Bases and Sculpting
It has been a while since I last posted a blog so this week I have a super-sized blog for you this time. I left you all with the promise of some conversions for my Plastic Hirdmen; here they are!
The first thing that needed to be done with my plastic braves was some gap filling. As well cast as they are, these plastic Hirdmen still need some attention after sticking them together. This gave me the opportunity to practice recreating chain mail. I have to say, there wasn’t much to it really. After adding some green stuff into the gap, I used a toothpick to copy the chain mail pattern. It might not be exactly the same as the cast, but on such small spots it doesn’t really show after painting the figure.
So, on to the real conversions (or should I call them additions)? Anyway, I have worked on a couple miniatures, but only three suited my plans. The first one I worked on was a sort of warm-up exercise; with a small roll of green stuff I added a braid to the figure. The actual braid is a bit of a messy tangle, but with the added rings it came out quite okay.
The next one my list I am really pleased with. After painting it really came together. I wanted to create a warrior wearing an aventail, and the rack of the Hirdmen pack had the perfect head for it (because it has virtually no features and is just a helmet with a bit of beard). I started out by rolling out a rectangular piece of green stuff roughly the size of the area between the shoulders and the helmet rim. After applying the green stuff to the figure I added a little rim around the bottom, which will created a divide between the two areas of mail and function as a leather lining for the aventail. The last step was to add the mail effect. I have watched some clips showing the technique for sculpting chain mail, but they all were really chunky and did not fit the small texture on the Hirdmen mail shirts. So once more I just a toothpick to poke small holes to simulate the chain mail.
The last figure I customized was a bit of a surprise; I had some green stuff left and it felt like a waste to throw it out. As I was thinking on what I could make with it, I was rolling is around between my fingers. And hey presto, the basic shape for the little sack was there, it just needed some dimples and a drawstring and it was done.
The commander units I was tinkering with took some more time than usual. I was inspired by some epic bases, like those made by Scibor Miniatures. For the bases I used some sculpting putty and first created the basic shape of the rocks the commanders would be standing on. With my hobby knife I created the sharp angles in the rocks, which I hoped would stand out after washing and dry brushing. On the top of the base I used a toothbrush to create a basic grass pattern; this gives you a nice contrast between painted grass and flock.
The horn blower was given a bearskin cloak, this time with the bear’s head attached. I got the same treatment as my other bearskin wearing warrior, only this time I kept adding green stuff until the bear head shape came out the way I wanted. I’m quite happy with this one; but it still needs its paintjob to be completed.
The sword and shield commander was another accident, while removing the head from the sprue I cut off a bit of this fellow’s fork beard. So I added a more epic beard covering most of his chest. The paint job for this miniature took a bit longer than expected but it paid off I think. For the first time I was able (after buying my new detail brush) to add eyes. One of them was a bit wonky but I fixed that by giving this chap a black eye, accompanied by several cuts and blood spatters.
That’s it for this time and for a while to come. I need some time to plan and paint my next projects and I am going on a trip to Stockholm. Hopefully my trip to Viking country capital will give me some new ideas for painting and sculpting!
