Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: FreakyFenton on December 15, 2022, 10:13:43 AM
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Hello LAF,
I present to you a painted example of the excellent Oathmark Goblin Captain promotional figure. I picked up two during the orc preorder at miniaturicum and was sent down a spiral afterwards.
I hope to populate this thread with pictures of my conversions. These focus on creatures and groups from Tolkien's works. My caveat however is that they're not always book accurate, and I endeavour to somewhat convert and get a few good looking miniatures out of this.
To this end I bought a few kits, Fireforge's excellent Berber infantry and Medieval Russians to convert some Easterlings and Haradrim or men from Rhun and some Oathmark boxes that I'll couple with bits from Frostgrave and Ghost Archipelago.
My main inspiration however are some scenes from Mike Mignola's and Ben Stenbeck's works and I'll maybe show some reference image to explain why!
Either way, here's "Captain Gnorf" bespoke Goblin Captain from above.
(And yes, I've seen the spot of brown on the fur of his. >:( lol )
EDIT: Changed the title from "Captain Gnorf's Adventures in a yet to be named setting" to "Fenton's Fantasy Project".
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This sounds like a fun project! I like how you have painted the first captain, he looks suitably menacing.
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Thank you, Pattus Magnus!
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Looking good mate!
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Thank you, Grumpy Gnome!
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So after a bit of uhm'ing and ah'ing if I should post in progress shots.
The first two pictures show my attempt at an Easterling. Going away from the GW approach to a a more common one that is also prevalent in fan art that combines russian bogatyr style armour with some fantastic elements.
The next are a few thugs/ evil humans / cultists or what have you made from Frostgrave Cultist heads on Oathmark golbin bodies.
Followed by my take on Cauldronborn/ Skeletons using some vampire counts bits but mainly skeletons from the Oathmark range. I do plan to kitbash other sets with skeleton bits from the Oathmark sets as well, just to see what I can come up with and create.
Then a selection of main antagonists, namely a Horned King lookalike by Reaper. Gullveig the hag from Crooked dice as a henchwoman of his and a spectre or wraith from Rangers of Shadow Deep.
This is then followed by a few first attempts at kitbashing using Oathmark Orcs and other sets along with a figure from Lucid Eye as a suitably imposing Orc Chieftain along with a few other figures and a reaper troll.
In the meantime all of these have been cleaned off of some mould lines that became more apparent after priming, and the orcs might receive a khaki skin, as the first tone I'Ve used did come out a bit too limey or lime-like for my taste. I did think of using the colours the Ogres in "Adventures of the Gummi bears" by Disney have, as they work fine and add a bit of nostalgia to the project.
If I don't post before Christmas, happy holidays everyone!
EDIT: Most of the figures lack shields, they are not intended to, I just paint them seperately on most miniatures for ease of painting.
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Looking good! 👍
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Thank you, GG!
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I like your selection of figures and the kit bashing in the orcs, it all works together quite well!
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Thank you, Pattus Magnus!
Yes, I think the sets by Oathmark, Frostgrave, Ghost Archipelago and the metal figures from Rangers of Shadow Deep all work together quite well. Add to that the Warlod Games (former: Wargames Factory?) Orcs and there's loads of possibilities to get miniatures that look unique or at least discernibly different from the next grunt in the building queue.
I suppose combining the Oathmark Orcs with Stargrave bits would be an interesting venture to get alternative Space Orcs.
I'll post some pictures of one of the human faction I have planned tomorrow!
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Also, here are some pictures from the comics I have cited in the opening post that serve as a explanation for you guys to understand what I am referring to, and for me to use as some guidance, should I not find my reference material in time. lol
Either way, these works are an inspiration and serve as vague guides or have captured a certain look of a place or creature that I mean to emulate. This post however will mostly show creatures, as my terrain is still in the making. I also intend to build a background to use in order to make my photos a bit more atmospheric and immersive.
The small snippets I have shown are from these comics:
Hellboy und die B.U.A.P. 1953, here the story Der Hexenbaum, the english one being The Witch Tree. By Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck.
Koshchei the Deathless, by Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck and Dave Stewart.
Frankenstein Underground, by Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck and Dave Stewart.
And
Omnibus Volume 3: Hellboy: The Wild Hunt by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo.
I realize that I like Ben Stenbeck's art, as it captures a gritty atmosphere. His work on Baltimore is also recommended, however that might be a topic for another thread I have yet to start, with a Monster Hunter fighting a whole slew of supernatural creatures. And Duncan Fegredo's art, who manages great scenes, often epic in scale with amazing battles.
Edit: I realize I haven't mentioned what I like about this art in particular. To be honest, a lot of the equipment and looks the creatures take does a lot for storytelling. For instance the Roman Skeletons in the Witch Tree, still retain parts of their armour.
This tells us their former origin and their motivation for their actions.
Whereas the Goons/Morlocks/Underground People in Frankenstein Underground show pale skin, due to their subterranean nature with copper armour that has been weathered due to the humidity and the like.
Similiarly the Noble Dead of Britain and the Restless Dead Henchmen of Baba Yaga aren't simply skeletons, but all individual warriors that may have been raised from the dead, but rather than a naked gaggle of skeletons all retain individuality and cohesion through their equipment.
They all also either look strange or in some form supernatural, but share elements with humans in some way or form. This adds to the uncanny nature of some creatures such as the Underground people or the Restless Dead.
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I promised to show off some conversions that are in the pipeline, these are either human mercenaries or monster hunters. However, looking at the better state of their gear, they could also be higher ranking orcs who have spent their loot for better gear.
Along with these I plan to use some models in the Frostgrave line, as well as some of the miniatures from the Baron's War range by Footsore. These will probably also be used as player characters for games until individual ones can be converted.
(Speaking of Baron's War, the conversions could probably also work as impromptu crusaders. And a bit of greenstuff work should make them fit with the aesthetic of the Baron's War figures.)
I reckon this might be my last post for 2022 and I hope to keep this thread going over 2023, but till then I wish everyone happy holidays and a happy new year!
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Those conversions look quite good. I think you’re right that some of them could fit right in with the orcs, especially the fellows where the faces are covered. It will depend a bit on the colours you choose for the skin tones, if your orc hides are close to human skin tones the figs should mix easily. I like how the human heads work on the orc bodies, I can see myself doing something similar in the new year to make up a few groups of brigands.
I hope you have a happy and relaxing holiday season!
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Oh, there’s some pretty cool stuff showing already. Will follow with interest. The inspiration you cited is also intriguing; I don’t know everything, but several of those Dark Horse titles are either in my library or on my iPad!
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Thank you, Pattus Magnus and DivisMal!
I like how the human heads work on the orc bodies, I can see myself doing something similar in the new year to make up a few groups of brigands.
I hope you have a happy and relaxing holiday season!
Indeed, the human heads work on the orc bodies if you snip away the orc neck in order to be able to create an upright figure rather than the protruding neck the orcs have.
Oh, there’s some pretty cool stuff showing already. Will follow with interest. The inspiration you cited is also intriguing; I don’t know everything, but several of those Dark Horse titles are either in my library or on my iPad!
Thank you! And yes, I can recommend the titles. They are rather good if you enjoy the Universe of Hellboy.
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I quite agree. Great conversion work and your inspiration source looks intriguing.
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Thank you, Grumpy Gnome!
I can definitely recommend the Mignolaverse comics!
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Happy New Year to you all!
As promised, here's some of the newest models I've painted. This time around one of the main villains who -in my opinion- vaguely resembles the horned King from Disney's the Black Cauldron. Along with a few of his henchmen. The empty spot on the base surrounded by jagged rock will eventually be filled with a skeleton rising from the ground.
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Here are some conversions. I mainly try to tinker about with a lot of sets that have accumulated over the years. Some of which only work for bits.
Anyway, these figures are aimed at being brigands or mercenaries, whilst others are attempts at creating a few different poses for the Oathmark orcs as they are all standing when they are not modified. To my mind, these orcs are charging at an enemy, weapons at the ready while shouting obscenities at their foe or putting on their war-face.
Other figures use heads from the Fireforge Russians and Scandinavians to give them a somewhat uniform look and make them look like Koschei's troops from the Mignola Comic.
To create the shell like helmets of the Underground people from Frankenstein Underground I used Warlord Games Russian helmets with fins from Plasticard to give them a medieval or fantastic feel. They do still require some putty work and filing however in order to look proper. They will probably look their best when painted and might look a bit bizarre at the moment.
There's also a zombie, and a few attempts at creating peasants or some sort of rabble like unit for the goblins and orcs. Made by using a Frostgrave Soldier head on an Oathmark goblin body. I might cut a bit from the back off, in order to change the pose somewhat.
I've put some of the Goblin slave heads on the orc bodies to get more variation, and it kind of works?
Furthermore a Fireforge Berber Archer with a head from a Ghost Archipelago crewman, taking aim with his bow and readying yet another arrow.
I am curious what you think and I hope I can get these based and painted soon enough.
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Great work mate! 👍
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Cool conversions there! Lots of ideas to borrow when I get back to work on some orcs, so thanks for the inspiration!
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Thank you, Grumpy Gnome!
Cool conversions there! Lots of ideas to borrow when I get back to work on some orcs, so thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you, and do tell, looking forward to seeing your orcs! :D
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Great stuff!
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Interesting combinations there. Is that a Wehrmacht helmet I see? A Pickelhaube would look good on an Orc.
(I now see you have written it is a Russian helmet). A picklehaube would still be good.
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Thank you, Hobgolin!
Interesting combinations there. Is that a Wehrmacht helmet I see? A Pickelhaube would look good on an Orc.
(I now see you have written it is a Russian helmet). A picklehaube would still be good.
Thank you, Ethelred the Almost Ready. It is indeed a russian one. And yeah, I reckon the german helmet would also work with a few tweaks. A pickelhaube might work with the orcs in a sci-fi setting. I did think about it, especially with the wealth of plastic kits which make conversions easier!