Dwarf Stretcherbearer Conversion Redux

I wasn't happy with the way the left arm on the stretcherbearer looked (somewhat short, too far out and more puffy than the right arm, all due to trying to accomodate for the slightly large width of the stretcher I made earlier), so off it went and now the figure looks much more natural. Both arms are now the same length and thickness. I need to tidy a few small things and then he'll be good to go.

Compared to one of John's uncoverted models and with a couple WIP headvariants to go with him (honestly, they look better in the flesh).

The tower is slowly getting there, here's another look at those windows. Not perfect, but it will do.

Various WIP builds and conversions

I'm currently in the middle of a lot of converting and scratchbuilding. For starters, I'm making an updated version of my dwarf stretcherbearer party, as I think I can make it better than the old one and perhaps cast up a few if the result is worth it. So far, it's going well enough, it's certainly better than the old one. Although I will have to tweak the left arm on the stretcherbearer body as it doesn't look right now (slightly too short I think). The left hand needs some work too:

With a couple heads (head conversion still WIP) and next to a metal dwarf for size:

I've also started on the casualty figure. I think he'll have an integral head. The stretcher needs work too: 

On an unrelated conversion, I'm also "imperialising a citadel dwarf from the handgunner set that came after the Marauder ones but before the current plastic ones. I really liked the idea for the original figure but it looked very flat and 2D. The addition of the wider helmet and puffy sleeves helps to flesh it out a bit. Still needs landsknecht shoes and a few little details:

Also WIP is this scratchbuilt tover, based on a hexagonal card box (see on the left in the image) I found in the craft section of a local store. I think the idea is to decorate it and use it as a pencil box. Anyway, when I saw it, the size and shape screamed "tower" at me, so I had to pick it up. Still a few things to add, but it's getting close. One thing I learned is that on conical roofs, I really should go with individual tiles. As it is, I went with short strips, but that made it look very shoddy. But that works for me too.

I used some fine plastic mesh for the windows, which will hopefully give the impression of leaded glass when painted:

Human Captain with Warhammer

Finally another update with a newly painted figure. This is a captain with warhammer from the very unique Lead Adventure Miniatures Bruegelburg range. I'm quite relieved it is finished, not because I didn't like the sculpt, I think it's great, but because it seemed like it was an accident riddled experience. I lost count of the number of times this got dropped, chipped, splattered with paint from another project, dropped again and got the hand reglued at least 3 times. But I got it done and it looks good, so moving on!

And a quick comparison with Pro Gloria (left) and classic metal GW (right). The scale fits in just fine.

From concept to figure...

Thought I'd show how some of the figures go from concept to mini. If the sculptor is really lucky, he gets one of these rough sketches from me that show pretty much what the final figure is supposed to look like. I usually add a second one in a static pose, with just the clothes and no accessories, for a clear view.

Most of the time though, and especially when conversions of existing poses are involved, what the sculptor gets is this:

An even rougher sketch, drawn with a mouse over a picture of the original mini. Pretty, isn't it? But it gets the job done. Besides, if the sculptor should feel like complaining, I'll just point out that for some of the early minis, I gave John some written instructions as well as some diverse images where I would say to take the pose from that, the clothes from that and that, add a hat like this, etc... We've come a long way, really... 

Oh, and in case you're wondering as to how faithful to the artwork the final figures end up being, here are the three figures that were used as an example (ok, the hornblower was still WIP, but the only other picture I had was without the swordarm). 

I'd say that's close enough...

Dwarf Zweihänder Greens - Part 3

With only a couple hours before sending the figures off to the mouldmaker for productionmoulding, I found myself with the choice to duplicate one of the bodies in the unitfiller set or make a set of 3 with 4 heads.

Or I could use the flambergé sword from one of the other figures and attempt a small conversion to create a minor variant...

Dwarf Core Infantry Command

For some reason I forgot to post these, although they were finished around the start of the year. They are the command figures for the core infantry, as always by John Pickford. These have been mastermoulded and productionmoulded and I should have castings ready in a couple weeks.

We've got three bodies: captain, standardbearer and musician and three heads that should be interchangeable with eachother as well as with those of the infantry set. The captain and standardbearer get some further options for customisation.

The captain has three weapon options - a sword, a pistol and a warhammer - and two different shields inspired by period iconography and the obligatory skull (it felt weird not having included one in any of the figures before as I hear skulls are the cool thing to do). His feathers will have more of a curve in the final castings:

The musican is a pretty traditional design, a drummer, 'nuff said.

The standardbearer has three different standard options, two of which reflect the design of the captain's shields. These should fit without much difficulty on the bodies of the first infantry set (WKD-01) if you like more variety and the halberds and pikes from that set should fit on the standardbearer's body, turning him into a pretty good captain or sergeant figure.

WK Dwarf sallet helmet conversions - Part 2

Following up on the previous post (and with John's consent), I have decided to follow through with the idea of converting the complete set of the action poses with sallet helmets and offering them as an additional choice for core infantry troopers. Since they are fairly uncomplicated conversions, these should be able to go straight into a productionmould, so it shouldn't take very long to get these released.

The last 3 went together a lot faster than the first one I did. Here 's a picture of all 4 of them:

WK Dwarf sallet helmet conversion

Someone was asking about the possibility to do a unit of WK dwarfs that are all wearing sallet helmets. The big obstacle to using all the available poses is that the WKD-03 set (action poses) have heads that are cast on to the bodies and 3 of the 4 are wearing floppy hats.

So I went to task to see how hard it would be to convert one with a spare sallet helmet. I took a pair of heavy duty metal cutters to the top of the head on the figure (just below the hat) and did the same with the beard peaking from under the helmet. This was followed by some more cutting with a hobby knife to remove the excess metal on the top of the head/bottom of the helmet and then a lot of filing to get a nice flat surface (head should be filed back to just under the nose). The bottom of the sallet helmet isn't completely flat, so a small gap remained on the front and the back, but a tiny amunt of greenstuff  quickly filled it. I think I spent about 20 minutes on this, most of which was filing away at the parts. It didn't even occur to me to get out my dremel, which may speed things up.

Anyway, I think the result looks pretty good and I'm now considering whether it might be a good idea to give the same treatment to the other 3 bodies and throw them in a mould for more variation.

Dwarf Army Group Shot

I've been asked several times for a group shot and I've always put it off. Well, now I had the dwarf figures out, so I thought it was the occasion to snap a few pictures.

All the currently painted dwarfs (all units are still being added to), a mix of mostly Marauder and WK dwarfs, with a few citadel ones and conversions sprinkled around:

And a closer look at the regiments:

 I will try to do some with the humans, halflings, ogres, orcs and goblins next time.

Dwarfs with Greatswords - Part 1

At long last I managed to slap some paint on some of the first mastercastings of the dwarf zweihänders and I may be biased, but I think they look bloody fantastic. It's almost a shame that some of the wonderful detail is hidden on their backs as it really helps to set them apart from the rank and file. These are clearly better paid soldiers, with access to the very best fineries and equipment.

I went for a more uniformed look to these as they are professional elite soldiers and may be subject to more strict uniform regulations. There is of course room for individuality even within the most strict corset (not that they're wearing those underneath that armour) (I hope). I think the bright colours I use throughout the army work especially well on these figures.

The Captain of the Regiment, one of my favourite dwarf figures ever:

Two of the "unitfiller" poses, standing at ease. Heads are interchangeable: