More Ken and Barbie dolls from Ilyad

I have said it many times, and will say it again.  Ilyad really had it right with their resin figures.  You don't get any kind of distortion that is so prevalent nowadays, and very few, if any, air bubbles.  They also do not have to be power washed for 3 hours just to get some primer to stick on them. :-)  Sorry if that sounds a bit cranky!  I have had to deal with lots of substandard casts lately... as in the last year.

I just finished off these two figures...







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That sounds like the sort of mischief Chaos would be up to, wouldn't it?

What makes this squad unique is the shoulder pads, which I spent a good deal of time sculpting. :-)  I used brown stuff, which keeps its edge quite nicely.







Her are some shots of the squad as a whole:






Another patented WIP image that illustrated the concept of starting with very light colors and shading darker:

Seeing stars: the Observatory of Meliador... lots of pictures!

This project dates back to the "Golden Era" of dioramas, circa 2004-2005.   As I progressed with my various dioramas, the miniatures themselves became more elaborate.  For instance, the Planesphere which I created for Meliador's calculations.

Since I have been a huge fan of astronomy for as long as I can remember, this might just be my favorite diorama of all time. :-)

The overall structure was done with sculpey.  Here are a few overall shots with the minis:





Now a shot of Meliador himself:


And for some close ups on the Planesphere, which was also made from Sculpey:





I have some exterior images that show the copper roof, the column, stairway and alcoves:










These images show the floor design, which was inspired by a very old section of the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago.  There is a giant pendulum that hangs from the ceiling, and it keeps time as it swings over a large sun dialesque design on the floor.




Here are a few more close ups of Meliador inside the Observatory:

Now that's one Mean Jelly Bean!

Tonight we have another member of the Brood faction, which is dominated by monsters and other critters.  He is standing on a 40mm base, to give you an idea of scale.  He is called Mean Jelly Bean, and it was based on the artwork (of the same name) of Brom.  I really enjoy his classical style of oil painting, and I tried to replicate it when painting this figure.







This was a version that I did way back in 2003.  The colors are not terribly different, but the approach certainly was!  My palette has changed a lot since then, and continues to change almost weekly, it seems. :-)  I mix a lot more muted pale greens into my golors, along with purple grey colors like the old GW shadow grey.

By comparison, these colors were far simpler, just a variety of browns.



I think I have a few other "then and now" figures like this, which could be interesting to check out...

Dread(ing) more Chaos?

Sorry about that . :-)

Here is another Tainted World Eaters dreadnought.  Gee, everything seems to be tainted, doesn't it?  It must be me.  Too much fiber.

This time, he's got himself a wee little gun... so he might shoot his buddies.










He's standing next to one of the banner bearers you have seen me post recently:


And now a shot showing the sculpey bases.  Since he had a heavy bolter, I used some polystyrene tubing to creat some spent shell casings...

Sneek Peek! Introducing the Legions of the Tainted Pharaoh (Armies on Parade)

I figured that it is just about time to begin posting images of my new Fantasy Army: The Legions of the Tainted Pharaoh.  The story for the army has been written, and that will be posted next week.

The concept behind the army is that it has been corrupted in a deal with a Tzeentch Demon who has passed himself off as a Khemri Deity.  In return for making the Pharaoh and all his men corporeal again, they must submit to his plans.

Therefore, most of the iconography has Tzeentchy themes, blending those with more typical Tomb Kings designs.  The colors are wild and 'exhuberant', showing the ever increasing taint of the God of Change.  I have been sculpting and converting Carrion which will convey this idea even more.



The reason for this unusual concept was my desire not to have any of the normal colors that you see ... Gold, Red, Blue, etc.  Those color schemes have been done quite well, and there is no sense in me repeating them :-)



The army board design is even more elaborate than the Temple of Blood, and construction begins in earnest this weekend!  I will post some of the sketches and in progress photos for you to see!



The floor designs were a big part of the army for me.  I have wanted to do something like it for quite a while.  My other units of chariots and horsemen not only have the designs you see on this example, but the movement trays which hold them have hieroglyphs which proclaim the alliance with this "new" God.







The 'metal' surfaces in the army will be variations on silver, with little or no gold.  The idea is that the corruption of Tzeetch has changed everything that was gold into a quicksilver or mercury, constantly blending into new shades.









Here are some shots of the minis:




And now for the base with no minis: