Tsuro's painting challenge WIP

[Tsuro]

Back once again with the painting challenge WIP. If you like what you see here you might want to check out my other painting challenge WIP. Not only is it a fairly comprehensive step-by-step of what turned out to be almost a full conversion, but there's promises of tutorials that I never fulfilled! So now I get to remind myself and add another thing to my lengthy to-do list. Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

I'm going to attempt to true scale this guy (not my model btw):

http://www.minivault.com/images/WPriestFrontTop.JPG

Sternhammer, the Games day Wolf Priest and strong contender for 'Tsuro's favourite GW model'

My first thought was to do a straight scale and keep all the details the same. However, I realised that some things in the design bothered me, so now I'm shooting for the 'essence' of the model.

Here's what I've done so far:

All the extra bits 'n gubbins are either balanced of tacked on, which is why everything looks so floaty. The power axe is merely a stand-in until I assemble Sternhammer's trademark hammer.

I did a quick-and-nasty cast of one of my existing models to get the proportions right, thus saving hours and hours of tedium. I then assembled its pose using another model as reference, thus saving hours and hours of frustration.

Changes I'm making to the original design:

• Wolf pelt rather than cloak - I don't really like cloaks on my Space wolves, and this way I can also move the wolf arms from between his legs (another thing on which I'm not so keen) to around his head.
  
• Plasma pistol rather than bolt - This was done so that I could have the option of fielding him as Ulrik if I wanted to. I'm going to convert the pistol to look as much like Sternhammer's as possible though, which includes the underslung whatever-it-is.
  
• Asymmetrical greaves - the winged wolf-skull is used all over the place on the original. Obviously it's this figure's icon, but I think it could stand to lose some of them. Plus, asymmetry is cool. Just ask square-enix.
  
• More apothecay bits - The original model had some (which looks like they're going to be obscured by the wolf leg. unfortunate) but I'm never going to have a model that uses them otherwise, so why not give him all the arm bits too.
  

I'm not thrilled with the wolf pelt so far (taken from Grimnar) so I may break it down further or just sculpt the entire thing from scratch.

That 1st September deadline is getting worryingly close.

Tsuro

[Stryke]

Can't believe no ones commented on this yet! Awesome sculpting work and conversion, but the only thing that bugs me a bit is the axe, it doesn't seem very wolf priest,space wolf-ey but that's just a personal preference. Hope to see more pictures soon.

[stinkenheim]

Its an awesome start, not convinced with the wolf pelt I think if you sculpted it yourself you could get a better resultq but thats just personl pref. at the end of the day.

Will keep an eye on this for sure.

 

@stryke the axe is only a stand in until he makes the hammer/crozius.

[Stryke]

That will teach me to ignore most of the text and focus of the pretty pictures :D.

[Tsuro]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

On the subject of weaponry, it occurs to me that you could make a crozius/power axe hybrid that wouldn't look entirely awful.

Something for a future project maybe.

_____________________________

Alrighty, this is where I am now:

I haven't touched the pelt, shoulder pads etc.. so I didn't bother tacking them on for the update (the details of which they'd obscure anyway).

I'm still using the head from the last post, but I've got it stuck on a pole so I can sculpt the face mask etc, hence the stand-in.

• The torso has been re-shaped and bulked out more at the bottom, so it fits better with the big belt I've started on.
  
• The feet have seen some work, as have the arms. You can see the start of the medical gauntlet on the right wrist.
  
• The plasma pistol is very-nearly complete. I'll get a side-on shot for next time as well as one of sternhammer's bolt-pistol, because I've tried to make it as similar as I can.
  
• elbow pads have been completely sculpted, but I realise they can't be seen in this pic.
  

Going to start on the piping next, which'll hopefully make the model pop.

Tsuro

[Tsuro]

Today's update:

I thought the plasticard edges would go on fairly simply, but they took much longer than I expected. Also, because of their thickness the strips flare out rather than remaining flush. I've already filled the gaps, so when the putty is set I'll file the edges down. Hopefully it'll all look alright.

Here's a better shot of the plasma pistol, next to sternhammer's original.

The two obvious changes are the sight and the under-slung thing. (which I've decided is a red-dot projector) I've tried to style both of them to look as much llike the original as possible without looking out of place, hence why the under-slung thing is shorter on the plasma pistol.

I've also added another plasma gun 'bit' to the underside to mimic where the magazine was on the bolt pistol.

Medi gauntlet is coming along:

I'm quite pleased with how the saw blades are going. I'm hoping it won't overbalance the model once it's finished, but the alternative (other than not having it) was to have it on the left wrist, where I think it would have been lost.

As is the scepter:

You'll notice it tapers slightly from top to bottom. This was unintentional, and a result of the two plasticard strips I rolled it between being different thicknesses. Still, it's not too bad and not worth re-doing over.

Finally, here's a pseudo wolf-skull I had a go at sculpting:

My intention is to use it for the back-pack vents. I trimmed down and gs'd over a wolf head vent to get the size/proportion right, as my first attempt, although better looking, was really too large.

Tsuro

[Beef]

Very nice. I read through your other link. Impressive stuff

[Tsuro]

Cheers Beef. As I say, it's mostly a result of time and patience.

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Next update:

I filed down the plasticard, but I didn't get the result I hoped for. It wasn't as smooth as I would have liked, and I decided I'd made the sections too wide. So off they came.

The solution, obviously, was to use a much thinner strip. Unfortunately to get it to conform to the shape of the model like I wanted, the stips had to be too thin. The solution was to fit them slightly in from the edge, and then build up the remainder.

The hammer is on now, although it's not finished. I ended up cutting the hand to pieces - The GW holding hands really can't accomadate a shaft of much thickness before they look like clenched fists that have sprouted a weapon. Luckily it was a fairly simple to cut the hand up and file the fingers down. I still need to tidy it up though.

Relief detail next. Maybe then it'll look like sternhammer.

Tsuro

[WolfLord Digby]

Wow... looking really good so far, i cant wait to see the end result, its gonna be sweet!

[Tsuro]

Thanks, 'preciate it. I'm looking forward to the end myself, partly because it's existed as an idea in my mind for so long but mainly because it's taken over my free time. I can't make any guarantees of sweetness though, the models going to live or die by its pelt and they're...tricky.

__________________________________________

Today's update:

I've switched the final head back in. It didn't fit as well the temporary one at first, so I made an impression of the flamer-head base and copied it.

My first stab at getting the teeth on the mask was by GS press mold. Sadly this didn't give very good results, so I resigned myself to sculpting them from scratch. Early fumblings were frustrating, but then I remembered I'd bought a magnifying glass a while back for just such an occasion. With that the task became fairly simple.

After sculpting the mask, I did the front four teeth first. After they'd set I did the side two, and then finally the ridge underneath.

The head is a little smaller than the flamer-head I've been posting, but once the side hoses are on and wolf skull in place I'm hoping it won't look out of place.

Now he has relief detail on his leg and belt. The skulls were cast from various Space Wolf bits, and I then sculpted the wings around them. I did the rim first, and then the outer wings then finally the inner wings, leaving the GS to set between each stage.

I'm pretty pleased with the result. The magnifying glass was extremely helpful again.

The rod arm is almost finished now. You can't see it in the photo, but I've switched out the pommel for one I've sculpted from scratch. The old one was simply too large, more so after I put a plasticard rim around in. There's a guitar wire cable now that connects to the arm like Sternhammer's. The head of the staff is the only thing needing attention now, but I'm considering a new one as I think it may be less effort in the long run.

Nearly forgot - That's one of the shoulder pads in place. Theres a second (without the rim) But I've got it glued to a piece of card at the moment so I can manipulate it easier when sculpting.

Going to have to start on the pelt soon, which I do not relish.

and time marches on.

Tsuro

[Emperor's Scourge]

Awesome.

[Tsuro]

Cheers.

_______________________________

Alright folks, I'm rushing to get out so heres a quick update of how the model looked this morning:

I cleverly wasted a lot of time on bits that are completely obscured by the arm and pelt. Helpfully one of those bits I was really not happy with at all.

I'm running out of time and there's still a bunch of things to do, but I'm definately going to have to do something about that hammerhead.

Here's a shot of the pack of the pelt and the medi-arm. I'm not wild about the texture of the pelt, but I can't remember how I did it last time. Probably something time consuming involving multiple passes.

I've been working on the front legs and the 'hood' today, and most of the remaining bits. The hood has not gone well though, so first job Sunday will be to cut that back and start again.

Tsuro

[Skarvald the Troll-faced]

Jesus Christ, man, this is simply jaw-dropping! I think what makes it so amazing is the fact that you are showing us the gradual process of transformation. My favorite part is the head and the hammer (Crozius Arcanum?). Good job and and I can't wait to see it finished!

[Lord_Azoth]

love it, the pose is mazing..the truescale look makes him really scaring!...

[Tsuro]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

With the shoulder pads, backpack and now all the bling bulking him out I agree he does look like a bit of a monster.

_______________________________________________

I'm crazy busy again, which means another short update I'm afraid.

Anyway, I finally finished Sternhammer last night. You can judge for yourself how successful I was in making a model that looks like Sternhammer. I could have easily spent more time trying to get him perfect, but at some point you've just got to step back and say 'enough.'

They'll be a more thorough analysis later, but until then:

Last shot is for scale.

Tsuro

[S. Bloodhowl]

It looks great man, much better than I thought is was going to (no offence :P )

 

This might just be me, but I think he might actually be bigger than truescale, if such a thing is possible. Standing next to that guardsman he seems more primarch size to me.

 

Also, can I suggest some sort of strap or similar an the skull on his head to make it look like it is not just balanced there?