Dark Crystal Podling Musician

T

treide

New member
http://www.coolminiornot.com/137987

Well, I confess I am a bit disappointed that this one didn\'t break 6, but oh well. If anyone can provide some constructive comments, I would appreciate it.

I tried to go for earthy tones similar to the garb of the Podlings in the film. I also wanted to have him appear a bit \"grubby\" since the Podlings live in a swampy area. The basing material is supposed to resemble straw that might be used to cover a dirt floor.

Thanks for any suggestions!
 
K

karmazov

New member
this is a 6, dont worry.

maybe better pics, a coat of matt varnish and a nicer base will make this a 6.2-6.4
 
MPJ

MPJ

New member
I gave it a 6, may have gone 7 with a better base (is it painted)? Would definatlly have gone 7 with better basing and some darker seperations between colours.
 
O

Ogrebane

Active member
At least a 6 maybe 6.5 It could be the mini is not so popular or the base could be done better. Also the pic is a bit blurry. Anyway its not the score but the mini thats important. Good work your skills are definitely improving keep up the good work.
 
C

Captain of Moria

New member
I think the painting skill deserves about a 6.5, but I gave it an 8 because the Dark Crystal is one of my all time favorite movies, and the way you painted him gives him a lot of character :D Good job.
 
V

vincegamer

Active member
I didn\'t know Grenadier did Dark Crystal minis.
Did they do Skeksies? Have any?

It looks extremely dirty. Not sure why, but I don\'t think it helps. Maybe you started with too dark a primer? A clean shirt would help.
For a quicky improvement, try adding a white dot to the eyes - a reflection point.
I suspect most people may think the eyes are not done since they have no whites, but most people her probably haven\'t seen the film.
 
T

treide

New member
Thanks for all the input!

@ ogrebane - I know what you mean about the blurry factor. I think I am zooming in too much with my macro function. I\'ll have to play around with that.

@captain of moria - Yep, it is a great flick. Too bad Jim Henson isn\'t around to give us more treats like that.

@vincegamer - I agree that he probably looks a bit too dirty, even though that is what I was trying for. I also debated painting the eyes with whites, but I did want him to match the Podlings from the film, so I left them dark. I probably will add reflection points as you suggested.

I didn\'t know there were Dark Crystal minis either until I stumbled across them on Ebay. I picked up two different boxed sets. Altogether they consist of several (maybe 6?) Podlings, the two Gelflings, one Skeksis, that little fuzzball critter that is the female Gelfling\'s pet (Fizzgig, I think), and Oghra the Seer, and one of the Mystics (the male Gelfling\'s mentor). The scale is also unusually large for older minis. I don\'t think it is as big as 54 mm, but you can tell from the Podling I posted - he is on a standard slotted Games Workshop base. I just got lucky that one seller was offering both sets. I did pay a pretty penny, though!
 
H

hakoMike

Active member
It really captures the qualities of the film. Well done.

To overcome the blur, try a pass or two of \"sharpen\" in a tool like Paint Shop Pro.

sharpen_podling.jpg
 
T

treide

New member
@hakomike - Thanks for the Sharpen tip. I have been using GIMP for photo editing, so I will have to look for an equivalent tool in that program.
 
cdukino

cdukino

Member
looks cool. I love the dark crystal movie. My sister on the other hand is totally nuts about it. Any chance of pictures what the rest of them look like?
 
T

treide

New member
@cdukino - When I get home from work this evening I\'ll take pictures of all the minis in the set and post in this thread for you and vincegamer and anyone else interested.
 
H

hakoMike

Active member
Originally posted by treide
@hakomike - Thanks for the Sharpen tip. I have been using GIMP for photo editing, so I will have to look for an equivalent tool in that program.
Click to expand...

Gimp 2.2 has Filters -> Enhance -> Sharpen, and it\'s way better than PSP! I\'m going to use Gimp from now on. Thanks!
 
D

D.O.Error

New member
Originally posted by hakoMike
Originally posted by treide
@hakomike - Thanks for the Sharpen tip. I have been using GIMP for photo editing, so I will have to look for an equivalent tool in that program.
Click to expand...

Gimp 2.2 has Filters -> Enhance -> Sharpen, and it\'s way better than PSP! I\'m going to use Gimp from now on. Thanks!
Click to expand...
GIMP also has an Unsharp Mask filter, which oddly enough, seems to sharpen the picture better than the Sharpen filter. I seem to recall there being a reason for the unintuitive name but I forget.

Anyhow…

If you can you should try to fix the blurring while taking your pictures. Most cameras have a macro minimum distance of 6-10 cm so you might try pulling back a little from your minis and then cropping the picture down.

PS: Did the Dark Crystal set have any of those cool walking trashcan crab creatures?
 
T

treide

New member
@D.O. Error - Thanks for the photography tips. I currently am taking my minishots from across the room with my macro function, and then cropping. Maybe I will try moving a bit closer. I am eager to try the Sharpen/Unsharp Mask tools.

Alas, there were none of those cool Crab monsters. Their relative size might have been prohibitive. You\'ll see once I post pics of some of the larger minis in the set.
 
Shawn R. L.

Shawn R. L.

New member
To me, your paint job is in the 7.5-8 range. Your colors and excution have a very Hummell feel to them and I really like that!

I think where this piece suffers is that the mini itself simply dosent have that much going on. It\'s just a very simple sculpt---not your fault.
 
T

treide

New member
Here are the photos I promised. The Skeksis\' left hand and staff are not attached, but you get the idea. I put the Reaper female fighter in for a sense of scale. Since the Garthim (thanks, hakomike!) were even bigger than the Mystics, I think it is understandable why they didn\'t cast one!

I just realized the pics are a bit small - if you guys want bigger pics, let me know. I reduced them due to the large image file sizes.

DarkCrystal.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back To Top
Top