03431 frost giant princess - sculpt & paint D. Schubert

[dks]

I've never taken so long, after starting to paint a miniature, to finish it.

She is Svetlana, the Frost Giant Princess.  The metal version is DHL 3431; in Bones, she's 77107.

Read below the pics for the backstory of sculpting and painting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SAGA

 

I sculpted her in 2009, from this drawing by Wayne Reynolds:

He designed some other frost giants and the new icy-themed dark elf faction for Reaper around that time.

 

Werner Klocke had recently sculpted Reaper's fire giant queen, with a clever metal-saving design: a body cast in front-and-back parts that left a hollow center. 

I stole that idea for the front giant princess.

 

I took my sculpting kit along on my 3-week bicycle ride from ReaperCon '09 (late May) to Asheville, North Carolina (mid-June). 

I didn't sculpt much along the ride, but I do remember a day in Monteagle, Tennessee, when the fog was so thick I didn't want to risk being on the road.  I gave my legs a rest that day and spent a few hours sculpting in my hotel room.

I finished sculpting the figure in late July, and she was released in September.

 

Some folks on the Reaper Forum debated whether the princess's face was exposed skin or a mask.

I weighed in here. 

You can see how different people have painted her over the years, mostly with masks.

I didn't get around to painting my own version with the bare skin.

 

I got a metal copy of this figure in late 2009 or early 2010.

 

May 2010: 1 hour cleaning the figure.

 

((wait 1 year 10 months))

 

March 2012: 4 hours assembling the body (but not the left hand and spear), and using Greenstuff to patch the gaps and adding volume to the back of the hair.

April 2012: 3 hours doing a primer coat / value-study in White and Black Brush-On Primer.

 

((wait 3 years))

 

April 2015: 5 hours verifying the assembly, attaching the hand, refining the shape of the eyes a bit, setting wires for the extra hair strand & the spear strap (in WAR's sketch but not the stock figure), and then sculpting over the wires.  Thin things like these can make a miniature look more dynamic and realistic because they aren't limited by the considerations for casting.  (I got that advice from Jeremie Bonamont when he was at ReaperCon one year.)

 

WIP pics then:

 

 

That evening / night / early morning, I spent another 7 hours in 3 sessions roughing in blended base coats over everything.

And then I lost interest. 

She went into the cabinet.

 

((wait 5 years 9 months))

I decided to include the fox in some way. (The fox goes with Feiya the Pathfinder iconic witch, #60048, sculpted by Julie Guthrie.) 

I occasionally got nebulous ideas for an ice/snow base, but I never sat down to give physical form to these ideas.

 

Jan-Feb 2021: She called to me again at 1am one night / morning.  I painted until 5:30am.  More painting sessions over the following week, and then basing.  Built the base from rough masses to final shapes -- just start building, and then edit and refine.  Devised the sticks-with-straps elements to fill the front-right area and show the wind.  Added the snow, including drifts and footprints.  Refined the colors, especially the ice-spear and the snow.  Glazed, glazed, glazed.  In all, about 50 hours over the last 3 weeks. 

And for now, she is finished.

 

 

I think the sculpt holds up pretty well, though I deviated on several points from WAR's sketch (partly from my own design sense, but mostly from my lack of sculpting skill). 

If I were sculpting her today, I could do better on some proportions and making the fur and hair more spiky/icy than wavy.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Enjoy!

Derek

[Darcstaar]

Excellent!  Lovely base with a lot going on.  The color in the hair really stands out to my eye.  And everything is so smooth.

[Glitterwolf]

[KruleBear]

Looks awesome for a speed paint......Just kidding. It turned out gorgeous. Definitely one to be proud of.

 

I am feeling a tad shamed in my slow painting though. I guess I should get back to that GW Ogre I started when I got married....in 2010....

[TheOldGuard]

Stunningly beautiful!

[Iridil]

Inspirational painting - I see her differently now as well, wow

[MoonglowMinis]

Absolutely incredible!  Amazing to see the journey from sketch to finished painted piece.

[SamuraiJack]

Never knew she was in metal.. I guess I'll add that to the wish list

[Samedi]

Love the colour scheme!

 

And thanks for the background, now I don't feel so bad about someone on my shelf anymore. Yes, Barros who is staring at me since 2009, I'm looking at you! 

[Poilu_1914]

Fantastic job, love the history behind it too.

[Metalchaos]

Wow! What a journey and what a result. What a spectacular work.

[dks]

Thanks, folks!  Glad you enjoyed seeing the result and reading about the process.

 

@Darcstaar : Blue and purple were the main colors, with small stretches around the color wheel from purple to red, and from blue to green.  I used some red glazes on the ends of her hair to make it more lively (and subtly menacing), and on the blade of the spear to simulate blood that had frozen in the cracks.  I also spent a fair bit of time managing the value and saturation of all the neutrals (the browns and grays and off-whites) to keep them distinct from one another but not command too much attention, and painting subtle blues and purples to keep them from looking dull.

 

@KruleBear and @Samedi : Yes, it's not too late to finish that Ogre and Barros on your shelves!

 

@SamuraiJack : She's a nice paperweight in metal, with sharp detail.  She got translated into Bones later.  She doesn't have any base (integral or tab) so I made a handle by setting 2 brass rods and clamping them into my sculpting block, as you can see in the WIP shots.  She must be a lot lighter and easier to hold in Bones, but I don't know how well the details held up.

 

Derek

[72moonglum]

Besides just being a beautiful miniature and beautifully painted, it's very nice to see the actual sculptor paint his own creation to see how he envisions the figure.   I have the figure since years ago, but have never dared paint it, partially for that reason that I could never figure out, is it a mask or a face?  This definitely clears things up quite nicely!

[Loim]

Thanks for the lovely post. The whole miniature is exceptionally well done, but I have to say the hair is my favorite part. Cheers. 

[dks]

@72moonglum :  Thanks!  I like to paint my sculpts, but I also enjoy seeing other painters use colors that I never imagined for my sculpts.  You can paint her bare-faced or masked, as you prefer.  If you want the mask to leave her chin exposed, you could build out a bottom edge with a thin strip of putty (blended into the upper face), or just fake the edge with paint.

 

@Loim : I hope you get to see her in person at a future ReaperCon!

 

Derek