Saturday, October 13, 2012

First look: WIP sonic blaster sculpt

So, heres the first WIP preview of my blasters.    The apoxie sculpt is grey so it doesnt have that popping contrast of a green stuff sculpt,  but its soooo much easier to shape.   And the new clay shapers are definitely making it easier- I havent had to sand anything yet, just some minor filing, mostly on the styrene I used to bulk up the rough shape.

Theres probably another 3 layers of details I still want to do.  Notably a power hose/cable along the bottom from the 'magazine/ area to right under the muzzle.   When sculpting parts this small, you basically add one or two little additions- then wait.  If you dont you inevitably smash the uncured putty with a finger or thumb.   So,  its not taking much actual work time,  but its a slow process.   If I hadn't made the base frame of the weapon out of styrene I'd stick it under a lamp to rush the cure,  but I really dont want to melt it :o


Nothing like a jumbo picture to bring out all the details I havent added yet ;)

I think the next time I make a scratch weapon Im going to do some sketching first.  I tend to just make it up as I go which isnt the most efficient method.   But it seems to be working out so far.

Let me know what you think,  and keep in mind this is very WIP.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Rumblings from the warp....

After a lengthy hiatus from 40k,  soon there shall be an onslaught of renegades and corrupted mutants.

Dusted off after a lengthy interment, such things as my Nightlords,  an Iron Warriors detachment,  and the reanimated remnants of my original Black Legion are being reformed into a usable force.

Its been over 5 years since Ive painted or played any of my chaos marines,  the 2007 Champions of Chaos event was the last tournament I played in, and the only games my Night Lords army was ever fielded for.

Night Lords got a bit of a short stick on this Codex,  but the overall codex is good, so they will be the main core of my troops for the time being.   As the last time they were fielded they were an all infantry army,  theres a large core of troops to work with and troop heavy armies sem like they'll work well in this edition.

So, my biggest initial project will be a Demon Prince.   I wont use the GW plastic kit,  and I have a conversion/sculpt I started in 07 but never finished because I pretty much quit 40k.    But it will be a fun model to finish,  my skillset now is more refined so I can get much better results.

Once I make sure the Prince I have in mind is legal,  and maybe even if it isn't,  I'm going to start serious sculpt work as soon as my order of art supplies from Blick arts arrives(hopefully the 10th).  I've got a set of silicone clay shapers that should make some of the sculpting much easier.

Later today I should have the parts gathered, and I'll take some pics of what work is already done and will try to closely follow the progress in case anyone is interested in how the sculpting progresses.

But, the current plan is for a Khornate Demon Prince,  Axe of Blind Rage, Power Armor, mounted on a Juggernaut.

Now- a monstrous creature cant really ride the existing juggernauts,  so,  the Prince will BE the juggernaut.  Think Demon+Juggernaut+centaur=  Juggetaur Demon Prince.

I think the only other hold up on this plan might be if I decide to scrap the old metal juggernaut and try to find a Bloodcrusher one,  the sculpt on those is just so much better.   It would save me alot of metal cutting to get the old one to do what I want.