"Moondirge" -- A 'handout'. . .

The right "hand"/paw is now--finally--done!

As to what comes next, I haven't decided yet. I will probably continue the reconstruction of the hair and fur on the lower half of the body before completing assembly--and proceeding with the final finishing. . .

Stay tuned!

Bad moon rising. . .

With bench-time at a premium, I have resigned myself to simply push forward and whittle away at manageable portions, rather than immerse myself in multi-course undertakings. To this end, I have been literally whittling away at the reconstructed right "hand" of my current lycanthrope; and after two sittings, the end is finally in sight! There are still some minor "sizing" issues to be tweaked, but all in all things are coming together quite nicely.

Once the hand is done to my satisfaction, I can then permanently attach the arms, and proceed with the reconstruction of the fur and hair. Fortunately, this is something that can be best tackled in small servings. . .

A regenerated lycanthrope. . .

Some of you might recall that there were some scaling issues with the right hand of the Creoda sculpt:

The right hand is actually a half-fist, with the proximal phalanges reduced to a flattened plane that rests on the ground as the front "leg" of the tripod (i.e., fist- walking, as in orangutans). This will either have to be built-out, or the hand resculpted in its entirety. As a clenched fist is a good fit with what I have envisioned, I opted for the former. There is a bit of a problem in that the right hand, as truncated, is not in scale with the left, but I will hopefully be able to work around this and not have to resculpt the entire hand. Stay tuned. . .

My attempts to build-out the right hand, while not unsuccessful, were ultimately unsatisfactory. Thus was the project tabled until a satisfactory solution could be found. And said solution was found in the emergence of Mierce Miniatures, and their making available the component parts of the BaneBeasts line. I ordered 2 of Creoda's left arms, and these arrived in a secure, timely fashion last week.

My plan was to convert the left hand into a right hand by reconstructing the orientation of the thumb and fingers onto the reduced metacarpus, And I am happy to report, that the surgery was an unqualified success! All that remains to be done is to reconstruct the fleshy portions of the hand, and seamlessly integrate the fingers into the metacarpus. The right half-fist has already been removed, and the new carpus fitted and pegged to the distal portion of the right forearm.

More to follow. . .

Mierce Miniatures

About 9 months ago, give or take, Maelstrom Games, purveyor of the BaneLegions, ceased operations. The whys and the like were less than clear at the time, and the outlook on the fate of the BaneLegions was even murkier to an observer from across the Pond.

I slowly began to flesh-out the salient points earlier this year: unfortunately the disposition of the BaneLegions was no clearer (to me!)--until recently. And I am delighted to report that while the BaneLegions may have a more limited, generic future, Darklands is alive and well!!!

BaneLegions were designed and produced by a team of very talented enthusiasts within Maelstrom Games that apparently has become the company we now know as Mierce Miniatures (MM). The pulse of MM's R&D and production is their Darklands wargame, and going forward, much of the BaneLegions line has been seamlessly integrated into this historical-fantasy world set in pre-medieval NW Europe. Hence, BaneLegions has not so much gone away, but has been re-branded, if you will.

That is the most basic Cliff-notes version of a messy affair, which for BaneLegions fans, has a most happy ending. MM is promising great things in 2013, and I, for one, already have a list of about a dozen future releases that I can't wait to see! To get a sneak preview of what is in the works, see here.

I have already ordered some replacement spares for my Creoda project from MM--and so far, so great. I wish Mierce Miniatures all the luck in the world and am looking forward to many enjoyable hours at the bench with their products.

Cheers!

"Moondirge" -- . . . I'm hairy high and low. . .

Well, I might end up getting more "adventurous" with my work on the lycanthrope of the hour. . .

In a brief session, using a slightly modified mix of MS, I was able to successfully reproduce M. Carrasco's hair texture. Not exactly, mind you; but close enough where it will blend seamlessly once paint is applied.

Of course, one step forward. . . I may have a bit of resculpting to do on the pelvic joints if I can't achieve the muscular "flow" I have envisioned once the thighs are fully fleshed out.

Stay tuned. . .

"Moondirge" -- First Steps

The latter part of the evening was spent trying to get our lycanthrope up on his hind paws, as it were. And I am happy to report that the mission was accomplished.

By next weekend, I should have the pose locked, and the pelvic girdle rebuilt. So much for the easy part. The most difficult aspect of this project will be recreating the masterfully executed subtle texture and fine detail of the fur and hair. This will be largely "hit or miss" until I suss out M. Carrasco's technique.

I'm off to a great start, and I hope that things continue to progress as they have been. Images to follow in a fortnight or so.

FOLLOW-UP. . . The pose has been locked, and the gluteals roughed- in: the figure can now stand on its own. Thus the "conversion" work is, in effect, done! Henceforth, it is just a matter of texturing and finishing, finishing and texturing until the figure is ready to be moved to priming. . .

There may soon be two loups-garous by M. Carrasco on the painting bench. . .

"Moondirge" -- Crawling. . .

I might begin to sound like a broken record in quite short order, but I must reiterate that this is one exceptional kit! Gross clean-up, consisting of removing what are most likely the pour sprues, has been completed, and all pieces duly checked for fit. AFAIC. . . TOP MARKS!

I might be over the moon over the quality of the sculpture, the casting, and the packaging; but. . . [you knew this was coming, didn't you?]. . . since first seeing this kit, I thought to myself, "The pose. . . why pose this magnificent beast as a quadruped?" And so the project has begun. . . at least in my mind -- for now.

Tentative fitting using clay as an adhesive has confirmed the validity of the premise, and I am excited as all get-out!!! Rather than bore you with words, this cover art has provided some visual grist for the mental mill:


It's a great place to start! More to follow. . .

PS--I've only just recently picked-up the book, but from what I've read, it ought to be a good one!

UPDATE - 24.03.2012. . . The right hand is actually a half-fist, with the proximal phalanges reduced to a flattened plane that rests on the ground as the front "leg" of the tripod (i.e., fist- walking, as in orangutans). This will either have to be built-out, or the hand resculpted in its entirety. As a clenched fist is a good fit with what I have envisioned, I opted for the former. There is a bit of a problem in that the right hand, as truncated, is not in scale with the left, but I will hopefully be able to work around this and not have to resculpt the entire hand. Stay tuned. . .

BaneBeasts: Creoda the Gúthwulf

I received the titular kit, sculpted by this fan's favorite, Allan Carrasco, yesterday, and Maelstrom Games has - if anything - raised the bar even higher--on themselves, I might add! This is simply a spectacular casting (7 pcs. + plinth) of a spectacular sculpt, packaged accordingly. . . [wistful sigh].

Rest assured that you will be seeing more of this fellow in the very near future. In the meantime, I will refer you to its webpage. . .

ENJOY!

PS--I will hopefully have some very good news forthcoming for fans of the BaneLegions. . .