I made custom original miniatures! · 6:46pm May 7th
I made custom original miniatures!
The miniatures are 35mm scale, or a tall 25mm scale ;) and I kitbashed them using an initial base of some green plastic army men and some miniatures of fairy-garden deer, combined with assorted greeblies from sprues, bits of plastic and toys, and 'green-stuff' polymer clay. They represent a resource gathering team for a peaceful tabletop miniatures game idea I am inventing that takes place in an alien universe that features strange airships and no combat. There are four 'Cervoid' figures in total, all on custom bases. I just finished painting them, now that I am 60 days beyond my wrist surgery.
I really hope you like my original miniatures. You can also see them - and much else as well - on my Deviant Art.
I also am throwing in a custom Greenstuff miniature I sculpted of the shapeshifting creature from the famous story 'Who Goes There?' by John W. Campbell - the basis of the science fiction horror movie 'The Thing'. I love John Carpenter's 'The Thing', because it is essentially accurate to the original story. Here are the passages that describe the original form of The Thing, as seen in the block of ice:
Eagerly Blair was stripping back the ropes. A single throw of the tarpaulin revealed the thing. The ice had melted somewhat in the heat of the room, and it was clear and blue as thick, good glass. It shone wet and sleek under the harsh light of the unshielded globe above.
The room stiffened abruptly. It was face up there on the plain, greasy planks of the table. The broken haft of the bronze ice-ax was still buried in the queer skull. Three mad, hate-filled eyes blazed up with a living fire, bright as fresh-spilled blood, from a face ringed with a writhing, loathsome nest of worms, blue, mobile worms that crawled where hair should grow—
He gave up and yielded to curiosity, or nervousness. He lifted the pressure lamp from the desk and carried it over to the table in the corner. Then he returned to the stove and picked up the coal tongs. The beast had been thawing for nearly eighteen hours now. He poked at it with an unconscious caution; the flesh was no longer hard as armor plate, but had assumed a rubbery texture. It looked like wet, blue rubber glistening under droplets of water like little round jewels in the glare of the gasoline pressure lantern. Connant felt an unreasoning desire to pour the contents of the lamp's reservoir over the thing in its box and drop the cigarette into it. The three red eyes glared up at him sightlessly, the ruby eyeballs reflecting murky, smoky rays of light.
Ooh, lovely work. I can't do these kinds of crafts for beans, so it's always neat to see what someone else can put together.
Wow, very impressive! Can't wait to hear more about the new game.
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I was worried whether I could pull off this project. I felt inadequate. I was sure I lacked the skills, I was certain my ability was insufficient.
I pushed through telling myself to 'trust the process' - things never look good until they are done, and sometimes you have to just ignore everything except the task in the moment to succeed. So, when I was sculpting the cowl-necks for the deer-head-to-body join, I just focused on that alone, and tried to push out of my head the fact I thought I sucked at sculpting. Just get that part done. The same with the tools - I had to carve away the weapons the army men held, so I could insert the toybash/beadbash engineering tools and that was scary: I was ripping the army men to pieces. But I just pushed through trying to ignore how terrible it looked like it would turn out. The same with the third leg and the armored tail on two of the figures (the armored tail was an arm from one of the army men, which I used wire clippers to cut away at the hand to make a tail tip!). I just concentrated on one single task at a time, working hard to blind myself to how much I was sure I sucked and would fail.
I guess, sometimes, that is the key. Just take each step in turn and switch of the brain and all of its doubt as best I can. Just try to enjoy the process and ignore my worry about the result. In the end, I got it done.
Maybe this trick can help you and others?
Those are beautiful! I've really enjoyed the cooperative board games I've played, and having a set of cooperative miniatures rules seems like a logical next step. And airships... top marks for that!
EDIT: I just noticed the label on the M.U.L.E. figurine! That is awesome!!! I spent uncounted hours playing M.U.L.E. many, many years ago!
Reminds me a lot of a early 80's Gameswork Shop models. Nice work. I hope developing the game goes well for you. Keep it up.
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sculpting is easier then it looks if you managed to get the stress under control and look up tutorials on Youtube. If you practice regularly everyday you can noticeable improve in very little time. Best advice I can give start with basic sake and progressively ad the details in, you'll find your rhythm in it eventually. I am at the moment trying to learn 3d sculpting, which easy easy knowing if you over do something or even gets how to fix it. Best of luck keep it up. If you need any advice or time, let me know but I think you have it well in hand or hoof.
Those look great.
Bambo--the Hunter Deer!