spafe
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Ben's Bits n Bobs
- Thread starter Ben_S
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I wouldn't consider myself very good at that - certainly not compared to some scratchbuild/proxying that I've seen - indeed, it's only pretty recently that I've tried, but it's certainly something I intend to do more of. In the case of the Gormiti, I bought a couple of bundles on eBay in order to use some of the playsets for scenery (something I'd seen done on some other blogs). These are actually larger projects that I realised, so I've not got round to doing anything yet.
I paid about £15 for two lots, including two different playsets and about 60 of the figures, which I hadn't really been after at the time - indeed, I sold a dozen on, though after fees and posting probably only made about £5 back. That's when I started thinking about other uses for them... A bit of research shows I'm not the first. While looking for people using the scenery, I also found people who'd re-purposed the figures:
https://kleinerzorn.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/from-gormiti-toy-to-strange-aeons-deep-one-finished/
http://leviathanwar.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/wildling-proxy.html
http://ersico.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/gormiti-firebellyeelclamfish.html (this one looks like someone repainting for the sake of art, rather than wargaming)
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?PHPSESSID=70b28ac8ea364676abec775c69b1dbf5&topic=34912.0 (this is a conversion, using the toy as a base)
The ones I showed off are a first batch or test of concept. Sadly, quite a few of the models are rather goofy - there's an unfortunate trend for weird club-like things instead of hands - but I think I have some more that are usable and bundles of second-hand toys can be bought cheaply online or from car boot sales and the like.
I was particularly pleased with my Treeman, so wanted to make another. I couldn't find a suitable model, so I decided to try converting one, splicing together two different Gormiti - the first two shown here:
http://toyfair09.asmzine.com/galler...ibes Series 1/People of the Forest/index.html
The first, Branchtearer the Furious, was quite nice but I didn't like the heart-shaped leaf that made up his body. On the other hand, Florus the Poisoner, had a fairly suitable body, but flowers instead of a head and hands. So, I decided to perform an arm and head swap, to make a second Treeman. Pictures to follow, as I've still got some putty-ing to do on the joins, but I think it's worked ok so far...
D
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Ok, here are the unused parts:
And this is where I'm at with the other parts:
I still need more putty round the shoulders to hide the joins. He may end up quite bulky round the shoulders, but I don't mind that too much. I hope the texturing is good enough that it looks ok once painted.
And this is where I'm at with the other parts:
I still need more putty round the shoulders to hide the joins. He may end up quite bulky round the shoulders, but I don't mind that too much. I hope the texturing is good enough that it looks ok once painted.
Progress was slowed by not having a working boiler for about a week and a half. It may sound like an odd excuse, but my gf and I would generally spend the evenings huddled up in the bedroom with a fan heater, so I wasn't in my usual workspace. Anyway, here's the second Gormit treeman just before I undercoated him this morning:
My vague attempts at sculpting on the shoulders aren't that great but, now he's undercoated, they look like they're probably passable. I'll get a better idea once I start drybrushing I guess.
I also used a couple of the larger Gormiti to make some Daemon Prince type things, with a bit of conversion. (These are on 50mm square bases, for a sense of scale.) I have an Osprey ruleset 'Of Gods and Mortals' so these guys might see themselves pressed into use as Gods at some point.
The first was relatively Tzeentchy to begin with, so I didn't do much to him.
The second was a bit more ambitious. I didn't like the original head, so I tried several replacements but Monstrous Infantry heads (Vargheist, Minotaur, Chaos Spawn) were generally a bit small. I wanted to try a Daemon Prince head I know I've got somewhere, but couldn't find it. So, in the end, I used a head from another Gormiti - which took quite a lot of cutting, since the head is basically the front torso of the green guy.
I'm thinking I'll paint the second one up in what could pass for a Slaanesh colour scheme, since he's my gf's favoured Chaos God.
My vague attempts at sculpting on the shoulders aren't that great but, now he's undercoated, they look like they're probably passable. I'll get a better idea once I start drybrushing I guess.
I also used a couple of the larger Gormiti to make some Daemon Prince type things, with a bit of conversion. (These are on 50mm square bases, for a sense of scale.) I have an Osprey ruleset 'Of Gods and Mortals' so these guys might see themselves pressed into use as Gods at some point.
The first was relatively Tzeentchy to begin with, so I didn't do much to him.
The second was a bit more ambitious. I didn't like the original head, so I tried several replacements but Monstrous Infantry heads (Vargheist, Minotaur, Chaos Spawn) were generally a bit small. I wanted to try a Daemon Prince head I know I've got somewhere, but couldn't find it. So, in the end, I used a head from another Gormiti - which took quite a lot of cutting, since the head is basically the front torso of the green guy.
I'm thinking I'll paint the second one up in what could pass for a Slaanesh colour scheme, since he's my gf's favoured Chaos God.
Paint. The pictures above show it pre-priming, in order to give a clearer idea what's what, but I've already primed and undercoated.
I used a proper primer spray, albeit a cheap Poundland one - I bought it for scenery but decided it's certainly good enough for these guys. (Actually, I ended up slightly conflicted about what to use. My first thought was that the cheap spray was good enough for cheap toys. My second thought was that, since these guys aren't the most detailed to begin with, I didn't really want to risk losing detail. But my third thought was that it would be stupid to use my expensive paints on these guys and cheaper ones on my actual miniatures.)
I figured the primer is probably necessary, since these guys are softer plastic than the miniatures that we're accustomed to and there's some flexibility in the limbs. I used to have a proper 'for plastic' primer that was designed to cope with this, but like I said I just used a cheap one here. The (grey) primer was then followed by a coat of matt black, also from the same range.
I used a proper primer spray, albeit a cheap Poundland one - I bought it for scenery but decided it's certainly good enough for these guys. (Actually, I ended up slightly conflicted about what to use. My first thought was that the cheap spray was good enough for cheap toys. My second thought was that, since these guys aren't the most detailed to begin with, I didn't really want to risk losing detail. But my third thought was that it would be stupid to use my expensive paints on these guys and cheaper ones on my actual miniatures.)
I figured the primer is probably necessary, since these guys are softer plastic than the miniatures that we're accustomed to and there's some flexibility in the limbs. I used to have a proper 'for plastic' primer that was designed to cope with this, but like I said I just used a cheap one here. The (grey) primer was then followed by a coat of matt black, also from the same range.
I can definitely understand your train of thought and I assure you're lucky if you have that choice. Here it's just mediocre paints in stores for the same price mailordering the good materials. I guess if you know how and ideally have the talent, you can get good result with almost anything. Looking at your previous work I'm pretty sure you make something eye pleasing out of it anyway.
Working with my niece and nephew I also realized how much good paints, additives and brushes can actually help enhancing possibilities for anyone. I also managed to improve results with paints I found to be of lesser quality by using said additives. I'm not a big fan of both limiting yourself and dividing into something like the good miniatures and the cheap terrain or something. I'd rather say there's large areas suitable for crude pigmentation and details that will benefit from neat paints. Thanks to dropper bottles and wet pallets there's hardly any special miniature paint wasted and thinking of the amount thrown away pouring from cheap paint tubes there even might be a lot less price difference than expected.
I remember back then having metal miniatures was the the big deal and anything plastic was thought of as cheap and placeholder for large armies, but in relation to your conflict the plastic figures would have benefitted from the best suitable paints while the metal ones were so sharp and full of details you could have slapped almost anything on them and they would feel like painting themselves. In conclusion your idea of using less cheap paints on cheaper toys doesn't sound stupid to me at all. It rather seems to be a reasonable choice to get the most out of the cheap figures though I'd probably pick the better paints for the usual miniatures as well anyway.
As for the transparent plastic, I would have found it interesting to keep that effect as it's not seen so often. I'm still curious about what your idea is and therefore what you will make out of the figures.
Working with my niece and nephew I also realized how much good paints, additives and brushes can actually help enhancing possibilities for anyone. I also managed to improve results with paints I found to be of lesser quality by using said additives. I'm not a big fan of both limiting yourself and dividing into something like the good miniatures and the cheap terrain or something. I'd rather say there's large areas suitable for crude pigmentation and details that will benefit from neat paints. Thanks to dropper bottles and wet pallets there's hardly any special miniature paint wasted and thinking of the amount thrown away pouring from cheap paint tubes there even might be a lot less price difference than expected.
I remember back then having metal miniatures was the the big deal and anything plastic was thought of as cheap and placeholder for large armies, but in relation to your conflict the plastic figures would have benefitted from the best suitable paints while the metal ones were so sharp and full of details you could have slapped almost anything on them and they would feel like painting themselves. In conclusion your idea of using less cheap paints on cheaper toys doesn't sound stupid to me at all. It rather seems to be a reasonable choice to get the most out of the cheap figures though I'd probably pick the better paints for the usual miniatures as well anyway.
As for the transparent plastic, I would have found it interesting to keep that effect as it's not seen so often. I'm still curious about what your idea is and therefore what you will make out of the figures.
You're right @KRVSH that good tools and paints can make quite an improvement in anyone's painting. I'd tried poundshop sprays before and remember one that was so runny that I couldn't even use it for scenery. For a long time I used ones designed for cars, but I'm lucky now to have found some cheap ones that seem to work ok (though the matt black is still a little glossy, at least on Gormiti).
And tinted but transparent plastic would be interesting too; perhaps I'll try it with something, but I thought the Gormiti needed a proper primer, especially where they're not already painted. It's worth noting that the original paint jobs are often terrible. On these guys it wasn't just so thick that it filled in detail in places, but so thick that there were little 'craters' where a bubble had burst or something. Maybe I should have tried stripping them, instead of simply painting over...
Anyway, I already got a first coat on my Treeman #2, because I was impatient to see how he looked. My gf couldn't tell which bits I'd sculpted, so that will do.
And tinted but transparent plastic would be interesting too; perhaps I'll try it with something, but I thought the Gormiti needed a proper primer, especially where they're not already painted. It's worth noting that the original paint jobs are often terrible. On these guys it wasn't just so thick that it filled in detail in places, but so thick that there were little 'craters' where a bubble had burst or something. Maybe I should have tried stripping them, instead of simply painting over...
Anyway, I already got a first coat on my Treeman #2, because I was impatient to see how he looked. My gf couldn't tell which bits I'd sculpted, so that will do.
Treeman #2 is pretty much finished, bar some little touch ups. Here he is alongside #1:
#2 (on the left) does look a little different in colour. I'm pretty sure the paints were the same, so this may be down to #1 being varnished here. But variation isn't a problem for these guys anyway. I quite like these guys, so I may have to keep my eyes peeled for more suitable Gormiti. I could make a whole unit of Treekin/Treemen...
While doing the ones above, I also did this guy, who I thought looked like some kind of robot thing. A chance to try some OSL too:
#2 (on the left) does look a little different in colour. I'm pretty sure the paints were the same, so this may be down to #1 being varnished here. But variation isn't a problem for these guys anyway. I quite like these guys, so I may have to keep my eyes peeled for more suitable Gormiti. I could make a whole unit of Treekin/Treemen...
While doing the ones above, I also did this guy, who I thought looked like some kind of robot thing. A chance to try some OSL too:
spafe
Executive Officer in charge of Hats
Staff member
Necromunda Custodian
Yak Comp 2nd Place
Tribe Council
Blood Bowl is the game I play most, but I don't have a Halfling team or any particular desire for one. I suppose it shouldn't be too difficult to make one if I wanted. Goblin legs, Empire torsos - perhaps Dwarf arms and Cadian heads? Dammit now I am tempted! Must resist... I suppose, if I want to use them for BB, I could proxy my Dark Elves as Wood Elves.
If I end up making more of these guys, perhaps it will have to be another game. I picked up the Dragon Rampant rules earlier in the year, so am looking for a chance to play that. I worked out that I had about 60 points worth of Warriors of Chaos, which ought to be enough to make two opposing warbands. It would be pretty easy to bulk a force or two out with some Gormiti too, given that you can use whatever models you like, but Treemen probably aren't the best fit.
If I end up making more of these guys, perhaps it will have to be another game. I picked up the Dragon Rampant rules earlier in the year, so am looking for a chance to play that. I worked out that I had about 60 points worth of Warriors of Chaos, which ought to be enough to make two opposing warbands. It would be pretty easy to bulk a force or two out with some Gormiti too, given that you can use whatever models you like, but Treemen probably aren't the best fit.
Since I spray prime/undercoat everything, I'm often on the lookout for a few 'extra bits' to make up a batch of models. So I ended up undercoating these hive node/infestation things along with some of the stuff above. Here they are with a quick paint job:
The picture only shows three, but I've actually done seven.
Having done these, along with some LOTR bits posted above, I realise that this is a fair amount of 'useless' scenery, in the sense that while they might look decorative on the board, they're not actually large enough for models to hide behind or anything. Still, I suppose they look like the kind of thing that could easily have some special rules, like a chance of attacking any model that moves near enough.
The picture only shows three, but I've actually done seven.
Having done these, along with some LOTR bits posted above, I realise that this is a fair amount of 'useless' scenery, in the sense that while they might look decorative on the board, they're not actually large enough for models to hide behind or anything. Still, I suppose they look like the kind of thing that could easily have some special rules, like a chance of attacking any model that moves near enough.
spafe
Executive Officer in charge of Hats
Staff member
Necromunda Custodian
Yak Comp 2nd Place
Tribe Council
objectives? targets to wipe out as they are allowing scavies to move in with a constant food source? source of presious slime that is used in fancy uphive cooking so you need to claim the 'loot'? potential is limitless!
Yeah, you could build a scenario around them about harvesting their precious saliva as a scarce substance. I could imagine other trials on the way and you could do some special rules about injuries. How easily could these monsters bite an arm off any reckless ganger reaching for some nectar? But I guess it would also be possible these wicked products have much larger necks than it seems, so your gangers could always be just a dice roll away from beeing snatched.
They do look splendid anyway though and I could also imagine these beasts just decoratively spread over the table. I wouldn't crowd the scenery with them then.
Don't know if it's just the picture, but they don't seem to be that glossy. Maybe some wet effects may even enhance your vivid paint job.
I do it like you btw., trying to have some pieces on the side I could collect overspray with or slap on remaining paint from the pallet. I even mount figures on terrain bases for sprayjobs, any color, so I won't waste all the pigment and maybe even create interesting color variations to build up a paint job from. Spray days are sadly very rare in this area.
They do look splendid anyway though and I could also imagine these beasts just decoratively spread over the table. I wouldn't crowd the scenery with them then.
Don't know if it's just the picture, but they don't seem to be that glossy. Maybe some wet effects may even enhance your vivid paint job.
I do it like you btw., trying to have some pieces on the side I could collect overspray with or slap on remaining paint from the pallet. I even mount figures on terrain bases for sprayjobs, any color, so I won't waste all the pigment and maybe even create interesting color variations to build up a paint job from. Spray days are sadly very rare in this area.
Yes, plenty of opportunities to invent some special rules for them - it's just that they're not much use without special rules. I need to work on some stuff that actually provides cover.
These are prior to varnishing. I hit everything with a gloss varnish for protection. One day I intend to get some matt varnish for my actual figures, but I've never got round to it.
These are prior to varnishing. I hit everything with a gloss varnish for protection. One day I intend to get some matt varnish for my actual figures, but I've never got round to it.
A good satin finish can also be emphasizing details of your paint job, but it will probably be best to varnish any part of the figure like it would shine in reality. After some experience with Game Air (used it with a brush though) I'm not sure if there has to be any protective varnish at all in the future. That formula finally seems to stick neatly as far as I can tell from the paints I tested. I even use them as primer now on surfaces I had problems with the regular.
Here's the big bird thing (Tzeentch Daemon Prince or similar):
Still in progress, obviously, but I wanted to check the colours look alright in combination, before going any further. I wish I'd cleaned up the front of the loincloth before starting though. The previous picture shows some specks of putty and now it's impossible to get a smooth finish. And there are moldlines on the wings too. Still, must remember that it's only a cheap proxy...
Still in progress, obviously, but I wanted to check the colours look alright in combination, before going any further. I wish I'd cleaned up the front of the loincloth before starting though. The previous picture shows some specks of putty and now it's impossible to get a smooth finish. And there are moldlines on the wings too. Still, must remember that it's only a cheap proxy...
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