Sunday 29 August 2010

Harkers squad got greened.

I thought it'd be a pretty simple idea, just a bit of dremelling and green stuff up some t-shirts and berets, how wrong can you be. It's taken quite a while to get these guys up to this stage, it's been a steep learning curve but well worth the effort.

First off, I dremelled away all the catachens headbands, bandanna's and arm bands. This went pretty well although I did get a bit over zealous at times and this resulted in me having to rebuild up some of the guys arm muscles. Once I got rid of their rockstar look, I started to build up their t-shirts to match their leader VSgt Harker and once they'd cured, I worked up their berets. Initially they came out a bit clunky but by the time I was halfway into the squad, I got the technique right and the last few turned out quite good, well at least to the first ones.

So, here's the squad so far ....



Next three .....



Last three ....



Now all I need to do is do their cap badges and give them cloaks. I'm not looking forward to do the cap badges as I remember how fiddly it was to do VSgt Harker's. The cloaks are going to have to wait until I've figured out a way to do them, so it's time to start hitting the net for tutorials. Anyway, here's the squad so far ...


Overall, I'm pretty pleased with them, yes they've taken a while to get to this stage but it's been a good learning exercise. I've found that I'm getting better at using the metal sculpting tools, it amazing how quickly you adapt when you force yourself use a different tool or technique.

What I've learned this time ...
  • A little bit of green stuff goes a long way.
  • Use the metal tool to get the basic shape you want, then the clay shapers to smooth out the shape and then back to the metal tool to sharpen the details.
  • The more reference material you have to work from, the better your sculpt.
That's it for now, I'll post more as I get more done, hopefully the next post will have them finished.

11 comments:

Marshal Argos said...

Nice to see an update!
Love your Harker, and the now with a matching squad they really look great together. The Berets came out great, I don't know why but it always bothers me when people GS crappy looking berets, must be something with 8 years in an airborne unit...

Your right though as well, the further along you went the better they look. Smoother, more rounded... well you get the idea.

Admiral Drax said...

Them's some mighty sharp creases you've got there on those berets, mate!

I really enjoy how these are starting to pan out...

Unknown said...

These guys are looking good, definitely a worthy retinue for your converted Harker.
On question though. Which dremel tool did you use to grind away the metal details?

Col. Hessler said...

Nice job, mate. The berets tie the squad together and make it a very cohesive unit.

Now get to painting!

Cheers!

IanRhead said...

Bereted warriors, think para, think hard as nails.

Nice work and I sincerely hope they do a job of work for you on the table.

Col. Corbane said...

@Marshal Argos - Cheers mate, life's been busy mate but I'm still managing to get bits done. I know what you mean about berets, it took a few attempts before they looked liked they belonged in the airforce.

@Admiral Drax - Proper creases mate, I couldn't have dodgy creases. I've still got a bit to do on them but they're coming together, it's just taking to long but that's life :-)

@The Antipope - Cheers mate, I used the conical cutter for the bulk of the work and then the small diamond ball cutter for finishing up. Hope that helps.

@Col. Hessler - Cheers matey, I haven't even broken out the paints since the move, it might be a while before these get finished, I've still got a fair bit of sculpting to do before they get paint of them.

@IanRhead - Stalking me matey? I think the para look comes more from the fact that I got overzealous with the dremmeling and most of them have flat noses - lol. Hope the holiday went well, I'll give you a call later in the week.


Hope your holiday went well, I'll give

IanRhead said...

Please do mate I've lost your number.

IanRhead said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hashshashin: said...

Great Job! looking really nice so far.

keep it up.

Hashshashin: said...

Great Job! looking really nice so far.

keep it up.

CanolliCrusader said...

woah! good stuff bro!

I love your t-shirt effect..the way the shirt folds and all, ive tried but without success so far.