DEPARTMENTS

Friday, March 15, 2013

Sculpting Update 3/15/2013


Hey all,

So, sculpting may have slowed down on my end, but it has not stopped. A bit ago I posted about a little side project called "Freestyle Sculpting" in which I started a trio of sculpts and, with no pre-planning sculpted them into three versions of the same finished science fiction alien sculpt. Along with an update on that project, I thought I'd also show a couple of finished sculpts that are going to head their way toward 15mm.co.uk's SHM miniatures line as well as some WIP on another SHM project that I have returned to - Prang!

FREESTYLE SCULPTING
First up, I'd like to show the state of the Freestyle sculpting project. If you recall, the initial shapes where very much simply little blobby forms on the ends of wires. From here I could have gone many ways but i decided to take them in the direction of a truly alien for that was completely devoid of humanoid characteristics - something that I know a lot of folks have been looking for. I'm not sure if I'll hit that nail on the head, but I thought it was worth having a go.


As you can see the alien is taking on a sort of gas floater, levitating, jelly fish sort of form. 

I had started by expanding the basic teardrop shape laterally and added a couple of rounded, slightly sagging forms that hint at some sort of bladder or internal organ structure. To this, I added a sort of back carapace and some corrugated shapes on the back, hinting at either an natural shell and musculature or something constructed by the alien. The will be developed throughout the sculpt as I expand on the shapes and forms established here.

You will also notice (sorry for the fuzzy pic) that a series of sensory apparatus have been added to the front of the alien. These are just blocked out shapes at this point and will be refined, but they allude to the presence of some sort of central larger body part, surrounded by five smaller ones. These may end up as eyes, antennae or even orifices.

The latest elements added, were the dangling tentacles. These have been arranged in a way so as to provide a sort of flight stand for the floating alien and are swept back to hint at them trailing behind the creature a bit as it moves through the air. Other sculpts might have them done at a sharper angle, to convey faster movement and could even be sculpted in varying degrees of animation to add character to a creature with no humanoid anatomy for the viewer to connect with. These tentacles may also serves as the creatures manipulating limbs and be positioned facing forward to hold equipment or weapons.

It'll be fun to see where this goes and if these end up being worthy of production...


SHM SCULPTS
Even with my own miniatures production line in the works, I still believe in and support 15mm.co.uk's SHM miniatures line. I think it's a great way for sculptors to have some fun and let somebody else worry about the nuts and bolts of it while improving their craft. Sometimes you come up with things that just aren't practical to put into production on their own and SHM allows you to pool production resources with other hobby sculptors out there.

What's I've got in the works for SHM? Well Take a look!

The first couple of figures are new characters. The first is a sort of saurian bounty hunter very much in the Star Wars style. He's got an arm-mounted blasters, a suit of heavy armor, headset targeting system, decorative cape and some scalps showing his prowess.


This next alien is a conversion off of the Fragalian already available through 15mm.co.uk in their SHM range and one of my very first sculpts. This new alien uses the existing robed alien body but expands on with a larger head, hands, and a tail. He also sports a staff. 


The last bit is a sort of update on the Prang I've been at for a while. If you recall, the Prang appeared as a one-off in the first run of my SHM figures. they are a sort of froggish alien species of rotund, unsavory, some might say degenerate scavengers, mercenaries and pirates. To this end, I sculpted them in a non-uniformed, mishmash of armor and weapons befitting such a force.


The above figure is nearly finished. I really just need to give him a once-over for last minute details and cleanup. He's an older sculpt contemporary to the first Prang sculpt.


These three are also nearly finished with just a few minor gubbins to check before entering the cosmos. Depicted are two trooper variants, carrying the sort of ramshackle weapons common to the Prang. The dude one the far right is a heavy gunner and is packing some big sort of weapon that Prang raiders like to use to penetrate the hulls and airlocks of the ships they raid.


This trio of not-so-fine fellows are still very much WIP. The paunchy guy in the middile shows how inflated a Prang's head can get when they are utilizing their throat sacks. Look out for their gooey spit. The guy on the right is a newer officer sculpt and is a pretty fit and ready fellow for a Prang.

So, yes, sculpting continues and should be easier to keep going now that I have my work benches cleared off and my lights arranged. I am hoping to get these Prang done with an off to Scotland for production in the next month or so. The Prang have proven quite popular and so it's likely that more of them will follow after these.

-Eli

7 comments:

  1. I love the reptilian conversion of Fragalian. Also I am surprised that this is your early sculpt. This is one of my favourite miniature of yours. And other minis (Prangs!!!!) are amazing too :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fjodin,

      The Fragalian was very much a free form, caution to the window, seat of the pants sort of sculpt I did early on.

      Delete
  2. Ooh that saurian bounty hunter looks promising! I've been thinking about a 15mm.co.uk order for a while, perhaps I'll wait until he's for sale.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please don't wait. They do good business there and a lot of time can pass between when i submit a figure and it going into production. Give them your money to grab what you want and pick up my stuff when it comes out.

      -Eli

      Delete
  3. I'm liking these Prang models, very cool :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great to see more Prang are on the way!
    I love the guy with the eye pach.
    So, any chance of that captain with parrot analogue and peg leg?
    Maybe a huge vicious female Prang?

    ReplyDelete

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