Travellers WIP warband

[traveller]

Not much of a WIP thread yet, sadly while everything else in the world has turned up in the mail, my modelling drill has not, meaning nothing can be pinned, meaning I can't start the modelling proper. (I'm also waiting on a big pile of 40mm bases but I can live without them).

I should warn you before I go any further that I haven't touched GS before except to fill a few gaps, so be gentle with me.

Right, so basic plan of action: Make some heads, do some little bits to keep me entertained, see just how tough this stuff is haha. Hopefully drill will arrive tomorrow, start fixing models together, start basic GS work on the first warband member. I will fill you in on basic background on them as the models start up...

First up is the very first thing I ever made;



It was meant to be a head but it was too big for the model and rather than take a bit off I made a skull, why not.

Secondly, making faces is hard; this took me a good 20 minutes, not counting the time I left it to cure;



It is the right size for my model (severina base model) but I doubt I will use it unless I can make it look a little less like the scream. Still, a good learning experience.

Finally the beret for my former military medic;



I'm actually pleased with this, though I have to say it looks much better than in the photo. Slicks head btw.

C&C welcome, though there isn't much to talk about yet. I may or may not get photos up tomorrow, depending on how much time I actually spend in my house. I chose the best time to start what I am quickly realising is going to be a time intensive project... MSc exam time.

p.s. Any advice/ how-to's/ free female small heads would be appreciated. The part I'm dreading the most is the scratch built face.

EDIT: One more face built, gotta sink the eye sockets down a bit and bring the mouth away from the face but that will have to wait

[MarcoSkoll]

Unfortunately, if your previous GS experience is limited to gap filling, then you might find that faces are a little out of your skill range at the moment. They're not generally a good starting point for an inexperienced sculptor, because it takes both a practised hand and a proper understanding of the structures of the skull/face to get right.

However, I'll witter on for a bit anyway.

In my opinion, the first step to sculpting faces is knowing your subject matter. I'm going to be immodest and point you at my post/lecture on the subject..

The basics of my face sculpting technique were based on an article on one-ring.co.uk that... I can no longer find. Dammit.

Either way, my absolute recommendation is to sculpt over an already hardened bead of putty. Bulking and detail should be separate stages in sculpting - you don't want to be trying to put detail into a thick layer of putty, because whenever you try and press in details, you'll just distort the overall shape. This, hopefully obviously, is a bad move.

~~~~~

EDIT: That said, your second attempt is quite good (as a male face though), but the top of the head is too tall and oddly shaped.

You also appear to have cut the eyebrows in... or perhaps something else entirely. I'm not sure whether those are meant to be eyelids, four eyes or eyebrows.

[Dolnikan]

At least your faces look better than my attempts so far, I've only been able to use them for models which hide their face under a hood.

The berret and skull look good, what are you going to do with the skull? A servo skull perhaps?

[traveller]

Right, drill arrived, I can finally put models together, though my saw looks like being a long time away so I don't know when I will get do do the sev & sev models (I want to repose the arms amongst other things), which gives me more time to worry about heads.

Speaking of which

This, hopefully obviously, is a bad move.

It is amazing how obvious it is when you think about it... got a couple more heads on the go but you don't need to see them... they are getting progressively better the more I think about what I'm doing.

Right, small disclaimer, Half my models were given to me a while back by a friend, they have been paint stripped and are being re worked but one of them I liked enough that it is basically the same, though I am re working his GS work...

This guy is a bionic bodyguard of my inquisitor, he will be pretty badass but probably won't see the table much, as my inquisitor is the behind the scenes type...

Not much here yet, I am going to sculpt him some arms, should be fun... He is based on the new Deus Ex character so I want him with bionic arms that do awesome things.

This guy is basically the same as when I got him from my friend, though I've green stuffed his coat properly... Von Castellan was a skinny guy. Gonna try to make the little skull buttons to match the rest of his coat at some point but not right now...

Also he came with shoulder thingys (I don't even know what they are called) I initially took them off cause I didn't much like the quality of them, but I decided to put them back on

Sadly thin bits of GS don't take well to being pushed around, I will fill that little gap probably around the time I do his buttons :p

The third guy is meant to be a field doctor, though he doesn't look like he has ever heard of the hipocratic oath. I have been looking for an excuse to use the eversor left hand thingy for ages though and I decided it is decidedly surgical looking... oh and Dolnikan, he gets the beret head to show his military service

The gun is going to be a double barrelled shotty... he is left handed and his surgical tool looks like it isn't coming off without some serious effort, so he needs a wide angle weapon. Also, his torso was the damien 1427, sculpting some clothes over the top but I need to add more detail to them once they have cured properly (folds etc)

Again any comments are appreciated

[Inquisitor Goldeneye]

...Also he came with shoulder thingys (I don't even know what they are called)...

Epaulettes, I believe.



Also, may I ask where you got the legs for the second model? I don't recognise them from any of the Inq. models still in production.

[precinctomega]

Technically speaking, the dangly bits are epaulettes and the straps are rather boringly called "shoulder straps", but these days most people refer to the whole thing as epaulettes.

Great progress so far!  I love the conversion work and think these projects will be a much better way to learn your way into sculpting than trying to start with a face.

That beret is a good bit too big, IMO.  You should be aiming for this rather than this.

R.

[traveller]

Sorry Goldeneye I have no clue where the legs came from, this is one of the models I acquired from my mate, so I just got him as a load of bits and some inclination of how they once went together.

That beret is a good bit too big, IMO...

I don't disagree, the bit on the right is a bit high, but I worry that if I make it smaller it won't look like it fits his brain box in. This is one of the things that is going to be fixed once I decide I hate everything (which is inevitable to be fair).

Anyway, quick update, no photos I'm afraid, though not much has happened. Stuck the left arm on the captain (guy with epaulets, and while I'm fairly sure captain isn't a rank that gets epaulets, I don't know one that is at this stage), made his left epaulet, then re-did the right one because it didn't look as good. My problem now is what should he be holding in his left hand, any suggestions would be great, I will have it somewhere in my bits box...

To help you out, he is former guard (or pdf or general soldier of some description) left as suicide mission rearguard, defends area long enough for allies to escape, runs away, can't go back to army or will be shot for desertion, becomes smuggler. There is a more in depth version on my computer but that is the summary...

The doctor has basic arms, though I used an orc arm as reference for where the muscles go so he is kinda meatier than a doctor would be in my mind. I have a couple more models whose uses I haven't yet decided so I may make another doctor and leave this guy as just a big nasty man. The model just doesn't look like I imagine a doctor would, though I like his brutal look. Either way, I may skinny down his arms tomorrow...

Also started the shoulders for the eldar model. I want his arms to have a mechanically constructed feel so I am going to build up all the muscles one at a time. On which note, does anyone have a good anatomical drawing of the muscles front and back on the arm? I tried googling but failed to find a decent quality one, how I fail at google is beyond me.

[MarcoSkoll]

The legs are from the Valhallan bitz pack - no longer in production, sadly.

[traveller]

Major (ish) update. My razor saw arrived woop woop, so I got my sev model out, filed all the silliness off her and got to work;

The belt is a bit big because she is going to have some kind of trousers at a later date, similarly her upper abs seem to end quite abruptly, but she will have some kind of top on, again once everything is cured properly. Other than that I basically pinned her legs, filled the gaps, reworked her hips and, once all that was solid, gave her the belt and leg strap.

Also made a start on the left arm for the ranger model;


I have done everything I can since the photos were taken to move his forearms so it doesn't look like his arms are bent the wrong way but I think I accidentally bent the copper rod that they are built around. It definitely looks better now but I may end up stripping it all off, bending the rod back and starting again *sadface*

That is pretty much it for now, apart from that I cut the back of the shotgun/nasty claw models clothes off, they were unpleasant and annoyed me every time I saw the model.

As always, feedback is appreciated, I tend not to see things (oversized beret being a prime example) until someone else points them out...

[MarcoSkoll]

As far as feedback, your Sev's groin is wide (her legs should be closer together) and the abs are rather non lady-like (and would be too square even for a male). In the latter case, I'd suggest smoothing a very thin layer of GS over them with your fingers (a very useful "tool") which should help soften them.

The "problem" with the Ranger's arm is that the tricep is too small, and the bicep stretches too far down the arm. Fix those, and the bend shouldn't look so weird.

[Dolnikan]

I like how you dress up sev.

Btw, a nice use of the eversor arm.

[Shannow]

I'm a big gan of altering sevs really annoying and limiting pose, but agree with Marco the hips are too large, but am interested in seeing what it turns out like, I've just finished my own fairly large conversion of a sev which I'll post at some point, but you look like your going a lot further than I did so always good!

Keep up the good work!

[Kaled]

The twins are difficult models to repose - it takes a lot of work to get their hips right when you repose their legs. Plus them having their arms above their head means their breasts and shoulders are lifted, so reposing their arms is not just a simple case of cutting them off at the shoulder.

My reposed Sevorina is probably the worst model in my collection, partly because I didn't get those things right. Maybe one day I'll bin that model and have another try...

Still, good luck with your model. She may be difficult to repose but it can be done - listen to the advice people give and try to learn from my mistakes and I'm sure she'll turn out fine.