Tools and Techniques: Making Rivets

I've been posting terrain tutorials for a while, but one of the things I tend to gloss over are the specific tools, and how they can be used to achieve different effects. There are also techniques like making foam stones and bricks that really deserve their own dedicated post. This is a new tutorial series called Tools and Techniques. Each post will focus on one tool or technique and how I use it in my scenery building process.

This week:

Making rivets with a Rotary Hand Sewing Punch

 

 

Terrain Showcase: Wild West Exodus Harbor

Welcome to the image gallery for the Wild West Exodus-themed harbor! This is a game board that I was commissioned to build for Warcradle Studios. It was on display in their booth at Gencon 2018, where it was used for demo games, and now I am able to present it here in all its glory. I kept a log of its construction, and you can view those posts under this link: Project Log: WWX Harbor, or via the same label in the sidebar.

 

New Blighted Well, From Skull Forge Scenics

This Blighted Well from Skull Forge Scenics is a last-minute surprise for 2017, and the timing couldn't be better with the upcoming Nurgle releases for Warhammer Age of Sigmar!

 

 

 

My original plan was to release a Blighted Well, but I figured a "normal" well might appeal to a wider range of people and games, so I made a master casting of the basic well before "putrifying" it. The Blighted Well is overflowing with puss and giant maggot-worms. Woe betide anyone who falls in. (They will wish there was only a long-haired, creepy zombie-girl at the bottom!)

 

The blighted well is available for purchase HERE. Pick one up for your battlefield, and ring in the New Year with blessings of filth and decay!

 

The original Town Well is also available. I previewed this a couple weeks ago, but here is a painted example. This well may be old, but its water is still safe to drink!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can purchase the Town Well and Blighted Well in my Skull Forge Scenics shop!
Skull Forge Scenics

Happy New Year!

Wargame Hobby Bingo, 2018

As 2017 draws to a close, it's time to set some goals for 2018. And for that, we need a new Hobby Bingo card: 

 

Well, well, well...

Today I put up a new product in my Skull Forge Scenics online store. This town well is the first of my "Ruins of the Ancient Realm" line of non-graveyard fantasy terrain. I kept it fairly generic, so it will fit with medieval fantasy games like Warhammer, Kings of War, or Warmachine, or old west games Like Wild West Exodus, or even similarly scaled historical games.

 

 

 

 

I wanted to make something with a broken shingled roof, and I'm really happy with the results. The initial castings came out great!

 

 

 

 

I'll post more pictures as soon as I get one painted up.

If you've been following my twitter feed, you'll know that I've also been working on my Adepta Sororitas kill team again for the new Shadow War league the shop is starting next week. Once they're finished, I'll be tackling some of the Primaris space marines from the starter set. I've also got a handful of figures for my Skaven Pestilens army, like the Plague Censor Bearers, which I might get to this year...

'Til next time!

Something Else Wicked Also Comes This Way

For Privateer Press Grymkin commission, I also made a few buildings. These were based on the existing structures on their city table, but broken open and overgrown with creepy trees.

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Privateer Press had commissioned me to build some Grymkin-themed terrain to go with their Iron Gauntlet table. If you attended their Lock and Load convention this year, you may have seen it, or even played a game on the board. Here's a look at some of pieces I made.

 

Sisters and Scenery

A lot of great stuff happened in the hobby community this week. The new General's Handbook for Age of Sigmar is out for preorder. It will be dropping this Saturday, but you can find leaks of the unit point values leaked online, and plenty of people have posted reviews of the book. I'll probably talk (or rant) about the Death and Skaven allegiance abilities on here at some point.

I haven't done much work on my undead in a while, but I took a moment to add a horn blower to my skeleton archers. I made the horn out of a bell from the zombie kit and sculpted the pennant with modeling putty. Then, I popped off the trooper's arm and bam, instant promotion!

 

Tyrant Zaadesh Conversion Commission

Here's another conversion commission, this time it's Skorne Tyrant Zaadesh. The client wanted the model posed like this image from Privateer Press:

 

 

The model's original position lent itself to the pose, but only if it was mirrored. The client was fine with this, and here is the result:

 

 

The model was cut and the positioning of each part adjusted and pinned into its new pose. I repaired the detail around the new joins, which involved sculpting the belt and the upper arms.

 

 

The sword hilt was replaced with guitar wire, with either end pinned into the blade and pommel. The hands were then sculpted from scratch over top of the new hilt.

 

 

You can see some pictures of the painted model on the Draconic Awards site: http://www.draconicawards.com/pastevents/?p=viewentry&eid=1010&etID=350

In other news, I've been making steady progress painting my Skaven Stormfiends (and they've been crushing it on the battlefield). Hopefully I'll have them finished soon. I'll post some pictures when they're done.

'Til next time!

Faction-Themed Eiryss and Hordes Units

Throughout the year I've been working on a series of articles for No Quarter Magazine, focusing on faction-themed conversions for Mercenary and Minions models. Here are a few from the previous issues:

 

Skorne Gatormen

 

Enslaved by a paingiver taskmaster, these gators have been outfitted with ornate armor and weaponry. This unit was based on the new plastic gatorman kit with Skorne Praetorian Praetor shoulder pads for their knee pads and Cataphract Arcuarii shoulder pads. The halberd heads are from Tyrant Rhadeim's weapon. You can see a full tutorial for how I converted these in No Quarter Magazine #54.

 

 

Circle Orboros Slaughterhousers

These Farrow Slaughterhousers appeared in No Quarter #55. These conversions were mainly weapon swaps using halberds from the Warpborne Skinwalkers and Druids of Orboros. Some bones from the Gallows Grove trees made appropriate trophies, and the lightning pattern on some of the shoulder pads was sculpted with modeling putty.

 

 

No Quarter #57 hit the shelves recently, and this one focuses on the mage hunter Eiryss working undercover with various factions: 

 

Protectorate Eiryss

 

Disguised, Eiryss can walk unnoticed among Menite priests or Daughters of the Flame. I envisioned this conversion as Eiryss wearing robes over her standard equipment. (The old assassin in a nun's habit trick works every time!) An arm swap and head swap with parts from Daughters of the Flame units gives her some Protectorate flair.

 

 

Parts List:

Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios

Daughter of the Flame # 2 and 3 left arm

Daughter of the Flame Leader's right arm

Flame Bringer hood and poncho

 

 

Cygnaran Eiryss

The Angel of Retribution being perched atop the wreckage of Cygnar symbolizes the duplicity of her actions. She may be working for the humans now, but their world will burn soon enough. Lieutenant Allison Jakes' arms are used to add some Cygnaran iconography and armor to her pose, and after cutting away her base, Eiryss was mounted on Supreme Kommandant Irusk's epic base.

 

 

Parts List:
Eiryss, Angel of Retribution
Epic Irusk's base
Lieutenant Allison Jakes (just for the arms; save her body for something else)

 

 

Khadoran Eiryss

The final version of Eiryss uses the No Quarter exclusive model. It's the simplest conversion, with modeling putty used to add fur trim to her cloak. The base is also sculpted with snow to reflect the frigid environment of Khador. I did a short tutorial on the snow base technique a couple years ago. You can check it out here: Modeling and Painting Khador.

 

 

Parts List:
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios, NQ Variant

 

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

 

'Til next time!