Bailey03's WIP

[Bailey03]

Thanks, everyone!

Canny, I think Enigma Miniatures is officially closed, but the kits aren't especially rare. I picked up this copy from TheLost. Up until very recently, CMON had a bunch of Enigma miniatures in their online store. Most sold out during the holiday sale, but there are still some of the figures available (just not Brom). I did a quick search on Ebay and I see a copy on sale from Noble Knight Games in the US. Shipping to New Zealand might be a bit expensive... but the point is there are copies out there if you search around a bit. I'd think there's a decent chance if you post a request in the trading post section of CMON you could find someone willing to sell a copy.

[CyAniDe]

Wow great start on the Brom miniature. Love the contrast and color choice already. Did you undercoat the head with black as well ? Or was it painted on white ?

[Bailey03]

Thanks, CyAniDe. No, since the skin is relatively light, I simply applied a base of Rosy Skin Shadow over the face. Similarly I used a light brown base for the cloth around his head. The recesses of the beard are dark, so I used a dark brown base there, just like I'm doing for the wooden shoulder armor (on his right side). For sections that will be metal, I'm using a dark purple since metallic paints seem to work best over a dark undercoat.

[CyAniDe]

Wow then really great job on the shadows.

Maybe I should give white primer a try again in the near future. Tried it once a long time ago but really had problems to get even coats. My basecoats turned out very patchy and speckled :/
But I really love the vibrant colors white undercoats provide.

[MrJim]

Great video tutorials. Thank you for taking the time to do that for us.

[Bailey03]

No problem!

I've managed to do a bit more work on Brom, focusing on the pauldrons. Given the sculpt and how his equipment is cobbled together from various parts, I'm going to give most of it a pretty weathered look. So I got to play around some more with the Secret Weapon weathering acrylics. For his left pauldron I decided to try something different. I began by pre-weathering it. The idea was to lay down rust and verdigris tones and then put the metallic paint on top. In some areas the original tones would remain and on the rest it would influence the metal above. Ideally creating a subtle effect. When all that was done, I went back and did another weathering layer. Now I'm really trying to make it look beat up and old. How critical is the pre-weathering step? I'm not sure. But I like to think it adds another level of subtle detail to the piece and was worth it... but perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part. =)



Up next I think I'll tackle the back of his armor. I'm not entirely sure what to make of the sculpt. There's no box art images of his back. I've looked at other people's versions and they've done a variety of things with it. But never was I quite clear on what material it's supposed to be. The best interpretation I've come up with is just very corroded metal. There are some bolts down the center and a detail at the top which seem consistent with metal. Plus metal armor is a pretty typical torso covering. So unless someone has a better idea of what it's supposed to be, I guess I'll go with some really really rusted metal.

[Canny]

looking very nice, love the shoulder work, its got some great layers I feel like it's payed off your brush work getting the tarnished look has payed off. fair call on the back looks like rusty metal that's pocked up. looking great Bailey.

[Guawol]

The pauldrons look just like aged tarnished bronzes, great job with a great depth of subtle textures. Looks like metal that has been through many acid rain storms...or pock marked orc skin leather

[TheLost]

Looking awesome so far David! Really love the pre-weathering and approach you took to the model. He indeed looks like a guy long out in the wild, scrounging up whatever armour he can find during his seemingly ill-fated adventures. can't wait to see it done! Always a fan of your work!

[Coyotebreaks]

this is looking so cool. the contrast is excellent and I love the textures in the shoulder. really nice work

[Bailey03]

Thanks, everyone!

Well, a took a break from painting last night to start prepping a future project. This one is still a long ways off from being ready to start. But I'm hoping to work on it while I paint Brom and have it ready to go once I finish the dwarf. A while back I bought Lozza, a 75mm figure from Latorre. I think it's a great sculpt, a very brutal looking figure with great shapes and details for painting. The kit is called Lozza, the King's Butcher. But when I saw the early work in progress images of the sculpt (on Facebook), I began thinking about a post-apocalyptic figure in a Mad Max style wasteland. Latorre didn't go in that direction, but I think the figure could still be adapted for it without too much work. I'm going to do a bit of converting. I already took off some fantasy plates hanging from his right side. No idea what they were supposed to be, what their purpose was, or what they might have been made out of. They were just 'some fantasy stuff' on the figure. I used a hobby knife and file to attempt to redo the cloth under the plates and I think it turned out relatively well. The other main conversion I have planned for the figure is to turn that thing on his head into a pair of goggles. I want to see if I can find some thin cylinders, either metal or plasticard. Cut them to size and then sculpt the rest around them.

As for the scene, I managed to track down a 1:24 scale dirt bike kit. A car would make the scene too big (and be a challenge to paint!), so I thought how about a motorcycle. It was surprisingly hard to find one in this scale, but I did finally track down a dirt bike kit which I think is good enough. I plan to do plenty of converting work on it and hopefully make it feel like it came straight out of a Mad Max film. The rest of the scene I'm not quite sure about. I've got a pile of skulls from Aradia. Maybe he's been out collecting trophies and has just returned home with one? Well, hopefully as I work on the various pieces I'll come up with a more concrete story and picture of how I want the scene to look. That's the benefit of starting now while I'm still working on Brom. Plenty of time to brainstorm and prepare the next project.


Oh, and here's a look at the back as sculpted and then my revised version. I could add a pouch or something hanging from his right side to hide the area I redid... but I think it turned out well enough that I don't need to do that. Of course, as the scene and story come into focus, I may decide the figure needs some other equipment so I may end up adding something there after all.

[KruleBear]

His arms! Oh the horror, his arms! LOL. I like your plan for this guy. It looks like those things you carved off were some type of fish fin trophy.

[Dexter0015]

Love the dwarf so far. And i'm really interested by this new "mad-max-ish" project, looks promising... Thanks for sharing your reflexion process. It is (for me) as much interesting as seeing the end result.

[TheLost]

You sir, are a model genius! Love the idea! Where did you end up finding a dirt bike??! It almost looks military. What if instead of trophy collecting, he went scavenging for gas for the bike, so he'd be holding a gas can. then, in the distance, he sees some raiders approaching and gets his ready to confront them. Just an idea

[Bailey03]

Thanks, all!

TheLost, its a kit from AMT, 1/25 scale 1970s era dirt bikes. There are a couple other accessory kits from AMT that I have my eye on. They sell two sets of engines that I could include as more base detail, just surplus vehicle parts that he might have or maybe just debris lying around. There's another set with seats, bumpers, tires and a few other odd parts which could also come in handy.

In my search for 1/24 (or 1/25) scale motorcycles I tracked down another option, Tasca 1/24 scale Zundapp German Motorcycle with sidecar. Whereas the AMT kit is pretty simple, the Tasca one is a serious model kit with a lot of nice detail. I saw a guy posting some WIP of the build and there's quite a bit to it. It's also 4 times the price of the AMT, which is a bit of a draw back. I'm still contemplating it. The perk of the AMT bike, as I see it, is it'll be a lot easier to hack up and convert. I'm thinking I'll redo the frame holding the front tire and elongate it. Maybe I'll redo the handle bars and replace them with bones (got a set of skulls and odd bones in 75mm from Drakkar). And then I want to add some saddle bags and other storage packs to the back of the bike (maybe he built a metal frame that sits on the rear of the bike to hold all that). With the simpler design of the dirt bike, I think it will be easier to redo.

The Tasca kit, on the other hand, is more detailed and I really think I'll have a hard time making any changes to the shape of the bike. I can still add extra details and stuff... but it will be more decorative. However, since the Tasca kit also has a side car, there's extra wheels, a seat, some storage bins, etc that I can use to dress up the bike or elsewhere on the base.


I could still change my mind... but at the moment I think the best plan is to start converting the AMT kit since I already have that. If I'm happy with the result, perfect. If not, I can always order the Tasca kit as a backup.

[Bailey03]

I've started on the bike conversions. Just the beginning, but I'm happy seeing it begin to transform into something new. I stretched the front end for a chopper style bike by clipping and replacing sections of the fork. I also took some wire and added the brake line to the front wheel. Once I attach the front to the rest of the bike, I'll add in some more cables to the engine and rear wheel. It's a relatively simple model kit, so I feel like adding those details really takes it up a level.


Still debating what to do next. While the elongated front feels sleek and fast to me, I'm thinking I'll add some armor to the back and beef it up. Make the rear a little more tank-like and intimidating.

[Dexter0015]

Nice start. The cables DO takes it to the next level.

[BDerricks]

Looks like an awesome start. Have you thought about putting an arch between the fork lowers? Obviously it's not real life, but the mountain biker/dirt biker in me is cringing at the flex your poor axe-wielding psychopath would experience trying to ride that thing across a choppy, blown-out desert. Something like this might compensate for the extremely raked out front end:



or this:

[Bailey03]

Thanks for the tip, BDerricks! Yeah, I'm walking that line between wanting to make something believable but also outlandish. I've never been all that into cars or motorcycles, so I don't have tons of experience or intuition to draw upon. I could put a bar in there or maybe my character tied some bones across the forks to do the job. Gotta make this thing look intimidating after all.

[BloodASmedium]

It’s easy - make something outlandishly believable. lol ok I. ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SO FAR!!!