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Keep at it Casey. Look forward to where this goes.

It's a shame those fists don't come in a open palm as that would work well for this pose.

Conversion and posing are coming along really good.

I would not want to face thing that required a double power-fisted, double chain-sworded Space Marine (purposefully capitalized) lurch like that, though...

Looking forward to seeing how it developed, hope glue arrives soon.

 Casey's Law wrote:

Alpharius wrote:SF Pumpkin Man should be in that classic 28mm - 32/35mm range?

Always a good choice! I'm churning away on this and won't drop the ball. RIght now I'm really trying to come up with something better than sci-fi armour with a pumpkin head because if it's that simple I could just sculpt the head and stick it on whatever I want. Playing with a few more involved concepts. The trouble seems to be that all this subject matter comes from a fantasy theme. Does it have to be an actual pumpkin because I was musing on Dark Knight Scarecrow?

It doesn't have to be, but I'd certainly prefer it to be!

I REALLY like the pose... No more vomit marine, pounce marine instead

Littletower wrote:Conversion and posing are coming along really good.

I would not want to face thing that required a double power-fisted, double chain-sworded Space Marine (purposefully capitalized) lurch like that, though...

Ruglud wrote:I REALLY like the pose... No more vomit marine, pounce marine instead

Thanks everyone for the positive comments! You can give me criticism too you know, it's how I learn!

Dr H wrote:It's a shame those fists don't come in a open palm as that would work well for this pose.

If they made open palms many people would have beaten me to it I'm sure and I like working on something kind of different. Although I momentarily entertained the idea of resculpting the fingers my original idea was to remove them completely so they were like two big stumps. It comes from my real concept for these weapons that I'd need to sculpt from scratch I think. I'm trying to move towards something quite animalistic so I'm seeing him using his fists like a big silver back walking on his knuckles. Hopefully I can deliver that on a final pose but if not I'll look to changing things up in this regard.

Gitsplitta wrote:It's a very 3-dimensional pose... I've made those myself on occasion. Damn near impossible to photograph properly. You really need to have them in-hand so you can turn them around and study them from all angles to fully appreciate them.

Yeh that's going to be a big challenge! I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to shift the final pose and position enough to make the photographs a little less painful. If it comes to it and on the million to one chance I complete him on time I could always try a video instead.

Alpharius wrote:It doesn't have to be, but I'd certainly prefer it to be!

I can definitely get on board with that. This will be as much an experiment on my abilities in sculpting as it will be on working on something not necessarily for my own amusement. I think I'm nearing pen and paper time to get something together.

Well, it's completely unheard of from me but I have a second although equally small update tonight! I can't quite believe it...

The great man Graven ran a competition many moons ago which I wholeheartedly intended to enter but proceeded to fail miserably at getting anything finished on time. Anyone seeing a theme? Well since I couldn't work on a competition that's happening as we speak, and I had fidgeting hands, I cut myself some greenstuff and called Jules up to the plate. He's going to have a kind of power armoured lower half when I'm done but it's going to take a few sessions to build up. Not only do I remember how to sculpt(in my own cavemanish way) but I've gotten a little quicker. Less worried about errors, more confident in my strokes and I'm solving problems more creatively. So I'm quite a happy Casey tonight. So here is where he is at now:




And as if to laugh in the face of my usual procrastinating self I saw some things and slapped them into vague sketches of things which may or may not ever become more complete things. I want to do a lot more to my six legged horsey friend but alas LOTR is just too small to use other GW parts with so that won't happen unless someone has some plastic GW animals that need re-homed. Even then it might not work.




Haha, I don't half go on do I? +5 Internets to anyone who reads all this drivel that I spew onto Dakka.

Posing on the mantis guy is looking good

Sleipnir's lesser endowed cousin is a great idea - what were you planning to have as a rider? The additional bulk added by the extra legs might mean it's still viable for something guardsman sized or smaller....a suitable mount for an ungor based xenos for instance....

Great things, we expect great things.

Mantis looks great, pose is great, and scene will be great. Just a quick thought, in his closed grip why not put a hint of a remote control for the scyth/blades. Gives a reason for knuckle walker. Not that it needs it, looks fab as is.

Dwarfy guy is cool, remember him from many moons ago.

Horsey is awesome, and not sure it works for you, but I could see a Tau on that.

All great stuff dude.

Hah random but I like it! Who is the guy with the 6-legged horse going to be?

Marine is lookin' very sneaky!

Yay, internets... I shall bathe in them...

Liking the 6-legged horse idea. That needs doing for no other reason than it being a 6-legged horse.

Good progress on the man of restricted stature.

monkeytroll wrote:Posing on the mantis guy is looking good

Sleipnir's lesser endowed cousin is a great idea - what were you planning to have as a rider? The additional bulk added by the extra legs might mean it's still viable for something guardsman sized or smaller....a suitable mount for an ungor based xenos for instance....

Thanks very much, no idea where the six legs came from, sometimes I just see something at a funny angle or in the corner of my eye and out pops a miniature concept. No rider is intended and I don't plan on it being a horse for ever. Scale is a conundrum right now because I did my Necromunda gang in 30mm truescale then added a hiver in the same scale and also my little Squatish friend who could be any scale I desire due to his being staturally challenged. Now I'm tempted to continue in this vein for all of my Necromunda although it limits the pace and feasibility of future projects.

Camkierhi wrote:Great things, we expect great things.

Mantis looks great, pose is great, and scene will be great. Just a quick thought, in his closed grip why not put a hint of a remote control for the scyth/blades. Gives a reason for knuckle walker. Not that it needs it, looks fab as is.

Dwarfy guy is cool, remember him from many moons ago.

Horsey is awesome, and not sure it works for you, but I could see a Tau on that.

All great stuff dude.

Thanks dude, you guys are pushing me to greater feats all the time. Through your comments and your blogs. The remote idea is a good one and I had considered it in part, I landed on the idea that there would be controls for such a tool built right into the armour. That said, it's not over until the fat lady sings so I'll keep that one stored up in case things move in another direction, thank you. I'm hearing that the knuckle walking isn't sitting too comfortably as an image right now but I think I may make an allowance for it and then address that when I attempt to sculpt the weapon in my head by itself.

ckig wrote:Hah random but I like it! Who is the guy with the 6-legged horse going to be?

Marine is lookin' very sneaky!

I literally have no idea what he is supposed to be right now. As I said above, something will pop into my head based on nothing other than my over-active imagination bashing things together until something works. I used to just let these concepts slide by or I filed them away in my head for use on a future project. Now I'm thinking that I should just grab some blu-tac and knock up a sketch to throw onto Dakka. What that does mean is I'll occasionally have these unusual little vignettes to spit your way but I may never return to them again. Fun talking points though I hope.

Dr H wrote:Yay, internets... I shall bathe in them...

Liking the 6-legged horse idea. That needs doing for no other reason than it being a 6-legged horse.

Good progress on the man of restricted stature.

I advise against bathing in internets because you'd probably catch a nasty virus but it's good to know I'm not putting everyone off with my droning on.

Well I have an update of sorts... I haven't really done much but I have had an amazing supply drop. To start with some of my glues arrived in record speed although none of the really important ones yet.

Then my Infinity order which I had placed with Shae-Konnit Games came in. He's the best seller I've come across so far, internationally affordable and has an awesome split box service. In fact, while talking to Shae about delivery he pointed out that since we are pretty local to each other he could even drop off the order personally the very next morning, how is that for service? Six hours after deiivery and we were still chatting away about the hobby. So that was a fun day and hopefully we are going to get some games in at some point in the future. Here's my haul(part two in 4 weeks):

And still more came in! My buddy somehow read my mind from the other side of Scotland and bought me two gifts for my birthday(today! ) which I've been thinking about a lot recently. One of which Medium of Death had only days before told me I should read based on a conversation we were having with Bruticus. Oh and totally by coincidence both of these things have the same name.


Anyway, thanks for reading everyone! Goodness knows what I'll be working on next!

Nice infinite haul! I have that edition of Lovecraft, it is proper lush

Happy birthday Casey. Nice looking haul of infinity goodness. Also can never go wrong with Giger....unless buying something for your preteen child .

Hope the rest of your birthday is top notch, squire!

That is quite the haul. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Very jealous of those two books.

All those TAGs!

And Happy Birthday! Enjoy those books! It was no coincidence...

inmygravenimage wrote:Nice infinite haul! I have that edition of Lovecraft, it is proper lush

Theophony wrote:Happy birthday Casey. Nice looking haul of infinity goodness. Also can never go wrong with Giger....unless buying something for your preteen child .

Medium of Death wrote:Hope the rest of your birthday is top notch, squire!

That is quite the haul. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Very jealous of those two books.

ckig wrote:All those TAGs!

And Happy Birthday! Enjoy those books! It was no coincidence...

Thanks everyone. I've soaked up all of the art in Giger's Necronomicon which was very inspirational and is something I'll be revisiting a lot. Definitely NSFW though, I hope you didn't actually gift that to a child Theo. Haven't got a chance to read any Lovecraft yet but I'm really looking forward to it. Had a very relaxed Birthday, which mainly consisted of a trip to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery with my mother. We used to go all the time when I was very little so I've always felt a strong connection to the building. We had returned shortly after the big renovation and just felt that it was overcrowded and had been stripped of character. Now it's quietened down a bit we actually found it very enjoyable and can see that they have paired the old and new very successfully. We're going to revisit soon and spend a little more time soaking everything up and I recommend you do so too. If you can't make the trip then there is a virtual tour for anyone who is interested.

So my supply drop is ongoing but has been a complete non starter. Life is a little bit completely terrible right now and it's just sucking the creativity and motivation out of me. Starting to feel like a punch bag but I've got good people around me for support. I now desperately need a new job though so that's first and foremost on my agenda for the time being. Maybe this is the push I need to move into Glasgow. Anyway, I'm trying to spend time on Dakka or at least fiddling with miniatures to keep my mind occupied so on with the blog!

Still waiting on my plastic and PVA glues plus another couple of bits but my new snips and pin vices arrived. I also picked up some big sheets of card as backdrops for photographs, I've used the white sheet in the following images but my phone can't handle the black one.


In an attempt to get things moving I went through my Morats and put together some sketches. I'll be playing about with these a little more before I finalise them but this is the layout of the 150pt unit.


And I was really having trouble with the Geckos so I've tacked them up too which has started to get me thinking about posing. Geckos are so cool they can't help but pose the question, 'Why aren't you playing Infinity?'


And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.

Take care folks, sorry about venting a bit but it's made me feel a lot better!

Here to help, wish we could do more.

Models looking good, and those pin vices look quite nice.

Time with family is a true blessing matey make the most of it.

Now get on with it mister!!

Oh, I also failed to think loud enough here also.

Happy (belated) Birthday dude.

Yay, Giger! I've been scouring the web for all his past work lately. It's interesting to see the phases he's gone through at times.

Hope life improves soon. Have some positive waves in your direction.

 Casey's Law wrote:



And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.

...I'm always watching.

Things will pick up I'm sure

And geckoos! The different posing looks really cool

Camkierhi wrote:Here to help, wish we could do more.

Time with family is a true blessing matey make the most of it.

Dr H wrote:Hope life improves soon. Have some positive waves in your direction.

ckig wrote:Things will pick up I'm sure

Thanks lads, means a lot. If I can just manage to swing a new job I'll be able to get everything in line. Fingers crossed!

Camkierhi wrote:Models looking good, and those pin vices look quite nice.

Now get on with it mister!!

Annoyingly I'm not sure about the pin vices. I've got so used to using one with a rotating end that these are just cutting into my hand so I've reverted back to my old one for now. And I've already managed to snap one of the larger bits, not their fault, I'm very heavy handed when I'm drilling. I wish someone sold these bits in huge bundles like they do with jewellery saw blades. And yes, I'll get right on it!

Dr H wrote:Oh, I also failed to think loud enough here also.

Happy (belated) Birthday dude.

Yay, Giger! I've been scouring the web for all his past work lately. It's interesting to see the phases he's gone through at times.

Thanks, pal. Yeah I love me some Giger, he's so interesting and I could study his work for hours.

Alpharius wrote:

 Casey's Law wrote:
And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.

...I'm always watching.

I am Alpharius.
Seriously though. I'm thinking a sci-fi squad made up of seasonal characters. Thinking of a really aggressive futuristic military kit out.

ckig wrote:And geckoos! The different posing looks really cool

Gecko! Thanks man. More progress on my other blog.

Just waiting on plastic glue now. One of them should be here already.


I'm working on the Geckos now so you'll find me in my Nomads blog for a while. Do pop by and follow my Gecko progress if you get the chance.

My current pin vice, was double ended which sounded good, but the thing kept cutting my hand, soooo....

Hey buddy sorry to hear about all the rubbishness :( Yay Tamiya tape! Been using that like crazy lately

Hope things improve for you soon dude.

How big are the Morat compared to the a normal dude?

 Casey's Law wrote:

Alpharius wrote:

 Casey's Law wrote:
And if the good Mr. Alpharius happens to be watching then I have made an important leap on designing the pumpkin miniature.

...I'm always watching.

I am Alpharius.
Seriously though. I'm thinking a sci-fi squad made up of seasonal characters. Thinking of a really aggressive futuristic military kit out.

That sounds seriously awesome...

Camkierhi wrote:My current pin vice, was double ended which sounded good, but the thing kept cutting my hand, soooo....

I must warn you that I could become vastly attracted to a man who will convert his own hobby tools. Good idea though, all these fellows need are end caps that will turn in my hand which shouldn't be too difficult to construct or I might even find something in B&Q that'll slot in. I'll stick to the old GW one until I sort something, I've gotten very used to putting the my weight on the end and using my thumb and middle finger to turn the bit. And that brings me back to bits. I've broken 3 now, the three most desirable ones for the pin material I'm using. I need a vendor that will sell me like 50 of a certain size in good quality material, does such a place exist out side of my imagination?

inmygravenimage wrote:Hey buddy sorry to hear about all the rubbishness :( Yay Tamiya tape! Been using that like crazy lately

Thanks bud. Is it good then? I kind of added it to my cart as an impulse buy because I've been wondering about masking for my airbrush. Tamiya can be harder to get a hold of but I find their stuff to be of high calibre, I tend to use their thin cement ever since Dark_Gear put me onto it. Actually I have some on it's way from Hong Kong(which can be quite slow sometimes) so I've also picked up some Army Painter stuff to tide me over, not tested it out yet. Picture below.

JoeRugby wrote:Hope things improve for you soon dude.

How big are the Morat compared to the a normal dude?

Thanks, man. I don't have much in the way of males for a scale shot. My Nomads are all female but I have a few older miniatures that I converted for Necromunda which will have to do for now. Sorry no banana but I've included a Space Marine for those not fluent in Infinity and also my Feuerbach Soga because he's a massive TAGlight that makes the marine look like a little girl. Pictures below.

Alpharius wrote:That sounds seriously awesome...

Sweet, I just need to push some projects further down the conveyor belt and then I'll see to actually putting tool to kneadatite.

So firstly this scale shot, glue included not so much for scale rather that it seemed silly to give it it's own photograph.

Goodness me I need three daylight bulbs, not one energy saving anglepoise lamp.

I also took these when I was kitbashing my squad together. They were intended to show that the Vanguards have been beefed up between the sectorial box and the special weapon box. I actually don't think I got that across at all because it's subtle, which is a good thing. You can maybe see it in the thighs but it's lots of little adjustments all over. If anything it gives my squad members some diversity which leads me on to why I was a little annoyed at the special box...

Corvus are pumping out more and more new sculpts which is amazing for those of us who know how long you could wait on things in the past. This pretty much rests on their 3D modelling as far as I know but it isn't all good news, well not for me. 3D modelling has allowed them to take a miniature, repose it and call it new. In theory this is amazing but in practise it means I opened a box of four miniatures and got two unique bodies. The arms, while all different load outs, have similarities, most notably the two outstretched arms which have the same fingers and pose although the details and angle of attachment are different. Likewise, my Geckos all have the same components apart from their arms.

Okay so it's probably more an issue for me than other people and I don't want to rant away about it for ever but it's plain to see. I've heard other people mention it and I'm sure they will continue to, a lot of people were drawn to Infinity over the dynamic, individual miniatures and will fight to keep them around. CB have a good history with fan complaints and requests so hopefully they are taking notes.

Anyway since I'm over in my other blog working on the Geckos I'll ask a question that crossed my mind today: What is the most important tool for your hobby?
I went through a few possibilities before I realised that it was the thing I had in my hand. Blu Tac. Simple stuff with more uses than I can list.

While the discussion in on pin-vices, this is what I have:

The top spins freely as you have talked about, but it also has a slider and spring so that as you move it up and down it rotates the end (a very familiar hand motion is required ) so I can go for speed of drilling over pressure, or vice versa (see what I did there )

I also have this exact drill from before and is used for the larger drill bits that don't fit the pin vice.

I hold it down in the palm of my hand and rotate the black bit with my middle finger.

The innuendo possibilities are endless there.

Tamiya masking tape works well. I have that one also.

As for the most important tool I use... I could say scalpel due to the amount of cutting/carving/scraping/poking I use them for. But I'm going to say tweezers; As an extension of my hands into the scale world, that lets me manipulate, place, move and hold the tiny pieces that I cut up, I'm using them all the time for almost every stage of modelling. I could not assemble the detailed models I work on without them.

When Sleipnir mates with a normal mare, the resulting foals are born with six legs. Simple genetics.

Most important tool is good lighting. Then a good utility knife.

A review of the gorilla super glue would be welcomed.

This is the pin vise I currently use. http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Micro-Drill-Vise-Chuck/dp/B001RJE3X8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416182851&sr=8-1&keywords=pin+vise Not all that inexpensive, but it handles everything that I have thrown at it. It holds an extra collet in the handle, and came with beaucoup bits. Looks like the price went up too.

Sogarats use Space Marines®©™ for toilet paper.

Ta for the scale shot

Wow the sogat is a chunky monkey isn't he

And I follow what everyone else has said about the tamiya masking tape it is great unlike normal masking tape I've had very little bleed through with it.

As for drill bits, this came up a while ago: Quality Pin Vise Drill Bits

The mentioned supplier (US based, I'm afraid), was DrillBitsUnlimited.com (Both new and gently[b] - cut and pasted from their home page - used drill bits, and quantity discounts). Did not bou myself, though, so it's only hearsay, but maybe worth a look.

Most important tool? I have to agree with Red H there: lightning. Two long-armed articulating desk lamps, one on each side of the work space. And a chair to match. I'm not getting any younger, and I liketo be able to walk straight and see without squinting after spending some time at the workbench.

Dr H wrote:While the discussion in on pin-vices, this is what I have:

Spoiler:

The top spins freely as you have talked about, but it also has a slider and spring so that as you move it up and down it rotates the end (a very familiar hand motion is required ) so I can go for speed of drilling over pressure, or vice versa (see what I did there )

I also have this exact drill from before and is used for the larger drill bits that don't fit the pin vice.

Spoiler:

I hold it down in the palm of my hand and rotate the black bit with my middle finger.

The innuendo possibilities are endless there.

Red Harvest wrote:This is the pin vise I currently use. http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Micro-Drill-Vise-Chuck/dp/B001RJE3X8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416182851&sr=8-1&keywords=pin+vise Not all that inexpensive, but it handles everything that I have thrown at it. It holds an extra collet in the handle, and came with beaucoup bits. Looks like the price went up too.

Littletower wrote:As for drill bits, this came up a while ago: Quality Pin Vise Drill Bits

The mentioned supplier (US based, I'm afraid), was DrillBitsUnlimited.com (Both new and gently[b] - cut and pasted from their home page - used drill bits, and quantity discounts). Did not bou myself, though, so it's only hearsay, but maybe worth a look.

Good info from everyone, thank you! I almost purchased an Archimedes but it seemed risky since I'd never used one, I'll try it out one day. My old GW one is pretty much identical to yours Red, it's a solid piece of generic kit, I actually only picked up this new set because it was cheap and I quite like the idea of having a few different sizes always ready to go. I think LT is the winner though, that website is outstanding and they aren't charging the earth either. I made up a shopping basket to get a feel for the prices and I can get 50 1mm resharpened bits including shipping for £50. More than I need so I can spend a lot less and still get a tonne of bits. Amazing, thank so much for the heads up!

Dr H wrote:Tamiya masking tape works well. I have that one also.

JoeRugby wrote:And I follow what everyone else has said about the tamiya masking tape it is great unlike normal masking tape I've had very little bleed through with it.

Lot's of love for the Tamiya tape then, I look forward to using it!

Dr H wrote:As for the most important tool I use... I could say scalpel due to the amount of cutting/carving/scraping/poking I use them for. But I'm going to say tweezers; As an extension of my hands into the scale world, that lets me manipulate, place, move and hold the tiny pieces that I cut up, I'm using them all the time for almost every stage of modelling. I could not assemble the detailed models I work on without them.

Red Harvest wrote:Most important tool is good lighting. Then a good utility knife.

Littletower wrote:Most important tool? I have to agree with Red H there: lightning. Two long-armed articulating desk lamps, one on each side of the work space. And a chair to match. I'm not getting any younger, and I liketo be able to walk straight and see without squinting after spending some time at the workbench.

Awesome answers all round! Lighting and tweezers are two things I've had before but am severely lacking in now. Lighting is top of my list for replacement. I'm working in terrible light conditions plus my photographs are under lit.

Red Harvest wrote:A review of the gorilla super glue would be welcomed.

I'm sure I can muster something up for you, if there is anything else you want to know then give me a heads up.
For starters I feel like all of the big name Cyanoacrylates are going to do a good job without much disparity between them. I've used a few things over the years, mostly variations on Loctite but I decided to see what other gamers are using this time. I came across advocates of all the big names(Gorilla, Loctite, Crazy) but barely any negative endorsements. Since it was all even Stevens I figured I'd try some thing new. Gorilla came up more than anything else which is probably more due to availability than quality so I went with that.

The variations you do get seem to be consistency and the bottle. Gorilla seems to be pretty much the same consistency as Loctite, maybe a little runnier. The hole in the nozzle seems to be substantially wider on the Gorilla bottle which, although less accurate, means I've yet to have a cap of dried super glue seal it up. I have a bad habit of forgetting to put the lid back on and I'm often too lazy to clean the nozzle after I use it so this has been a big bonus for me so far. I'm going to save a lot of glue, I can't count how many times I've left a bottle open or the lid has had a bad seal which has led to it self sealing the nozzle. Then you try and use it without realising and it creates some sort of vacuum which results in a very messy super glue volcano. I can't be the only one right? Well the point is Gorilla nozzle seems to be stopping this from happening, the slightly runnier glue probably helps too. Also, when it comes to containers I would never buy a tube, they don't seal properly, they burst and they are generally a damn nuisance.

You'll have noticed that I also bought a bottle of Loctite Gel. This brings me to the fact that these companies have variations on their standard super glue for specific purposes. The gel is much thicker, won't drip and most importantly for me won't cloud up/dries clear. I've picked it up specifically because I intend to purchase some clear acrylic bases that I don't want to mess up when I attach some very fiddly miniatures to them. I could have got Gorilla's version but at the time I knew Loctite was amazing stuff and it comes in that cool precision bottle.

In summary it's pretty much the same thing you getting from all of the big names but the nozzle on the Gorilla bottle isn't as prone to drying although it's less precise. More of a ramble than a review but hopefully it's of some use to you.

JoeRugby wrote:Ta for the scale shot

Wow the sogat is a chunky monkey isn't he

No bother. And he's not half! I'm not much of a fan of his pose but I'm working on it. Considering giving that Feuerbach a regular grip and trigger but I'm trying to avoid hacking it off just to check which way looks better.


Sorry nothing of actual interest to report today I just wanted to get these replies out. Trying to get some fluff for my characters in my other blog so I can write and trying to figure out a paint scheme for my Morats.