ThePolo Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 So, I got a package while I was out of town! Woot! I spent a little time today doing cleanup. Wash, file, fill and glue... So much fun. A great model, IMHO. Just a few minor mold lines. The one I ended up with had the tip missing from the banner, and a very slight mis-cast on the wings (both sets)... but that seems pretty common with big, flat pieces. Such a purty piece in person! All the pieces, laid out, washed, filed and cleaned. As you'll notice, I'll be using the Ebonwraith wings on Lavarath instead of the wings that came in the blister... Maybe I'll use those on Ebonwraith. Leg and arm went on really nice. Easy to pin, and I probably don't even need the greenstuff. My quick-fix on the banner. I just hope that the green-stuff'll hold, or I'll need to come up with another solution (probably more greenstuff, but with some copper wire in there for stability). Waiting for the arm, leg, and head joints to set and dry before I pin the tail on. Below are my basing choices so far. Gonna put em' on a big rock, I think. Tomorrow I test-fit both sets of wings, and see which I like better. The other set'll go on Ebonwrath (my next 'big'project). After the wings are on, I'll be painting the two of them (dragon and rider) separately and pinning Kyra on as one of my last steps. I'll update this thread as I go... wish me luck, ya'll! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelcore Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Wow, what a beasty! Best of luck, Polo, can't wait to see it progress! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooseyjoe Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabascojunkie Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Hah hah! He's playin' pin the tail on the Dragon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neyuttad Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 The tail looks mighty fragile with the flimsy-looking pin... it's not going to hang is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkast Samurai Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 The assembly looks grest. I love to see a model from blister to completion. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePolo Posted January 15, 2006 Author Share Posted January 15, 2006 Okay, I made a little bit of progress today on my big friend here. First, I wanted to flesh out the base a bit so I knew what the 'feel' of the model would be. Last night, before I went to bed, I stuck the styrofoam together with some white (PVA) glue. I also shoved an old broken paint brush shaft through it to give it some stability (and to give me something to fasten it to the base with!) When I got started today, I placed Lavarath on top, and outlined his feet (so I'd know what to leave behind). I also trimmed down the stick a bit... I left bout a centimeter in the bottom, and trimmed it nice and close up top. Then it was just a matter of rough-cutting out some rocky shapes. I used a hobby knife to get the rough shape, and them carved out the details with a wire styrofoam cutter (not necessary, but I have the darn thing, so I'm going to use it!). Quick work, and always decent looking results. Styrofoam is great... even if you screw it up, like I did, it still comes out decent! Then I hit that with some extra cuts from a sharp hobby knife, and then smoothed it out a bit with some fine sand paper to make it look a bit weathered. Next, I drilled a hole in the base, and stuck that sucker on with some white glue. Ahhh... now I've got the makings of a fine base. My next step was to come up with some way to attach Lavarath to the base... I went with some long pieces of brass rod inserted about 1cm into the feet, and long enough to fit all the way through the foam. I just drilled a few holes in the feet, and superglued them in. I plugged the sucker in, and stuck the wings on to test fit... the tabs on the wings did require a bit of trimming to get them to fit snuggly, but the few minutes of work waas worth it! VERY imposing, eh? I've still got some major gap filling to do on the wings, once I glue them in permanently. I've got 2 fat pins in each wing at the shoulder (brass rod as opposed to the standard steel straightpins that I usually use). I drilled them in as deep as I could, too. Those things aren't going anywhere! Maybe I'll get to the greenstuff work tomorrow. I really think that I should let the glue dry for 48 hours before messing with it, though. I bent the tail a little more than on the box, to make it hang down the side of the 'rock'. I think it looks a little more natural like that, and it breaks the 'base' plain, which is always dynamic. I did need to get a beefier pin in there for the tail (you were right Neyuttad, I didn't even bother test fitting the little one...). I went with a thicker bras rod, in as deep as it would go into both ends. We'll see how my progress is tomorrow night. I plan on at least doing some work on it during the afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enchantra Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 I have this bad boy mini here on my desk waiting for cleaning and pinning. To save my sanity I'm probably going to find a way to apply the wings after the body is painted. I was looking at Kyra, and trying to drill a hole into her arm to attach her hand and the banner is going to be one major pain in the rump. Such a very tiny bump to try to drill a hole into. I see a several hour drilling project in my near future for the entire mini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 Looking good Po-Po. What a big project. Nice to see you getting ready to sling some paint! Ya know I looked at this blister pack at my FLAGS on Friday, but just wasn't that impressed. Maybe seeing this painted up will change my mind. What about the rider? SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePolo Posted January 15, 2006 Author Share Posted January 15, 2006 I was looking at Kyra, and trying to drill a hole into her arm to attach her hand and the banner is going to be one major pain in the rump. Such a very tiny bump to try to drill a hole into. Nah... it's not too bad. I actually used a pin vise, and it went really quick (tip: use a new bit). I actually decided to shave the little nubby off. Gave me a cleaner surface to drill into on the arm. I'll get a pic up tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePolo Posted January 15, 2006 Author Share Posted January 15, 2006 Okay. I had a little time before and after some errands today to work on the base. The last thing that I did last night was add some texture. I basically just threw some on the top to break up that big flat area, and added some on the sides where stones might have crumbled or fallen: This morning, I primed the whole thing black (not pictured) with the old airbrush. I let that dry while I was out. When I returned I mixed up some gray textured paint using some bargain basement paint I had lying around and some sand. Textured paint's easy, and it really helps the effect, I've found (one of the few tips from the GW site that I've used a lot!). I slathered that on the whole piece: Once that's dry, I get to do a whole lotta drybrushing. As for the rider, she's pinned, she's primed, and she's waiting for paint. I used a single straightpin in her arm to support the hand. I drilled into the arm to about the elbow with a pin vise, and went almost all the way through the hand on the other piece. Quick tip: shave off the little nubby thing on her wrist before you start. It'll give your glue/epoxy a litle more surface area to 'grab' onto, and it'll make the drilling qute a bit easier. Now that she's ready to paint, I think that I might leave her on the desk for a while and see if inspiration strikes. (I've got a few minis waiting for attention before her anyway). I'm almost done with the assembly... just need to greenstuff the gaps in the wings (is 'greenstuff' a verb? Hmmmm.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 (is 'greenstuff' a verb? Hmmmm.) If not, it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turhan Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 I see in the first batch of pix the dragon on his back. I love it when dragons roll over so you can scratch their tummies. Bet it makes her purr. A loud Purr, maybe with smoke and flames. By the way, I like your idea for the base- tall but with all the weight at the bottom -- until you mount the dragon. Does it seem like it will be pretty steady? Or are you thinking you may have to drill out the base and glue in some lead birdshot? Just curious. good luck with that. looks like it'll be a beauty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePolo Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 Actually, the weight on the draggon is really well centered... most of it's right in the hips. When he's on the base, it seems pretty stable... Howver, now that you mention it, I might not want to take any chances. I may need to bust out the router this week and take our advice :) However, the last few things that I've gotten done tonight are... well... done. After the first coat on the base dried, I washed the whole thing with watered down black ink and picked out the parts that I wanted to be 'dirt' in walnut brown (Basically, anywhere that I wanted to add flocking material/static grass to later). Then I hit it with a few layers of drybrush... My standard mix for 'stone', base with Reaper Pro 'Armor Gray', then wash with Black Ink, then drybrush with GW Shadow Grey, then VJ 'Cold Grey', then either GW 'Fortress Grey' or 'Spacewolf Grey'... Then I finally did the same to the dirt (Walnut Brown, Brown Ink, Drybrush Chestnut Brown, Snakebite Leather, Bleached Bone), picked out each individual stone on the sides, and hit it with some static grass... Voila: Not to shabby, eh? I also finished my 'greenstuffing' (I've coined a phrase! Hoody-hoo!), so Lavarath is up for some priming before I go to bed. As usual, I've greenstuffed every joint, and tried to 'sculpt' the putty to match the surrounding areas... I'm not a sculptor, so we'll see how it comes out, eh? It shouldn't be too bad once the paint's on it. Not bad for a weekend's work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Looking great man. Love the play by play on the base and mini. Now, you best go get some sleep! SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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