Dec 4, 2012

Greenstuff adventures 3. - The Deadly Trio! (and some vegetables)


Here we have three mercenaries, sculpted (mostly) by me. They do look dangerous don't they.


Second take on Count Ozgrusowoa von Glutemarknog, born in Sweden and fighting with various weaponry. He's the head of the party and never seems to be short on coins. He once wrestled a dozen badgers.


Jose de Tabasco, Spanish of origin, but the Inquisition made his life uncomfortable, so he left the motherland... Although he didn't forget to steal a barge full of the best tobaco from His Majesty's colonies. He fights with a dagger and a dangerously sharp rapier.


Jürgen von Bekkön, from Northern Germany, is a simple man, but he uses his musket like the devil. Trouble is, he's always hungry and complains about his empty stomach in the hardest battle just as in camp. Once almost mortally wounded at the battle of Lökkenheim (revolving around the possession of thirty sheep and a shepherd dog, about twenty Saxons and thirty Prussians participating, armed with various clubs, bows, pitchforks and sticks), he is always seen wearing a morion helmet and a full pikeman armor for safety. (This figure has inherited a pair of arms and what they held from a Zvezda Austrian musketeer.)


Here they are, compared to the Zvezda Imperial foot commander, a tall fellow himself. These three turned out rather cartoony, but I just think my sculpting is getting better. I also figured using scraps of match sticks is safer than using pins for weapons. 


Talking about vegetables, this thing above is a key element to the next scenario I'm going to play. I know, they are NOT vegetables: these are three tomato bushes the fruits of which the invading Jazygians will have to steal, and our mighty looking heroes will have to defend. If you mind looking at the 3rd Inter Arma appendix in the Rules page, you will notice I've added a mechanism for looting certain things, so this will also be tested.

Another scenario I'm thinking of is a Viking-style revenge: I'll build a longhouse which then will be set aflame by not-so-friendly archers. This is to test the 'buildings on fire' rule, also in the 3rd appendix.

A little bit more on sculpting. Lessons learnt:
  • Need to switch from paper to wire skeletons. Paper is too bulky in the third dimension and results in out-of proportion figs.
  • Need to decrease size further more. Although intended to be 25mm tall (except Ozgrusowoa who's 26.4 mm or 1. 90 metres) they still look too big compared to other 30YW ranges. 
These two things would make the end results much better. The rest is a matter of practice:
  • Better texture on clothing (more patience, essentially)
  • Smaller heads and less round faces
Next to sculpt is some fantasy stuff again, trolls and dragons and all alike. Well, that is the plan.

14 comments:

  1. They show real promise, Andras.

    You're setting the bar high by showing them next to Zvezda, but it's always good to aim high. Refinement will come with practice but you've already captured the rakish TYW look nicely.

    It's good to see Cossacks still in action on your blog here. I regret that I've been unsuccessful in getting it to run on Vista 64 O/S.

    Regards,
    Steve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - and thanks for subscribing too. The showcase is only to present their size; Cossacks is quite ageless and as far as we've tried works on Win7/8 (but not on Vista).

      Delete
  2. I guess you and i are not to dis-similar in that we are new to sculpting. I would recomend that when using wire to use 2 pieces one for the arms and another one twisted around for the body with a ring left for the head and lengths of it left untwisted for the legs... I have sculpted twice before so I'm not the best advisor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You've got real talent here Andrew and you're only going to get better. One day I'll be buying a figure from you.

    I really like the background and names for these characters and the idea of stealing a tomato makes me happy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Hope that day comes soon as I'm broke at the moment :D
      I was considering that tomatoes are relatively new in the Old World and thus are more valuable.

      Delete
  4. Really nice work Andrew. This is an area I would never venture into, so my hat is off to you. And for the record, I would buy any figure that has wrestled a dozen badgers, that is some serious street cred.
    Keep up the great work,
    Mike

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Badgers, dragons and of course unarmerd countryfolk, they are all on the list!

      Delete
  5. Veri nice figurines , and great paint Andrew ;)
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am seriously impressed Andrew, they really are looking good.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good work on the figures and very interesting characters.
    Regards
    Bruno

    ReplyDelete
  8. Well done Andrew! I can't do this, so you're an artist for me!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://www.peterscave.blogspot.be/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, far from being an artist but it's all about trying!

      Delete