Old Schooler New to Lizzies

[T`hinker`er]

Thanks DanBot, this unit is turning out to be a lot of fun to make and I'm happy with the results so far. Looking forward to using them in a game soon, hopefully all painted and flocked by then.

Here is the next set of WIP photos of "Crouching Chameleon, Hidden Blowpipe" -



I think I nailed the pose pretty well, considering that I don't actually share every aspect of a skink's anatomy



Note the heavily recycled GW Slotta base that I took from an old gutterrunner, and which has paint splatter on it from drybrushing. I sculpted a rock on top of that for this guy to squat on after removing the leg assembly /armature from the cork. The upper body is from one of my castings. Seeing the full size blow up image shows off every "finely cast" air bubble and defect nicely I will have to fix that...

At any rate the legs look about done, whereas the arms are quite rudimentary at this point. I will need to add some musculature to them (especially the right one) next.

It's hard to see, but the eyes are looking up and the blowpipe is held horizontally. Should I re-sculpt the eyes, or is my OCD getting the better of me? Oh, and the left index finger is a bit too fat...which I will fix, though I expect most of that will be covered by the tall grass that he will be holding...

 

[Arli]

I think it looks impressive. I see what you mean about the musculature. It is easy to see that the eyes are looking up. You have two choices for that, tilt the blowpipe up or the eyes down a bit. Since most of your targets will be up from the chameleon, it should not be a problem either way. But. if it really bothers you, I would think re doing the eyes would be the easier option (unless you can tilt up the arm with the blowpipe).

 

[strewart]

Oh, and the left index finger is a bit too fat...which I will fix, though I expect most of that will be covered by the tall grass that he will be holding...

Ah the first thing I was going to suggest when I saw the photos was he should be holding some grass/plants back with that left hand. Definitely would make it look better! Really cool model overall though, great work.

 

[DanBot]

Yeah. That is pretty spot on. I can't wait to see him all painted up/based. I really want to see how he turns out with the grass being pushed aside. Are you going to put a bend in the grass where his hand is, or just like gently pushed aside, like bent at the base. Looking foward to seeing how you pull off the actual effect.

And how are your krox turning out? Have you desided on how you are going to do the scales/spines yet? Haven't see them in a while. Probably because it seems like you are spitting out an update for your chameleon skinks every other day. I swear I just saw your pose for that skink maybe two days ago. You're working fast. Like a man on a mission.

 

[Lord Tsunami]

very cool!

but doesnt he have much longer legs than all of his little friends? these look much better scale wise though

 

[T`hinker`er]

Hey guys, thanks for all the comments. Been a rather busy and stressful week for me, so I haven't had much time to update or post more photos here in the last couple of days. I DO appreciate the comments! Just a few replies before I get into my next project:

Arli - I can't decide what to do about the eyes. It wouldn't be too hard to drill them out and resculpt them (much, much easier than re-dong the arm!), so look for this change when I post a photo of the completed and painted mini (probably in about 2-3 weeks at the rate I'm going).

Strewart and DanBot - From the first the plan has been to use that very long horse hair grass that Woodland Scenics produces...coming up from the center of the front of the base and being gently pushed aside with the left hand. In my mind it looks great - now to see if I can actually pull that off in real life...

Also, DanBot, thanks for asking about the Krox. I haven't forgotten them, but nothing's been done on them since the tails were added. They stare menacingly at me from behind a row of sculpting tools on my workbench, and I try to explain to them that without these Chameleons they are just going to end up on the wrong side of a cannon ball... They seem to understand, for the moment, but I fear I must get back to them soon or they will lose their tempers and begin hacking at me with their clubs, which I believe are actually big enough to do some damage to me...

If I can get through enough side projects, including painting my Saurus BSB and Scar Vet on foot (using the Chakax* model...which is looking very sweet at the moment), not to mention helping my son finish painting his Dward Longbeards (the better to beat up on his old man with!), then I will get the scales/spines done on at least one Krox this weekend (fingers crossed!) No, I am not a "man on a mission" - I am a man on half-a-dozen missions ...with several more to come I still don't have a Slann or a Stegadon in my army...

*BTW, can anyone help me pronounce Chakax correctly? Every time I try I end up hocking a loogie...

Tsunami - As far as the leg proportions, I did actually measure the wire armature based on other chameleons in my retinue (see photos from the beginning of this project*). Having said that, I actually sculpted the legs twice before I was satisfied - the first set looked too short and small compared to the resin upper bodies that I've been casting. So I suppose this guy might be the Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar of Chameleons, but he's certainly within the acceptable range of body variation. You'll see what I mean when they are all painted and posed together.

*why is it that Lustria page breaks come so soon on these threads? Makes it hard to follow projects, IMO.

But first...

Time to start the NEXT ONE! This will be the last one I am likely to do for a long time, as there are too many other Lizzies that I need for my army (including the Krox sculpts, Slann and Stegadon mentioned above, but also my terradons and loads of painting that has been left only half done - remember, there is a 25 VP penalty in the campaign I play in for unfinished units, and in the last game that almost turned a tie into a loss!). And tactically speaking, 2 units of 7, or 3 units of 5 is all I'd ever likely use (the next one being the 15th in my army). Beyond that, I think I'd take a unit of Terradons, just to keep things interesting.

So, being that this next one will be the grand finale', I want to do something really crazy. I love how "Crouching Blowpipe" will be interacting with the terrain on his base, and that has inspired me to take terrain interaction to the next level... What would the next level look like? Well, here is my concept art:



Please excuse the very quick and sloppy drawing! I really can draw better than that, honest! Do you guys like the idea? Personally, I'm rather STOKED about it

In order to pull this off I am going to have to make a silicon mold of a 20mm base and cast it in metal, otherwise this miniature, which let's face it, is really a tiny diorama, wold surely fall over. So add that to my list of things I hope to accomplish over the weekend

 

[n810]

How about one of the feet clinging to the tree trunk as well.

Ps. I have been pronounceing it Chak-Ax ... not sure if its right, but at least its pronouncable.

 

[Lazoxoatl]

I really love your chameleon I made myself one crounching skink (although it did not look as well as yours). And I had a similar idea about terrain interaction with another one:



Hope to see your "hanged man" soon

 

[T`hinker`er]

n810 - I'll see what I can to. Measuring this all out is going to be a brain twister

Lazoxoatl - that's magnificent! I would have cut off the crest, unless it's supposed to be a regular skirmishing skink, but I hope mine comes out as good. Thanks for sharing!

 

[DanBot]

I've really been hoping to see you do a slann conversion. Glad to hear it's in the plan down the line. That is, if it's safe to assume you are going to be doing a conversion of a slann if not a complete sculpt. Short term, that BSB is something I am pretty excited to see. I actually haven't see too many BSBs considering that is the model I imagine would get the most converting and cool little tweeks and bits. Maybe some Hydra models down the line too. Really looking forward to that.

 

[T`hinker`er]

DanBot, I own the old Slann on a plannequin model, so I'll definitely have to convert that (and use the bearers as additional temple guard). If I ever have a second Slann, I'll go all out and sculpt one from scratch. I think that would be way cool, but with all the projects I have going on, and my campaign needs (balanced with career, fatherhood, planning a wedding...zoinks!), the big frog is going to have to wait a while. The good news is that I finally got back to sculpting the Kroxigor and I am really stoked to get those done now. Photos soon, but for now I want to keep this thread focused on the last Chameleon, especially as the page breaks come so quickly, I want this project to be somewhat easier for people to follow. And for me to look back upon when I am feeling frustrated with my sculpting and thinking about tossing my tool across the room...which thankfully almost never happens any more

My BSB is the basic GW one, and my Oldblood/Scarvet general on foot is the Chakax model. Both have undergone minor conversion just to fill seams and pose the arms a bit more realistically. Both are now painted. I'll throw some photos of them up as soon as this last Chameleon is done.

So, I guess what I am saying is, onwards with the last chameleon!

As noted, in order to keep this diorama model from tipping over, I went ahead and cast a metal (pewter) 20mm square base. Then I drilled a hole through it and glued armature wires into place to make the tree:



And once the tree was up, I began decorating it with a Chameleon ornament, ho, ho, ho!



Note the legs on the table, bottom right of the photo, cut off the resin armature and to be replaced with sculpted ones that will give the miniature a suitable dynamic pose, and suggest the effects of gravity on his anatomy

I'll be working on this as the week goes on (along with my Krox) and have more photos when suitable progress has been made.

 

[Arli]

Amazing as always. I have a couple of questions for you. What was the process for casting your pewter base and where did you get the pewter to melt down for that. You may even want to put that into another thread (so I don't throw this one off).

Also, what kind of modeling compound are you using to make the tree?

Thanks.

 

[n810]

The pose is looking prety awesome

 

[T`hinker`er]

Amazing as always. I have a couple of questions for you. What was the process for casting your pewter base and where did you get the pewter to melt down for that. You may even want to put that into another thread (so I don't throw this one off).

No need for a separate thread really. The process is simply to make an impression of the base in a silicone mold using the normal methods for making a mold. In this case it's very simple because the shape has no undercuts or funky places for air to get trapped. The Smooth-On company sells the silicone, and has a tutorial on-line that goes way more in depth than I can do here. Here's a link: http://www.smooth-on.com/pages.php?pID=53&cID=11

The metal can be purchased online. I get mine here: http://www.neymetals.com/britannia_pewter.htm

Also, what kind of modeling compound are you using to make the tree?

That is a mixture of 1/2 Kneadatite Brown (strong and slightly flexible) and 1/2 Magic Scupt (http://www.magicsculp.com/), which cures rock hard. Aside from the hardness characteristics, I thought the difference in colors would make following this project a little easier.

 

[Old Mossy]

The pose is wicked. Love the tail. Can't wait to see how the legs end up. Is the pewter expensive?

 

[T`hinker`er]

Is the pewter expensive?

It wasn't when I stocked up, back in the 90's when I had a small miniatures company. Now, with China buying up all the metal in sight, yeah.* That's why we have Citadel putting out plastic injection minis now - they are economical only by comparison to the new cost of metal. And Finecast is the next step (eliminate the cost of plastic injection tooling), if only the quality were there...but resin is notoriously hard to do without a 10% +/- casting error rate.

*If you call and haggle, you can still get a quarter pound or some other small quantity without taking out a second mortgage

 

[Old Mossy]

...
*If you call and haggle, you can still get a quarter pound or some other small quantity without taking out a second mortgage

I would, but I don't know mandarin

 

[Lord Tsunami]

love the tree-skink. superb creativity

 

[T`hinker`er]

Not a major update, but here's where I'm at with this now:



The hand on the branch came out a little fatter than it should have and I'll trim it down a bit, but it has to be a little oversized unfortunately given the diameter of the branch. I do like the musculature of the chest...now to see about those legs. And he also needs googly chameleon eyes and a hood! Doh I should have done that before attaching him to the tree! I can't believe I didn't notice this until now

 

[eppe]

Amazing!