Somewhat productive week.

So.  Getting there.  

The Eagle Rider is done, or as done as I am going to be able to make it. I ended up ripping off the one I did before and redoing it totally from scratch.  This one has come out a bit better.  There are still bubbles, and that's going to be my bane until I can get a vacuum chamber.   However, these were much smaller and are likely to disappear once the owner starts painting it.  I can barely make them out with my eyes, although when I zoom in to take the pics, they show up fairly well.

The sculpting was ok.  I still don't like the cape, but I suspect that I could work that over and over and over and I'll never be happy with that.  I'm getting a handle on the flow of cloth in wind.  I'll do a bit more when I do Malekith as well, and also when I work on the mounted Witch Hunter.   On the other hand, all four horns were pure sculpts, because all the horns didn't fill in the mold, I figure I need to learn how to make vent holes.  But the horns were easy enough to hand sculpt and attach.   I am looking forward to seeing how this will look when AngryHippy gets done painting it. 

Speaking of painting, I ran several more tests of colors and techniques on the head of the Dragon.  I have three raw casts of it so I can see how the colors come out.  Another trick that I need to keep in mind is that some of the parts are smooth, since they're the plastic pieces from the Dragonlord model, and the pieces for the Warpfire Dragon are more raw and textured.  I haven't figured entirely how I'm going to handle that, but I suspect that there'll be some liquid greenstuff and putty greenstuff to build up textures on those smoother surfaces.

I finally got a wash/base get me what I wanted.  It's a Black Grey undercoat with a Black Wash and drybrush of Royal purple  (Vallejo Model Color Black Grey, Gloss Black and Royal Purple)   The next thing I needed to do was figure out how the horns are going to look.  I hate the "all one color" look of a horn and prefer a transitionary color.  I tried a lot, from black to purple to purple black to gray, to bone to purplish bone, etc.  You'll see several different styles in the pics below. 

With that done, it's time to figure out what color transitions I like.  I think the one that works best for me is the the black-to-purple-to-bone transition.  I like the fade and hint of purple as it goes darker.  Of course, that's probably the most complicated of the paintschemes, but hey, would I be "me" if I chose otherwise?    The thing is, I'm going to have to do this to *all* the horns.. and this guy has a lot of them.  Wheeeee.  Good thing I'm not in a hurry or anything. 

moving forward.

So.  The only progress I've been able to make has been on the Eagle Rider and The Eternity King's ride.   The EagleRider has airbubble issues.  This is annoying.  I've tried liquid greenstuff, and will keep trying more, but it is beginning to irritate me.  I am wondering if I'm working with the stuff wrong, but it doesn't appear so based on the things I've seen out there on the interwubz.  I'll post up pics when I've delivered to the customer.

As a side note, if this stuff works the way it has been, it might just be the solution to the WHM-1r and the Jenner. It's easier to use than the body putty I've been using for the DDC.

The next thing is the Dragon.  I am wanting a BLACK dragon, but with a hint of amethyst throughout.  Getting a "hint" of any color out of black is always a challenge.  I have tried a few washing and drybrushing techniques and the results have been mediocre. 

Below are the results of two tests.

 I prefer the darker of the two which used several layers of a royal-purple and black wash, with a bare drybrush of light amethyst.  It still has a much more "dry stone" rather than "bare bone" look, which is not what I was after.  I really would like to find a way to come up with a blackish-bone look that feels better on it.  Perhaps a different highlight.  Then I'll have to find a way to do a similar thing with the wings.  Black "leather" vs black "bone." 

And then, there's Malekith, the Eternity King himself.  That is going to be a custom build because there really isn't an option there.

a new year... a new entry

Welcome to 2015. 

There are some updates happening in the Manufactorum, and the desk has some projects on it now, as well as some clearly on the way for the future. 

First; some great supply news.  Fusco Construction Yards has apparently seen a turn around.  Instead of winding down production, it appears that 2015 will actually be a prolific year.  In addition to a release of the new  Vulture Mk IV, an updated and improved Timberwolf Mk II-a is due to be run, as will perhaps a revist of some older designs. (Mr. Fusco, if you're reading:  *cough*Victor*cough*  I know of 2 merc units that have Victors that look more like walking rolls of ducttape. . *grin*  )  Seriously tho, this is great news for those who need to acquire new 'Mechs to reinforce front-line action of the Clan Invasion and Inner Sphere Liberation from the Tyrannical House Governments.  I forsee an unboxing video in my future at some point. 

Speaking of unboxing, I also have a shipment in our loading dock of a captured I.S. Jenner from THOR.  It's been in the box for a couple of months, and has yet to have undergone R&D to check it out and get it ready for scouting.  I expect I'll do an unboxing of that one when I do the one above.  

The work on the WHM-1R and ATL-DDC both are currently on hold.  The WHM is an amazing machine, but needs some dedicated time on the manufacturing floor to get ready for the field.  The cockpit build is still being developed and I recently acquired some 1.8mm leds for another project (see below) that will be used for the cockpit on this one, which means I'm basically starting over from scratch for that.  The surface still needs a ton of work, although I'm contemplating some sandable primer rather than trying to sand down the whole surface of the mech.  With the intricate angles on it, it might be better.  As for the DDC, I need to figure out how to work the hip joint and then start building the torso.  I definitely am still sold on modular weapon builds for it.  And of course, a cockpit.  I suspect that'll take me through the end of 2015 on the BattleMechs.

Stepping away from the Innersphere, I have a personal project and a commission for the world of Warhammer.  First, the prince of the WoodElves has an Eagle-rider he wants to see done.  The original piece is a metal horseman.  The size and weight of it is such that it won't work well for the war eagle model that he has.  I am currently attempting a re-cast in resin that I can work with, although it hasn't come out well so far.  I may end up having to modify a different model altogether to get him the same look.  I just might be trying some greenstuff sculpting.  We'll have to see.  I'm not sure I'm up to that for a commission... but we'll see.

The other personal project is one that He-who-shall-be-unnamed suggested.  I saw the warhammer Warpfire Dragon and thought that'd make a perfect mount for the Eternity King.   I was looking up some painting techniques for glow effects, because I LOVE the look of the Balrog from Lord of the Rings and the effect of the infinity Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy.  I thought it'd be neat to have the throat and four eyes of the warpfire dragon "glowing" a purplish/blue glow.  I was talking about the throat, and was commenting that it'd be really hard to paint that shadowed place to actually look glowing. 

So, HWSBU says to me "well, you're the master of LED's.."  yeah. Right. 

So, I think I will give it a shot.  I have 1.8mm blue led's and they're the perfect size for the eyes and throat spaces.  The trick is, I don't really want to carve up the original Forgeworld head.  That's pretty much the defining piece of the model, and it's not a cheap kit.  So, I decided to give a try to casting off the head while I was making a cast of the above rider too.  The first try didn't go well, but the second attempt came out much better.  I'll give a try on that casting to see how to carve out the head and make the space for the lighting kit.   It's entirely possible that I'll just use the resin cast as a test run on HOW to do the carving, but either way, it has the potential to be either really awesome or a terrible bust. 

We'll see where this one goes...