15mm Sci-Fi Dwarves....

Dwarves........

I love them, the stunty little bastards. from Gimli to Gotrek..... from Bridget the Midget to Wee Jimmy Krankie I love them all.

I have no idea why I have such an affinity with dwarves, I always want to play them when I roll play - all my favourite RPG characters have been dwarves....... they just feel "right" - TLC thinks it might be because I am short, hairy and generally in a bad mood (she might have something there come to think about it).

Anyway, I've wanted to sculpt my own version of sci-fi 15mm dwarves for a while now. You'll remember that I did a commission for Clear Horizon Miniatures a while ago, but I wanted these to be totally different - I wanted more a clan based feel.

Dwarf Clansmen

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A few Ideas.......

What with a wedding to plan and a very busy work schedule, I've been doing a lot of conversions recently of various miscasts and I suddenly realised that I hadn't gotten around to trying any of my new dollies or weapons that I had cast (see here).

I decided that I'd coincide the virgin use of the new casts with a few new ideas that had been knocking around my brain for a few weeks.

BING!!!!!!

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Finally back.......... Part 3: Digital Sculpting

The end is near.............

Well, the end of this three part update anyway (queue sighs of relief).

Anyway, over the last two posts, I've looked at the sculpting I've been doing since the start of the year as well as some of the figures I had cast up to fill the space in the moulds I used to cast up my new armature dollies.

Part 3 is a deviation from what I usually do. You see, a few weeks ago, whilst I was waiting for the casts to arrive from the workshop I was feeling a little bored. I had finished off most of my WIP's (and didn't really feel like starting anything new). I had come across some comments online about various free digital sculpting software and thought, "well, why not!!"

A brave new world......

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Finally back...... Part 2 - Casting

Sorry about the delay, I got called away to do a client seminar in sunny Leeds....... 

Anyway, welcome to part 2 of my mammoth update. I guess that's what happens when you leave it 6 months between posts!!!!!

In Part 1 I posted a lot of the sculpting I've been doing during my period of radio silence, in this part I'll look at some of the miniatures I've had cast up, ready for the tabletop.

Thanks to Oli at Tablewarfare.com

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Finally back......... Part 1 - Sculpting

Wow,

I've really been neglecting this blog over the last few months - seriously, I hadn't realized it had been so long since I updated it.

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*FREE* 15mm Roleplay Sculpting.....

As those of you who read this blog will know, I love roleplay, always have done. It doesn't matter what genre or rules, the theatre if the mind is a great release from the everyday stresses and strains of modern life.

High Fantasy Cyberpunk Characters 

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High Gravity Mercs - Commission.

As I hinted at in my last post, things been going on behind the scenes over in Chez FC. Work has been crazy busy, what with trying to sort out a new job, Sprout has decided that sleep is for wimps and I've had to have minor back surgery....

However, I've been getting a bit of sculpting done where I can, including a project for an actual miniature company....

Yes, you read that right, someone actually wanted to produce something I made.  The company in question is Clearhorizon Miniatures, run be the esteemed Mr Harold and makers of the rather excellent Hell Diver squads of miniatures and other 15mm goodness

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FC is not dead..... repeat, FC is not dead....

Wow, what can I say,

It's been so long since I added anything to the blog, I'd forgotten what the last thing was that I did (It was the blob monster apparently). Now, that particular episode in my sculpting journey didn't go well. You will recall that I sculpted that for a competition on the Facebook 15mm Sci-Fi page; now, I spent rather a long time on that particular sculpt (probably more than I should have done, considering that I was just finishing off a commission at the time) and submitted it on deadline day........ only to find that no-one (and I mean literally not a single other person) had entered.

I won't lie, this kind of threw me a bit and knocked my enthusiasm more than a little. This coupled to with a work overload, trying to find a new job, family life and minor surgery for a back injury (I have prolapsed my L4L5 and L5S1 discs) has meant that I've not done an awful lot in the last few months.

However, things have picked up again, I'm on a lot less painkillers and am generally fighting fit (give or take) and rearing to go. So, with my new-found enthusiasm, I thought I would pop up a couple of the sculpts I've got done since my last update, for your perusal.

First up, is another member of the "Lone Wolves" mercenary group for my GURPS Roleplay. Here, he is still in WIP form.

Another GURPS character (WIP)

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15mm Sci-Fi Sculpting Contest.....

"There, in the grey beginning of Earth, the formless mass that was reposed amid the slime and vapors. Headless, without organs or members, it sloughed from its oozy sides, in a slow, ceaseless wave, the amoebic forms that were archetypes of earthly life. Horrible it was, if there had been aught to apprehend the horror, and loathsome, if there had been any there to feel loathing. About it, prone or tilted in the mire, there lay the mighty tablets of star-quarried stone that were writ with the inconceivable wisdom of the pre-mundane Gods"

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Out of the Closet......

I have a confession to make, are you sitting down?

I'm a Geek!!,

but stunningly handsome, I'm sure you'll agree..

there, I've said, it. Not only that, I'm proud to be a Geek, I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy (especially that with scantily clad ladies in it - just in case the title gave the wrong impression!!), I love Geeky books, Geeky films, Geeky artwork, war-gaming, computer games, correct spelling and grammar, even Geeky jokes; but one element of "Geekdom" that I have always embraced more than the others is Roleplay - whether it be Dungeons and Dragons, WHFR (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay for the uninitiated), Shadowrun, Earthdawn or any of the multitude of the other wonderful materials out there.

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New Year; New WIP

Happy New Year everyone!!

2015 started with a bang, I got engaged to TLC and am really in a good place at the moment (despite in being January; going back to work today and being as poor as a church mouse, that's just received an enormous tax bill on the very day his wife ran off with another mouse, taking all the cheese)

This new-found enthusiasm has trickled down to my sculpting and I've done more in the last few days than I have in the last three months....

Whilst my WIP pile is still embarrassingly large (TLC kindly reminds me, daily, that I have the attention span of a gnat..... Ooooo, squirrel!!!), I couldn't resist starting a new minuature Sunday night, here he is....



I think we can guess who ate all the pies!!

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Welcome to 2015........

Well, 2014 is gone, and what a year it's been!!!!! Those of you that read this will know I've been struggling with my sculpting over the last few months. Basically, this has been due to stress caused by overwork and trying to move house. Well, now Sprout, TLC and I are in the new place and settled, I've started pushing the putty again, and whilst there's been no sudden increase in talent, I am finding it relaxing and a great way to destress - which, after all was kind of the point to start with.

Anyway, here is something I did a day or so ago.

 

The Shotgun; for when a longbow just won't cut it

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Siesta Time......

The few of you who follow this blog will know my life has been crazy busy over the last few months, this has left me very tired and drained (Both physically and emotionally). The result being that I am really struggling with my sculpting, I can't seem to get my head into it recently and nothing is coming out like I want it to, everything is looking a little 'off'.

With this in mind, I've decided to take a little break until I'm in the new house and the family is settled. Hopefully I will then be in a better place and will have my enthusiasm back.

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Captains Log: Star Date 31-10-2014

Well, it's been a crazy busy week. I've been travelling all over the place, including a 20 hour round trip to Bristol to see a client, my daughter turned two and the solicitors (who are being paid by the hour - coincidence??) are dragging thier feet over the house move - all in all, I've not had a great deal of time at my workbench. Nonetheless, I've managed to do some update work on my Cyber-Pirate Captain.

Still a little more to do.

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A Pair of Scurvy Scallywags...

Life has been pretty chaotic over the last week or so, leaving me with pretty much no time to move on with my Cyber-pirate band. I managed to grab an hour or so last night to start on a couple of figures, although still very much WIP here they are.

First up we have an Orc pirate captain, complete with tricone hat and cyber-peg leg.



Getting down the basic shapes.



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The Old Grey Matter

I said a few posts ago that I've been doing some work recently with Pro-create. For those of you not familiar with this product, it's a two part epoxy used in the same way as Green Stuff, but made specifically for sculpting (rather than car repairs)

Pro-create is the medium I started sculpting with a few years ago (in fact, the miniatures in my first two posts use this stuff). I have a bit of a "love:hate" relationship with it, it's quite a lot harder to work than GS, but holds a line very well and accepts a great deal of detail, also when it cures, there is a lot less "rounding" of corners than you get with GS. It can also be worked, sanded, cut etc after it's hardened (which anyone whose tried doing that with Green Stuff will tell you, Is a right royal pain in the arse!!)

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So little time.....

So, I've still had pretty much no time to make any significant dent in my cyber pirate WIP pile over the last few days, so thought I would take one of my existing WIPs, make a few minor alterations and add him to the crew.

Mad-Max at sea??

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Busy, busy, busy........

Wow!!!!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Work has been completely crazy, with wall to wall meetings and new, unprecedented levels of muppetry.... So 12-14hr working days, coupled with a non-sleeping toddler and the stress of organising and packing for a house move (hopefully) has left very little time to push any putty around.

 

Anyway, just to keep the couple of you that read this up to date, here's a few photos of an Orc mercenary armed with a rather large sniper rifle I did a few weeks ago.

That's one big-ass gun!!

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A few more WIP's

Here are a couple of extra greens that are very much in the WIP stage, there is still a lot if work to do on them, but hopefully they will give you an idea of where I'm going...

First up, we have an elven female in a long ball gown, armed with a heavy pistol.

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A couple of WIP's

Well, that's me pretty up to date now (thanks for reading so far). I said in a previous post I would be popping up a couple of new greens I have been working on.

Here is a dwarf fighter armed with two cyber arms and a katana

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