Aliens have a nose sometimes

First things first: our man.

This time I added the tactical vest and shirt. I left room to add the shoulders after I do the arms. A shirt collar must be added as well. I re sculpted the leg drop vertical strap which came out totally sweet. It's got a pistol magazine pouch and padding. Thickened up the left thigh a bit and it looks somewhat better now.

Our friends from across the sky! 

The grey alien. Super Sculpey Firm is really fun to work with. The grey color is very helpful as opposed to the semi translucent pink of the regular Super Sculpey. 

Shortly after starting to work on the concept head I realized that if I've any hope of making him a little bit different than all the other regular grey alien types he needs to have a nose. Another thing was that sculpting symmetrical features is hard. 

Our trusty X95 V.06 is plugging along. I'm gonna sand and cut this shape and then add a layer of detail "skin". I hope it doesn't suck.

Pants and presents

Created the other boot then put on the pants. I was struck by detailing fever, having realized I could put all sorts of things on there, rather than sculpt them separately. The left thigh looks freakish long. I suspect it's because the top of it is too thin.

The whole pose looks out of balance. This is on purpose. Hopefully when he's all tricked out with gear and holding his gun, it'll look like he's walking forward cautiously.

Happy presents day!

I got this dope Tamyia 0.1-3.2mm pin vise. I've already put it to good use to make another iteration on the X95. This is V.06.02.

I also got a block of Super Sculpey Firm. It smells nice. I started on this bust which will be an alien creature concept. I want to do some variation on the "grey" type of alien, It's been done to death so it'll be a challenge to put an interesting spin on it.

Some thoughts on E.T.C.

I've been thinking about how people might play with the miniatures once they're made. The first possibility is naturally that they can use them with existing rule sets that they know and play. I've been toying with the idea of making custom rules for play and in the process considering how I'd like to do business. My main goals or ideals will be to make it accessible, affordable, scale-able and modular and durable.

This is all in a larval day dreaming state for now so don't hold your breath just yet!

• Accessible means I want people to be able to approach the game without past war gaming experience and be able to play without being overwhelmed by a lot of rules; I don't want to sacrifice depth or gameplay to get there.

• Affordable has several aspects to it. In combination with accessibility I imagine E.T.C. as a box set containing 2 opposing forces of decent size so a hobbyist/enthusiast can play with his friends. Also that there would not be a need to invest too much money to be able to play complex and interesting games.

• Scale and modularity is about the possibility to play quick skirmishes as well as full blown globe spanning campaigns. I'd also like for players who are fond of a system that allows for it to keep playing with their own rules if they prefer it. I see E.T.C. as composed of several modules that can fit together among themselves and other systems allowing players to create more complex games as well as fast and fun "arcade" type experiences.

• Durability- I have this vision of a box that will stand the test of time given proper care. Maybe with cloth binding like an old book (I love those) The materials for the components should be, naturally, beyond reproach. 

What do you think? What things would you like to see in a miniature combat game? You can write in the comments.

Boot/Straps

No update on the gun today. I sanded down the helmet a bit, brown stuff is cool for that. Added the chin straps, which really bring the helmet together for me. Also added some mass to the chest and left leg. Made a boot. The boots are inspired by the type of leather and fabric boots I think are a favorite with spec ops and infantry that like their feet. I am very happy with how the boot came out. It didn't photograph very well because of glare but hopefully it'll be nicer in later photos after it cures a bit. 

Helmet head

Added some more mass to our guy. Added a helmet. It's a skateboard profile sort of helmet that seems to be popular with spec ops. I might give it some modular connections for night vision goggles and cameras and such. It'll come together more as I add the straps. Needs a little polishing, too.
Next up, besides building up the anatomical mass is shoes/boots! I've looked up several types and am heavily leaning towards the type of leather/cordura mix boot rather than jump boots or hiking shoes.

X95.V.05.06

I tried using milliput. It does make a very nice flat surface but it also doesn't stick very well and I'm apparently terrible at working with it. I'm going to go ahead and try again using brown stuff but with a different stage division. I'll sand this quite heavily I expect.

Write in the comments

You can write all sorts of things in the comments. What's your opinion on the choice of boots? Maybe you have a better idea on how to make miniature rifles. You want to ask questions, maybe? Write! I'll answer.

Congratulations to Lab-o-Mad-Artist for getting our first follower!!! Welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy the blog.

Drawing funk/Skull renaissance.

Guess what?
That's right. The fifth iteration of making the X95/MTAR-21.

Believe it or not, this is what it looks like after three sessions and it's not even up to the base layer yet!

Those small wires are really fiddly, is all I'm gonna say.

Next up is a dude, or rather a light assault spec ops.
He's bald because he's going to get a helmet (and then you can't see he's bald).

Drew some concepts, I wanted to get a handle on the E.T.C. uniform. Also drew what the guy here is going to be like more or less. I drew this 10 times or so with mixed results. Had a dreadful sense as if I'd lost my mojo. I'm probably just a bit tired and a bit rusty with the old paper and pencil. Expect more attempts. You just have to forcefully plow through these mental blocks.

Finally, another skull and his skull friends :)

They look so happy!

X95 V.04.4 and a face and skull

I'm thinking about making another iteration of the X95. Before that, though, here's V.04 as it's nearing completion.

I've taken a skull and made a face on it. It was quite interesting. Twice I came back after I thought I was finished because of some things that became evident in the macro photography. I enjoyed making it and had a thought as I was going. The finest appearance is achieved if you can get the optimum result with a single pass of work (during the various curing stages; basic shapes, details, etc.). As opposed to laboriously tooling the surface over and over again. You can call this tentative hypothesis the theory of "economy of expression". It's a sort of thing that can only come with great experience. Lucky for me, I've got a few more skulls sitting by as well as a few more basic armature wires. 

Speaking of skulls.

This skull is a bit larger than usual because I made it with the intent for it not to be covered by a face. It's a bit large at around 3.8mm or so. 

We're all made of skulls on the inside

I took the knife to the x95 and carved off some of the lumpiness. I added in green stuff another layer of detail. Namely the hand guard, grip, forward iron sights, two bits at the rear and a sort of under structure I'll use to make the red dot sight.

If you look on the other side you can see that the forward part of the top cover is not in line with the barrel giving the rifle a droopy look. I'll re-sculpt this part. Also the rear part of the top cover got shaved off so I'll do that as well. The next session should consist of the magazine "skin", red dot sight and repairs.

I made another skull. I wanted to make a really nice looking one and also I mixed a lot of green stuff so I didn't want it to go to waste. It's been suggested to me that there might be a market for skulls.

Another thing that's attractive for me about skulls is that they're so short that I might be able to cast decent copies even though I haven't got a pressure chamber.

Because I had worked concurrently with the X95 I couldn't devote enough attention to it and I also added some mass to two of the previous skulls to adjust their proportions and made another 4 base armatures. It'll have to wind up as only another interior skull rather than some fancy skull that hasn't got any skin on it. I'll need to dedicate a session to making just one nice skull to see how it goes.