Hobby Halloween!

Well, given that it was Halloween this past Monday, aside from carving pumpkins (seen above, mine is on the right), I thought it would be fitting to take a look through some of my long dead projects and see if anything could inspire me back into working on them.

Fitting the "resurrection of the dead" Halloween theme, I thought I would share some pictures of these withered "ghouls"!


Kislev Boyar


First up is the Kislev Boyar I had been working on in Summer 2010. An almost complete scratch sculpt, this was originally intended to be my main entry into the Warhammer Fantasy Single Miniature category at Golden Demon 2010.

Sadly, as it came time to get painting I begun to notice a lot of nagging flaws in my sculpt work which put me off ever finishing him. At the moment, he resides on my shelf of unfinished projects in the state currently seen above - a few roughed in base coats and a wash on the skin. In the end I opted to paint up a slightly converted Averland Captain as my entry for Golden Demon 2010 instead.


Genestealer Magus


Next up, a "spooky" Genestealer Magus that I based on a Forgeworld Tau Air Caste figure and sculpted extensively over to get to the point you see him at now.

As you can see, I started to paint parts of him, but as this was done in early 2010, just before I moved to a new flat, he got sidelined and was never returned to. Looking at him now, I have no doubt I could have sculpted and painted what has been done much better now.


Vespero of the Vendetta


This figure was inspired by the Assassins Creed 2 computer game and my desire to create a more enigmatically posed version of Vespero - the old Dogs of War character.

I actually still quite like how much of this scratch build has come out, I've just never been able to find the concentrated inspiration to go back to it!


Demon Prince of Slaanesh


This one is really quite old now (2008?) and from back when I was just getting back into the hobby again after a few years away. The sculpt work on the head leaves a lot to be desired and, as you can probably see, is a little worse for ware now too.

I'm still quite fond of how the paint job on the flesh was turning out on this one though. Oh well!


I guess to sum this post up, I get a lot of ideas for projects. Typically quite elaborate and involving a reasonable amount of sculpting or conversion work. Usually being time poor for the hobby, it is quite common for a project to get to a particular stage before I begin to lose the inspiration and motivation required to complete it (much to the continued frustration of my beloved girlfriend!).

For each unfinished piece here, there are at least 2-3 times as many on my shelf - sad but true!

Anyway, I hope you have all enjoyed this little walk down an eerie memory lane! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

New Year, New Project! - Vespero's Vendetta Part 1

First of all, let me wish you all a Happy New Year!

2010 looks set to be another great year for our hobby, with many manufacturers lining up some great new kits. I got a look at some of the new Beastmen sprues today, as ever the quality of the casting from GW is excellent and the number of arm and head options is truly vast.

The one thing I was a little surprised and let down by though was the lack of "extra bits" on the frames. These seem to be frames aimed more at producing massed regiments as opposed to kits full of conversion possibilities.

Sadly (depending on your view-point) this seems to be a bit of an emerging trend for GW based on the recent Skaven, and the soon to be released Beastmen. Perhaps its simply due to the horde type armies that both play as?

Anyway, with the new year comes some new ideas for projects, the current one being a remake and modernisation of the legendary Dogs of War - Vespero's Vendetta.

The Vendetta

The inspiration for this project began with the recently released Assassins Creed 2 computer game. A fantastic game, the latest installment is set in Renaissance Italy, meaning plenty of feathers, puff and slash, knee high boots etc, all the same sort of stuff we see in the styles and imagery of both the Empire and Tilea in the Warhammer Fantasy world.

Suitably inspired, I began by putting together an inspiration sheet including a collection of images of Renaissance re-enactors in duelist get-ups, some Carnivale masks and duelist weapons etc. The result was this, which is currently up on my magnetic noticeboard in my modelling room:


The next step was to begin cutting up parts and creating a mock up for the pose of the figure. Starting with some Catachan walking legs and Mordheim/Empire militia legs, I began creating a pose similar to the confident stride of Ezio on the cover of Assassins Creed 2:

Not exactly identical, but you can see where the inspiration is coming from.

Since then, I have begun to fill things out and apply some detail to the trousers. I have also opted for a more appropriate torso that can be detailed into something more in keeping with the Renaissance duelist look.

The head in the image above, from the Empire mage kit, works quite well for what I am after, however I want to keep my options open for the final design so I have also sculpted a head which I will be having cast so that I can sculpt a variety of mask designs.

Obviously this is all very early days yet and the WIP nature means that things will no doubt change in the coming weeks, but hopefully it is clear so far where I'm going. The plan is to produce a small unit of 5, all characters in their own right, but tied together by a common direction and posing.

More soon!