Things Get Built - The Queens Return
I mentioned in my last post I had some more Malifaux minis to build. If you measure amount of minis remaining in cubic metres, it doesn't seem as much...
On Facebook, A Wyrd Place was having a friendly competition to paint a crew in the month of December. This was a great idea, and one I promptly forgot for most of the month. I started building about halfway through the month, and painting... Christmas Eve. The deadline was New Years in the US, so I had about three-quarters of a day once 2018 hit our shores to get it painted, but I made some big mistakes in the planning process, which I'll go into later.
Anyway, this is the post for building things. Let's get that sorted first...
Seriously, this model has this great rudely regal look about her, which befits her status as the exiled Queen of the Fae. The pose itself is nothing complicated, but there is a certain joy in knowing that you can paint something well because there aren't a billion tiny details covering it for 'fun' (Looking at you GW character models). I had decided to base the crew on Victorian Ruin bases which Wyrd released around the same time as this crew, and having them sit in front of my for a few months made me roll a few ideas around.
I really wanted Titania to look like she was floating more than the current model is. I also wanted her to feel a bit more stable to me, as I'm not a fan of single connection points to the base relying solely on the glue. I messed with pose a bit, trying to get her drifting down in front of the ruins. Eventually, I liked the angled side-on pose more. I thought it gave her a bit more motion, and showed off a lot more of both the base and the model. But things were not going as cleanly as I would have liked.
Remember how I said I had been tired? I think a general rule for miniature assembly should be don't build models in a condition you can't operate heavy machinery in. Cleaning the final piece of the model, I leaned back in my chair and rolled the hand/flame piece around in my fingertips. It escaped, and I still haven't found it a month later. Immediately asking myself what to do, I realised the real question was 'WWDD', and realised Delaney would have just sculpted the missing piece. I don't have her skills, but I was confident enough to make a flame shape and add the missing fingers in ,and was quite happy with it when I moved on.
The Gorar was the next model built. I didn't take any photos as it was over so quickly. It's a fun looking model, and while building I got a chance to think what I wanted to do with the model colour-wise. A few plans took longer than I thought, and I was nervous about the fangs, but I was happy with it in the end. The only issue I had was the base - The Gorar is so large that getting a Victorian Ruins base would not have achieved much - it didn't look like it would fit properly without heavy modification. I eventually decided to do a really simple base to get around this issue. I haven't given up the option of one day resculpting the snake though, wound around the ruins, protecting a hidden egg...
The Tooth was another straight forward model where I didn't take many WIP photos. The Ruin bases, like most sculpted bases, have some trouble when it comes to positioning a model onto them with the stance combined with the levels and textures on the base. This one though seemed to just slot into the base, and the sword was able to just hover above the ground, with one of the leaves on the model's armour being able to connect to the archway for more support.
The Thorn was the final Autumn Knight constructed. Until this point, I was messing with bases for the Thorn and The Tooth, alternating between the two. In the end, which I wanted the Tooth on the lower base, I didn't really like the base left for The Thorn... until I had her standing on the archway. That, strangely enough, let me get a bit of personality going with the model. I imagined it as a character which wants to be the highest positioned, like a cat, or Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion. I tilted the view a bit so that it wasn't flat on facing directly out from the archway, so that the model is on an angle compared to the archway.
Aeslin is a strange model. Easily the most pieces on a model compared to the rest of the box, with almost a third of the pieces by my count going towards her. I then found out afterwards that not many people use her in game. Well, after this work, I guess I'll have to make sure I get some use out of her.
I decided to use the flatter of the bases, hoping I could get a better connection point for the vines. This was harder than it looked, and even in the final product, she is only lightly glued ot the base, as there was very little I could attach her to. In retrospect, I should have just made a base similar to The Gorar and attached her that way.
On Facebook, A Wyrd Place was having a friendly competition to paint a crew in the month of December. This was a great idea, and one I promptly forgot for most of the month. I started building about halfway through the month, and painting... Christmas Eve. The deadline was New Years in the US, so I had about three-quarters of a day once 2018 hit our shores to get it painted, but I made some big mistakes in the planning process, which I'll go into later.
Anyway, this is the post for building things. Let's get that sorted first...
Titania was the first model to be built, because
- She had what looked like the fewest pieces.
- It was late, and I thought I could build her quickly.
- I honestly love the aesthetic of this model.
Seriously, this model has this great rudely regal look about her, which befits her status as the exiled Queen of the Fae. The pose itself is nothing complicated, but there is a certain joy in knowing that you can paint something well because there aren't a billion tiny details covering it for 'fun' (Looking at you GW character models). I had decided to base the crew on Victorian Ruin bases which Wyrd released around the same time as this crew, and having them sit in front of my for a few months made me roll a few ideas around.
I really wanted Titania to look like she was floating more than the current model is. I also wanted her to feel a bit more stable to me, as I'm not a fan of single connection points to the base relying solely on the glue. I messed with pose a bit, trying to get her drifting down in front of the ruins. Eventually, I liked the angled side-on pose more. I thought it gave her a bit more motion, and showed off a lot more of both the base and the model. But things were not going as cleanly as I would have liked.
Remember how I said I had been tired? I think a general rule for miniature assembly should be don't build models in a condition you can't operate heavy machinery in. Cleaning the final piece of the model, I leaned back in my chair and rolled the hand/flame piece around in my fingertips. It escaped, and I still haven't found it a month later. Immediately asking myself what to do, I realised the real question was 'WWDD', and realised Delaney would have just sculpted the missing piece. I don't have her skills, but I was confident enough to make a flame shape and add the missing fingers in ,and was quite happy with it when I moved on.
The Gorar was the next model built. I didn't take any photos as it was over so quickly. It's a fun looking model, and while building I got a chance to think what I wanted to do with the model colour-wise. A few plans took longer than I thought, and I was nervous about the fangs, but I was happy with it in the end. The only issue I had was the base - The Gorar is so large that getting a Victorian Ruins base would not have achieved much - it didn't look like it would fit properly without heavy modification. I eventually decided to do a really simple base to get around this issue. I haven't given up the option of one day resculpting the snake though, wound around the ruins, protecting a hidden egg...
The Claw was the next model I built. After testing a few positions, I decided to have him stalking past the fallen pillar. When it came time to glue him in place, this was quite a good option, as I had two contact points for his feet, and a third from a small branch which was touching the pillar. Now the model feels really secure on the base, which is useful when the spear can easily take a hit and break if it isn't protected.
The Tooth was another straight forward model where I didn't take many WIP photos. The Ruin bases, like most sculpted bases, have some trouble when it comes to positioning a model onto them with the stance combined with the levels and textures on the base. This one though seemed to just slot into the base, and the sword was able to just hover above the ground, with one of the leaves on the model's armour being able to connect to the archway for more support.
The Thorn was the final Autumn Knight constructed. Until this point, I was messing with bases for the Thorn and The Tooth, alternating between the two. In the end, which I wanted the Tooth on the lower base, I didn't really like the base left for The Thorn... until I had her standing on the archway. That, strangely enough, let me get a bit of personality going with the model. I imagined it as a character which wants to be the highest positioned, like a cat, or Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion. I tilted the view a bit so that it wasn't flat on facing directly out from the archway, so that the model is on an angle compared to the archway.
I decided to use the flatter of the bases, hoping I could get a better connection point for the vines. This was harder than it looked, and even in the final product, she is only lightly glued ot the base, as there was very little I could attach her to. In retrospect, I should have just made a base similar to The Gorar and attached her that way.
Finally, the crew ready to paint! During construction, I had given some thought to the colour scheme I wanted, as there were a few elements I wanted from the original art, but also wanted a few different twists on some things. My next post will go into more detail on how I painted them all, and just how close I came to the deadline...
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