Joint Blog Project: Arabian-Themed Ogres

Skarvald from over at Wolves for the Wolf God threw out a request to the Blogging community for some help with his Arabian-themed Ogres, specifically relating to some green stuff work that he wanted to accomplish. Instantly my mind started working on not just to figure out how best to sculpt some key thematic pieces, but also how to break down the processes for the sculpts in a manageable way for army-wide production.

After a few emails back and forth, the Arabian-Themed Ogre, Joint Blog Project was born :) Over the next while, Skarvald and I both will be addressing this theme and it's conversion and sculpted components.

Let's dive into 3 key themed conversions for his Ogres.

Turban:
The way I'm seeing this, while it would require work, I don't see it being an overly difficult process. Just one that needs a bit of fine-tuning. Considering there really aren't that many Ogres in a force, I could see this being a staple for each Ogre in the army. Of course, if you leave a few bald with some huge hoop earrings, that would be a nice touch as well.

As far as process goes, I'm looking at building up an inner support of Green Stuff on top of the Ogre's head first to give the turban something to rest on. Then I would roll out a larger flat piece, maybe a 1/16th inch thick, and then let it cure for perhaps 20 minutes to give it a little forgiveness in the wrapping process. After letting it cure a bit, I would cut strips out of it to then coil and layer on top of the support and head on the Ogre. This would even give you the option to have a coil dangle down to the neck and shoulders for variety in the sculpts.

This may or may not work, depending on how thin I roll the GS consistently, as well as just whether or not I like the overall look when wrapped. We may have to dive into actual 'sculpting' of GS for this one, we'll see.

Vests:
Sculpting a vest for an Ogre really is a simple process if you break it down into a pattern, sort of like you would if you were sewing one. Once more, roll out a larger flat piece, maybe a 1/16th inch thick, and then let it cure for perhaps 20 minutes to give it a little forgiveness when cutting the pattern. Cut a piece for the back, with half-moons for part of the arm hole, then two front pieces with half-moons to match to complete the armholes. Once placed on the Ogre, we can then 'sculpt' stitching to bring the pieces together, mirroring the stitching in the Ogre's pants for that rough-made look.

For a little variety, you could also create the sculpted pattern in two halves, fit them to the ogre and 'stitch' them in the back instead of the sides.

Scimitars / Curved Daggers
This would be as simple as creating a variety of patterns from plain plasticard, and then duplicating them. "Sharpen" the blades with your hobby knife and add Ogre embellishments like rivets and the occasional bolted on scrap of metal. Use existing hands that are closed around weapon hilts to secure them to with plastic cement and instant Arabian weaponry!

Press-Molds
Here's another option for the vests at least, if not scabbards for the Scimitars and Curved Daggers. Create one "Master" sculpt, or a few if you want variety, and then use one of the many products out there to create a press-mold for it. Instant Mold is one such product, as is Blu-Stuff, and I've seen good reviews of both. I'll most likely start out with Instant Mold as it's what I have handy, but I may just use this project as an excuse to try out Blu-Stuff!

Skarvald will be sending me some Ogres two work with soon, and I'll begin breaking down the conversions, with a post devoted to each one. I'll also expand my video tutorials with these as well! Give the Wolves for the Wolf God blog some love and check out the first post of the project over there. If you've never visited there before, peruse the archives and say hi!

Let me know what you think of the conversion ideas, and if you have any thoughts of your own! What would you think would be a key element to add to an Arabian-themed force?

- Tim