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Ok, so many of you followed my sculpting of my Mastermind some months ago. I now have him cast and have made some resin minis cast and available for sale here on Dakka.



Pictures of the green and the sculpting progress can be seen in my original thread here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/213974.page

Design

First off, I wanted to create a totally unique leader, one who I could imagine masterminded a galactic plot. The figure is very pulp sci/fi, with a big ol' greatcoat and a cybernetic monocle. This figure is definitely NOT a games-workshop orc, as it's far too upright, though it has tusks and a jutting jaw. My idea is to eventually sculpt my own range of orc creatures in a more "restrained" aesthetic, that reflects how I imagined orcs from reading Tolkien; wiry, cunning, and evil, rather than brutish and muscular. The figure stands on an incorporated base, but is easy to mount on a 40mm base with a little bit of putty as you can see I did for a friend of mine here:



The Mastermind figure is about 2" (50 mm) tall from the built-in base to the top of his hat, making him stand head and shoulders above his minions. This makes him tall for a war-gaming figure though he stands only a head above a normal guardsman. I decided to go for a "true-scale" aproach to my sculpting, where an 8' tall monstrosity is acutally taller than 5' 9" average joe. Since he is not as bulky as a GW figure, the extra height helps him look imposing.



Materials

The Mastermind is cast from Smoothon's Smooth Cast 300, which is a hard, white resin that is very durable yet easy to carve. Like all resins, if you are sanding yours, be careful as particulate matter is bad for you to breathe. Wear a respirator or dust mask. You shouldn't have to do much (if any) filing as I have cleaned them up, but some light sanding or scraping with a hobby knife may be in order.

I cast these minis myself, by hand, and I don't have fancy vacuum chambers or centrifugal casting machines, so you may find some air-bubbles or other minor imperfections as are common in all resin miniatures. These should be easily taken care of with a bit of green stuff or milliput.

Painting

Figures should paint up just find without needing to be washed, as a mold-release was not applied. A light scrubbing probably won't hurt, but shouldn't be too neccessary.

Payment & Stuff

"What will this resin sweetness cost me?" I hear you ask. Well, I'm no Forge World, but I need to fund my sculpting dreams. Dakka-ites who want a mastermind can get one for the bargain-basement price of $6. Shipping in the U.S. will either be a flat $5 for priority mail anywhere in the U.S., or $3 for 1st class, same deal. Outside the U.S., please contact me!

The best way to handle payment is for me to send you a paypal invoice to your preferred email addy, that way we have a clear record of everything and it stays nice and simple.


Ok, that's it! Thanks for all the encouragement, and drop me a PM if you want to get a Mastermind for your forces!

Cheers, all.

Thanks to the folks who have bough this guy; your figures were put in the post last week, so should be with you soon. If you get the chance to paint them, I would love to see pics of what you have done with them! Also, if anyone can post or PM with their experience of working with the model, (how easy it was to paint, convert, whatever) it will help me improve my sculpting design and mold making.

Thanks again for the support,

is there any chance to get a pic of this guy next to a GW orc of some sort?

Count Bonchula wrote:is there any chance to get a pic of this guy next to a GW orc of some sort?

That's a good idea. I have refrained from posting any images with GW figs in them, under the superstitious belief that the IP lawyers have enchanted the internet with hexes to make my computer explode if I do so. I will take a comparison pic though, and send it to you via PM, and to anyone else who's interested.

Tonight is 40k night, so I should be able to get some comparison pics of the one I painted up for a friend next to a boy, nob, and warboss from GW.

Thanks for the interest!

Sorry for the terrible delay, count Bonchula, but I can't find any orks in all of my bits boxes :(. Here is a quick size comparison with a veteran Sergeant filling the roll of the Barry:



Hope that helps!

He towers over my 2nd ed orks and is just as tall (if not taller than) as the AoBR Boss. I love 'em! Nathonicus, I'll post pics as soon as I get him painted.