Allod's (very slow) WIP

[Allod]

Hi folks,

This will be the thread documenting my glacially slow progress into the world of 54mm wargaming. C&C is, naturally, very welcome.

So, after an 8-year-hiatus from Inquisitor (I played with the 28mm minis back then), a few months ago I stumbled over three OOP Inquisitor models on ebay that were very cheap, so I thought "What the hell, why not..."

Well, as it goes, I immediately started looking for more of them without entirely realising it, and ended up with a small - if somewhat eclectic - collection. This was the point where I realized that I'd been "bitten", so I might just as well start a proper warband or two and introduce my group to the game.

The pictures in this thread are and will continue to be taken by my wife - I'm a complete idiot when it comes to photography. If you have suggestions regarding the photographical side of things, I will relay these to her tactfully. 

Being finished now with boring you to death over the personal details, let's continue with something interesting.


Jan van Yastobaal

One of the original three models I bought, I still remembered his backstory fondly - the Rogue Trader that fell from grace was a concept that appealed to me a lot, and I also always preferred the model to von Castellan, with his strange flying ponytail and the quirky swordgrip. Gimme van Yastobaal's "B-movie-gun" any time!

So I put him on one of those scenic bases, and here he is after greenstuffing. Not much to see so far, he'll warrant more attention once painting has begun.



He will be personally leading his small troupe of select followers whenever he's feeling adventurous (i.e. most of the time).


Praetorian Trooper

Yes, he hasn't got a name (or any background, for that matter) yet. I just feel that this "colonial" guardsman will fit in nicely with Yastobaal's expeditions. Maybe I'll do something original and make him an untouchable. I kid, I kid... 

He's made from the "Space Guard" by Black Army Models. I shortened him a fair bit by cutting off his legs below the torso and the torso itself over the waistline and taking out a mm or two each so he doesn't stand out quite as much as the stock model.





The arms were repositioned using greenstuff (bulking out his shoulders a bit in the process), and the right hand holding the trigger is from a 40k rough rider. The left hand (holding the barrel) was reconstructed from the original one the model comes with. I supplied him with the pith helmet from some 1:32 toy figures I bought for this purpose (15 leftover models/heads now...  )

After looking at the photos I realised that I forgot giving him his moustache - since I didn't want to bother my wife again, you will only see it in the next batch of pictures.


Gronk, power-armoured Mercenary

Gronk is betraying my old school (RT) roots - he's not a Space Marine, but simply a brute from some Emperor-forsaken place supplied with a suit of power armour by his current employer. When I saw the "Bull Marine" from Black Army Models, I fell in love with the unique backpack and general "non-conformity" of the design. Bálazs, who is the guy running the company, was so kind to make one last "Bull Marine" for me before he's discontinued for good.

The general idea was to have one of the really barbaric, power-armoured troopers from Rogue Trader instead of a noble Astartes - including appropriate non-Astartes stats for this illiterate piece of muscle, and a paintjob with "KIL KIL KIL" somewhere on his armour. 







Gronk was also shortened using the same methods as with the Space Guard, although in this case less because I was worried about his size scale-wise (he's still quite tall), but in order to get rid of the "lankyness" that he suffered from in my opinion. Making him shorter emphasized the bulkiness of his frame, which was what I aimed for.

I repositioned his left arm so that he can hold a Boltpistol (made from a normal 40k Bolter).

While Yastobaal and the Praetorian are off to painting by now, Gronk is obviously still missing some parts: his right arm will be repositioned from the original pose and holding a Chainsword at some point. I would like to cut up Malicant's for that purpose, but I'm somewhat loathe to buy a complete model just for the weapon.

In addition, I want to connect that "neck-cap" of his to the armour with some cabling in order to show that he's missing the black carapace, but controls his armour via a more primitive link to the back of his skull.


So much for this instalmet, thanks for bearing with me and more to follow soon. (Depending on your understanding of the word "soon", your mileage may vary.)

Cheers

[MarcoSkoll]

He's made from the "Space Guard" by Black Army Models. I shortened him a fair bit by cutting off his legs below the torso and the torso itself over the waistline and taking out a mm or two each so he doesn't stand out quite as much as the stock model.

Shortening models is a bit of a tricky prospect, and in this case, because you've shortened his torso below the belt (it's best to shorten the torso above the waist), it's given him slightly funny proportions, with quite stubby legs.

However, I'm more drawn to his left arm, which is noticeably short (being completely straight when held like that also makes it look a little odd). The legs you can get away with - they're the same length, so just say he's proportioned slightly differently, but two arms of different lengths are going to look really quite odd.

While I'm on the subject of the arm, it looks like your work on the shoulder used either rather old green stuff, or you didn't cut the join out before you mixed it (the putty tends to cure where the yellow/blue halves of the strip meet, which gives you lumps in your putty if you don't cut it out first).
Also, I'd recommend smoothing an area like that with wet fingers - if it's a large undetailed area, I use my fingers a lot when sculpting.

[Allod]

Actually, the torso was shortened above the belt - you can still see the line where I cut if you look at the back shot. The greenstuff below is only there because there was a slight but noticeable gap after rotating the torso slightly. I'm not quite sure what you mean about the proportions, though; since the coat covers a lot of the upper legs (just as with the 28mm Mordians/Praetorians), they are just not "as visible" - I compared him to the other Inq humans I have while working, and the torso/belt/legs ratio is rather spot on. The arms also have the same length +/- one mm measuring tolerance. Maybe it's the pictures that are misleading?

You're right about the greenstuff of the left arm being older than the rest. However, it was still good enough to work with. The "irregularities" are there on purpose; I created some slight creases in the textile so it'd look more natural after painting.

Cheers

[Kaled]

The arms also have the same length +/- one mm measuring tolerance. Maybe it's the pictures that are misleading?

Maybe, but that left arm does look really unnatural and short. It's too straight and ought to be bent at the elbow a little. Also, his sleeve looks too wide at the shoulder. I realise it'd be a bit of a pain to change it, but at the minute it does let the model down somewhat.

Does the arm look short in real life even though it measures the same?

[Allod]

Does the arm look short in real life even though it measures the same?

No, not at all. I suspect that the picture hides the fact that his left arm is actually angled forward so that the perspective shortens the arm visually. Same goes for the shoulder - I think that the greenstuff below might be seen as part of the shoulder. I see the line between the sleeve and the greenstuffed part on the torso quite clearly, but that might be because I already know the model.

Maybe I do need to upload a few pictures from different angles to mitigate the problem.

Cheers

[MarcoSkoll]

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the proportions, though; since the coat covers a lot of the upper legs (just as with the 28mm Mordians/Praetorians), they are just not "as visible"

While I can't see the exact location of the groin, I can see the shape of the hips, and that tells me more (he's wearing trousers and the crotch on trousers isn't necessarily indicative of where the groin is - look at most chavs). It's not that bad, but it does make the model look more like 28mm scaling than a 54mm model.

I might seem like I'm picking you up on things that just aren't there, but being something of an amateur artist, I've studied anatomy quite extensively, so I'm a bit more used to seeing things that aren't quite right.

The arms also have the same length +/- one mm measuring tolerance.

How exactly did you measure it? You normally need to measure to the outside of joints (i.e. the point of the elbow, the corner of the shoulder) to get the proper length of the bones.

I created some slight creases in the textile so it'd look more natural after painting.

It still looks more lumpy than creased to me, but if you think it'll come out fairly smooth after painting, it's your call.

No, not at all. I suspect that the picture hides the fact that his left arm is actually angled forward so that the perspective shortens the arm visually.

If you're sure that it's the same length as the other arm, then I think it may more likely stem from the torso/leg proportions.
Because he's got a bulky torso, the arm looks short in comparison to his body, and it's more obvious than the other arm because it's straight.