cdorf Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 For the past year, I have managed a historic site. Taking this job was a massive change of pace for me, but I enjoy every moment of it. One of the best parts is that I get to work with a great staff. The core three each have over 25 years experience on the site. They love it, and their enthusiasm and passion for the site are terrific. We have our disagreements, but we have a lot of fun as well, which brings me to this project. On one of our storage cupboards, we have posted several history-themed comic strips. The first one is of Thorbob the Viking explorer. He is an unofficial mascot of the staff. On April 1st, I received a promotion and will be moving so that I can wok out of the agency headquarters. I wanted to leave the staff with a little gift and paint up my version of Thorbob. I started by picking up a couple of figures. Borin Ironbrow (07011) would serve as the body for the figure, but he lacked the double-headed ax required of Thorbob. I decided to do a quick swap with Thorondil of Kragmar (02301). Upon closer inspection of the models, I see that swapping just the head of the weapon could be a problem based on how the blade is attached to the handle. I also like the wood grain of Thorondil's ax. I could try cutting them where the handle meets the hand, but I am worried about getting it to line up and look good. Hmmm...the hands seem to be the same size. With one operation complete, it was time for another. For the horns, I am planning on adding a rod to act as an armature. So the tips of Borin's horns have got to go. With the tips removed, it was on to cleaning up mold lines and removing the tab. I also took some time to glue hands back on. Since the hands were a match, Thorondil got a replacement. The last step before work was to drill out the horns for the armature. Tonight I will do some green stuff work and try to get them ready for some primer. 17 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitterwolf Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 Cool idea! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdorf Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 Last night I hit a speed bump. I got my armatures measured, bent and test fit. I was ready to glue them into place and reached for my superglue...it was empty, and it was my last bottle. And what makes it worse... It was also my last bottle of Bones Superglue. I will have to pick some other brand up today when I am out running errands. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdorf Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Progress on this project was slowed down due to being out of town for a conference and the Easter holiday, but there was some progress done. Last night I got the horns sculpted out of green stuff. Not bad for a complete novice sculptor. After I took this photo, I went back and worked on the horn on the shield side so that it no longer looks like there is the horn has a cut out for the shield. After sculpting the horns, I then did some work on the base. I used the extra green stuff and a rock to make a textured base. I then pressed Thorbob into that base so that he will fit well into the base. I then let it dry overnight. This morning I glued him down and then glued fine sand to the base. Once the glue was dry on went a coat of primer. There were a few gouges in the horn, and I fixed these with the use of some gloss varnish. I then started blocking colors. I added a wash to the skin and started adding some texture to the leather. Taking a quick dinner break and then I hope to start back up and try to get some more done tonight. My goal is to have it finished by Saturday. 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitterwolf Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Great horns! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valthorn_Illian Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 Holy crap. This is the most awesome thing I've seen in a while, keep the pics coming. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdorf Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 On 4/23/2019 at 12:24 AM, Glitterwolf said: Great horns! Thanks! I think that turned out pretty well considering I am by no means a sculptor. 11 hours ago, Valthorn_Illian said: Holy crap. This is the most awesome thing I've seen in a while, keep the pics coming. Thank you. I think that it is turning out well. I didn't get around to posting my progress from yesterday. Yesterday morning I finished off the leather with some shading a then glazing everything over with brown ink. I think that it turned out pretty well. I also added another coat to all of the metal. I plan to try the shaded metallics technique from the first Reaper Toolbox video. This morning I was feeling a bit rushed as I had to get to work early for a phone conference. So I used my time to start the eyes by putting down a layer of blue liner. (I was feeling a bit too rushed to go any further with the eyes.) I then based coated the beard and gave it a quick wash. I may go back with a darker color. I also base coated the horns. I have a couple of things that I am debating when it comes to color at this point. (Feel free to offer any suggestions). I know that I need to do some shading on the armor, but am unsure what color to use. I am leaning towards a brown to keep it looking close to the color scheme in the cartoon. There is also his arms and chest area. The arrow points to the area in question. I feel like these may be good places for a contrasting color, or I could stick with the yellow that I am already using. Thoughts? The last decision that I will have to make is on what color to paint the cloak. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdorf Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 (edited) I have fallen a little behind on getting posts up, but some progress has happened. I did some work on the woodgrain on the ax handle. I next began work on the shaded metallics. I also washed the horns. I plan on bringing the white back up. At this point, I want to do a bit more on the metal. I did a bit more work on the metal. I did a bit more shading and then a bit of highlighting. I am happy with how it turned out. I also highlighted the beard. I decided to go with a light tan color for his sleeves and decided to paint his chest armor with the same yellow I used on other pieces of the armor. I also used the tan on the base. I then did some dry brushing on the horns. I used bleached linen which was my base color for the horn. After finishing the bleached linen on the horns, I then used Dragon White to do some highlighting on them. I then used a sepia wash on the armor, the shield and the sand. I was then going to work on the eyes, but as I started adding a layer of spectral white for the eyes, I noticed a hole. The black dot on the next photo is the hole. Not sure where it came hot, it got there. I used some gloss sealer to fill it in. While waiting for the sealer to dry, I went in and picked out all of the metal rivets on the armor and the shield. I also used some thinned yellow to glaze a bit more of a transition on the shield in between the rivet where it got dark. I also highlighted the armor. I finally decided on a color for the cloak. After looking at the original cartoon, I thought that a beautiful teal color would work. So I base coated the cloak. At this point, I still need to shade and highlight the cloak, finish the eyes, highlight the skin, and highlight the chain mail. I am going to get a cup of coffee and then get started on this list of steps. Hopefully, I will finish it today. Edited April 28, 2019 by cdorf 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 I will be sad to see this project end. It's been a lot of fun. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdorf Posted April 29, 2019 Author Share Posted April 29, 2019 23 hours ago, Corsair said: I will be sad to see this project end. It's been a lot of fun. Thanks. I am enjoying this project, and I am happy how it is turning out. I started today by adding some gold bands where the horns meet the helmet to create a transition. Since I did not sculpt anything there, I had to freehand them in. I think they turned out pretty well. Next came the eyes. In the original cartoon, they were brown, so I kept that look. My patch job on the hole worked just fine. Next, I began the process of shading the cloak. With the eyes done I was able to highlight the skin and finish it. I also worked on highlighting the chainmail as well. Upon looking at the helmet, I liked the bands, but I felt like it needed something. I used some dark brown to shade the gold that I initially used and did some dark bands around the gold. I then highlighted the cloak. I, unfortunately, did not get a photo of this before I moved to the next step and started glazing it to blend everything back. Once the glaze was done drying off, I fixed some the sand where a bit of the glaze had gotten on it. And then I felt good enough to call it done. A quick coat of matte varnish and one last touch and called it done. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malefactus Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 (edited) It is a SPLENDIDLY imaginative idea that is turned out WONDERFULLY. We passed a pair of longhorns on the way back from distant Bee Cave today. I immediately thought of your conversion; this may be an ongoing reaction. Edited April 29, 2019 by malefactus 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 He turned out great! Thanks for showing him off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdorf Posted April 30, 2019 Author Share Posted April 30, 2019 Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanH Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Love it, well done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rat13 Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Watching this figure transform was a real treat. Great conversion with a great paint job; you'll have to let us know how everyone at work likes it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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