diehard
03-26-2008, 10:12 PM
As I've already expressed here my affection for Klocke's female sculpts and how that led me to Wyrd miniatures, I'll begin by saying how happy I was last week when I finally got my hands on Lillith and her Brood. Now, as attractive as the OSL effects on the gallery models are, the bare metal looked even nicer and there were quite a few details not readily apparent in the gallery photos that just increased my appreciation of these models. Lillith instantly became my current favorite miniature of all time. The last holder of that title lasted for almost two years. And this is from a guy who built a large Jungle Fighter army because I really liked the Captain with the power fist.
Now although I'm almost done with a squad of eight models and right in the middle of three character models, these moved to the front of the queue. Over the next couple nights I proceeded to get the Swiss files out and get the cleaned up. I'm a stickler for mould lines as it seems that almost invisible mold line when you're filing sticks out like a sore thumb after you put some paint on it. I found the casting to be top notch, the molds met evenly without the slightest hint of miscast and left the faintest mold lines that were fairly easy to follow (aside from those few murky areas you always seem to find) and involved no major filing work to clean up. Also impressive was the lack of uncast extensions, especially considering all those little Nephelim fingers. No broken parts except for two tiny tips of the big Nephs tail and that was easily remedied with a little filing.
Following that I drilled all the holes for pinning the models the next evening. Now, I pin any model that is going to see any amount of handling and as I knew I would be using these to take Malifaux around the block there was no question about it in my mind. But i have to say that the contact areas were all very nicely executed and that if you mostly intended for the models to sit on the display shelf you could probably get away pretty easy without pinning. The next afternoon (got out early for Good Friday) I got the glue out and pinned and assembled everybody. As I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go with them yet (more of that anon) I lightly tacked them to their bases and glued some gravel down so they would be ready when I was. This way I could easily remove them or reinforce them depending on what I decided to do. Then i glued them to popsickle sticks with white glue (I've been doing that since the mid eighties) and primed them white the following morning.
Now, as I found this site to be really pro painting and modeling, and they are indeed Wyrd minis, I've decided to try something a little different and get a little feedback on my ideas. And if anyone is interested, I'll update you on the project as it progresses. My inital idea was one that had been floating about for a bit. I do a lot of B&W drawings and at one point picked up a set of markers in shades of black (10% gray, 20% grey, etc.) and had long thought it would be cool to do some minis monotone. I felt this idea would work well with the unnatural quality of the Neverborn. This wouldn't work well with themed bases, but could be carried off nicely with swirling mists about their feet (which I'd have to figure out how to pull off, but I'd crodd that bridge, well, you know.)
But when I first looked at that big Nephilim all I could see was a Jack Kirby "Tales to Astonish" cover monster. That's meant as a compliment, I've been drawing for over forty years and count Kirby as among my biggest influences. I started thinking about how I could carry the Kirby style to 3D and the idea just took off. At that point the big guy would forever be referred to as Kirby.
Lilly (Hey, he's Kirby now so.........) would be no problem. The sculpt was prime for the Kirby god stuff (Asgard, Hela, the Enchantress.) Oh, it'd involve a bit of freehand, but it'd be worth it. The little guys would be perfect to differentiate using vaious Kirby effect. The Thing rock effect (Stoney), the Torch fire effect (Smokey), the dotted vortex effect (Stormy) and the scaly effect (Shorty [C'mon, everybody always picks on the short guy, and I haven't come up with anything better yet.])
Now I like both ideas and I'm thinking the montone effect might just enhance the whole Kirby concept, but maybe I'm just over enthusiastic too. I don't know, but I'd be interested if anybody else cared to offer their input. Regardless, thank you for the valuable time you spent reading my meandering.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c93/diehard4a/DSCN5889.jpg
Now although I'm almost done with a squad of eight models and right in the middle of three character models, these moved to the front of the queue. Over the next couple nights I proceeded to get the Swiss files out and get the cleaned up. I'm a stickler for mould lines as it seems that almost invisible mold line when you're filing sticks out like a sore thumb after you put some paint on it. I found the casting to be top notch, the molds met evenly without the slightest hint of miscast and left the faintest mold lines that were fairly easy to follow (aside from those few murky areas you always seem to find) and involved no major filing work to clean up. Also impressive was the lack of uncast extensions, especially considering all those little Nephelim fingers. No broken parts except for two tiny tips of the big Nephs tail and that was easily remedied with a little filing.
Following that I drilled all the holes for pinning the models the next evening. Now, I pin any model that is going to see any amount of handling and as I knew I would be using these to take Malifaux around the block there was no question about it in my mind. But i have to say that the contact areas were all very nicely executed and that if you mostly intended for the models to sit on the display shelf you could probably get away pretty easy without pinning. The next afternoon (got out early for Good Friday) I got the glue out and pinned and assembled everybody. As I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go with them yet (more of that anon) I lightly tacked them to their bases and glued some gravel down so they would be ready when I was. This way I could easily remove them or reinforce them depending on what I decided to do. Then i glued them to popsickle sticks with white glue (I've been doing that since the mid eighties) and primed them white the following morning.
Now, as I found this site to be really pro painting and modeling, and they are indeed Wyrd minis, I've decided to try something a little different and get a little feedback on my ideas. And if anyone is interested, I'll update you on the project as it progresses. My inital idea was one that had been floating about for a bit. I do a lot of B&W drawings and at one point picked up a set of markers in shades of black (10% gray, 20% grey, etc.) and had long thought it would be cool to do some minis monotone. I felt this idea would work well with the unnatural quality of the Neverborn. This wouldn't work well with themed bases, but could be carried off nicely with swirling mists about their feet (which I'd have to figure out how to pull off, but I'd crodd that bridge, well, you know.)
But when I first looked at that big Nephilim all I could see was a Jack Kirby "Tales to Astonish" cover monster. That's meant as a compliment, I've been drawing for over forty years and count Kirby as among my biggest influences. I started thinking about how I could carry the Kirby style to 3D and the idea just took off. At that point the big guy would forever be referred to as Kirby.
Lilly (Hey, he's Kirby now so.........) would be no problem. The sculpt was prime for the Kirby god stuff (Asgard, Hela, the Enchantress.) Oh, it'd involve a bit of freehand, but it'd be worth it. The little guys would be perfect to differentiate using vaious Kirby effect. The Thing rock effect (Stoney), the Torch fire effect (Smokey), the dotted vortex effect (Stormy) and the scaly effect (Shorty [C'mon, everybody always picks on the short guy, and I haven't come up with anything better yet.])
Now I like both ideas and I'm thinking the montone effect might just enhance the whole Kirby concept, but maybe I'm just over enthusiastic too. I don't know, but I'd be interested if anybody else cared to offer their input. Regardless, thank you for the valuable time you spent reading my meandering.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c93/diehard4a/DSCN5889.jpg