Marienburg vs. the Undeadish (update: undead & spooky stuff)

[ZeroTwentythree]

And that's why I only converted one high elf.

Hahaha. No doubt. It looked good, though!

Painting of the fimir is brilliant. What your general recipe for the bronze metals? I think I might like to nick it, soon.

Just Vallejo Model Color Bronze, followed by a whatever Citadel is calling their black wash this week (other times I use the dark brown Citadel wash instead) then do a little highlighting/feathering with the original bronze, a bronze/gold (Vallejo Model Color, again) mix, and then straight gold. In this case, I also went back with a very thinned out black paint and my "eye brush" (finest brush, mostly used for eyes) and gave the joints between the armor chest/belly plates an extra bit of definition.

[DeafNala]

OUTSTANDING! That really is quite a SPECTACULAR paint job...I love your color choices. VERY WELL DONE!

[ZeroTwentythree]

Last pic of the Fomorian. Finished painting & basing.

[Vermis]

Just Vallejo Model Color Bronze, followed by a whatever Citadel is calling their black wash this week

Aha! It so happens I have bottles of both lying around. Ta!

The finished fimir looks great. It ties together nicely. The mushrooms are a nice touch!

[Elbows]

Yep, that's very good...possibly my favourite bit of this thread.  I particularly like the blank liquid eye.  I vastly prefer that appearance for most creatures. 

[beefcake]

Wow, I never made the link between fomor and fimir. Even with all the fluff being centred around that area (albeit in the GW world). Those are really nice. I have a bunch of Bones orcs like that that could do with some converting.

[ZeroTwentythree]

Yep, that's very good...possibly my favourite bit of this thread.  I particularly like the blank liquid eye.  I vastly prefer that appearance for most creatures.  

Thanks. I thought I remember reading that their eyes were described like that somewhere. I might be wrong, though. I do wish the photo hadn't washed out all my shading on the eyeball, though.

Wow, I never made the link between fomor and fimir. Even with all the fluff being centred around that area (albeit in the GW world). Those are really nice. I have a bunch of Bones orcs like that that could do with some converting.

Heh. Prepare to have your mind blown, then. Have you read Moorcock's second Chronicles of Corum? The "Fhoi Myore" (Formorians) are are a race in decline. They are ancient creatures who have been abandoned by/cut-off from the powers of chaos that previously supported them. Their armies, which are shrouded in mist, are attacking the younger race of men, and remaking the land as they conquer it.

The largest differences are that they not only bring the mists/fog, but the land becomes frozen as they conquer. The Fhoi Myore themselves are few in number, and are commanding armies largely made up of other creatures (hounds, ghouls, the "Brothers of the Pines" who were the inspiration for my own Undeadish.)

Moorcock hardly invented this either, since much of it was borrowed from Irish myth to begin with. But he did set it within his ongoing "multiverse" with the chaos gods, portray them as an abandoned race in decline, hiding in mists, etc.

 




Started working on some new heads. A couple seem OK, a few others might only be good enough for practice.



I might just go ahead and sculpt a bunch after all, instead of casting. I would still love to try casting, but that involves some of practical problems that I'm not sure how to overcome. Besides, I think still need more sculpting practice before I've got some good enough bits to make it worth the work to cast anyway. On the other hand, I would love to be able to make castings, then clean those up further, maybe sculpt some variants, and then use those for final casts. Does anyone with resin experience know if I can get good quality casts for heads and tails like this without using a pressure tank? While I would love to use it, the tank is what presents the most problems at the moment.

I should probably start thinking about getting some more orc bodies.

In addition to the orcs, I might check out this ogre body, also sculpted by Tre Manor. Hopefully it's a similar size. http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/Bones%20ogre/latest/77105

[rednorseman]

Wonderful job -really terrific!

[DeafNala]

The Heads look TERRIFIC & with just enough of cartoon/caricature to them to give them a charming expression. OUTSTANDING WORK!

[Timbor]

Those look great from here!  What are you using for sculpting, and why do you prefer it over the ubiquitous green stuff? 

[ZeroTwentythree]

It's ProCreate

http://www.kraftmark.biz/kraft.procreate.html

I used green (and experimented with brown and mixes of the two) Kneadatite for converting & sculpting. A few years ago, just before my hiatus, I discovered ProCreate and I'm a huge fan. I think it's far easier to work with. It's not too different. But greenstuff is a bit rubbery. So it tends to spring back a little bit, and when you push or pull with your tools, it tends to move as a mass. I also never got the hang of smoothing (feathering?) new layers of greenstuff onto old. I always got visible seams & bumps and could never get the GS thin enough. ProCreate has almost a slightly waxy feel to it. It's easier to isolate just one part of the fresh putty you're working on, and I find it easier to smooth & blend onto existing surfaces.

For large scale sculpting (mostly toys so far, but could be used for monsters, terrain, etc.) I've been using Ave's Apoxie Sculpt. Blends well, easy to work with, but not quite as good for small details on miniatures. Lubes well with water (I usually use plain Chapstick on greenstuff & ProCreate.) Cures rock-hard, can be drilled, etc. Good for some things, but again, not what I want for miniatures.

[Justin Buck]

Very nice conversion/sculpting/painting.  I have a few of the old HeroQuest fimir laying around somewhere and I think I might try and paint him similar to yours.  I never understood why GW dropped them from their line, but then again I don't understand half of what they do now.  They always seemed very mysterious and ancient race.  Can't wait for more.

Justin

[ZeroTwentythree]

Fomorian Conversion Bits

The practical issue I am still stuck on is where to cast. My attic and basement are both cold until spring. The attic has very poor ventilation, and the furnace in the basement draws in air to blow into the rest of the house. So both of those areas seem to be impractical for both temperature and ventilation reasons.

So I'm worried that this little project might be stalled. If I can't manage any casting, I may just scale down to a few figures using all one-off sculpted bits. The heads & feet aren't too difficult, and it will give me extra practice to built my humble sculpting skills. And build character. And patience.



BOOM!



Finished the light gun I got from DeafNala, and its two dwarf crew. Not the best pic, but the only one of about a dozen that was even decent. I'll get a good group photo when I finish the last of the light/swivel guns.



Remote Gaming... as a Neutral GM?

I couldn't sleep last night, and in my tossing & turning my mind started wandering into the idea of remote gaming again. I have a new idea I may like to try out. Instead of me vs. an opponent, I'm thinking about running a game with me as a GM, and two or more people acting as generals. Either one general per side giving orders for multiple commands, or multiple generals per side, each with their own individual command. Sticking with my original plan (for now) of using a fantasy mod. of Hail Caesar, it would work something like this:

1. Orders. Generals all privately email me orders for all of their units/brigades, in the order of importance (which goes first.)

2. Moves. Simultaneous. I will make all of the command roles and move the units per the generals' instructions.

2.b. Wonky simultaneous movement thing. If a unit approaches/ends within 1" (or maybe 2"?) and a charge wasn't declared AND the unit(s) would be in a situation where they could otherwise charge (haven't maxed out on movement, didn't blow any leadership tests, are a troop type able to declare a charge against the target, etc.) then I will contact the relevant general(s) and ask if they would like to attempt a "last minute charge" or hold. They would have to pass a second leadership test (at a penalty?) to pull off the charge.

3. Shooting, Combat, etc. I think most of the rest could be handled pretty normally. I would ask each general to name their targets for any shooting or melee attacks. Then I would roll the dice and give the results. Fleeing/routing/etc. units could get a little messy, but as a third party I could sort that out.

I would try to leave as much decision making up to the generals for anything else that came up. I would be the figure mover, dice roller, and write the narrative of the action. As a remote third party GM, I could also increase the "fog of war" element by keeping players blind to some things, like hidden movement, secret objectives, unexpected events, and other surprises. I could also keep players blind to the particulars of their opponents armies. So you might know what you see from the pics and description, but not exact stats.  :evil:

Visuals would be handled publicly online. Probably at my website/blog. (Maybe some highlights posted in the forum.) At the start of each turn, both players would get an overhead shot of the battlefield, with some measuring sticks for reference so they could get a general idea of distance. I would also post some photos or video of some of the battlefield from different angles, along with a text narrative, to help set the stage.



I'm thinking about putting together a small test game to try this idea out. Maybe just one player per side for this one. If successful, I could even try a mini-campaign, with a few linked battles, each determined by the results of the previous battle(s) and post-game decisions (regarding options presented to them) made by the players. But I shouldn't get too carried away.

Not sure how much interest there would be in something like this. (I know at least one person.) I only need a few volunteers, and although a basic knowledge of the HC rules would be beneficial, I could/would give a basic rundown of how things work. The important thing (for players) would simply be good general decision making & issuing of orders based on common sense wargaming concepts... hit enemies in the flanks, keep heavy units out of bad terrain, heavy knights are probably going to be able to beat sickly goblins armed with dull twigs, etc.


REMINDER



This was in the window of my daughter's daycare classroom today. These are usually things they've been learning about, that you can bring up on your drive home. I don't know if I can answer this one. It's like a reminder of what I'm giving up for my hobby.

[ZeroTwentythree]

So I worked to get the stars to align so I could do an initial test mold & casting and...



The silicone was totally solid in the jars. So... waste of money, waste of time. Getting frustrated ready to give up.

Also (finally) finished a 120mm hoplite for a friend. Can't get a decent pic, and I although I'm generally happy with it, I screwed up the composition of the design on the hoplon. I don't have the time nor patience to repaint the whole thing, unfortunately. So... no pics.

But I do have this little guy for the Oldhammer forum's chaos village...

[von Lucky]

Sleep is important. Allows you to reset and start the problem afresh. The undead are restless for a reason - they don't sleep.