A Spot of Sculpting

OK, I am not the world's greatest sculptor by any means. Modelling putty is anything but putty in my hands and I am really still on the learning curve for getting this right. But sometimes I do manage to get something happening that I really like.

At the moment I have two main sculpting jobs that I am trying to work through, both of which are cool for different reasons and both of which have their own challenges.

The first is what will eventually become the turn counter for my human Blood Bowl team Le Coq. The idea for this piece is that it is the team mascot; Doodle the rooster. Doodle is perched atop a couple of barrels against which leans a shield. On the floor is a cup, a ball and a copy of Southern Strike magazine (magazine of choice for SSB attendees!).

It's not finished yet, I still need to sculpt the main body. But the head, tail and legs are basically done. In addition, while I can't claim to have sculpted the barrels, shield or cup, the ball and magazine are my own additions.

My other piece is something I've been hoping to get done for a while, the first figure in my five-part TMNT set, Leonardo.

This figure is actually relatively large and is based off a set of cheap vinyl toys you can buy (four-pack with the four turtles in it) from practically any supermarket at the moment. I have bulked him out and changed the pose significantly, replaced his weapons and the ends of his mask. There is still a little bit of clean-up to do on it (I can see a mould like across his head I missed and some of the putty is actually still wet here and needs a sand) but it is essentially complete. The only parts I am slightly unconvinced of are the swords which, while the right shape and a far-cry better than attempts one to three, are still a bit thick. Oh well, it is the first of four, so I can't expect it to be perfect. I will almost certainly have to re-do Leo at the end to bring him up to scratch. But for the moment, here he is:

Obviously the base on Leo is temporary too. I have big plans for that...

I can't wait to finally get these done and start painting them, but I guess I have to curb my enthusiasm. I received, in the post, today a few Blood Bowl dwarfs that need painting to complete a commission team that will be sold to raise funds for the SA state Blood Bowl team as it prepares to head east for the AusBowl in March next year. Keep your eyes out for it soon.