Confrontation Part IV: Plastic & Putty

Last time, I presented the heavily engineered mounting post that I crafted to support the metal knight & pegasus combination for this diorama. Any hope of suspending such a heavy, metal figure from a single point required a solid structure. This time, I will explore some of how I approached the dragon at the opposite end of the scene, as well as some of the initial rough terrain layout for the base.

First, and foremost, this base is going to use up a massive amount of Super Sculpey modeling clay. The material is easy to work with, cheaper than Green Stuff, and won't dry out, or set until I bake it. That means I have weeks to fiddle with it, and add detail before I run off to bake it. You can see the first few stone forms in the photo above, as well as the clear delineation between the little fired patch around the brass support post, and the fresh Sculpey.

Confrontation Part III: Engineering for Metal

It has been quite some time since I posted the last installment of this series. Even though I knew this would be a long one, I had not intended to go five months between updates! To provide a brief recap: I had assembled most of the parts of the dragon Narthrax, but the other participant in the scene was sadly lacking in readiness:

Since the, I have been trying to get the metal half of this duo assembled, so I could get back to blocking out and building the base that will support both of them.

CAV: Battle Damage

During a recent New England Miniature Painters Association (NEMPA) paint day, I took a short break to play around with one of the Bones CAV models that I received from Reaper Miniatures back in the Fall. The mini was part of the early-bird Kickstarter package from their CAV campaign. If everything goes to plan, the second installment of little plastic robots should appear in a few more months.

When I started this, I wasn't thinking too hard about paint. Instead, I pulled out the CAV and attacked it with my hobby knife, slicing pieces off and then playing around with a variety of materials to add on battle damage that might look cool in the finished product. One thing I'll say for Bones is that it makes this sort of experimentation easy and affordable!

Fey Project 2: Overkill Basing

As a part of the "Woodland Fey" display piece, I've been working on, I built my very first scenic base with Sculpey. While I am very happy with the tree stump and associated textures (at least for a first crack at the problem), the rest of the base was still pretty bare.

In past cases, I might have covered it with some basing grit before painting it, and then stock on some assorted clump foliage or flock to add color and interest. I have had good results with that kind of technique in the past. For thei project, on the other hand, I wanted to keep pushing for some more interesting basing materials.

Woodland Creatures - Fey Project, Part 1

My latest project is the result of a very special request. I am working on a display piece, based on one of Reaper Miniatures' Warlord figures. The request was to paint up a fairy, or similar creature of the wilds, and this figure fits the bill. As an added bonus, I am experimenting with large-scale display base construction, using Super Sculpey polymer clay. This installment will focus mostly on that. Future entries will cover paint and other basing work.

Super Sculpey is a a bakeable clay. The polymer remains pliable and sculptable for months, or even years, left on its own. To harden it, you need to make it in a 140°C (275°F) oven for 15-20 minutes. That alone makes it way different from the two-part epoxy putties that I am used to, and that is not the only difference...

Multiplication

As reported previously, I have been working on a number of things for Firestorm Armada. My latest science project has been to try to create mine tokens for use during games. The old version of Firestorm came with some cardboard counters for mines, but they were pretty unexciting on the table, and the game now uses a larger, hexagonal, form factor for the same purpose.

In this case, I decided to try to cast brand new custom tokens in resin, and make enough for my own use in the game. So far, I have not been fully successful, but I have played around enough to share my experiences as a first time resin-caster.

Ogre Bones WIP (Completed)

I found some time to complete my Ogre bones WIP over the weekend. I had a few issues painting his eyes, as the sculpt has some odd details and hard-to-correct, deep-set sockets, but I am pleased with my results on the whole, and I really enjoyed the group WIP concept.

Now that I have painted two of Reaper's Bones miniatures, I think I am getting a feel for the medium. There is no question that Bones models have softer detail than their metal counterparts, but it is still quite good. I would not have believed it without trying it, but I think Paint actually bonds to the Bones plastic better than it does to metal. I have been handling this Ogre for weeks without any kind of external handle attached to his base, and nothing has rubbed off the surface. I have not had to do any of the last minute touch ups that I usually do with a metal figure.

Bones Follow-Up

I spent a little more time playing with my sample model. After applying a little more paint, I decided to take it seriously and remove the mold lines from the model using my hobby knife.

I am pleased to say that I was able to scrape away the fine mold lines away quite easily using a sharp hobby blade. One hidden bonus of the Bones material is that, even though I had already started painting, I was able to patch up the color on the model immediately after trimming the lines. Thanks to the Bones plastic, I did not have to go through a new priming and prep phase.

All in all, not bad for five minute's work.

Bones!

Reaper Miniatures is running a Kickstarter campaign to bring a huge batch of new sculpts to their affordable 'Bones' product line. The campaign is already funded, but it is not too late to get in on the action. They have been steadily rolling out stretch goals to bring more and more sculpts into the fold.

I picked up an early Bones release back at Reaper Con, and, in view of the Kickstarter campaign, I though it might be a good time to crack open the blister and take a look at what it's all about.