BCK's Thread of Stuff: Symphony of Destruction

[Brother Heinrich]

We'll agree to disagree on the level of awesome that is Doctor Who ;)

 

But yeah like I said to each his own, the model is absolutely fantastic regardless and I can't wait to see him painted up. There was once a time when my Night Lords stood in black and yellow clad, so I will always have a soft spot for Iron Warriors.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

We'll agree to disagree on the level of awesome that is Doctor Who

 

But yeah like I said to each his own, the model is absolutely fantastic regardless and I can't wait to see him painted up. There was once a time when my Night Lords stood in black and yellow clad, so I will always have a soft spot for Iron Warriors.

 

2 good friends of mine are both in love with Dr. Who and have tried to get me interested several times. The 2 or 3 episodes I watched were just... awful. I know it's hugely popular, and I've liked shows that they thought were terrible, so I can understand both sides of that.

 

I always liked the history of the Iron Warriors and the ease of painting for someone just getting into the hobby. It's nice to come back to them after all these years and have the modeling skills to bring some of my imaginings to reality.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

So, I started on the trophy tabard for Maestoros today, and I'm not sure if I like it:

 

http://i.imgur.com/Y5ofF56.jpg

 

In fact, I think it looks like poo and I think the fact that I've barely slept in two days probably has something to do with it. Before I tear it off and start over, what do you think, brothers? Be honest.

 

Oh, and I dug out the first Iron Warrior I did 15 years ago. He was just a test model, but was also one of my first conversions. Sadly, a few years ago when I was moving, and a friend that was helping me dropped one of my figure cases when he was halfway up a flight of concrete stairs, so he's seen better days:

 

http://i.imgur.com/uEcTtml.jpg

 

[Brother Ambroz]

I think the trophy tabard flows pretty well. Are you going to do anything with that little open spot on his chestpiece? Just curious.

 

Also your older fella still looks pretty nice, even missing some limbs. :P

[ephrael]

I think that the tabard looks good but a little big if you know what I mean.  It seem like it's a little too wide on his right side and flows too far forward on his left thigh.  The folds and "flow" of the fabric look good but the way it is laying on his left side seems to defy gravity.  Your IW from 15 years ago still stands the test of time even with the "battle damage."

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I think the trophy tabard flows pretty well. Are you going to do anything with that little open spot on his chestpiece? Just curious.

 

Also your older fella still looks pretty nice, even missing some limbs.

 

I think it's the low spot between the legs that's bothering me. And I've actually tried a few things for the middle of the chest that I didn't like and didn't bother to take pics of, so I dunno if anything will end up being there or not.

 

For my old figure, I think the gold still looks good, and it's a little trick I discovered that I still use today, but the silver... blech. That was back in the day when I thought drybrushing was an awesome technique. Was I ever so young? >_<

 

 

I think that the tabard looks good but a little big if you know what I mean.  It seem like it's a little too wide on his right side and flows too far forward on his left thigh.  The folds and "flow" of the fabric look good but the way it is laying on his left side seems to defy gravity.  Your IW from 15 years ago still stands the test of time even with the "battle damage."

 

The size is intentional, since it was once a banner or a cape or something that belonged to a vanquished foe, but as for the rest of it, I think you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for the honest criticism. :)

Edited August 13, 2013 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Brother Ambroz]

What parts did you use for your old guy? The only thing I think I might recognize is the head....

[ephrael]

 

I think the trophy tabard flows pretty well. Are you going to do anything with that little open spot on his chestpiece? Just curious.

 

Also your older fella still looks pretty nice, even missing some limbs.

 

I think it's the low spot between the legs that's bothering me. And I've actually tried a few things for the middle of the chest that I didn't like and didn't bother to take pics of, so I dunno if anything will end up being there or not.

 

For my old figure, I think the gold still looks good, and it's a little trick I discovered that I still use today, but the silver... blech. That was back in the day when I thought drybrushing was an awesome technique. Was I ever so young? >_<

 

 

>I think that the tabard looks good but a little big if you know what I mean.  It seem like it's a little too wide on his right side and flows too far forward on his left thigh.  The folds and "flow" of the fabric look good but the way it is laying on his left side seems to defy gravity.  Your IW from 15 years ago still stands the test of time even with the "battle damage."

 

The size is intentional, since it was once a banner or a cape or something that belonged to a vanquished foe, but as for the rest of it, I think you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for the honest criticism.

 

I thought about the bigger size and the fact that it was a captured banner not a proper tabard right after I posted my comment so you can disregard the size part.  The honest part is my pleasure and a fault I suppose.  I have always expressed my honest opinion about "little men" and it is part of the reason that I have some very close friends in the hobby.  It's also the reason why the local gamer that painted his Ravenwing army in Ultramarine colors complete with iconography won't talk to me anymore.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

What parts did you use for your old guy? The only thing I think I might recognize is the head....

 

 

The head, legs, and sole surviving shoulderpad are from OLD chaos marine plastics. The chest pieces is from a Tac Marine sergeant and I used thin plastic strip to make the trim around the bottom of the "rib cage". First, I glued down the strip, then I took more of it and cut it at sharp angles to make the triangles, glued them down and filled in the seams with superglue, did a crapload of sanding, and then painted.

 

 

 

 

The size is intentional, since it was once a banner or a cape or something that belonged to a vanquished foe, but as for the rest of it, I think you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for the honest criticism.

 

I thought about the bigger size and the fact that it was a captured banner not a proper tabard right after I posted my comment so you can disregard the size part.  The honest part is my pleasure and a fault I suppose.  I have always expressed my honest opinion about "little men" and it is part of the reason that I have some very close friends in the hobby.  It's also the reason why the local gamer that painted his Ravenwing army in Ultramarine colors complete with iconography won't talk to me anymore.

 

I've been banned from a few modeling forums in the past for giving honest criticism, so I'm sparing with it these days. I grew up with a grandmother who had painted for most of her life and was a high school art teacher for four decades. Every time I did a new drawing or painting, my mom would drive us out to the grandparent's house so I could get it critiqued, whether I wanted it or not. As a result, I have some thick skin but it's also made me think other people really don't want that sort of thing when they say "C&C WELCOME!" when usually they mean "TELL ME IT LOOKS GREAT, NO MATTER HOW BAD IT REALLY IS!"

 

There is such a thing a destructive criticism, and that I won't do. I'm not going to tell someone "that sucks" because that only serves to drive them away, and even though there's a LOT of things I don't like about GW, I love the setting and the figures and the huge amount of variety and inspiration that can be found from all the other people that feel the same way.

 

I'm critical enough of myself, but if we never look for the faults or the things that can be done better, or have them pointed out to us, how will we ever improve and grow?

 

*gets down from soapbox*

Edited August 13, 2013 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[ephrael]

I completely agree with you 100% BCK.  I usually post my constructive criticism in someone's topic once and if they respond to it I'll continue to interact with them.  If my comments are ignored I stop posting and move on, easy as that.  I've never outright told someone that their work sucked even though every fibre of my being wanted me to.  I try to be polite and encouraging in every way that I can, that seems to be the prevailing attitude on the B&C thankfully.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I completely agree with you 100% BCK.  I usually post my constructive criticism in someone's topic once and if they respond to it I'll continue to interact with them.  If my comments are ignored I stop posting and move on, easy as that.  I've never outright told someone that their work sucked even though every fibre of my being wanted me to.  I try to be polite and encouraging in every way that I can, that seems to be the prevailing attitude on the B&C thankfully.

 

Yeah, this seems to be one of the more laid back 40k forums that I've found. Here's an example of one of my critiques that went well, and I hope this forum is laid back enough to let me link a different one. If not, I'll yank it, but: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/441778.page

 

Oh, and I think that seals the fate for my first go at the trophy tabard. Will hopefully have a new one done tomorrow.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Zsoulless]

Some really nice GS work! 

Maestoros Looks Great! I really like how hes coming along..

But Im not sure I like the way the tabard is flowing down his left thigh.. I think its that tear/kink in the cloth mid thigh thats kinda putting me off..

Edited August 13, 2013 by Zsoulless

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Some really nice GS work! 

Maestoros Looks Great! I really like how hes coming along..

But Im not sure I like the way the tabard is flowing down his left thigh.. I think its that tear/kink in the cloth mid thigh thats kinda putting me off..

 

 

Not to fear! It has been removed.

 

Here's my second attempt:

 

http://i.imgur.com/wNLSE7B.jpg?1   http://i.imgur.com/2Dx3UTn.jpg?1

 

 

This time, I stuffed a shirt into the top of my pants and assumed a Captain Morgan pose to see how the cloth fell, and here we are. It's a bit more exaggerated on Maestoros, but I was surprised to see it actually make those triangular folds on the right side. It's really shiny because I probably won't be awake much longer (VERY long day at work) and I wanted to get these pics up tonight, so this is fresh from the sculpting tools with the oil still on it.

 

Good? Bad? Ugly? Lemme know whatcha think.

 

-BCK

[GhostMalone]

I'm beyond jealous at your level of skill, brother I love your work and it's jaw dropping to watch you produce such high quality conversions

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I'm beyond jealous at your level of skill, brother I love your work and it's jaw dropping to watch you produce such high quality conversions

 

 

Thanks, Jasp. I've been at this a long time and the best advice I can give is to keep practicing and trying to improve your skill. Don't be afraid to reach too high and fail, because you can always pull the figure apart, tear off the greenstuff, and try again.

 

There's been lots of times when I've said "this is my most ambitious conversion yet," and I think I can say it again for Maestoros. I think you might could say the same for your duel/last stand piece, which is coming along very well.

[GhostMalone]

Honestly that piece I have no bloody clue what I'm doing half the time it's more a hmmm what bitz do I have and what can I do

[Hyaenidae]

This time, I stuffed a shirt into the top of my pants and assumed a Captain Morgan pose to see how the cloth fell

 

Good, I'm not the only one to try out poses for my mini's, lol. I've gotten quite a few odd stares from my wife and kids in the past.

 

Much better, dude. Keep on truckin'!

[Dosjetka]

Your second attempt is much better. The cloth is a lot narrower and just seems a lot more real. Looking forward to seeing more!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Honestly that piece I have no bloody clue what I'm doing half the time it's more a hmmm what bitz do I have and what can I do

 

You think I have any idea what I'm doing most of the time with my conversions? LOL, no, I'm the same. I'll have a rough idea and start digging through my bits and unclipped sprues to see if I have what I need. Some of the time... no, actually, most of the time, the original idea either won't work at all or would be a tremendous amount of work/PITA to get it to reality. Borgestus and Varko are two good examples just in this thread. Conversions are all about winging it and adapting to what you have and what you can realistically pull off.

 

 

 

This time, I stuffed a shirt into the top of my pants and assumed a Captain Morgan pose to see how the cloth fell

 

Good, I'm not the only one to try out poses for my mini's, lol. I've gotten quite a few odd stares from my wife and kids in the past.

 

Much better, dude. Keep on truckin'!

 

Oh yeah, this is an old habit from my early art days when I wanted to be a comic book artist. I had a big mirror on the wall next to my drawing table so I could strike a pose if I has having trouble putting it down on paper. I rarely need a cloth study, but this time his pose was throwing me off.

 

 

Your second attempt is much better. The cloth is a lot narrower and just seems a lot more real. Looking forward to seeing more!

 

Last night, I wasn't real sure about this second attempt but after some feedback from you guys and some fresh eyes on it this morning, I think it works. I appreciate the feedback, brothers.

 

-BCK

[Punk possum]

So shirt in the pants for the win?

Are you set on having Maestroros' Hand griping the hilt of his sword? I think it would look more naturalistic and oddly a bit more threatening if he was resting his hand on the pommel in a "I'm so badass and I know it" sort of a way. Whereas with him griping the handle he looks a bit more nervy to me. 

Oh yes and I have every confidence you could sculpt it!  

 

I know you've decided to shelve Varko for now but just in case you do decide to go back to him. I think smaller axes are the way to go. The DV ones are lovely bits, but two two handed weapons (and they are two handed you just don't put a handle that long on a single hand cutting weapon) is always going to look a bit off..

I agree the Cataphractii chain axes could work or maybe the axes from the Khorne berserker set, but obviously with out the comedy hands?

 

Lastly will there be any more on the Maus/Elephant pattern Shadowsword?  

Edited August 14, 2013 by Punk possum

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

So shirt in the pants for the win?

Are you set on having Maestroros' Hand griping the hilt of his sword? I think it would look more naturalistic and oddly a bit more threatening if he was resting his hand on the pommel in a "I'm so badass and I know it" sort of a way. Whereas with him griping the handle he looks a bit more nervy to me. 

Oh yes and I have every confidence you could sculpt it!  

 

I know you've decided to shelve Varko for now but just in case you do decide to go back to him. I think smaller axes are the way to go. The DV ones are lovely bits, but two two handed weapons (and they are two handed you just don't put a handle that long on a single hand cutting weapon) is always going to look a bit off..

I agree the Cataphractii chain axes could work or maybe the axes from the Khorne berserker set, but obviously with out the comedy hands?

 

Lastly will there be any more on the Maus/Elephant pattern Shadowsword?  

 

Yeah, I had the same idea originally for Maestoros, but I don't know if I'm up to sculpting an entire hand and fingers just yet. I'm also looking into alternative weapons for Varko. There will be more of the Shadowsword progress, but after this conversion challenge, I'm itching to do a Space Wolf or two.

 

For the future, I'm going to pool all of my new progress on my various projects into this thread instead of starting a new one for each new thing.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Sculpted a rear trophy tabard last night, but I'm not real happy with it.

 

http://i.imgur.com/CSLz6Mw.jpg?1   http://i.imgur.com/MVLNkbu.jpg?1

 

It was meant to billowing out on the right side like the wind just caught it, but... meh. /sigh

 

 

Oh, and since we can now post IG and Inquisition related stuff, in the near future I'll be working on a conversion I've wanted to do for a while now.

 

Turning this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/PNZFD0U.jpg

 

 

Into this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/3UW23gv.png?1

 

Or something close to it, anyway. I like the idea of a young Eisenhorn figure.

[Zsoulless]

ooh.. love the artwork. That would make for a fun sculpt.. The Hugo Weaving-esque face oozes character and would make a great head study.

 

I usually sculpt Tabards/capes flat((on another surface)) and apply them to my model afterwords.. Its just easier to plan and execute bits if you dont have to also manipulate a tiny finicky model at the same time.. So when I can I do.. Thats just my 2cents on the matter..

 

 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

ooh.. love the artwork. That would make for a fun sculpt.. The Hugo Weaving-esque face oozes character and would make a great head study.

 

I usually sculpt Tabards/capes flat((on another surface)) and apply them to my model afterwords.. Its just easier to plan and execute bits if you dont have to also manipulate a tiny finicky model at the same time.. So when I can I do.. Thats just my 2cents on the matter..

 

I'm just planning on doing some GS work on the old Eisenhorn to make it look younger, and I've never thought of sculpting capes and tabards like that. Might give that a try.

[Zsoulless]

Ya.. You just roll out a Sheet of GS and lay it across platicard tubes, paint brushes, etc, etc.. to get the flowing folds of cloth you want and let it cure.. after that its just a matter of cutting it to shape and applying it to the model.. You get spend your time pushing GS to make it look seamless between the two instead of trying to sculpt the whole thing on the model..

 

Besides, you can get that rigid piece of GS to billow about dynamically anyway you choose just by tacking it in place..