Safari Ltd. Wolf - "Winter Wolf"

[Growltiger]

Safari Ltd white wolf (can be found in some "Tubes" sets) redone as a Winter Wolf. Done back in January for table top use.

Cork rocks, white sand snow, and smoothed "craft glass" for blue ice spikes.

Crappy desk light and phone picture but you get the idea. 

CC always welcome!   

[Glitterwolf]

This is a tube animal?

 

Looks great repainted!

[tiniest rhombus]

Wow, that came out of a tube? It looks grrreat!

[Mierot]

Very nice repaint! The blue shading is outstanding.

[Dr_Automaton]

Looks good.  Great job on the eyes.

[zoroaster100]

Great job!  You turned a plastic toy in to a beautiful miniature!  The eyes are awesome as is the tiny glint of white light reflection on his little black nose.

[EvilJames]

Wow hard to believe where it came from. Wonderful job.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Awesome wolf! Great basing and very striking eyes.

[malefactus]

The Wolf is a BEAUTIFUL creation; WONDERFULLY painted & based...I love his eyes. VERY WELL DONE!

[Jordan Peacock]

I love so much of this piece!  The blue-grey undertone to the fur really communicates that chilly wintry feel, but it isn't so sharp that it makes the wolf look unnatural.  The custom basing eradicates any hope that I would have guessed this was a "Toob" animal without being told so.  And those nicely detailed eyes, and the dot of highlight on the nose -- perfect finishing right down to the little details!  It makes me want to rush out and grab a Toob.  :D

[Growltiger]

Thanks for all the compliments on this guy!

 

I am really happy with how he came out especially considering everything about it was an experiment.

The wolf comes in a Toob with other "arctic" animals like a polar bear, penguin, and a person with a sled. I bought it when I stumbled on a local mom and pop toy store that sells the Toob animals individually for $1.70. 

It's a decent sculpt and the same scale as Reapers Warg and Death Dog so it makes a good large creature. Would make a good mount too ...... hmmm.  /ponders

 

So this was the first time I ever tried to use a "non-gaming" mini to make something. 

It was my first attempt at playing with cork and sand. The snow did take two tries as the first attempt didn't work out the way I wanted.

For the wolf I wanted something subtle color wise. Just enough to say "this isn't your average white wolf" with being too bright or over the top. 

 

I do have a second one that I have chopped up a bit to change it's pose a bit.

I'll be making it in to a companion for this wolf.

I can try and throw a WIP thread up for it if there is any interest.

[Darsc Zacal]

Great paintwork and basing. Excellent choice of colours.

I feel now that I've been doing tube animals a disservice by walking past them without a second look all these years.

[Jordan Peacock]

Great paintwork and basing. Excellent choice of colours.

I feel now that I've been doing tube animals a disservice by walking past them without a second look all these years.

 

Heh.  I can't help but check them out every time I'm going by JoAnn Fabric with Wendy (to use one of those 50% off one regularly-priced item coupons, etc.) on a hunt for knitting supplies or whatnot.  A Toob of "landmarks of the world" came in handy for vehicle-scale terrain for some over-the-top Pirates RPG games (using the little plasticard "Pirates of the Spanish Main" models for ships, and islands mostly made out of foam).  A safari-themed Toob was useful for some quickie kitbashes of creatures from "the Barrens" in our World of Warcraft campaign (basically just taking some putty to amplify the "humps" on the backs of some hyenas, adding horns to a giraffe, adding a nose-horn to a zebra for a "Zhevra," and using the lions pretty much as-is, but with some repainting and re-basing).

 

The "Safari" models I typically find in close proximity to the Toobs (whether at Target or JoAnn or Michael's or wherever) are usually grossly out of scale, but occasionally  there's some fantasy creature (a dragon, for instance) that would probably make a great dungeon boss with a new base and some paint touch-up ... if I hadn't already loaded up on McFarlane Dragons on clearance once upon a time (back when "K-B Toy Liquidators" was still a major source of cheap "minis" for me), or if Reaper hasn't provided ample Bones alternatives since then.  More recently, I managed to find a use for an elk to do a conversion of a "Raevhan Buffalo" (never mind that the fantasy creature looks absolutely nothing like a "buffalo," save that it is big) with some wire and putty and a 120mm base.

 

Quite often, toys are a great source of alternative "minis" -- especially big bulky "boss" models -- or as sources for fairly cheap (and relatively durable) background terrain, especially if I manage to pick and choose items from a thrift store that isn't in the habit of overpricing beat-up old donations (or over-bundling them into huge grab bags full of random garbage).

[Chaoswolf]

That's fantastic!