Sláine - Prepwork 3 - The Torc

I had a few minutes to spare one evening last week, and I thought I would try to overcome a rather significant hurdle in my to-do-list of upgrades: the torc. 

The torc has been roughed-in with rolled-out MS. While I had hoped to finish it this weekend, the terminals will be added once the torc is surface-finished and scribed. 

Little by little. . .

Sláine - Prepwork: Intermezzo

For whatever reason/s, Sláine has been calling to me. Thus, I thought it time to reassess what remains to be done--as well as get the ball rolling again on this character.

So far, so good, I'm pleased to report. I tweaked the fitting and the drapery of the "plaid" a bit more to provide a more natural, convincing 'hang', and a more defined "fit". I figure there are 2-3 more sessions with the "plaid" before moving on to the fur leggings, and commencing the finalization of the prepwork. 

Stay tuned!

Sláine - Prepwork 2

The right arm has been permanently attached. I will hopefully be able to "finish" it sometime over the weekend. Work on the left arm continues. . .

I have also roughed in the fringe of the "plaid". This will probably need additional tweaks before sculpting can begin.

All in all, I am delighted with the progress. Even with the little disposable time available to me these days, this project may be ready for priming by the end of the month. . . 

UPDATE 03.05.2014. . . A very eventful--and productive!--late night/early morning. Late last night, I began the fitting of the mantle/"plaid": it has a very unnatural, gravity-defying drape that needs to be addressed. However, one must also take into consideration that the "plaid' will not fit over an attached head (i.e., one must first attach the "plaid" before proceeding with the head). So, I de- cided to break-off the right "collar" of the "plaid". Now, the head is permanently attached, and the "plaid" simply slides into place. Once everything is painted, I will then reattach the right "collar", and simply re-texture the fur. Perfection! 

I have also pegged the figure and mounted it on its work base. Graphic update to follow soon. . . 

Sláine - Prepwork 1a

The left deltoid muscle has been roughed-in and the arm fitted: a new arm socket is now in place.

What follows will take me into uncharted waters. I need to have both arms attached in their final position semi-permanently to allow me to sculpt a new set of fingers on the left hand in situ. My plan is to use white glue, which can then [hopefully] be loosened by heat and peeled away. 

This is the major hurdle on this project. Once it is done, the rest of the project is just a matter of 'doing it'.

Stay tuned. . . 

FOLLOW-UP 28.04.2014. . . The arms were provisionally attached last night, and the fingers were roughed-in this afternoon. The figure is now in the oven curing: I will hopefully be able to start finishing the fingers this evening. Time to go load a new #12 in the handle. . . 

FOLLOW-UP. . . While I did not have the opportunity to begin final finishing, preliminary indi- cations are very positive indeed. There are a few areas I will need to touch-up--in addition to adding the thumb--but for the time being I am very encouraged. . . More to follow. . .   

UPDATE 29.04.2014. . . SUCCESS!!! The fingers--including the thumb!--are all but done, and the arms have been removed without incident. Part 2 of the stage is now underway: reconfiguring the musculature of the left arm.

Sláine - Prepwork 1

The left arm has been reanimated and tentatively repositioned. This will be a work in progress until the deltoid muscle is reworked.

The left hand has been "opened" and phase 1 reduction of the palm completed.

All extraneous and/or disassociated belting has been removed; reconstruction of underlying detail has begun.

Rework of the drapery of the to-be trews has begun in anticipation of the addition of the fur leggings.

A good start, but much remains to be done. . .

Sláine--What is and what shall be, pt. 2

Now for "what shall be" and my vision of the project before me. . . 

• Delete/Remove:
• Sword/Scabbard
• All associated belting
• The "head girdle"

• Reposition and re-animate the left arm.
• Rework the left hand.
• Add fur leggings.
• Add torc.
• Rework the chained skulls--the secondary skull is gravity-defying and just doesn't look right. I have decided to replace the cast resin chains with the real deal. I will also rework the skulls themselves to make them demonic in origin.
• Extend the plaid by adding a fringe or a distressed edge.

And that's about it. This will be a slow-moving project (yeah. . . that's a surprise!. . . what isn't nowadays?!), but one in which I definitely want to make serious inroads. 

Stay tuned!

Sláine--What is and what shall be, pt. 1

I originally conceived of this project as a straight OOB “Painter’s” figure. However, the more I looked at the figure and the graphic artwork, the less I was convinced that this figure truly captured the character and presence of Sláine. 

Before I itemize my issues with this piece, please understand that these are MY opinions, and in no way reflect on the quality or design of the figure. I understand why the figure was done in the way that it was—my question to the good folk at DWC is: “Knowing what you do now, if Sláine was to be your next release, instead of it being your fourth release, would you elect this presentation?”

I should also point out that my experience with the graphic version of Sláine is limited to the collected trade anthology, Demon Killer, since this was the source for the 3-d’al interpretation of the subject. While I have attempted to construct a graphic timeline of the subject’s appearance, this is hardly definitive. Hence, some of my conclusions might be, to varying degrees, at best, indefensible.

OK. . . in no particular order. . .

• The pose is rather stiff and two dimensional. And artistic license has been exercised a number of times, regrettably not in a good way.
• Case in point, the sword. Sláine is depicted with a sword on the cover art of DK; 

        but 1) he is not wearing a scabbard; and 2) that is the only instance where Sláine is
        shown wielding a sword! [NOT TRUE! See UPDATE below.] The sword was included to:
        1) increase the mayhem potential of the subject; and 2) give the left hand something to do--
        without  resorting to anatomical machinations, and potentially discouraging sales due to the
        painting implications. Animation on this piece is quite limited.

• The scabbard. Apparently there were difficulties in lining-up the hand/grip with the scabbarded sword: in my sample, the quillons are not perpendicular to the blade, and the top scabbard binding has been angled to accommodate the quillons. The ideal solution would have been to include the sword as a stand-alone accessory and have the hand jauntily at the hip.  

• The sword belt. Perfunctory at best! And the scabbard bindings are significantly wider than the belt, which is but a smidge wider that the bindings on the lower legs of the breeches!    
• The “leggings”. The bindings are very nicely done. . . BUT, why are there no fur leggings?!
• The “belt” with the head totems. WHY? There is no evidence of the belt being sup- ported in any fashion, which means that Sláine would be tripping on the belt after 2 or three strides! Also, such an accessory is nowhere to be found in the graphic art. UPDATE 24.06.2014. . . Not true. While Rin indicated that the graphic source of this piece is the collected trade anthology, Demon Killer (not the story by the same name!), specifically it belongs to an introductory story titled, "The High King". . . And the figure is faithful to the illustration!
• Why was the torc left off? This is an iconic--and culturally-defining!--item for the subject. [see previous notation: Sláine did not wear a torc in this story.]

[to be continued. . . ]

Dark World Creations' Sláine Mac Roth

By way of introduction, this is the background provided by DWC:

Sláine is a mighty, black-haired Irish warrior. . . . Once banished from the Sessair tribe, Sláine became a wanderer. He wandered the land seeking adventure armed with his axe, Brainbiter.  An unscrupu- lous dwarf called Ukko, who is his sidekick and chronicler, accompa- nies Sláine (note: I'd love for DWC to do a figure of Ukko!). In later stories, Sláine becomes the first High King of Ireland. 

The graphic novel Demon Killer by Pat Mills and the art of Glen Fabry inspired our Sláine.

Additional information can be found here.

Sláine Mac Roth is Dark World Creations' fourth release in their 2000AD series. 3-D sculpted by David Richardson, the 70mm figure actually measures 77mm in overall ht.: this is the "beefiest" of the DWC releases to date. The kit is comprised of 11 exquisitely cast pieces + the logo-ed base.

In my next posting, I will examine the design of the figure and provide a preliminary outline of my plans for it.

More to follow. . .