E.T.C. Illustration

Click to enlarge

Extra Terrestrial Control

The setting is the near future - alien anthromorphs are raiding the planet earth, hitting targets of their own cryptic choosing. Their motives are unknown and their methods chill the blood. The world is all but imploding on itself by the pressure of inter group nationalistic conflict and the ever growing fun-house-mirror abominations of corporate greed made flesh. The stage is set- the Pre-Apocalypse. Some men of power, behind the curtains, have yet found faith inside of themselves and reached out to each other. Tentatively forming a black, inter national, para military organisation they have named E.T.C. Their motto is "Gladius Mundi"- sword of the world. Now the race is on. Will the invaders from space succeed in their alien plans, an untold fate of horror for the planet? Can the E.T.C. fight them back and foil their efforts?


Got to a good place for now with the "fluff" illustration so it's time to start crafting. I'm going to start with gear because I see that as an area I need to improve. We'll start with the MTAR-21 or X-95. I need to get some solid data, which I'm certain is available online, as to the measurements and scale them down. The plan right now is to work "all around" with the armature wire representing the barrel. I might end up having to flash the old artistic license and exaggerate some aspects for the sake of readability.

Afterwards I'd like to try my hand at some other staples of spec-ops such as the M4, MP5SD, Sig P226 and other items, weapons and otherwise. I'll keep updating.

Extra Terrestrial Control Illustration Progress

What the tin says.
Managed to progress on the ETC illustration.
It's still a ways away from finished.

Click to enlarge.

Two Ariks Sharons

I've been busy drawing the last couple of days. Making a fluff illustration for the next models I'd like to make.

First, though, here is the 15mm Sharon.

Some close up photographs. 1:100 Arik Sharon is posing in front of a clump of epiphytic moss I received as  a sample at a home decor design show.

As promised, the drawing I'm working on:

I mentioned in a previous blog post that the idea is for a team of special ops type dudes from a global anti space alien response organization. I call them ETC - Extra Terrestrial Control; note the patch on his arm. The motto is "Gladius Mundi" which, hopefully, means "the sword of the world". This guy has some night vision goggles and a video camera on his Ops Core inspired helmet. The rifle is an MTAR-21. The setting is a nightly raid on a cruise ship which has been taken over by the enemy. I think I might make another couple of drawings like this, I'd like to really get a sense for the fluff of the story and also try for some more dynamic/experimental scenes. Still need to complete this one first, though.

15mm Ariel Sharon 1973 update - canteen.

I've set up this blog and a portfolio website (http://www.wix.com/nadavigra/igra ) but tonight I got some time to get back on the green stuff horse.

Green stuff is the colloquial name for yellow blue Kneadatite, a type of epoxy putty, from Polymeric Systems International. It's been the staple of miniature sculpting since the 70's or so if I recall correctly. Recent developments in mold making and casting techniques have re shuffled the deck and miniatures today are made with a variety of materials. 

15mm version of Ariel Sharon 1973 miniature

I added the canteen to the back left on the belt. I started out using a tiny clipping of 1mm wire as the cap but as things progressed it became evident that 1mm is wwwwaaaaayyyyyy too big for a cap at 1:100 so I took it off and re sculpted it.

I had also posed the arms, cut them down to size and added a layer of material to fix them in place and to have something to work against.

I had previously made a front and rear slice of the binoculars and I wound up using only the rear bit and stuck it on a mass on the right hand area.

I think some details, especially the beret, leave a lot to be desired and there's going to be some corrections later on. That will come after next session which should, give or take, see most of the work almost complete.

Thinking about the next miniatures

I've been thinking about what I should make next. I'm sort of itching to sell the miniatures I'm making because I need money to pay for living and because, well, I want people to enjoy them, play with them. I want to see how people paint them and what conversions they might do.

If any of you, my hearty fellows, have suggestions please write them in the comments below. What I thought would be cool would be a group, say 5 or so, of special forces type dudes who are part of a global anti space alien initiative and to also make an opposing force of 5 or so dudes who are in fact aliens. The things I'd like to get more of a handle on for the next sculptures, my educational goals so to speak:

• Cool art illustration - some fluff to go along with the sculpts to help ignite the imagination.
• Realistic, dynamic poses- most of my sculpts have up to now stood planted firmly in their spot. I want to make some action poses.
• Gear- I need to get more of a handle on making machined things like rifles and other equipment.
• Customization ability- I know a lot of the potential market like to change things around and have the possibility to really make each miniature their own.  
• Overall improvement - goes without saying, the purpose of training is to improve.

Those are my thoughts for now. Each one of those bullet points is going to be a challenge for sure so stick around. It'll be interesting.

It's a new world, after all

Hello dutiful blog followers!

In this blog you can read about my exploits in my quest to make games and to be an artist- a game artist.

Who am I?

I feel like I owe some short retrospective. Knowing who you are is the essence of growing, it's a question one spends a life time answering. I can tell the details of my resume, I suppose, and give some examples of my work. That will probably be most pertinent. I can also, perhaps, write some of my philosophical beliefs. You may get to know about me, or some aspects of who I am as good as anyone can.

I am 32 years old. It seems like a grown up age, or rather it had seemed when I was in my twenties. I remember that my father had said to me that I will start to know who I am only around the age of 32. I'm not sure that I do. I have a son now. The most beautiful baby boy you've ever seen. His smile lights up the entire universe. I know how I want him to see me. That means I'm going to have to try and carve a special niche for myself and for my family. I may not know who I am but I know who I want to be.

I served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a tank crew man when I was 18 up to 21. I still serve in the reserves at the same capacity. I studied Fine Art at the Bezalel academy of art and design, Jerusalem and have received a BFA diploma. I worked as a security guard for a while. Apprenticed at a top notch tattoo parlor until I learned the craft (and saw it wasn't for me).  More recently, in the last two years or so, I had decided that my goal in life was to work in making video games and using my artistic ability create a career in this field. I've had good success so far, having done several projects as a freelancer as well as worked on some long term projects that came out nicely as a salaryman.

When I studied art and worked security I had a lot of time to read. From one thing to another I wound up reading a lot of psychoanalytic theory books and have come to subscribe to this interpretation of our reality. I have a strong Freudian view with some Jung and a heavy dose of the Adlerian school. It may not be for everybody but psychoanalytic theories have really helped explain the world to me and why do people behave in the way that they do. I also feel like I have some hold on the more mysterious questions like what is art? What are dreams? Why do wars happen? How do we think? I may sprinkle some ideas around in my blog now and again. My favorite theorists are Winnicott, Karen Horney and Ernst Kriss.

What now?

Today I am again a freelancer. I've spent some time learning how to sculpt miniatures. I like war games and miniatures so it seemed like a worthwhile thing to do. I think I'm getting pretty good at it. I've made a few so far. First the latest one which is Ariel Sharon in 1973 in 28mm. I've been working at a scale of 1:64 according to the calculation that a 1.8 meter tall man would be about 28mm in scale. Sharon, who to the best of my research ability was 1.7 meters scales to be 26.5mm which, with the added hair is exactly 28mm.

There!

No, there!

Holding a Jena style 7x50 (a bit larger than scale) and a holster for what must have been a  Webley revolver.

He's got his canteen so he won't dehydrate!

I've also been making a 1:100 version of the same miniature which is 15mm scale (actually a 1:100 1.8 meter man would be 18mm tall).

Here are some previous miniatures from my studies:

Evil Genius turn table

Evil Genius "miniature"

An adventuring sea captain

 

Hippie with milk carton

 

Crustacean doctor

The first one: 35mm warpunk soldier

More to come. 

What's next on the blog? Expect to read more updates on 1:100 Arik Sharon from 1973 and also some exciting ideas on the next miniatures!