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I really like the finished DnD minis! The anti-paladin is actually my favorite, very nice job on him

Nicely done Ramos, all finished up they look great together, I actually really like the stealth ninja guy, he just looks stealthy and ninja-y

Yeah the finished DnD minis looks great.

EDC

Sorry, should have said Shattered Legions, not Black Shields.

DnD dudes look good. I have a group that wants to get started, might have to hit you up if we really get into it.

Thanks guys!! They get delivered tomorrow, so we'll see how the group likes em. Might have a few more

@WM: Anytime


Next Project: Krootdar!

Object of the game is to put Kroot on Eldar jetbikes- Easy enough. Little bit of gap filling, little bit of cutting. Cake. However, and thats a big "however", these guys need to represent Farseers, and that means robes!



This is honestly way outside my normal purview. I can paint, sure, but actual sculpting? Man... do I hope that I didnt bite off more than I can chew with this project...

Till next time, fingers crossed :/

Looks brilliant, and weirdly appropriate. Maybe its the vaguely Tau look to the bike, but he looks right.

If I may be so bold, (please consider that I am no expert) if you can get some miliput, mix it with GS, you can get much thinner and sharper sculpting, similar working and drying times, and the end result is much more solid, less rubbery on those thin bits of flapping robes.

Cam is quite right and to not consider himself an expert deserves a slap. Love that rogue btw.

"If I may be so bold" and "I'm no expert"...

Dude, no worries at all (and you're totally an expert compared to me!)!! This is the whole reason why I have this project log. Creativity cannot exist in a vacuum, and more than anything else I've done previously, I need all of the tips and tricks I can get for sculpting.

I do have some milliput floating around. Got it YEARS ago, so hopefully its still good!
Threw in a little bit to a blob of GS, and wow! It definitely sculpts a better!!

Sticky as hell to mix, though

What I do for cloaks etc. is to make the basic shape without most of the creases and then add the folds afterwards.

It's good to use something like the metal of a superglue tube (bendable, re-poseable, and stays where you put it) for the basic shape as it gives you a solid base to add the putty to.

Then add the putty in long sausages that run top to bottom of the cloak and smooth them all together (one at a time) to give the creases and folds.

and as a last bit of advice, look at many reference photos, real and models, to get an idea of how to make scale fabric look "right".

Keep up the good work, Ramos.

I use tomato paste tubes to shape cloaks, myself. The principle's the same though

Krootdar looks great, plus they are an interesting concept.

I tip my hat to you with attempting sculpting, I can do very basic geometric shapes with green stuff and even then it doesn't always come out quite right, to tackle robes is truly next level

Im definitely leaning heavily on reference photos... Have a folder of a bunch of eldar minis, as well as some misc. robed minis. I also have a Warlock and the DnD elf in front of me. Then a handy chunk of fabric on my desk that I used to use as a backdrop.

As far as using an understructure, Unfortunately I dont have anything suitable. I ended up just gobbing on the putty, and seeing where it took me. -Hopefully- its working out. The first Krootseer looks decent enough. The second not quite as much. Still a ways to go, so hopefully... *fingers crossed*


@Knightly: Thanks for the words of encouragement... Heh... Sculpting the robes is more by necessity than choice. They were specified in the design brief, and I committed to the project- That means that come hell or high water, the models have to get robes!! Besides, its high time I learn a bit of sculpting. Even if its a crash course!

The Milliput blend REALLY helps. Its soft enough to be shaped and blended, but dense enough to build a durable base for the rest of the cloak.


=======================

Sculpting continues- This time the update is a little different... "Artsy" (Oooh, ahh, etc.)







I figured that at this point, a black and white photo would be more appropriate- no sense in distracting with all of the various shades of green and gray. At this stage, I think that Im nearing completion on the cloaks. I'm going to keep them relatively simple. Helpful is the fact that these robes can look beaten up and looted from their original owners. Helps me hide the pockmarks and torn edges that just so happen to have appeared due to my amateur sculpting!

The first Kroot-seer is pretty much set. The other (the one with the stowed weapon options) still needs a little bit more putty work.

It looks like the robe is coming along well. Maybe rough it up a bit like a kroots life?

The second one could just have a poncho, like Stranger from Oddworld.

Do you have any spare kroot or just the two to work with? I'm not sure what the client is thinking, but personally I'd go with something like what whalemusic said - just a cape (which you could snag somewhere as a bit) rather than full robes. You can't see any of that beautiful converted kroot underneath it if he's fully robed!

In you have fine grit sandpaper, green stuff can be sanded down to hide seams and smooth transitions. I do it all the time with my nid arms when covering the magnets.

Cloak would be OK for the second one.

or count them as the skins of their enemies. Yeah! ( said in my best Ash voice )

Ramos Asura wrote:As far as using an understructure, Unfortunately I dont have anything suitable. I ended up just gobbing on the putty, and seeing where it took me. -Hopefully- its working out.

There's nothing wrong with using putty as a base. The advantage of the metal (or similar material) is that you can alter it's shape and see how it looks, before committing.

Card can also be used, but is not as easy to get a wavy cloth shape.

wyomingfox wrote:In you have fine grit sandpaper, green stuff can be sanded down to hide seams and smooth transitions. ...

and adding milliput make it even easier to sand smooth.

Keep at it Ramos.

@panda: I have a few areas where the sculpt got a little rough that Im going to emphasize with paint. Also tattered the trailing edges and arms of the cloaks. Add in a bit of dust powder to get a fade on them and I think they'll be looking pretty well worn!

@WM: Both are incidentally at about the same completion level. I figure that it might be better to have more uniformity to them as they will both be the same type of unit... That, plus putting a bit more putty on them helps to hide the joins I made while I was customizing the Kroot riders- Had to pretty much disassemble the guys into lower and upper legs, hips, and torsos- The larger cloaks save me -more- sculpting, believe it or not.

@wyfox: Yes indeed! I've been wet sanding these guys, actually. Rough shape with the sculpt, scraping once cure with an exacto blade, then wet sanding with fine grit. Hopefully smooth enough for yas!
Shot you a PM to see whatcha think. Lemme know and we can get these guys to the painting table!


==============

Time for some more black and white photos- this time with a black backdrop!

Both minis are close to being finished build-wise. Cloaks are less robe and more cape- I figured that they were sized for tiny little eldar- Kroot might need some "alterations" Plus, the odd cutting makes it look a little more looted, and shows off all the work i had to do to get these guys sitting and riding bikes!


First up, Stowed Weapons- All of the options (Shard of Anaris, Singing Spear, Witchblade) are magnetized to the left side of the jetbike cowling. Modeled him to be waving a staff-like totem.










The second was a little crazier to model, as all of his weapons are being weilded. Lots of cutting arms off and cutting weapons apart. Fortunately, the kroot hand can be utilized ambidextrously- they have two fingers and two thumbs, and they're pretty much mirror images of each other!
Because I needed to magnetize his arm, it made it difficult to blend the cloaked main body to an uncloaked arm (and cloaking each arm would have overstressed the magnets because of the weight) The solution then was to put a slightly trimmed armor plate on the shoulder that overlapped the join. Should hide things nicely!










Hopefully this means paint soon- Something MUCH more in my comfort zone!!

Somehow I'm liking the battle damage on the cowling.

Definitely needs a cow skull somewhere on the cowl.

I have a feeling paint will really put this tegether.

I figured battle damage was appropriate given the looted nature of the bikes. Not much patchwork (I mean they aren't Orks, after all! ), but definitely a good bit of stowage.

If I had a suitable animal skull, I probably would have tossed it on. Thatd be a brilliant addition to the tribal sorta look the Kroot have going. In lieu of that, I tossed on bags and meathooks.

Last few tweaks and touches are done on the Krootseers (mostly adding some additional creases on Kroot I's cloak), so I think its time to get them primed. Paint will DEFINITELY make them more cohesive- Worn out robes, dusty cowlings... chips in the paint... Like I said before, Im much more of a painter than a sculptor, so I'm more than a little excited to get back to what I do best!

Yeah looking forward to the painting what you've outlined sounds great!

Looking forward to the Pink and Yellow paint scheme....

Shush yur yapper! There shall be no pink or yellow!

YOU NEVER LET ME HAVE ANY FUN!

Bummer... Yet another army I cant paint Pink and Yellow.... Sorry, SL- Looks like we're gonna have to wait a bit longer (well, at least till I get to the Titan )




Soooo... With wyfox being Lt. Buzz Killington, Looks like its RED on these bikes-
First layers are on, as well as black striping!









So nice to be back painting!


Though, with all the drying times on the putty, I started up on a project for On the Lamb- Solar, you'll love this one.
ANOTHER FARM ANIMAL!







This guy is the Behemoth. Very big polar bear looking thing. Anyone notice I do a lot of black and white these days? Still plenty of details to go on him. The stock image has him with black footpads and gray/black spines/claws.
I also have a trio of infantry for OTL that I'll be featuring later in the week!

Till next time, guys!~

Krootdar are coming along nicely.

Very cool bear thing.

EDC

Liking the red.. Didn't expect that!

No worries.. I'm getting use to it on your blog... Though I like the bear thingy, not sure why they sculpted the back legs so tiny and the front arms so huge.

Perhaps it doesn't believe in leg day? Kind of reminds me of this guy...



I like the blending on the horn.

Bikes are looking good!