Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Peithetairos on January 31, 2017, 10:13:10 PM
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I came across a basecoated Reaper Bones Judas Bloodspire in my box of shame the other day, then I realised why I did not finish him: I did not like his face and didn't care much for the skulls on his armour.
A few minutes later is head was gone and so were the skulls. But what now? While googling I came across a copy of a portrait of Vlad Tepes apparently based on an original made during his lifetime: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Vlad_Tepes_002.jpg (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Vlad_Tepes_002.jpg)
He was a Wallachian prince that lived 1428/1431 – 1476/77. Contemporary and later sources describe him as a cruel and ruthless politician, some go so far to paint him as a sadistic monster that reveled in drinking the blood from his impaled enemies. It does not come as a surprise that Bram Stoker got inspired by this historical figure for his Count Dracula novel.
I had this idea of a fictional family graveyard of the Drăculești for the base, going even further back to the House of Basarab. This would allow to depict weathered gravestones that are a hundred years old, some tumbled over and overgrown, the walls of the graveyard in disrepair. I imagine the entire family to be cursed by the gods with vampirism based on Vlad's cruelty. Embracing this curse, or ‘gift' as he likes to refer to it, he may have chosen the graveyard as a resting place. He cares little for its condition and revels in the decay surrounding him.
In my case the miniature's original sword was held at such an odd angle that its point was lower than the cast-on base. Instead of cutting off the arm and adjusting the weapon I kept the angle and decided to put the miniature on the edge of some stone steps. This works also very well with his raised knee and outstretched left arm. In the end I decided to replace his long sword with a Hungarian sabre or szabla, which I carved from a two-handed sword that was part of the Northstar plastic gnolls set using a scalpel. The historical Vlad Țepeș would most likely have used an european style sword, but his immortal counterpart may have adopted a saber when it became more acceptable among the nobility a hundred years after his "death".
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/vampire-lord-wip-freigestellt.jpg?w=474)
To resemble more the portrait of Vlad Țepeș I added a new head and breast armor. Turns out Vlad's hairdo and mo was pretty metal back in the day. Anyhow, I used a head of the Gripping Beast Late Romans for this conversion. One of the soldiers wears a Pannonian cap which provides a perfect base for the Wallachian headdress depicted in the portrait. I still need to add the pearls and maybe a dragon emblem on the chest piece.
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/vampire-lord-wip-ii-freigestellt-small.jpg?w=474)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/vampire-lord-wip-iii-hair-freigestellt.jpg?w=474)
There are still some elements missing:
- As you can see the gap on the base will fit the graveyard wall. I think I will use a magnet to attach it to simplify transport.
- I also need to add the bat swarm to the background and another gravestone to the front left. This one was the bottom part of the bat swarm. I cut the Bones version in two pieces to be able to mount the swarm on some clear acrylic rod. Given the gravestone had a skull with batwings on it…*cough* I decided to add some new design with greenstuff. I had a flying dragon in mind to mirror the headstone behind it.
- I also want to add another hanging bat to the lower branch of the tree. This will most likely be the bat from the Reaper familiar set.
- A nice touch could be a tumbled over statuette that was originally placed in the little alcove of the gravestone on the front right. I'll see what my greenstuff skills can produce.
Here are some pictures of the base without WIP Vlad. If you are interested in how it was constructed head over to my blog, where I wrote a detailed step-by-step tutorial:
Unrested souls - How to make a graveyard themed diorama base (https://daggerandbrush.wordpress.com/2017/01/31/unrested-souls-how-to-make-a-graveyard-themed-diorama-base-part-i/)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/final-top.jpg?w=474)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/final-front-right.jpg?w=474)
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Nice sculpting work! :-*
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Thank you, glad you like it. Some more to do, but slowly getting there.
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Very well done.
I would've instantly recognised the source even if you hadn't put it up first.
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Thank you Voivod. Glad the conversion looks the part. I am still wondering if I should have a star on the hat or just use the bit I have right now.
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Nicely reworked there and lovely basing.
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That is beautiful
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Amazing base, CONGRATULATIONS! ;)
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Thank you guys. I am a bit preoccupied with work at the moment, but hope to come back to him very soon.
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Just like Vlad this thread lives on and comes back from the dead.
In he meantime I refined his headdress to resemble the portrait better. I also gave him an emblem of the Order of the Dragon.
Vlad also got some paint the past few evenings. I am pleased with the face so far and the armor and cloak are also getting there.
As I want to try something new with each miniature I paint I decided to use a very limited palette that uses purple as a unifying color. So the armor, cloak and face are shaded with purple tones.
I also avoided to go to bright with the red adding only a hint of medium flesh tone instead of yellow or white as would be my usual method. Also shading red with purple is new to me. So far I used brown. I think it gives a significantly richer red tone this way.
The photos are a bit darker than I would usually take them, but it shows the colors as they appear in reality better.
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_20191103_000844.jpg?w=700)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_20191103_000828.jpg?w=700)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_20191103_000907.jpg?w=700)
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Wowser. Very good indeed
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Thanks! Pretty intense project with all the bits, but I want to finish it this time in one go.
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Looks great, I particularly like the cloak in the wind 8)
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Looking amazing! Keep up the fantastic work! :-*
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Beautiful work on one of my favs.
Thank you for sharing.
Best regards,
Helen
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Much obliged. I was able to put some time in, but may wait till I did something really noticeable before I show an update.
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So, the guy is almost finished. The gravestone and gem needs some more love, but otherwise I may keep him as is. Maybe smoothing the one or other transition.
Next up is fitting him to the base, painting the bat swarm and then I think everything is in place.
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_20191111_002517.jpg?w=500)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_20191111_002523.jpg?w=500)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/img_20191111_002542.jpg?w=500)
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Splendid 8)
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Excellent 8)
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Very impressive. The cloak is particularly good.
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Thank you guys/gals.
He is finally finished and I was able to take some decent pics with my new ring light.
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/img_20200210_220337.jpg?w=750)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/img_20200210_220556.jpg?w=750)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/img_20200211_000450.jpg?w=750)
(https://daggerandbrush.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/img_20200211_000531.jpg?w=750)
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Super cool!
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Excellent work!
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Marvellous
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Indeed. Vlad Tepes and his literary counterpart Dracula are my teenage heroes. Actually they are still my heroes. And that is a lovely sculpted/painted miniature. Well done. ;-)
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That's really spectacular.
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Hugely impressive work.
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Awesome! :-*
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:-*
Beautiful pictures of a very impressive project! How'd you do those night shots? ???
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Thanks for commenting guys/gals. I am pleased he is finished now. He lurked for years unfinished in a drawer. All it needed was little baby boy to make me realise I have to do stuff and finish projects or I let the hobby rest for 18 years.
:-*
Beautiful pictures of a very impressive project! How'd you do those night shots? ???
Thank you. I use my painting lamp from above and a ring light on a tripod from the front. You can attach your smartphone as well or a light camera. I placed a dark backdrop behind the miniature on a curved surface (for testing purposes a new black shirt). Then it comes down to the exposure time. I found the smartphone camera shows it much brighter than it looks on a Desktop, so I had to adjust the brightness and contrast in Photoshop a bit. With a proper matte black background it should work even better. The lighting remained the same throughout.
Indeed. Vlad Tepes and his literary counterpart Dracula are my teenage heroes. Actually they are still my heroes. And that is a lovely sculpted/painted miniature. Well done. ;-)
Thanks! I find it intriguing that he was one of your teenage heroes. If I may ask: Are you from an eastern European background and thus the narrative of Vlad Tepes being more of a folk hero and successful ruler / warlord is the context you encountered the historical figure and fantastical counter part first? I am very interested in the different narratives surrounding him, from western European perspectives (and propaganda) to the Ottomans, to the actual subjects of his rule. It seems these different traditions coloured our perception and in effect literature and film as well.