Something a little different (for me, anyway)

Started by Atavus, 08 May 2015, 01:39:33 PM

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Atavus

Hi folks.  I've been quiet for a little while on the forum, and the spehs mareen project has stalled while I suffer through a painting 'drought'.  Just can't seem to get enthusiastic about painting at the moment (maybe something to do with the nice weather drawing me outside a bit more).

But that doesn't mean that I've been entirely idle.  Taking the view that a change is as good as a rest, I started a few fantasy conversions on models that were lying around.  One of them has gone a bit further than I anticipated (I'll save him for last).  The main theme is a 'frost' Dwarf force (or Norse, if you prefer, although there will be no attention to historical accuracy in this bunch), so it will include things like furry cloaks, bolt throwers and catapaults instead of cannon, wolves, giants, shamans, mammoth, and these guys...



Hopefully, you'll be thinking "Why, that's a Yeti!  Can't have a frozen wasteland theme without one", instead of "What does a rotund caveman/werewolf have to do with the theme?"

Personally, I'm feeling a little  unsure of the conversion.  My thinking was Troll + hair = Yeti, so I added some facial hair, then used a different technique to create a rough fur texture on the back/shoulders, forearms and thighs (it looks like leaves to me at the moment, but I know that it'll come good once painted).  The one thing I didn't want to do was cover the entire model in fur, as it would just seem lazy, and a shame to hide all the character of the Troll model underneath.  But if anyone has any suggestions about how to enhance this guy's Yeti-ness, I'd appreciate the feedback.

So now we come to a chap with a bit of a back story.  One of my favourite Dwarf models is FD23: , but I'm quite taken with the Hill Dwarf range, especially with the variants converted by Techno for the Warband packs.  So, I set out to convert a Hill Dwarf version of FD23 (with different horns, because the curly ram horns were a bit awkward for me) to use as a general:



So far so good.  But then I think to myself, "maybe there's a way to make him stand out more as a commander...?"



The shield bearer on the right is a Kallistra model that I cut away from a strip of berserkers, as I didn't have any suitable individually based models lying around.  I originally intended to have a group of four guys holding the shield, but in practice, when I started roughing out the idea with models, having two shield bearers just looked and felt right.

I'm just going to keep going with conversions on this force until I get my painting mojo back.

Techno

Love the conversions. 'Atavus' !!

With the 'yeti'.....Did you take any of the original model away, before adding the hair ?
Although you think it might be lazy to cover the wee chap in fur....I'm wondering if that would look a bit more yeti-like if you did that.  :-\

But really look forward to seeing him painted up 'as is'.

Cheers - Phil

Luddite

Brilliant work Atavus.

With the yeti, I'd add more hair to the head, back, and outer limbs but leave the belly and inner limbs bald.  Perhaps also some horns?

The dwarves are excellent! I'd buy them.   :)

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Bodvoc

Super work, can't wait to see what else you make.
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fred.

Liking these, great work!!

Have you seen this Yeti, part of the In Her Majesties name range has the same kind of partial hair that you are going for



There are also some Copplestone (15mm?) snow trolls that have a similar look
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Atavus

Hello again chaps.  Thanks for the comments and ideas.

Quote from: Techno on 08 May 2015, 02:25:40 PM
With the 'yeti'.....Did you take any of the original model away, before adding the hair ?
Although you think it might be lazy to cover the wee chap in fur....I'm wondering if that would look a bit more yeti-like if you did that.  :-\

Nah, if I were to scrape the fur off, he'd be a pristine troll model.  I added the teeth in, and a new bottom lip, because the old one got lost among the teeth and beard.  I have realised, looking through my troll models, that all but the two rock throwers have furry boots on, which kind of kills the idea of a primitive creature.  Not a problem if I cover the rest of the model in fur, though.  So I have some test subjects - I'll have a go over the weekend and see what everyone thinks.

Quote from: Luddite on 08 May 2015, 02:34:27 PM
With the yeti, I'd add more hair to the head, back, and outer limbs but leave the belly and inner limbs bald.  Perhaps also some horns?

That could work.  I'll test that out at the weekend too.  At this rate, I'll be posting a Yeti beauty pagent on Monday (a sickening thought...)!  The horns are a cool idea - they would make him look like Krampus... Or maybe a Wampa from Star Wars?  I'll see what I can do (some of the troll heads are set very close in to the body).

Glad you like the Dwarf general, by the way.  It's one of those models that I would love to see cast up, so I could have several based for use in different games.

Quote from: Bodvoc on 08 May 2015, 04:02:34 PM
Super work, can't wait to see what else you make.

Thanks Bodvoc.  It's mostly going to be Yetis and berserkers until I get hold of some Warband Dwarves  :)

Quote from: fred    12df on 08 May 2015, 06:26:42 PM
Liking these, great work!!

Have you seen this Yeti, part of the In Her Majesties name range has the same kind of partial hair that you are going for



There are also some Copplestone (15mm?) snow trolls that have a similar look

That IHMN Yeti and the Copplestone Snow Trolls are using the same colour scheme I had in mind, Fred!  Nice work.  I'm hoping to end up with something more like the Copplestone models' fur.  I think my effort and the IHMN Yeti look a bit too patchy and threadbare by comparison, so the suggestions from Techno and Luddite should sort out my little crisis.

Thank you for all the help so far, folks!


Steve J


Bloodaxe

Wow. Those shieldbearer Dwarves are awesome!   What bits did you use for shields?  Great work!

Last Hussar

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Bloodaxe

AWESOME!!

Kind of like this:

Atavus

Quote from: Bloodaxe on 08 May 2015, 08:20:54 PM
Wow. Those shieldbearer Dwarves are awesome!   What bits did you use for shields?  Great work!

Thanks Bloodaxe.  The shields on the bearers are bits of flattened and cured procreate, cut into circles with a hole punch (the type that looks like a pair of pliers, not a desk punch).  If I can't think of a use for a bit of leftover putty, it usually gets flattened and stored for occasions like this.  Waste not, want not  :)

The shield that the general is standing on is a spare 15mm shield from a pack of Xyston minis that was littering my desk.

By the way, thanks for digging out a pic of the GW Dwarf King on shield.  I'd been misremembering it as having 4 bearers.

Steve J and Last Hussar, thank'ee kindly (naturally, I'll take your comments as a compliment, LH!).

Cheers,

Jon

Bloodaxe

09 May 2015, 02:21:02 AM #11 Last Edit: 09 May 2015, 02:24:50 AM by Bloodaxe
Quote from: Atavus on 09 May 2015, 12:26:57 AM
Thanks Bloodaxe.  The shields on the bearers are bits of flattened and cured procreate, cut into circles with a hole punch (the type that looks like a pair of pliers, not a desk punch).  If I can't think of a use for a bit of leftover putty, it usually gets flattened and stored for occasions like this.  Waste not, want not  :)

The shield that the general is standing on is a spare 15mm shield from a pack of Xyston minis that was littering my desk.

By the way, thanks for digging out a pic of the GW Dwarf King on shield.  I'd been misremembering it as having 4 bearers.

Steve J and Last Hussar, thank'ee kindly (naturally, I'll take your comments as a compliment, LH!).

Cheers,

Jon


The Dwarf Throne of Power has four bearers. Maybe that what you are thinking of.

This:
(not a great pic, but what i could fit here)


Techno

The hole punch is a great idea for circular shields, that man.  :-bd
You mean the type of 'punch' for making holes in something like a leather, I presume ?
Cheers - Phil


Atavus

Quote from: Techno on 09 May 2015, 07:42:11 AM
The hole punch is a great idea for circular shields, that man.  :-bd
You mean the type of 'punch' for making holes in something like a leather, I presume ?
Cheers - Phil

A leather punch would work too, but in this case I used a document punch, as the putty was thin enough to get away with it.

Bloodaxe, I reckon the throne of power was colouring my memory.  Funny how the passage of time affects these things!


Techno

AHA !

That makes sense.
Some (a lot  ;)) of the holes punched by the leather 'wossname' would be on the tiny side...even at this scale. ;D ;D
Cheers - Phil  :)