Barbarian Chieftess Figure

[Roguestheory]

Just wanted to show off the product of three days of work.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JfwMxThzzHE/UQTNRQspWaI/AAAAAAAAAQw/3q6_Vqm_J6I/s1600/IMG_0870.JPG

[Roguestheory]

You can see more pics here: http://roguestheory.blogspot.com/2013/01/barbarian-chieftess.html
Oh, and let me know what you think.

[Tawmis]

Pretty cool. But I think it's standard practice to throw images within SPOILER tags, so that it doesn't expand the entire thread or bog it down.

You can put it in the spoiler tag by clicking this image within the post (upper right hand corner):

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/images/buttons/spoiler.gif

There's an irony of me displaying an image to tell you to hide an image, I know. :smalltongue:

[Roguestheory]

Thanks Tawmis! Totally forgot about spoilers... Been awhile since I've posted anything.

[Tawmis]

Thanks Tawmis! Totally forgot about spoilers... Been awhile since I've posted anything.

Absolutely no worries! It didn't bother me at all. (High speed connection and all!) But I have to say, it's pretty cool. So, is it something you made from the ground up? If so, how? Share some details! :smallamused:

[Roguestheory]

Created from the ground up!

The base was turned on a lathe, I intentionally left the natural (bark) surface on the top to give the impression of terrain.

I use oil based clay that only hardens when baked in the oven, but has an almost rubbery quality that gives it some flexibility when finished.

Started with the torso and legs down to the ankles. It starts out really rough in terms of details. I just get the general form down adding a minimal amount of details. In this case I had to make sure that the leg positioning was accurate to later place it on the base without any issues. Most of the time I just wing it for a basic standing position. After baking, I actually carve the details in with some micro wood carving blades and some dental tools that I obtained from the dentist just by asking for them. Turns out that they'll just give out any old tools that are too worn for dental use, otherwise they just toss them. In this case I carved her form in the nude and would add the clothing/armor after.

Once I was happy with her body and legs, I then took balls of clay and made a set of rough boots and pushed them onto her ankle stumps to ensure a good fit later. Did the same for arms, neck, head and Skull Helmet. I then carved all the details on each separately. The final step was the hands, which at this scale are difficult to say the least. :)

After I was satisfied with the carving and shaping, I pressed tin foil tightly to form to her body and then pressed a thin layer of clay on top of that to create clothing.
After that I glue the body parts together and paint (with acrylic paints), same goes for all the armor/clothing. Once painting all the parts I added other details, like the hair or fur (I use feathers. I have to say that super glue and feathers are an absolute pain to deal with!!! Though they do provide some nice detail)

I then glued everything together. Almost done, but she needed a weapon and a shield. These I carved out of wood to give them strength. A little paint and they were done. I glued the shield to her arm and the spear I just fitted into her hand that i put a hole in earlier. This way, if I want, I can replace it with a different weapon like a nasty battle ax, war hammer, club, sword and so on...

This process has evolved over the last several years. I used to just try to add all the details before baking and the relied on paint to add more details. The figures looked okay, but still lacked the wow factor I was looking for. Carving allows a lot more detail to be added and using bits of chain, beads, feathers or even just some string can bring them up to the next level.

Hope that explains the process well enough for you. If not or if you have additional questions, ask and I'll do my best to illuminate the query. :)

[Tawmis]

That's some seriously remarkable work.

I mean, this is something that it seems like you could sell (probably for a fair amount of money considering the time, effort, and resources that go into creating it). Is this the first one you've done?

[Roguestheory]

Not the first, you can see other minis that I've made as well as other works of mine either @
www.rogueartfx.com or http://roguestheory.blogspot.com/

Hope you like my work, if not though, I'm not above constructive criticism. :smallsmile:

[IncoherentEssay]

That's an interesting mixture of methods and materials. I like how crisp the skull looks. How tall is it?

I vaguely recall seeing the D&D minis before, did you post them here at some point or am i just imagining things?

[Roguestheory]

Thanks IncoherentEssay, her height is just a hair under 4 inches. I designed her to be a display piece to see how much detail I could add, otherwise the others are shorter to fit on a 1 inch grid for actual play. Though they fit on the grid, they are still bigger than official D&D figures, an unfortunate limitation of the medium.

Otherwise I'm trying to remember if I've posted any of my figures here... I don't think I have, I did however post a picture of a female warforged druid illustration that I did. It started a pretty good debate... :smallsmile:

[Roguestheory]

Just took a look at some of your work IncoherentEssay, and you have some good stuff going on, I like the knight you did. I think that if you carved and/or sanded them, you could get some really nice details in there to jazz them up a bit. Especially if they are around 15 centimeters tall, at that scale, it would be a lot easier to get in there and work as opposed to the smaller scale that I'm working with.

[IncoherentEssay]

Huh, i estimated that the barbarian was maybe a third again as large as it actually is. Quite a bit more impressive then :smallsmile:. The strings must have been a pain to attach. Any future figurines planned?

In my experience sandpaper really doesn't agree with airdrying clay, it tends to chip and flake instead of becoming smoother. I think it's because it just dries out instead of baking, so it never hardens to the point where sandpaper would help. Fixing small flaws is best done by applying a bit of water so it softens up enough that the flaw can be scraped off without breaking anything. The problem with that is that i need to wait until it dries to see whether it's fixed or still needs work, and it's far too easy to forget to do so :smalltongue:.

Sorry about the late response, i was trying to decide whether to post a work-in-progress figurine to show off my current standard for detail work. I've decided against it, i want the finished version to retain the element of surprise. I could PM you the pics if you're interested.

[Roguestheory]

Just finished up my new character. Got tired of playing a Rogue and my DM is letting me play a Drow (lesser) Duskblade. Kind of unorthodox, but it should be interesting if nothing else. :smallsmile:

Drow Duskblade
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-37cqSpqzJQY/URHqHKekEJI/AAAAAAAAATM/px50xz9nJCE/s1600/IMG_0947.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7_hPvl7yg9k/URHqG_IYJoI/AAAAAAAAATI/bDxcQ8kmwdY/s1600/IMG_0945.JPG

[Roguestheory]

IncoherentEssay, have you tried an oil based clay like Sculpey or something similar? When baked, they become very plastic/rubber like. Then if you're decent with a blade or gouges, you could get that extra level of detail. I assume that whatever water based clay your using would wreak havoc on knives of any sort. Anyhow, just posted my newest figure, a Drow. Did that in a day on and off when my son was sleeping.

Also, I would love to see your work in progress and give you my opinions if you're willing to hear them. :smallsmile: