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Author Topic: Denizens of Azor: Man-Apes and more Man-Apes!  (Read 113748 times)

Offline Alxbates

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #210 on: June 19, 2016, 04:05:21 AM »
The stomachs seem fine, actually. And the musculature is right and nice. It's the proportions that seem off, mainly the forelegs look thin. A lion is fairly stocky, at least up front.

However, maybe this is all fully intentional, and the lions of Azor are a sleeker breed with a more dog-like look given their role as pets. In which case my criticism isn't really valid!

It's somewhat intentional and somewhat a happy accident.

I don't mind going a bit into the process here, if you don't mind reading a tale!

When Tre and I first started talking about the commission, we discussed the designs quite a bit.  I had initially wanted the lions to be beefy - robust and muscular.  I even sent him some Frank Frazetta artwork, showing some of the thickly muscled lions that Frazetta liked to draw.  But Tre doesn't take outside commissions very often, and he expressed a strong interest in sculpting them in his personal style, rather than to try to ape someone else's.

In the same way that Medieval noblemen took pride in horse & dog breeding ("My horses are the fastest!"  "My hunting dogs have the best noses!"), it was my thought that the various noble houses of Azor took great pride in their lions.  I had intended to add this to the fluff both because I thought it was a neat and somewhat believable cultural addition, and also to allow for differences in manufacturers.  When I finally get my game book published, I don't for a moment imagine that people will slavishly only use Forge of Ice miniatures, and there are some really nice lions already out there on the market!  Crocodile Games, Clan War, even Games Workshop (with their lion chariot) have some great lions, and I wanted there to be a fluff-based excuse for wildly different-looking lions on the table.

I intend to paint several different versions of the lions, some striped, some spotted, some with black manes, etc.  Maybe even do a conversion with sabertooth fangs!  Azor has been isolated for a thousand years, but the occasional caravan or ship or dimensional portal has allowed genes from all sorts of big cat species to get thrown into the mix.

Anyways, when Tre started to send me in-progress pics of the sculpts (and I should mention that the photos above are also in-progress pics, they're not *quite* finished), I saw how lithe and sinewy these guys were, and I loved them.  They weren't the overly-muscled lions from Frazetta's art, but they were definitely Tre Manor lions, and I think the fact that they don't look exactly like modern lions is just fine.

After thousands of years we've managed to turn wolves into dachshunds, bulldogs, greyhounds and saluki. I figure that if a group of humans really put their minds to it, over the course of a millennium, we could do something similar with big cats, too!
« Last Edit: June 20, 2016, 02:43:48 PM by Alxbates »

Offline FramFramson

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #211 on: June 19, 2016, 05:27:36 AM »
Okay, that's really neat and definitely makes sense for you setting. So, cool!


I joined my gun with pirate swords, and sailed the seas of cyberspace.

Offline MalcyBogaten

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #212 on: June 19, 2016, 06:59:53 PM »
Wow!  :o

Those Lions look almost of Human Intelligence! :-* :-*

Love all the Figs!

Offline Dr Mathias

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #213 on: July 15, 2016, 12:11:50 AM »
Amazing things in this thread. I'm not sure how it slipped by me until now...
a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice.
Dr. Mathias's Miniature Extravaganza

Offline Alxbates

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #214 on: August 27, 2016, 10:02:12 AM »
Hiya folks!

I've recently returned from a much needed vacation to GenCon.  The convention was a lot of fun - it was good to go to an event as a fan instead of as a vendor (the first time in a LONG time I've done that!).  I haven't made a lot of progress with Forge of Ice lately, but Rochie Rochefort (the Rogue Painter) is currently painting a set of my armored crocodiles for me. They're going to be my 'official catalog' photos, so I'm happy to share them here - two down, two to go!



I particularly like unfortunate Okros that he put on the base of this one:




Offline von Lucky

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Painted Armored Crocodiles!
« Reply #215 on: August 27, 2016, 01:41:16 PM »
I definitely plan on supplementing my Monolith Conan package with some of your stuff.
- Karsten

"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

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Offline d phipps

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Painted Armored Crocodiles!
« Reply #216 on: August 28, 2016, 07:13:58 PM »
Fantastic! We could really use some of those for the new Pulp Alley campaign we're writing/playtesting.  :-*


Offline BugPope

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #217 on: August 29, 2016, 01:46:50 PM »
Looking great. I asked you some questions about your models back in July in the Commercial thread for Forge of Ice, but since I haven't gotten a reply there, I might as well try asking here:
1. What does the mummies look like? I tried looking through your Facebook page, without any success.
2. When are the Armadillosuchus and sea scorpions released? I need more prehistoric animals in my life.


Oh, and a side note: one of the Forge of Ice models got featured in an excellent interview with veteran sculptor John Dennett. The interview focuses on an old Grenadier model he made in the 1980's, that's recently received mainstream attention after it showed up in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which is absolutely amazing, by the way) as an important plot device.
The Histah model is shown in the interview as an example of John's modern work. It's a very interesting read.
http://roebeast.blogspot.se/2016/07/stranger-things-sculptor-tells-all.html
« Last Edit: August 29, 2016, 01:58:56 PM by BugPope »
If you're convincing yourself that you're infallible, you can never improve.

Offline Reed

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Painted Armored Crocodiles!
« Reply #218 on: August 29, 2016, 07:27:40 PM »
Those armored crocodiles look really really sweet.

Offline Alxbates

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Lion Women!
« Reply #219 on: September 01, 2016, 09:56:08 AM »
Looking great. I asked you some questions about your models back in July in the Commercial thread for Forge of Ice, but since I haven't gotten a reply there, I might as well try asking here:
1. What do the mummies look like? I tried looking through your Facebook page, without any success.
2. When are the Armadillosuchus and sea scorpions released? I need more prehistoric animals in my life.

Hiya Bugpope!

Sorry that I didn't answer in the commercial post - I must have missed the 'new replies' notification!

To answer your questions:

1 - The mummies are a little smaller than my other figures - they're true 25mm scale.  I haven't advertised them much because they were an early idea I had for my lost world stuff, and I've moved away from it since then.  They still work great as pulp villains, or in Cthulhu or horror games.  Here are some pictures of a set that Brian Roe (of Roebeast's Magical House of Sunshine!) painted up awhile back:





I've included two pictures of the crawler because his low profile makes him difficult to photograph.

2 - The sea scorpion will be released with my next batch of releases (later this year), and the Armored Crocodiles are already available - they're available as a set of 4 for $30 USD.

Quote
Oh, and a side note: one of the Forge of Ice models got featured in an excellent interview with veteran sculptor John Dennett. The interview focuses on an old Grenadier model he made in the 1980's, that's recently received mainstream attention after it showed up in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things (which is absolutely amazing, by the way) as an important plot device.

The Histath model is shown in the interview as an example of John's modern work. It's a very interesting read.
http://roebeast.blogspot.se/2016/07/stranger-things-sculptor-tells-all.html

Yep!  I participated in that article - some of those photographs were taken by me.  

If you like John's sculpting and the old Demogorgon model, keep an eye out - John and I will have something cool to show off in the very near future.  ;)
« Last Edit: September 01, 2016, 09:58:16 AM by Alxbates »

Offline Alxbates

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Painted Armored Crocodiles!
« Reply #220 on: September 29, 2016, 04:25:22 AM »
The lion women are finished!



I'll be sending them off to the caster in a couple of weeks, along with the Man-Ape, the Swamp Scorpion (Eurypterid), the Serpent Stone terrain piece, and a couple of small treasure items.

They should all be for sale by the end of October, barring flood, fire, or catastrophe.




The lightbox is use has a curved base, so the lion's foot looks like it's upraised - it's not, it sits flat if it's on a flat surface.



« Last Edit: September 29, 2016, 04:30:08 AM by Alxbates »

Offline Commander Roj

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Painted Armored Crocodiles!
« Reply #221 on: September 29, 2016, 08:46:31 AM »
Fantastic! We could really use some of those for the new Pulp Alley campaign we're writing/playtesting.  :-*



Is this the first mention of the Lemuria expansion? How exciting, Please tell me more!  And those lion ladies look great too.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2016, 10:53:27 AM by Commander Roj »

Offline Mason

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Finished Lion Women & their Lions!
« Reply #222 on: September 29, 2016, 10:00:57 AM »
Those Lions and Lasses look lovely!
 :-* :-*


Offline YPU

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Finished Lion Women & their Lions!
« Reply #223 on: September 29, 2016, 10:44:02 AM »
I think we said it before, but those lions would make great xenos beasts as well.
3d designer, sculptor and printer, at your service!



3d files! (here)

Offline wulfgar22

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Re: Denizens of Azor preview thread - Painted Armored Crocodiles!
« Reply #224 on: September 29, 2016, 05:23:47 PM »
Fantastic! We could really use some of those for the new Pulp Alley campaign we're writing/playtesting.  :-*



Oh wow! I'd missed this. Looks brilliant!

 

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