Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 2)

After a day which has seen quite a bit more done to them the Ogryns are moving on, though there's still plenty to be done (like the rest of the squad!), though having ordered all the bits I need now it's just a case of cracking on with these ones until my parcels arrive.

The first Ogryn remains the one which when finished will be bare chested with a Pith Helmet, and he's moving along nicely now, the helmet is almost finished, just lacking the band which goes around it's base, I've left this off for now in the hopes that to speed up the project a bit I can use a press mold from this helmet to do the rest.



The second Ogryn has now become one with a vest and no helmet, the vest is very much work in progress with lots of tidying to be done (and the back!), I'll admit I'm pretty pleased with how it's working out so far though.



The third Ogryn will now become the one with the open jacket, I've just roughly added the arms to this one, will do the sleeves next once the arms are finalised and then the main portion of the jacket itself.



Number four is also on it's way, a revamp of one I started for myself some time ago but never got very far on, he'll have a closed tunic and probably a helmet, pics of this one as and when I feel he's not looking quite so rough!

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 4)

Some progress on the heads (actually only as a result of some waste putty while working on the Ogryns!), this is the second head, the first one which was pictured in the previous post is getting some more drastic surgery as I was'nt happy with the mouth as it worked out.

This one is getting quite close to being finished now, a little more work on the jaw, a chin strap and he's just about finished, the Ogryns are still top of the pile so these are a side line at the moment, I'll get the first head finished next and then start work on some more.

Sometimes all you can do is smile...

Commission - Praetorian Ogryn Squad (Part 1)

I dont normally take Commissions, or at least hav'nt in the past, there are a multitude of reasons for that, in the past I hav'nt felt ready too, theres also been the matter that I often cant get stuck into things I don't really want to be doing - and more to the point I've got a huge back log of my own stuff. Having realised theres no way I'll get my GT Imperial Guard army finished for August's 40k Online Tournament I've decided I accept this commission that I was approached about through the blog about a week ago - on the condition that it was'nt urgent(!).

I've been asked to convert up a full squad of ten Praetorian Ogryns, with a variety of 'characters' if you will, the customer having made several suggestions and requesting one based on a conversion which Si has done in the past (I'll link to this at a later date, however his site is down at the moment with only his blog working). I'm working from Ogre Bulls, with a plan to also base a couple of Lead Belchers for the slightly different poses without having to spend alot of time resculpting the arms, at the moment I'm actively working on the first two, with a further two to follow shortly - I'll get all of these four finished for approval before moving onto the rest of the squad.

So over to some work in progress shots.



This is the third Ogrynm, or as far as he's going for the moment, it shows the first stage with the mount for the gut plate cut down and filled roughly.



This meanwhile is Ogryn number two, the plan for this one is too have his jacket open with Ripper Gun to his side and no Pith Helmet, at the moment his belly is done and I've roughed in the belt with work ongoing on the trousers.





Finally Ogryn number one, the furthest progressed (and the one with slightly wobley pictures! His trousers are just about finished, as is the belly, I'm now working on the belt and then the upper edge of the trousers. Once he's done he'll be bare chested with a Pith Helmet and Ripper Gun at his side.

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 3)

I've spent a little more time working on the Pith Helmetted Heads, the result of which is progress I'm rather pleased with so far!

After a few false starts I've finally got a face I'm happy with as shown below.



He looks a little odd here, the simple reason for that is he does'nt yet have a lower jaw or jaw bone, or chin(!). Time an time again I've found that as soon as I try an do the lower part of the face at the same time as the upper I end up ruining the sculpt, so dispensing with that I'm settling on doing this is two stages, this has the added benefit that I can marry it up to the pith helmet early...



Yeah still looks odd, but the next stage will hopefully remeady that as I add the jaw, chin and back of the head, this will bulk it out somewhat, once thats completed it merely a matter of adding ears, a little hair if appropriate and a strap to keep the helmet on and the first head will be ready.

Items For Sale

The below is a list of items I've got for sale, with new items being added now and again, if your interested in anything from the list please get in touch at the usual address, I'm happy to ship world wide and accept Paypal (all goes to the hobby fund!), additional pictures are on request. I also trade through a number of websitew including EBay, Bartertown, Warseer, Dakka Dakka, Tau Online and 40k Online, if you'd prefer to trade through one of these that's fine by me, and indeed preferred on my part.



Updated for 2010 in THIS post.

Sculpting Pith Helmetted Heads (Part 2)

A couple of days ago I recieved a little package in the post...



The contents consisted of 20 resin copies of the Pith Helmet I sculpted as part of a Tutorial a few months back. The thing is I was rather pleased with that particular piece and decided it would be ideal for my 28mm Pith Helmetted Heads. Doing it this way, using a single master, also meant that I could achieve consistantcy across the proposed sprue without the headache which would otherwise be entailed. So the helmet was carefuly removed from the head, and sent across 'the pond' to TrooperPX who provides an excellent and reasonably priced Resin Casting service.

There is the odd bubble, but nothing that a little tiny bit of green stuff won't fix, so I'm about to dive into sculpting the faces. After much more thought my plan is for the sprue to consist of 5 heads, two with their mouth closed, two open and one with a beard, I'll also put a spare helmet on each one for conversion's.

Hobby Fund (1st July) and Half Way Through 2009...

Well I'm actually kinda of ashamed to say I've done nothing with the hobby fund over the past month, nothing has been sold - though as a silver lining I've not bought anything either!

• Starting Balance 1st June (Previous Sales) = £5.33


• Sales in June = £0.00


• Sales Fee's in June = £0.00


• Purchases in June = £0.00


• Misc Income/Outgoings = £0.00


• Balance 1st July = £5.33

The reason for this inactivity has simply been I've been rather busy(!), but I'm getting off my arse now and getting on with it again, with another push on sales for this month, I've just updated my For Sale Thread on Warseer with amongst other things my WFB Orc and Goblin army, something which never really got going perhaps two years ago now, though I am getting back into WFB now with a Mounted Chaos Warrior army, which I've traded for.

As it's now half way through the year (scary huh?) I thought I'd also have a quick run down of how my 'New Years Hobby Resolutions' have been going which I set myself back in December!

1 - No New Armies
I've not added to the number of armies I own, though as I mentioned earlier my WFB armies have been swapped, success! Be it an easy one.

2 - Finish What I've Started
I don't think I can really claim much success here, as many of the projects I mentioned originally noteably the Leviathan and Warhound are yet finished, though on the other hand I hav'nt started any other new and big things either, only things which form part of my normal army in lieu of the new codex.

3 - Painting Practice
Again I cant claim much success, though I have had a little, I was especially pleased with the result of my Imperial Thunderbolt Pilot, I've my eye on a few other models just for the pleasure of painting, and indeed trying new things.

4 - Blog
My aim was too make a couple of post's a week, and I've largely succeaded in this, there have been dry spells when time just has'nt allowed me to post anything, at the end of June and during my holiday to the US in April. The rest of the time has seen me making that aim and even surpassing it with the post count up significantly on previous years, success!

5 - Terrain
Nothing to report here at all, I've spent no time working on terrain, though I'd still love too. I can't see any time being free to work on this for the time being though, with the GT run up all thoughts are on this. Still 6 months is a long time.

Overal I'm easily meeting two of my goals, while the other three are still at worst within reach, I'm happy with that! Did anyone else make New Years Hobby Resolutions, how are yours going?