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Righto, i am toying with the idea of making my first scratchbuild something i can actually gain some utility from (And save money, not counting labour LoL). An unit of Dark eldar beasts, I figure i can Kitbash a skyboard and Beastmasters pretty easily but the beasts present a problem. The core of my idea is that all the three types are different maturation stages of one Creature: The 'Opthelion Splice-beast'. I have something special planned for the heads:

Hint:

So here is my concept art for the bodies of my Khymera/clawed fiend



Forgive my drawing but they aren't and weren't supposed to have the Exposed muscaluture of the Official models. The tentacles are inspired by the 'Flagellum' used by Spirokeet (Biologists forgive my Spelling) bacteria and are non-negotiable in terms of design.

Appreciate any Opinions.

Cool idea, there was a thread a while back on building Grotesque's that gave some great ideas. I'd reccomend using a WFB Minatour or WHFB Rat Ogre body as a starting point for "gorilla" style model. Ebay is your friend!

so...where to start...

i think i give both thumbs up if you stray away from the traditional model and come up with something on your won...

i just had to look up the GW mini of the Khymera and it sucks for me... literally... something running around with no skin on... definatly a no go for me...too much pinhead style...

so to your poll i voted for the catlike style and i just researched the monster from pitch black to better recall their look...









there is much potential in this design...i would go a bit smaller on the "horns" detail here and i dont know if wings would be helpful but all in all a frightening monster...maybe it is because of the eyeless head...

also for your idea i would consider giving the giger designs a try/thought... could be a good starting point as you might get these minis stil for a good price on ebay



and good luck for this upcoming work...will you do some wirework for stabilizing your GS work then with the tendrils?


cheers, vik

Cheers for the pitch black pics. I like the first 'action figure' style one the best. Yeah the tendrils will be stabilised. Funnily enough the horns/head will be even bigger than the monster.

Funnily enough peter i am probs gonna try and sculpt the thing myself.

hmmm this will be very interesting... would be nice if you do a step by step with sculpting good looking musles... i would like to learn some tricks^^

the horns to the sides or the horns to up and down will be longer?
for me they do look both ways cool, but i guess the figure might suffer from balance issues... tho this all has no problems when you do a cool base that the beast is crawling onto...


and again both thumbs up and both big toes too^^ for scatchbuliding it^^

vik

Bigger in all dimensions; as i think it would be neat if the creature was able to hide it's fleshy body behind it's armoured head.

ohhhkayyy...hmmm will the actual horns then be sleek as the pichblack ones ore with a bit structure? i suggest the later , soething in the lines of a bit of a wooden look...like gnarly...

The vertical and horizontal kind-of '-+-' would have the same sleek sharpness but i was think of including additional Ram's horns as i've always wanted to try and sculpt them.

Going back a few years to FFVIII:




Liking where its going though.
Going to have to watch this one and see what you make of them.


Im being cheap though, going with some chaos warhounds and some GS lol.

Chaos warhounds are pretty cool but i was sorely tempted by these models:
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Warhammer-40000/Chaos/CHAOS_RENEGADES/OGRYN-BEAST-HANDLER.html

hey mate , horror clix do some nice minis that have plenty of movement , for inspiration
i like these

http://www.thegamesplace.co.uk/acatalog/5368_Cerebrilith_-_Uncommon_-_Night_Below.html

http://www.thegamesplace.co.uk/acatalog/5371_Greater_Barghest_-_Uncommon_-_Night_Below.html

http://horrorclix.org/Monsters/index.php?-action=view&-table=HorrorClix_Monsters&-cursor=147&-skip=120&-limit=30&-mode=browse

http://www.thegamesplace.co.uk/acatalog/5375_Verdant_Reaver_-_Uncommon_-_Night_Below.html

like th idea of the pitch black head really over the top



http://www.thegamesplace.co.uk/acatalog/Night_Below.html

Good stuff we like to see!

checkout some of the things here
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/331233.page#2576160

there is a link to the site for other excellently posed creatures

Have made an armature and have decided on a sort of combination of the two ideas, with large forelimbs and smaller rear limbs. The creature looks like it is gonna pounce.

Here is something i've found that shows what i plan for the rear limbs



EDIT: will keep the vote up as i havent decided what the clawed fiend will look like (bar the head)

btw i voted cat ;-)

Perkustin wrote:Have made an armature and have decided on a sort of combination of the two ideas, with large forelimbs and smaller rear limbs. The creature looks like it is gonna pounce.

Here is something i've found that shows what i plan for the rear limbs



EDIT: will keep the vote up as i havent decided what the clawed fiend will look like (bar the head)

woah... those look awesome... what game/line are they from?

I look forward to your sculpts... the GW one was interesting but I thought that better could be done.

I think they are 'tigers of Dirz' from the Rackham line (or at least a variation of them). Rackham have probably some of the best minis around but the line doesn't (didn't OOP) have the quality control of GW though.

at neil and chibi... quite some really nice and disturbing minis you´ve found...

at perkustin

this shown mini looks very promising...seeing this new conceptual help...have you thought about the actual look paintwise?
since you have that wondeful split scheme working on your DE will you use the creamy brown or rather the green line of your scheme? or even both?

care to show us your early WIPs?

Think they are gonna have a nice smooth Black->blue scheme. I will probs try and get my scheme on the bases somehow (perhaps those who poked them with sticks in the Dark eldar zoo )

djphranq wrote:

Perkustin wrote:
Here is something i've found that shows what i plan for the rear limbs

woah... those look awesome... what game/line are they from?

Those are "Dravani Volkoda" from the game "Rezolution" by Aberrant Games:

http://store.aberrantgames.com/abg4009a.html
http://store.aberrantgames.com/abg4009b.html

* Direct Sales Only Not available for Retail*


EDIT:

Seriously, Perkustin, if you use another artist's work for inspiration, it's common courtesy to give them credit when you post pictures of their work. Add a link to their site, or at least supply their name. The sculptor worked long and hard on this creation, and they deserve to be recognized for it. I know it's the internet, but to take offense because I gave them that credit is silly and immature.

Better?

Perkustin wrote:Think they are gonna have a nice smooth Black->blue scheme. I will probs try and get my scheme on the bases somehow (perhaps those who poked them with sticks in the Dark eldar zoo )

hmm i am a bit unsure about the black and blue...a beast this scary is in my book either totally camo loving...or so funky in colors that the eyes hurt... just before the guts hurt after getting some serious ripping apart^^

Cheers Mastiff found 'em for Phranq eventually but a credit on the thread is worth it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Viktor von Domm wrote:
hmm i am a bit unsure about the black and blue...a beast this scary is in my book either totally camo loving...or so funky in colors that the eyes hurt... just before the guts hurt after getting some serious ripping apart^^

I like your logic Vik!

I think as much as I like the creativity in this, consistency with the morphology (for lack of a better word) of the actual model would be best. Always impressed with your stuff, Perkustin. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

thanks perkustin...any updates to show us on your recent work or some new thought to share?


vik

Righto. Cheers for the responses people! Here are some *VERY* early WIPs. All that i have done is bulked out the front legs and got an early idea for the shape. The neck hasnt been done yet as i wanted to be able to sculpt the 'breast' of the beast first.

Here they are:



As you can see the legs are quite 'tight' together as i want the beast to be long necked even to the point of unstability (subtly but noticably so). An annoying part of the design was the realisation that Quadraped's rear legs are triple jointed so i had to bend them after gluing the thing down.
r

well i think after all you are the creator of that beast so you decide what and how many joints there has to be... iirc there are quite a many beasts ad lifefroms around that use the human feet design on their hindlegs...nut i guess the toewalker design is one of the fastes around... only excelled by the toenailwalker...

at first i was a bit puzzled as to which side the beast would face as it is indeed a very early wip pic...
but i guess it is facig left?...

what material did you use for the fist groundwork? looks a bit grey to me so is it grey stuff or rather some kneadadite?

and did you jsut use paperclips or gardenwire for this work? are they knoted into oneanother or how did you achieve to get them together? just put the stuff around the wire?...

did you use a termie base or a dread base?


well i guess i asked enough questions...^^

feel free to add more fresh pics anytime soon^^

vik

Paper clips, looped round for arms and legs, tightened with pliers then glued.
The hole is where the neck will be,
and yes it is standing slightly to the left of the base.
White 'fine' milliput, is over priced as i didnt realise it is pretty similar to regular.
40mm terminator size base.
The thinner tendrils are 15 amp fuse wire, i may switch to fuse wire as it is more flexible than paper clips.

for my next sculpt work i thought to go the paperclip road to... i dont know how the first groundwork will prceed... do you think a not so felxible wire helps with the groundwork more than hinders in the later phases as you have to much work to do in sculpting to overcome the non flexible paperclips?
would it be better to start with more flexible wire from start?

as for the white miliput... it looks a bit grainy...is it meant to have this concrete look or should it be finer? if not than it is surley overpriced... i still have an unpoend package of miliput on my desk and was hesitant to open it...since i plucked up enough currage to use GS i think i will be up to miliput too^^

so you left a socket to put later on the neck to it... clever idea...instant pinning so to speak^^

good start Perky , love the pose already , very dynamic like a cat waiting to pounce , tail wagging back arched.

Voted for big-cat style.
This looks interesting, I look forward to seeing how these guys end up

Just a quick note that i will be subsuming the progress of this project into my P and M blog. Check for updates on the current scratchbuild there using the link in my sig. The poll remains for the purposes of the clawed fiend and i may amend it when i get to razorwings. So pretty please don't lock.

Feel free to post here about clawed fiend or Razorwing ideas Thanks!