Blog Resurrection of an Army

I've struck on a gold mine with this one then!

Speaking of oldies, I found my wizard lizard! See, back when I started collecting, there wasn't a dedicated model for "Skink Priest with Feathered Cloak" so, well, I decided to make one. Out of a regular Skink Priest, and Bretonian pegasus wings.

Charybdis (debating a rename for a couple of reasons) has wings bigger than bleedin' Stormclast Eternals do! Back then, it felt a bit silly after I'd done it and he didn't really fit on his own base any more. However, now, with the Skink Starpriest already being a bit of a feathery feature, he'd fit the role of one of them fairly well...

As for how I melded them into his figure? Simple solution, cover it up with a non-feathered cloak!

If only I'd known how to actually sculpt Greenstuff... I'll admit it's not wholly unsalvagable, so I could make some careful removals and then try replacing it with a more billowy cloak - especially since I wouldn't mind having the chance to reposition his left wing, as it leads into his upper arm rather than his back.

EDIT: And by "Careful cutting" I mean "I just removed a chunk of it with my hands without damaging the plastic." Apparently I didn't do a good job of sticking it to the model as well as sculpting it!

 

yay a wizard lizard!!!!

 

\i have one of those lying around? nice box

 

Wow, it's been a while since I updated! So, long story short, here's how the Saurus are coming along:

That's actually the finished colour for the arms and legs. This isn't the best model to show it off but it's the only one on a base atm. The Rakarth Flesh underbelly needs another coat and then a shade (I think Reikland Fleshshade would be okay) and then something needs drybrushing over the back scales.
This one started by spraying Macgragge Blue and then doing the back scales in Kantor Blue. I think it's a bit dark for the underbelly colour, so I think future ones will be sprayed Macragge Blue and then paint everything except the back scales in Caledor Sky and see how that looks. I'm happy with how these ones are going, though; they're the newest models I own, and Saurus are meant to pale as they age, so these guys being pretty darks seems fitting!

In other news, over the past month I've been working on a little something. Like a lot of people I've been converting a spare Warrior into an Astrolith Bearer, but I haven't been a bit fan of the different methods people use to do the actual disc of the Astrolith itself. And then I remembered that 1) I'm and engineer and 2) 3D printing is readily available nowadays. So I whipped this up over the course of a week:

Printing it in resin should only cost about £6.50 ($10 USD or so) which is quite a bit cheaper than the regular Astrolith Bearer. Of course, then you've got to convert the guy holding it and the double-serpent to go across the top. I haven't tested this model yet, but I'll be giving it a go soon.

Similarly, I made a start on some of those ideas I had regarding getting the Balewind Vortex to look a bit less chaos-y:

My idea is that the bottom "ring of skulls" bit will look more like the wheels of the Astrolith, and the top floating platform will look a bit like the Slann's palanquins. The corners of the platform are going to be cut away and filled with big upwards curling horns, and I'm probably going to do six around the Vortex like the three around the flying stem on a proper Slann palanquin. Then it'll mostly be detailing the top and sides, taking inspiration again from the palanquin but also the Stegadon howdah and the Arc of Sotec for the Bastillodon. I might put a set of the oval-blob bits like underneath the Slann palanquin in the empty space underneath if I think it looks too empty, but I somehow doubt that I will. Probably going to leave a small hole in the centre of the top so that a Slann not glued to his base can have the flying stem pulled out and fitted into the top of the platform, because why not; it'd be really easy to do, probably look great, and AoS pretty much ignores bases anyway.

 

1. thats effing awesome and i want one when you print it.

2. is that some form of CAD program, or is it something like sculptris?

 

also, that wizard lizard is coolio

 

It's actually done in Solidworks! Great tool for engineering applications and therefore geometry like this, but very expensive and not up to character modelling. I'm looking into what I could get to do similar at home, though.
I'm likely not to got the Woogity route of trying to print and ship them all myself. Instead I'll upload the .stl files somewhere onse I'm happy with them and let people use a service like 3Dhubs to print their own.

Thanks!

 

@Axquirix those are amazing! So much great detail!

I tried doing something similar a while back using an architecture program to build a Lizardmen city, but I didn't get detail going that small or that precise! Amazing work!

 

that works too. i have access to a 3d printer through a friend.

 

Some updates!

Got some more painting done but haven't taken pictures yet. Saurus batch #1 is close to finished, and then I just need to base them.

The Astrolith dial's been printed and arrived today!

It's a 32mm diameter, the slots on the back fit the Saurus standards well enough, and the details comes out great! I'm going to try assembling it and then editing the .stl based on my findings before I upload it, though; I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to make the gap between the standard slots bigger for the pole to fit between them without major cutting!

Meanwhile, work's continuing on the Balewing platform, and I've worked out how to make horns in Solidworks! And then went a little crazy with them.

Not technically anything that doesn't fit the Lizardmen's theme, but I'm not sure on the corner ones. Should I replace them with something else?

 

It looks fantastic, but how hard would it to add some lizard glyphs to the side of the platform, like what the Slann palanquin has?

 

First update on assembling the Astrolith after printing!

The standards fit inside the slots well, although I had to file the ridge surrounding the mouths flat to get them to sit flush. Similarly, I had to remove quite a bit more from the eyes to get them to slot in, and the gap between them isn't wide enough for the braces of the actual pole. And the shaft-extension bit at the back doesn't stick out quite enough. I'll be modifying the digital model accordingly before posting it, so that minimal adjustment is needed after printing, but for my own purposes it's nothing I can't adjust. I recommend assembling and painting this section as a sub-assembly, because there's plenty of surface space for the banner pole to be glued into later.

Not hard at all! I probably ought to make sure the hole underneath will actually fit the top of the Vortex before doing much more, but the structure's probably mostly done; I can't think of anything I'd want to put on the top, as the platform of the standard vortex is flat, so now it's just onto engravings all over it!

 

He's already stated he's not going to sell them but he will put up the stl files. I have a connection to someone with a 3D printer, so I should be able to get a few

 

Lizard heads for sotek

 

I think that might be a bit overkill, given the snake heads underneath?

 

on a second look I'd say it'd look better, if the horns in the corners were sitting on the outer rim an not in such gabs... could be that they could also be a bit shorter then, to not overextend the usual platform...

 

Good observation, maybe if they were held on the corners and pointing up-and-inwards?