Harrenhal - Prepwork III: Working the seams

There are no two ways about it: filling seams and re-"surfacing" (read: texturing) the filled areas is the most time-consuming and arduous aspect of this project. Do it right, and you'll be question- ing your sanity soon into the process. Do it wrong. . . and you will have a rather sizeable--and glaring!-- reminder of your own ineptitude/impatience/what have you for as long as you own the finished piece!

And so it has begun! I am undertaking this step in time-manageable chunks to not only preserve what little of my questionable sanity I might have left, but to ensure that the putty (MS) remains at the right consistency throughout the session. To this end, the right half of the dragon is now done. . . 

More to follow. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Harrenhal - Prepwork II: The Wings

The right and left wings has been pegged and fitted. The former is a bit of a handful as the distal/ aft portion of the wing root was severely off-center ("levered" demolding). Nothing to fret over, as a few minutes under the hair-dryer and some digital manipulation restored everything as it should be. . . maybe better!

Going forward, at the forefront of planning will be whether to mount the wings permanently, finish- ing and re-texturing the seams, before or after painting. While I am not averse to the latter, there will be some minor re-sculpting involved to effectively mask the seams, and this will impact the final finish on the dragon. . .

Fortunately, still down the road some. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Harrenhal - Prepwork

Another day under the weather, so if I can't paint, I might as well get something done. . . ! Some- thing that is as p***ed-off as I feel. . .

As I mentioned in my review, while the surface detail of the castings is excellent, fit leaves much to be desired. When one considers the extent of interactivity between disparate--in every sense!-- components, it might all work satisfactorily at first; but sooner or later mold degradation, distor- tion, etc. will demand a fair amount of resculpting.  .  .

I have yet to see a sbs on how to best tackle this beast--in fact, I've seen relatively few finished pieces! A dozen, more or less?? So this is either a collector's keepsake. . . or the usual sop backfires on the miniaturist when it comes time to integrate dragon and groundwork, and the project gets rather unceremoniously shelved.

The dragon is now completely assembled save for the right foreleg and the wings. And the main section of the tower is permanently attached to the groundwork. Thus the two main elements of the vignette--focal and structural--are now "locked in". The interface of the tower wall section molded en suite with the dragon and the main tower has been reworked with MS to provide a [near-]seamless join--I will now have to grind/scribe/distress the masonry.

A few observations before closing. . .

• I would say that if any miniature required an assembly guide, Cang would be a strong contender. But, as alluded to above, any assembly guide is only as good as the quali- ty/finish of the castings. 
• I don't agree with the breakdown of the dragon: the left foot should not have been cast en suite with the tower wall! Had it been cast separately (preferably; or as part of the leg), then the location of the foot, which is in any case irrelevant, would have been self-realized.
• The mating surfaces are nowhere clean enough; and in my sample, the contact sur- faces are invariably somewhat concave which reduces the strength of the join.

That being said, basic assembly and prep took less than 2 days. I would say there are a good 6-8 weeks of assembly (wings), re-texturing, and clean-up before I can even begin to think about the painting: that is certainly not an inordinate amount of time given the magnitude of the project. I have spent a significantly longer period of time prepping kits that were nowhere-near as ambi- tious--or impressive! But this will be a concern for the waning days of Winter. . .      

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Alas Harrenhal. . .

At the Atlanta Show in 2012, I picked-up Cang the Implacable for my lady from the good folk at Cool Mini or Not. This 10th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture was designed and sculpted by Pedro Fernández [Ramos], one of the premier miniatures sculptors in the world.

The kit is cast in 20 pieces:

• Dragon: 12 pcs.- resin
• Groundwork: 3 pcs.- resin (integral components of the kit)
• Dragonrider: 5 pcs. - white metal (optional) 

The casting quality overall is VG/VG+; however, fit is problematic and assembly--well, let's just say that this kit is for VERY experienced miniaturists. It will challenge you at every turn and exhaust your modelling back of tricks--pacing and patience are key! That being said, the fact remains that, afaic, this offering sets the bar for dragons in miniature--to a height I don't see many attempting, much less managing, to reach!

So much for the star of this 2015 project. My lady loves dragons, and I wanted to get her the best dragon in miniature on the market--which I obviously did. However, the complexity of this kit is beyond her current skillset and experience levels--hell, it's pushing my limits! And while I am no great lover of dragon miniatures as a rule, it should come as no surprise that I am definitely taken with House Targaryen in GRR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

To make a long story short, my lady has been gracious enough to let me tackle this beast!  So... in about four weeks--maybe sooner, the fun will begin in earnest!!

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003