Light Box Awesomeness

Hellooooo!

I feel like I've been neglecting the Studio (and the Hall for that matter) recently. Unfortunately, real life has been extremely busy... but you don't care about that. Fortunately, Southern Shrike Bowl 4 was held on the weekend and, amongst other shenanigans, tomfoolery and games of Blood Bowl, the organiser Adam brought along his light box.

I've wanted a light box for a while, but it's something I haven't yet sprung for. I'm not entirely convinced we were able to get the best shots possible, but I was able to take some pics of some miniatures that are slightly better than previous pics posted.

So, I thought I'd share and see what you thought...

Oh, and how did I fare at SSB you ask? Well, 8th overall in the gaming stakes (4-0-2 record for the weekend) with the Duskrunners, most touchdewns for and, yes, best painted team. There was some stiff opposition this year though, with a number of very well-painted teams showing up and making the affair a very colourful one.

But without further ado...

Some pics of the Duskrunners, starting with my new, sculpted and painted air elemental (counts as a wardancer) "Eurus the East Wind" who, incidentally, has to have come close to tournament MVP!

The earth elemental (counts as a treeman), "Cruac the River Bed":

The team:

And Jordell Freshbreeze:

The Drakwald Ravens are not my oldest Blood Bowl team, but they are the one that I have run with for the longest, through a stretch as the Marienburg Ravens, and back again. But the old miniatures are looking a bit shabby. This is the first "test" piece for the new incarnation of the team, which will be the next generation of players. This one is one of twin daughters to the old captain/blitzer Jock "the Hammer" Hammerstein: Jacqueline "JacHammer" Hammerstein (the other twin will be Samantha "Sledge" Hammerstein). I still have to add clumps of grass to the base and some more detail (a name and number) on the base itself).

And now a bunch of models you have seen before. Some of the Razorbakz:

The sculpted Ice Vixen:

And the diminutive flings of the White Acre Weed Pullers:

I hope you enjoy them. I'll also put up a pic of another project I've been working on recently... but that's another post.

Air Elemental - sculpting reprised

With the EucBowl commission finished, even though there are a few other things on the boil, I have enough breathing space to look back at my sculpting. After taking the Duskrunners to the AusBowl State Championship in March I realised I wasn't happy with the wardancers. The centaur thing just wasn't doing it for me. I started sculpting an air elemental to go with the team some time ago. I had planned for it to be a star player, but now the plan is to make two as replacements for the current wardancers.

So I have now finished the sculpt. I still need to do a little bit of sanding to smooth out some areas, but it is pretty much finished other than that. As I will be taking this team to Southern Shrike Bowl in September, I need to have her done by then. "But won't you need another wardancer?" I hear you ask. Well, no. I have something special up my sleeve for the other one...

But in the meantime, I hope you like the sculpt...

Ice Vixens #2 - finished sculpt

Well, the sculpt is finished and, while it's not quite professional quality in its execution, I learned a great deal and the painted result will fit in quite well with the team I am working on.

So here she is, the first blitzer of the Ice Vixens norse team:

Ice Vixens #1 - sculpting and prototype

Hi again

I thought I'd put in a quick update on my other sculpting project. It has stalled a little bit because of the need to get the Duskrunners up and ready for AusBowl, but any leftover putty has been slowly making its way on to the were-fox.

Here is the most up to date pic of the sculpt. There is also a tail that is half finished to be added to the back.

I'm really happy with the feet and lower legs. One thigh ended up significantly longer than the other. At this stage I can't really go back and change this, so I'm going to wear it as a beginner's fault. I'm also not entirely happy with the fur on the thighs. The torso is still half-formed and will have a t-shirt over the top. Head and arms, obviously, still to come along with the dreaded head and hands duo of death!!! We'll see how that goes, might be disheartening.

In the meantime, this is the prototype paint job for the team as a whole: the Ice Vixens.

And their logo:

Le Coq #3 - Doodle

Well, I finished the sculpt of my rooster - "Doodle". I'm pretty happy with him so, with no further ado, here he is:

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.