Da Green Giant !

 

Hello everyone! No this article is not an add for your favourite sweetcorn brand, just a little sculpting project I've had fun with in the past few weeks.

Some of you might know that I am a miniatures designer working exclusively on the computer. But I wanted to do a bit of physical sculpting for a change, not having been playing with putty this way for nearly 9 years!

So I decided to redesign a model I made for work as part of the Death Guard range, but to give myself a bit of a challenge, I decided to make him about half the size. The scale is not a technical issue working digitally (still some important design considerations apply...) but by hand it is another story!

I decided to go for a bit of a Chibi style, which suits reduced-scale models nicely, but also would look quite cool on that specific Plague Marine since I approached it in a very graphic way. But enough words, let's have a look at some pics!

As you can see, the model is drastically smaller than its 40k scale inspiration, but I tried to retain as many design features as possible.

Saying that, I did not want to be welded to the original, this is why I took some liberty with the pose, and changed/rationalised some of the details to fit the scale.
I could have made a carbon copy, but it would have been more labourious. After all, this is just a fun hobby project ;)

I decided to make everything with green stuff, for pure nostalgia: I remember being super excited as a teenager seeing pictures of "greens" in White Dwarf. I think there is something quite magical about green stuff sculptures. The pose plays that nostalgia card as well, referencing models from the 90's.

Oddly enough it is miles better than the last models I sculpted by hand, which shows that even if I have been working digitally ever since, the same part of the brain and design/shaping muscles are used.

These are my tools of choice. I actually use the metal one 99% of the time, the rubber brush is only when I need a softer/more gentle touch.

And here are all the step by step photos I took with my phone. They are not as good as the final shots, but it is always good fun to see the process (not that I have been particularly methodical, but it shows the stages I have been through):

Thanks for reading! I hope you like this little dude, he was really fun to sculpt!

I might sculpt something else in a similar style again. Maybe another resculpt of my own model... just have to find what!

Oh, and finally: I am sure it goes without saying, but this model is not for sale ;)

Cheers!

Wild Squigs

Hello Squig-beer drinkers!

It looks like my daughter gave me the Squig virus, I could not resist putting some together for myself and slapping some paint on them.

Their playstyle in Warcry is very fun too, and I have always like the idea of a pack of monsters that the Chaos warbands would have to fight to survive.

Again, I went for a very limited palette, prefering techniques that allow me to avoid edge highlighting and are fun to do.

I chose more realistic colours, in an attempt to show that squigs are not always little comedy creatures. They can also be quite scary and super aggressive.

I also wanted to depict them like their skin is in a similar tone to their environement. Again, a touch more "realistic". I like that beige-brown atmosphere, it is not something I paint often. After completing the first model, I asked myself where I have seen a similar colour palette, and I think I was unconsciously inspired by the maleficient Bruno Rizzo.

I'm also a big fan of desert bases using cork sheets, that I remember seeing on my friend Xavier's models <3 . It was a good opportunity to try that technique out.

Anyway, it is very much a speed painting kind of thing, so I thought I'd detail the steps in a little tutorial:

1. After assembling and basing the model, I sprayed it with Zandri Dust.

2. I applied a first highlight with a mix 2/1 of Zandri Dust and Wraithbone, all over the model. I used a little piece of foam to have a bit of a mottled effect that mimics thick skin nicely.

At that stage, I also applied a wash of Seraphim Sepia on the base.

3. I then repeted the operation, adding more Wraithbone to the mix for it to be 1/1, focusing on the upper part of the model.

4. Finally, I used a 1/2 blend of Zandri Dust and Wraithbone to pick up the more pronounced edges at the top and on the face.

5-6. I used an old toothbrush to sprinkle some Darkoath Flesh on the model, mostly focusing on the under side. Make sure you don't overload the toothbrush to avoid big drops. You really want them to be quite fine to represent dirt or liver spots.

7. I mixed some Reikland Flesh with a lot of Lahmian Medium (in around 1/4 proportion) and washed the model all over.

8. Time to start picking up some of the details. I circled the eyes and nose with Cygor Brown, blocked out the gums with Flesh Tearer Red and the teeth, spikes and claws with 2 coats of Black Templar.

9. I drybrushed the base with Rakarth Flesh.

10. I painted the base trim with Charadon Granit, and used this same colour watered down to shade the deepest recesses of the base.

I also started to paint some mottling on the skin, with a 3/1 mix of Zandri Dust and Cygor brown. The idea is to have the biggest patches at the very top, and going smaller and smaller until they would just be too small to paint, basically.

11. I added some more Cygor Brown to the mix, to darken the big patched in their middle, still leaving some of the first colour showing.

12. A blend of Black Templar and Contrast Medium (1/1 proportions) is applied to the bottom of the legs.

13. The final stage consist in adding a bit of nuance to the skin, with some Druchii Violet watered down with Lahmian Medium, around the knees, nose and mouth.
I complete the model by varnishing the entirety of the mouths (teeth and gums) with 'Ardcoat, and gluing some grass on the base (not shown on the photo)

And that's about it! A pretty approachable technique, right?

I hope you like these little monsters. I will add some more to compose a 1000 pts warband. It will only be 5 models in total, so not very competitive but potentially deadly and fun on the board!

Thanks for reading, and please don't hesitate if you have any questions!