1:72 scale? Don't mind if I do.

I added a tab to ETC trooper number one. Number two is also getting one as well as Ariel Sharon 1973 who's been sitting on a cork up until now. 

I'm working on a 1/72 scale guy. I want to do also another 1/64 and a 1/35. I think I put too much pressure on myself to get everything perfect awesome and got very frustrated when it was just "good". I'm going to switch on learning mode again and see how I can grow. I'm still making another 1/64 man, though, so I'm not out of the count.

I think maybe 1/72, what I'm assuming is the colloquial 20mm scale, might be a good way to go. There are a lot of modern 1/72 models available that are inexpensive. Also, there are a lot of models available in this scale. Another thing is 1/72 let's you field more guys, or use less space. On the other hand they're more tiny and fiddly. Harder to convert and paint. Maybe they can be used with multiple units per base.

There are also models in 1/35, I want to try and see what a 1/35 guy turns out like. A lot more room for expression in this scale but is it too big for playing with? Also, your other wargaming minis won't fit.

I'd like the player to have the ability to mix and match with stuff he already has or likes from other lines.

25mm tall

Making slow progress also on my illustration. Here's another sneak preview. Again a work in progress so don't judge too harshly.

Comment or whatever.

Rumors of death

I haven't updated much as I've been taking a sort of breather from sculpting. I was somewhat frustrated that I wasn't getting the results I had wanted. I've been feeling like I need to work with Green Stuff rather than FIMO or at least divide the detail work different. I'm not sure. Green stuff seems to enable me to make crisper details but you need to know what you're doing better because you only get one go. I really want to make the project work. Looking at some people's sculpting (Kev from Hasslefree I'm looking at you) can be so terribly discouraging.

Perhaps if I let myself cool down for a while, let some longer thoughts play themselves out I can attack the sculpts again.

In the meantime I've been working on a brand new illustration for ETC. I'm using a cool new technique I have been wanting to try out. Mainly, using a 3D program to figure out all the perspective stuff and lighting. You can see a teaser image up on the top- that's part of the illustration. It's going to be awesome.

I will post updates as they come along.

Can't brain, here is pictures

Too tired to words. Look at pictures. Comment, yes?

More later.

Shoot missile, eat candy.

I've added a LAW launcher, chin straps, a right boot and a pouch thing. The idea of the pouch is to fill up the undercut beneath the launcher. I think it must be filled with delicious candy. The bag and boot are still "wet" so consider that they are in progress and I'll refine them more. I've started on another iteration of the X-95. I actually made a few more but the results were icky. This one is looking nice so far. V.08, I think...

We only need to complete this stage, make the leg drop holster, some odds and ends and that's it. On to the next guy! I'm adding tabs to the bottoms of the figures so when he's done we can have a little group photo with trooper #1. It's going to be pretty awesome.

Spare some change, mister?

X-95 / MTAR 21 V.08

OH! I almost forgot, there's going to be a secret surprise which is what this trooper is holding in his hands as a weapon. Can you guess what it's going to be? Write in the comments. :)

Invisible gun is invisible.

Gear is what's for dinner. Took a while to get around to it. I had a very pleasant time making the pouches. I left some room on his back for a disposable missile launcher or some other bit. I've beefed up his right shoulder while I was at it.

Comments welcome. 

When life gives you limes you try to hold as many as you can simultaneously

Can't seem to get around to sculpting lately. I wish I could progress faster. I guess them's the brakes, so to speak. I'll get there in the end. 

I added the helmet and arm. Doing a little experiment I discovered that if I cut through the baked FIMO it cracks and can fall off the Green Stuff so I pre cut the Green Stuff armature and baked on top of that. I'll do some sort of fitting between the parts. I need to come up with some way of temporarily re affixing the arm later on. It's important to be able to see the figure as a whole. Maybe Cyanoacrylate glue and then twist it off  when I'm done (low shear strength). I'm concerned a little about its heat liquefying properties. We'll see what happens. 

The hand had to come off because of several reasons. For casting you can't have trapped negative spaces so  with the hands holding a gun there's really no way to cast without separating the arms. I had written earlier about my desire for customizable figures and modular parts is part of that; I need to learn how to do it. I want to have better access to the main body and I can't reach with a huge arm in the way.

I think next I'll do the thorax and helmet straps (maybe in Green Stuff). After that there's another arm, another boot, a holster and various equipment. Write your suggestions in the comments if you have any. After that it's on to the next guy who will be in a slightly improved FIMO technique which will be awesome. (but not as awesome as the guy I make AFTER THAT ONE)

Experimental trousers

More work with the FIMO. Added ears to my head. I'll get back to him once I get more done with our earlier guy. I'm enjoying the properties of the material, details can be crisper and surfaces more flat. On the other hand it is less forgiving in some cases and I've yet to get as good an understanding of the work "stages". More difficult for me to get smooth rounded surfaces and it's less sticky by an order of magnitude so there's a higher minimal thickness of matter.

Note in the pictures that I haven't yet baked it so I'm going to try and refine it more and more and see what I can get. I'm happy with the silhouette of the boot which is the nicest one yet. The rivets of the knee pads were also fun.

My plan is to finish the pant and boot before doing the other boot and then on to the arms. I will probably, after I overcome my trepidation, try to use the FIMO to make another X-95.

I will try to have the arms with the weapon or placeholder thereof finished before going on to the thorax. I intend to make the helmet from Brown Stuff which seemed to work quite well. I imagine that in the future my technique will be such a combination of materials as I gain a deeper understanding of the best application for each type.


Comment or whatever I don't care.
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