Blog Rich's log of lizardy sculpts (Now with more Gor-rok)

I thought I'd start this log, separate from the other one (partly because it's getting long over there and partly because it's supposed to be about AOW).

This one however will be about my army, my minis and the occasional sculpt for other companies.

First off, remember this guy? (don't feel bad if you've never seen him before).




Well he's on the way back to me from Felix and will be making his way to getting cast with troll forged miniatures.



Secondly, I have a question, which one of the following would you want to convert, which would you leave as it is and which would you think would look better sculpted from scratch?

Salamander
Razordon
Ripperdacytl
Skink priest
Slann
Kroxigors
Stegdon
Troglodon
Carnosaur

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

I would love to see a Slann mage-priest with a bit more attitude. Something like one that is in the middle of casting. I know that they are supposed to be in deep contemplation, but that doesnt make them very attractive models.

Salamanders are nice, but in my opinion, have the same problem. One kind of body available basically, not alot of movement in the figure.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Secondly, I have a question, which one of the following would you want to convert, which would you leave as it is and which would you think would look better sculpted from scratch?

Salamander -scratch (make dimetridon version)
Razordon as is
Ripperdacytl convert (better head)
Skink priest as is
Slann convert (nothing major)
Kroxigors -scratch (you know you where going to do this anyway)
Stegdon convert (kit-bash the howda)
Troglodon as is
Carnosaur convert (better head)

oh and Bastilidon convert (the solar engine is just asking for a clear gem) *fake gem
- Also the side panels are kinda chunky looking.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

I def agree with the above, that Solar Engine has potential but it could look sooo much better.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Well was definitely thinking of Scratching both razordon and salamander, the only problem is that's six pieces altogether.

I have got a bastilodon coming my way, already got loads planned for conversion work on that.

I did a slann conversion piece a while back too, but gave it to a mate.
Is the Ripperdacytl artwork any good? (compared with the minis).

I'm making a spinosaur head too for a mate (acts as a switch for the troglodon head).
My own carnosaur is getting a brand new head.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Small update, still nothing in the post, I think I might get my stuff by thursday at the very earliest which sucks!

I haven't got my book yet, but from what I've been reading, it seems salamanders are still much more viable than razordons (rolling 4s as a minimum to hit is always going to sting).

So, I am going to kick this log off, probably with some armature work for my salamanders, all three of them, though it won't be constant, I'll be posting other things and updates in here too so there's a lot more variety, much more often.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

I say you have to make one more krox. Between the guy shown above (thanks for having him cast by the way!) and the AOW thorny devil Krox, If you sculpt one more, you have a pretty buff unit!

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Glad to see an army log by you. I vote for a slann with attitude

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Did your older models get taken down from AOW. I have the lizard who can have either club and shield or great weapon and now saw your extra spikey one. Where can I get it?

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

I think you can still get in through other online retailers, apparently (got told this during the GW VS chapter house trial) GW tried or did, sue Avatars of war for the mini, which is stupid as I made sure I wasn't breaking IP.

@president kang

Thanks but I think I'm all Kroxigored out at the moment (well, maybe a large private champion sculpt).

At present I'm still waiting for my order to arrive, when it does my first sculpt/conversion will be a spinosaurus head for a mate on the troglodon (he took part in the contest I was running in my other topic).






Speaking of which, people who made suggestions for that contest need to PM me for my address to send their lizards so I can convert them for you.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Small update,

Finally got my lizardman book today, along with all my other bits and pieces.

First up on the conversion table...

Troglodon, now coming to you with a Spinosaurus head!

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Nice! I was hoping you'd pick that

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Sounds great!

I would like to see you doing your own slann, your lord kroak from the 5ed book is one of the best sculpts I've ever seen! Maybe you could make one like the cover of 6ed, in process of casting a spell?

Anyway, very excited to see what you're gonna come up with!

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Yeah, correct. GW needed to be consistent to advance their case, as they were claiming that my proxy models, http://chapterhousestudios.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=136 were "infinging" because they owned the very idea of a meso-American bipedial lizard. The judge and jury disagreed, and hence my minis are still available from CHS. I'd love to get my hands on one of yours as well to act as my Ancient Krox, assuming he will rank up.

I'm also thinking of doing an original Basti solar arc model, possibly converting an Ankylosaurus toy and making a much more convincing jem weapon for my army. That's assuming I decide that its rules make it worth having. The jury is still out on that one.

When I finish painting my Salamander conversion I was thinking next up for me would be a trio of Razordons that could use the same skinks alternatively for games where Razordons make sense. I agree that the GW model is o.k., but the same body pose is boring and I could make each one quite uniquely posed fairly easily.

It will be fun to watch your army come together, and hopefully we can help inspire each other

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Hmmmm... I wonder if this bit off the Empire wagon would look look decent bashed togeter with the solar engine...

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

I was actually considering something like that, sort of a mix of that and the old Warp Lightning Cannon, with Meso-American tablets placed strategically...

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

Keep me updated on that, I'm definitely due to be converting my bastilodon (still looks too much like a snap together kinder egg treat) so I will post tutorials on that.


Tell you what, if you work on the Razordons, I'll handle the salamanders, how does that sound?

I'm also looking at converting the ripperdactyl heads, I showed the ripperdactyls to a Paleontologist, who said the heads were very badly designed. The under bite was a huge anatomical problem which you wouldn't get on any creature, especially a dinosaur or dinosaur like animal. The second problem was the upper jaw is a beak, yet the lower one is toothed, this makes no sense as the purposes for a beak is massively different from that of a tooth jawed,, again, something that does not happen in the natural world, either both parts need to be toothed or beaked.


I have a 1000 point game coming up soon so need to have a good think about what I use

Was thinking.
3 salamanders
bastilodon
3 terradons
2 skink priests
Some saurus + skinks.


A Slann might be tempting at some point, they would be incredibly easy to sculpt/convert.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

I know, the disregard for anatomical and evolutionary laws irks me too. I'm still thinking this will make the best terradon or Ripper conversion:



I'm not planning on making my Razordon's castable - too many spikes - the mold line and undercut issues would likely drive me to drink!

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

It will be interesting to see how it goes, keep me updated.


Got some WIPS for you, including how I go about making weapons.

This is the first phase of the working with weapons, I start off using apoxie sculpt to make a vague shape of the weapons and make them as flat and as close to shape as possible, the closer I get it now, the less work (namely sanding) I have to do in the second section.

At the top of this photo you can see two advanced pieces that I will be using on my saurus.



Here's the second section for weapon work, it involves lots and lots of filing to get the shape and smoothness on both sides to get a smooth and uniform shape (that's all for now, but I will be updating it later on with more work).


Next up is more work on my saurus, it's the harder work now, working on the arms with a highly exaggerated (not to mention different) pose.

At this stage I'm not going too mental with detail or striations, as much of what I've adding will be covered or changed, the important thing at this stage is anatomical accuracy.


Even at this stage the anatomy is a little off, the bicep is just a bit too prominent, sticking too high above the shoulder. This however I have changed since these photos were taken, you will see the alterations in the next series to follow later (hopefully tomorrow).




I've also used a basic hand shape at this stage too and experiment roughly with the position of both hand weapons for the finished piece. Aside from using in an army, I'm thinking of using this for a GD piece, a saurus old blood on top of a small ziggurat hacking down a seamlessly endless tide of skaven, the left arm and shoulder at the front having just cut through a number of skaven, loads of conversion work with sculpting deeper anatomy (skaven guts, bones, organs and poses...loads of fun!)




Also at this stage, I have been working on a small conversion piece of Deadlift (BOLS forumer), converting the Troglodon head into a Spinosaurus one. The first step (and this is the part that requires the most amount of courage) is to cut away the old head, which is the point of no return, can't stick back what you cut up.

The next part is to add a very basic armature, at this stage it's just an upper and lower jaw, both parts of the wire are connected to one another for strength purposes.



The next step when the previous one has hardened is to create basic skull shape based of the actual creature itself.

 

Re: Build's log of lizardman sculpting and conversions.

So now the hard part...

Working on hands.

Here I look more at the structure of the hands, due to the size it's not really practical to sculpt them from one single block. I do however, begin with a single block, shaping the relevant bends for the PIPS and DIPS and then adding individual masses for the masses of the hands, such as the thumb and fleshy pad surrounding it. I also add lines of green stuff and push them towards the tip for the knuckles and connective tissue.

At this stage it is also key to remember the sizes and relative length of the fingers (your index finger will always be larger and longer than your little one).

I'm thinking of diorama, loads of skaven swarming up a ziggurat towards the saurus, only to be cut into little bits.



*If anyone has the grey seer from the skaven screaming bell please contact me!