Big end of year update

So it’s been really busy the past few months and I haven’t had time to update this with everything so here’s the round up to sum everything up to date. But between studying for A+, and a mixture of 5 different projects it’s been very busy.

Grinch Mask

Last post I had finished the clay sculpt and was about to cast it. Now once again I ran into several issues, 2 pretty much stand out:

1. Having the full size mannequin to work on it’s a hassle and makes it hard to get a good cast without it spilling everywhere – really need to get a head cast done / brought and a front face only cast for when I’m making things like this.
2. I just was running short of time – deadline was Christmas work party and I ended up rushing and making mistakes. Especially when trying to price apart the cast it tore apart a bit and so I had to make several patch ups

Afterwards I casted it with the gelatine once again made a mistake but it’s one to take not of via trial and error. I poured way too much into the nose socket as I figured having it sit flush to the face would have been better however with this particular mold it was just too heavy on the face causing it to tear.

Next time I’ll have to poor less in and keep it light rather than solid / fitted.

The final issue I came across was I didn’t tapper off the edges of the mold to be thinner so it could blend in so like the zombie prosthetic there’s a noticeable line across the face along the edge.

So onto application, once again I keep picking up on things I should have done better but that’s how we learn and improve. The main thing I realised that next time I should pre paint the mask – just ran out of time prepping before the party so the paint didn’t get an even coverage / didn’t get the exact colour tones need

Biggest issue as I mentioned above was just that the nose was too heavy and caused a massive tear. But all in all it got a few laughs and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Wartable

So finally managed to get the next chunk of what I needed to work on the table. From where I left off last I had just finished the ice shards along the cliff wall so to speak. So to carry on I continued with the poly filler filling in gaps and the board where snow would be all along the edges and where the ramp / cliff is.

From this point I got a bit sick of polyfiller and also ran out so I figured I’d start on the ice itself. After finding some cool inspiration online used for Warhammer bases id figured I’d make it on a larger scale so to start with using various sample pots I found a blue I liked as a base and filled in the large portion in the middle that would be the ice as you can see here the base coat was applied.

On top of this I then proceeded to add a blue / green micro glitter on top – now it looks like a lot and a little tacky at this stage but once it’s finished it will make sense. The glitter will give the ice a nice glimmer once completed.

The next step would have been to layer all this in my water effect resin however I wanted to cover some of the shards so I started giving some areas a raised texture.

So once I’ve finished with this section it then gets worked on in roughly this order:

• Objects glued to the board where ice would be for stuff that got frozen over – this needs to be generic items so it can be used for both fantasy and futuristic games.
•  The water resin will be layered on top of the glitter base coat. Either clear or tinted experiments needed 
• Crackle paint will be used to break some of the ice – got to love crackle paint 
• Various shading and dry brushing in white on top of that to create the ice 
• Painting any details – i.e. cliffs 
• Working on adding the snow layer to the board itself using faux snow / powder snow 
•  Once I get some woodland scenic water effect will create a frozen water fall on the right side of the board 
•  Once all that is done then it’s just onto making trees etc.

Other projects

So over Christmas I’ve been doing a lot of photoshop work to help with various other projects which I will eventually post on here but for now it’s a secret project. But you can have a look at this spacescape thats tied into it.

The purple leather I ordered for some larp claws arrived so I will be working on that soon alongside the claws for my Skaven.

On top of this will be starting on some new larp kit because you can never have enough – thankfully I have some help with sewing as I’m just downright terrible.

To follow on with sewing still working on my friends Christmas present (very late now I know however the sewing machine and I have issues >.>)

Finally will be starting on writing up plot for D&D / Shadowrun games which will involve some artwork on my part and making various scenery that will be used alongside Warhammer – which I’m hoping to also tie in with more 3D modelling. 3D printer at this stage would be amazing!

That’s the mega update done will try to keep this more updated now the Christmas rush is over.

War Table - Ice

So currently working on building a table top table ever other day after work. Primarily designed for Warhammer - Fantasy & 40K, but can also be used for D&D and anything else we will play on it.
Design wise I'm not following any plans this is all just coming off the top of my head, so it's all up in the air about what might be on there at the end.
Seeing as typically you normally only see green, valley like tables or industrial ruins I wanted to go with something different so I thought an ice board would be an interesting idea.

So here you can see the progress so far:
So its primary made from a foam / polystyrene base glued on top of a large wood board. Currently I'm in the process of using filler to cover / strengthen all the polystyrene and wood where I want the snow effect to be. Bit of a long process at the moment as I have to wait for it to dry a lot as its hard to tell with white on white which parts id previously done.
As you can see I'v started also marking out the broken ice around the edge. The middle will be an ice lake which will be painted and coated with clear effect resin.
The plan also is to have an ice bridge that is dis-connectable going across one side to the other just to add another level to the game.
Here's a quick doodle of whats planned at the moment:

 So as you can see the bridge will go across joining both larger rock formations. in contemplating the idea of a ramp on the right side also so its possible to cross over both but that's still to be decided. After all of the main stuff has been finished I still have to make terrain pieces to use as cover for war games, so this will be primary trees, large ice formations etc.
Its a bit of a shame that Warhammer doesn't like gridded terrain as that way I could easily use this board for D&D sessions also.
So for the next few days / weeks when I get a chance to work on it, it will mostly be filling in and then sanding the filler down before painting base colours.
This is the first of several, there are still 3 other large boards and 2 half boards we brought to also be designed on with various terrains, however I'll be saving 1 of the larger ones to use for D&D exclusively with a wipe-able gridded sheet. Next will probably been a more modern / future city board that cna be used for 40K, Dropzone, Shadowrun etc etc