In this video some of the paint is still wet...

but you get the idea I think

So what do you think?
Cheers

Klaus

**CommissarKhaine**

'Added a freehand to the shield'... That's some amazing work, I love the colouring on that shield.

Honestly I swore myself never to combine hobby and job/making-money again. I tried it before and it completely destroyed my hobby for me.

Pyschology has tons of studies on that subject. Smart move not to try it again!

**Anvildude**

That's a fair answer. I think that, like, 50% of working as an artist is figuring out how much is 'enough'- in price, work, quality... After all, an artist is their own worst critic.

Now, on to the Boudicca.

I might have missed this further back, but are you specifically casting this version of her as a Vampire queen? Or something otherworldly? Because the perfectly smooth skin tone is suggestive of that. If that's not the goal, then a little bit of blush in the cheeks, forehead and nose would go far to bringing some life into her skin.

A beautifully rendered shadowed base, though. I'm looking forwards to seeing it with full lighting and background.

**Meer_Cat**

I very much like this next stage in Gothica's emergence, Klaus, very, very, good work. The shield particularly is striking- it puts me almost in mind of Eastern Orthodox iconography, but- of course- with a very vampy twist!