Tools of the Trade: Modeling

The more we dive into is hobby, the more we learn not only what we want to do, but what we need to do it with. We're going to be taking a look at what fills my toolbox when it comes to the modeling side of things.

"But Tim, honestly, how many tools do you really need to slap some plastic together?"

Ah, but this article is going to assume that you want to do more than just clip sprue and slap plastic together... You do, right? Of course you do.

Storm Raven Commission

Not too long after the Storm Raven kit came out, I got a phone call from a friend while he was playing Magic at one of the local stores...

"Hey Tim! Would you consider painting up a Storm Raven for the Fantasy Shop on commission?"

After a little negotiation and deliberation, I had a new Storm Raven kit delivered to me for assembly and paint. My first thought was, "This is great! I get to experience the new kit and get paid to do it!". Unfortunately my second thought was, "Oh crap! I just agreed to a fairly large project, and Adepticon is right around the corner!". See, I still had a Rhino, Predator and Drop Pod, along with a few other bits, it paint up for the tournament. Thank God I have an understanding wife, otherwise I wouldn't have finished anything before Adepticon.

How Many Bitz Does it Take?

To create the counts-as Wolf Lord for my Centurions, I went a bit overboard when it comes to the sheer amount of parts, pieces and bitz I used to construct him. Or did I? Is there such a thing as too much when it comes to constructing one figure, squad or army?

Lets take a look at the parts list for the Wolf Lord:

The Bitz Box, a Hobbyist's Best Friend

What do you do with all the left over plastic bits and bobs that you're left with once you're done assembling whatever kit you are currently working on? I mean, you don't use everything do you?

Would you believe that when I first got back into the hobby, I threw them away sometimes? Yup, that's right. I didn't really know any better at the time, and until I needed one little part for something that I was sure I had, then realized that I had thrown it away. It was then that I decided that come hell or high water, I'd never throw another unused bit away again. Unfortunately this left me with another conundrum... What do I put them all in?

Adding Dynamic Movement when Posing Miniatures

With all the versatility we're seeing in the quality of the plastic kits that are coming out for our favorite hobby, there is an opinion I'm seeing more and more..

"Who needs to convert, when the kits let us have so many different poses?"

Well, I do, dangit! And you should too! Why? Because with just a little effort, you can truly have a unique force that not only will no one else have, but you can really add a sense of dynamic movement to a fig who's standard, static poses we've all seen, all too often.

Take for instance the below examples of some basic poses of a few of my Centurions.

Kholek Suneater Conversion

"Any idea how you'd make a Kholek Suneater, Tim?"

That was a question posed to me one day while a few of us were at the local shop in town. The end result of that conversation ended up in a commission to convert said Character from the Warriors of Chaos army book.

What I determined I needed to create this was a Stegadon and a Giant Kit. What my client was able to provide me was exactly that.. a Stegadon and a Giant Kit. Literally. The Stegadon was already put together!! Ack! This posed a slight problem as I was going to be a bit limited in how I worked these two kits together since I lost out on the versatility of being able to work with the Stegadon kit before assembly.
I had originally planned on going very draconic in nature for this conversion, with alterations to the Stegadon to be made accordingly as I built it... Lengthening the tail, resculpting the feet, etc. Unfortunately the fact that I would have to butcher the Stegadon that was provided to even attempt some of those parts of the conversion, and very likely ruin the model, then making me have to replace it, wasn't a risk I wanted to take. Ah well, best laid plans, and all that. Time to change the game plan!

Deathwing, Black Templar Style

 

So here starts the beginning of a series of posts on this commission I've taken on in the past month or so. I'll be updating this commission with a post every so often as I complete more and more of the army.

The army itself consists of:
1 Terminator troop squads
1 "command" squad
2 5-man devastator squads
Belial conversion
Librarian in Terminator armor (using a Grey Knight)
1 Dreadnought (with various options for arms)