Talonicus
New member
Hi all. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would post the wip\'s I shared with a few peeps running up to GDUK.
I hope this may give some of you some ideas etc to try yourselves or you may read it and think what a pillock.
There is a bit of waffling, procastinating and quite a few pics.
All questions are welcomed.
Nigel
When ever I start a GD project I always try and plan it all beforehand. I scribble down notes and ideas over a period of weeks, most of these never come to anything but some stick.
Of all the GD categories the ones I like best are the battles scene and duel. The problem is that I am extremely slow at painting. Consequently Duel is the easier category for me to attempt.
The basic idea that I want to attempt is a head on clash between a Khorne champion on a Bloodcrusher against an Ork nob on a warbike. The thing that I really want to push on this scene is the dynamics. I want the clash of the chaos warbeast with the bike to be very fluid and have a real wow factor.
So once my initial idea was in place I ordered the parts and waited for them to arrive. The Bloodcrusher was indeed metal as I had previously been informed. Now usually I prefer to paint metal miniatures, but plastic for any project like this is so much easier. The warbikes on the other hand are the usual GW plastic sprues with lots of useful gubbins.
So to work. The first task was to cut the big lump of metal they call a Bloodcrusher into something useful.
Cutting the legs from the body was going to be quite a task. GW metal miniatures are hard work to cut at the best of times, and a straight razor saw cut on this would have caused too much damage to the surrounding area. The method I used to remove the lags is one that I regularly use. I drill a series of small holes all the way around the leg. This keeps the damage to an absolute minimum. The small amount of metal left between the series of holes can then be removed with a small cutting disk on a dremel power tool. The photo below shows you the parts that make up the Bloodcrusher.
The next photo shows where I decided to make the cuts, and the following pic shows the cut model with some preliminary sculpting to cover all the damage caused etc. I always prefer to sculpt the model like this as I find it makes it easier to just fill any joins when the pose it set. I used some super sculpey for this task, I try and try with GS but am never happy with it. Super sculpey is a bakeable polymer clay, which gives me an indefinite working time.
The Ork warbike is much easier to convert due to it being plastic. GW always provide a lot of extras on the sprue and as 3 bikes come in each box I knew it should provide all the parts I need. What I wasn’t happy with was the size of the warbike. Compared to the Bloodcrusher it is small and weedy…. Not tough enough for a savage Ork war boss!!
So I basically cut a couple of bikes up, used a bit of plasticard and made myself a much bigger bike. This should look much better against the chaos daemon. The following photo is an early wip of this.
I now have the Bloodcrusher and Warbike constructed enough for a quick positional check. I know the 50mm base limit can seem limiting but I always think a good scene uses the minimum base necessary. I have seen many brilliant ideas and paintjobs completely ruined by a poorly planned big base. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL.
The following photos are a very rough try out of the image in my mind. I picture it as the Bloodcrusher smashing into the front side of the bike. This stops it like a spoke through the wheel and the back end fly\'s upwards. This will enable me to hopefully launch the two protaganists at each other.
All this on a 50mm base with just two points of contact. Because the Bloodcrusher is a solid lump of metal it should be very stable despite the bike “drivng” into the scene.
I have now started to decide on the position of the two main combatants. I have used my usual method of basically cutting the Ork up at just leaving the main parts of his limbs. The rest is just wire at the moment. This I find gives me the best way of positioning the mini exactly how I want it with the minimum of sculpting afterwards. With the Ork this meant I have completely cut away his legs to the top of his boots, and his arms down to his elbows.
Once the Ork is cut down I bend the wire into the pose I imagine he would be in and blu tack him in place. I never get it right first time, but because I use a soft copper wire its very easily to continually reposition the arms, legs, torso and arms until I am satisfied. The following pics give you and idea of where I am heading with this. The left arm will actually still be holding onto the handlebar, I just haven\'t cut and attached it yet.
I am really happy with how the dynamics are turning out so far.
After I have set the basic shape/form of the Ork warboss I set to work on the Khorne bezerker. This project for me is all about the movement and dynamics. I want it to be like a moment of action captured in time..... just like a 3d photo. To help build on this sense of movement I wanted the Chaos guy launching himself upon impact at the ork. The method I use is the same as the other models. I cut away all the joints on the marines arms and legs and then join him together with a thin copper wire inner frame.
Once I have this positionable mini I just use blu tack to hold it together and strike some poses. The following pics is the result. I am getting a strong sense of impact and movement.
This project has slowed due to real life encroaching into modeling time, but despite this I feel that it has really started to progress, although from the photos this may not be apparent.
I looked and looked at the poses of the combatants and came to the decision that I wanted the whole scene fixed to the base by just one small point of contact. This I hope to emphasize the dynamics of the scene and the speed of impact.
I have achieved this suspension by carefully drilling through the center of the front wheel of the bike. This holds the bike at the required angle. The right front hoof of the juggernaut has been drill to fit on top of the brass rod, Because of the angle I have drilled this at it holds the whole ensemble extremely well. Once the painting is finished and glue applied I am very confident that it should look very precarious and yet be very solid.
I have sculpted the orks legs and the top of his left arm. The trousers I have finished now, with all detailing added, The muscles of the left arm are complete but I may add something else to it yet, maybe a scar or similar.
The orks axe has been changed, this was mainly forced by an accident involving me dropping the axe and then wheeling y chair over it....... arghhhh!!. The new axe still has a lot of detailing work and tidying up, but I think it has actually worked out better. The orks head has received quite a lot of attention, I have extended the side guards on the helmet so as to accept a iron jaw. The orks mouth has also received a new set of large fangs. I am still unsure whether to add horns to his helm, it looks slightly narrow to me at the moment.
The sculpting on the juggernaut is nearly all complete, this just needs one back leg attaching and then some detailing work, all small stuff, but the details make all the difference.
The position of the khorne bezerker has been altered. A chain will be gripped in his power fist as it will be this he is clinging n to. After advice from Rob I have altered his and the orks wrists to better hold there respective axes. Its a subtle but great change.
At this stage I must confess to forget taking pics for awhile so the wip jumps past the end of the converting and straight into the painting. The next pics show the primary coats on the jugger and khorne champion.
The champion and ork are both painted over a white undercoat, which is my preffered method. The jugger and bike were undercoated black simply because of the amount of metallic paint, mud and blood that i knew I would be using.
I will add some more later.
Nigel
I hope this may give some of you some ideas etc to try yourselves or you may read it and think what a pillock.
There is a bit of waffling, procastinating and quite a few pics.
All questions are welcomed.
Nigel
When ever I start a GD project I always try and plan it all beforehand. I scribble down notes and ideas over a period of weeks, most of these never come to anything but some stick.
Of all the GD categories the ones I like best are the battles scene and duel. The problem is that I am extremely slow at painting. Consequently Duel is the easier category for me to attempt.
The basic idea that I want to attempt is a head on clash between a Khorne champion on a Bloodcrusher against an Ork nob on a warbike. The thing that I really want to push on this scene is the dynamics. I want the clash of the chaos warbeast with the bike to be very fluid and have a real wow factor.
So once my initial idea was in place I ordered the parts and waited for them to arrive. The Bloodcrusher was indeed metal as I had previously been informed. Now usually I prefer to paint metal miniatures, but plastic for any project like this is so much easier. The warbikes on the other hand are the usual GW plastic sprues with lots of useful gubbins.
So to work. The first task was to cut the big lump of metal they call a Bloodcrusher into something useful.
Cutting the legs from the body was going to be quite a task. GW metal miniatures are hard work to cut at the best of times, and a straight razor saw cut on this would have caused too much damage to the surrounding area. The method I used to remove the lags is one that I regularly use. I drill a series of small holes all the way around the leg. This keeps the damage to an absolute minimum. The small amount of metal left between the series of holes can then be removed with a small cutting disk on a dremel power tool. The photo below shows you the parts that make up the Bloodcrusher.
The next photo shows where I decided to make the cuts, and the following pic shows the cut model with some preliminary sculpting to cover all the damage caused etc. I always prefer to sculpt the model like this as I find it makes it easier to just fill any joins when the pose it set. I used some super sculpey for this task, I try and try with GS but am never happy with it. Super sculpey is a bakeable polymer clay, which gives me an indefinite working time.
The Ork warbike is much easier to convert due to it being plastic. GW always provide a lot of extras on the sprue and as 3 bikes come in each box I knew it should provide all the parts I need. What I wasn’t happy with was the size of the warbike. Compared to the Bloodcrusher it is small and weedy…. Not tough enough for a savage Ork war boss!!
So I basically cut a couple of bikes up, used a bit of plasticard and made myself a much bigger bike. This should look much better against the chaos daemon. The following photo is an early wip of this.
I now have the Bloodcrusher and Warbike constructed enough for a quick positional check. I know the 50mm base limit can seem limiting but I always think a good scene uses the minimum base necessary. I have seen many brilliant ideas and paintjobs completely ruined by a poorly planned big base. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL.
The following photos are a very rough try out of the image in my mind. I picture it as the Bloodcrusher smashing into the front side of the bike. This stops it like a spoke through the wheel and the back end fly\'s upwards. This will enable me to hopefully launch the two protaganists at each other.
All this on a 50mm base with just two points of contact. Because the Bloodcrusher is a solid lump of metal it should be very stable despite the bike “drivng” into the scene.
I have now started to decide on the position of the two main combatants. I have used my usual method of basically cutting the Ork up at just leaving the main parts of his limbs. The rest is just wire at the moment. This I find gives me the best way of positioning the mini exactly how I want it with the minimum of sculpting afterwards. With the Ork this meant I have completely cut away his legs to the top of his boots, and his arms down to his elbows.
Once the Ork is cut down I bend the wire into the pose I imagine he would be in and blu tack him in place. I never get it right first time, but because I use a soft copper wire its very easily to continually reposition the arms, legs, torso and arms until I am satisfied. The following pics give you and idea of where I am heading with this. The left arm will actually still be holding onto the handlebar, I just haven\'t cut and attached it yet.
I am really happy with how the dynamics are turning out so far.
After I have set the basic shape/form of the Ork warboss I set to work on the Khorne bezerker. This project for me is all about the movement and dynamics. I want it to be like a moment of action captured in time..... just like a 3d photo. To help build on this sense of movement I wanted the Chaos guy launching himself upon impact at the ork. The method I use is the same as the other models. I cut away all the joints on the marines arms and legs and then join him together with a thin copper wire inner frame.
Once I have this positionable mini I just use blu tack to hold it together and strike some poses. The following pics is the result. I am getting a strong sense of impact and movement.
This project has slowed due to real life encroaching into modeling time, but despite this I feel that it has really started to progress, although from the photos this may not be apparent.
I looked and looked at the poses of the combatants and came to the decision that I wanted the whole scene fixed to the base by just one small point of contact. This I hope to emphasize the dynamics of the scene and the speed of impact.
I have achieved this suspension by carefully drilling through the center of the front wheel of the bike. This holds the bike at the required angle. The right front hoof of the juggernaut has been drill to fit on top of the brass rod, Because of the angle I have drilled this at it holds the whole ensemble extremely well. Once the painting is finished and glue applied I am very confident that it should look very precarious and yet be very solid.
I have sculpted the orks legs and the top of his left arm. The trousers I have finished now, with all detailing added, The muscles of the left arm are complete but I may add something else to it yet, maybe a scar or similar.
The orks axe has been changed, this was mainly forced by an accident involving me dropping the axe and then wheeling y chair over it....... arghhhh!!. The new axe still has a lot of detailing work and tidying up, but I think it has actually worked out better. The orks head has received quite a lot of attention, I have extended the side guards on the helmet so as to accept a iron jaw. The orks mouth has also received a new set of large fangs. I am still unsure whether to add horns to his helm, it looks slightly narrow to me at the moment.
The sculpting on the juggernaut is nearly all complete, this just needs one back leg attaching and then some detailing work, all small stuff, but the details make all the difference.
The position of the khorne bezerker has been altered. A chain will be gripped in his power fist as it will be this he is clinging n to. After advice from Rob I have altered his and the orks wrists to better hold there respective axes. Its a subtle but great change.
At this stage I must confess to forget taking pics for awhile so the wip jumps past the end of the converting and straight into the painting. The next pics show the primary coats on the jugger and khorne champion.
The champion and ork are both painted over a white undercoat, which is my preffered method. The jugger and bike were undercoated black simply because of the amount of metallic paint, mud and blood that i knew I would be using.
I will add some more later.
Nigel
