Mental Wanderings

Still not much progress from me on any miniatures projects. Not sure if I'm just busy or lacking in motivation. Probably more of the second.

Anyways here is a sculpt I did a long time ago, Captain Hannibal Lop. Quick on the draw, Hannibal runs a ship for hire the Castoff. His hardbitten cigar chomping exterior hides a heart of gold and a fierce loyalty to his crew. I'd like to get around to doing the other two crew members as well, Reginald a parrot who acts as both pilot and comms expert, and Mr Bubbles engineer who is a goldfish in a mechanical suit.


Old pics too. Ill try to put new ones up soon.

I also want to put some more details on him, patches, insignia, etc. Maybe I'll do that soon too.

I've also run across the some great steampunk miniatures at Lead Adventure. I think these are brilliant I love the details and character on them, although some of the poses are a little wonky. Even though they are 28mm I might get some. Or at least take some inspiration from them as my free funds for gaming are a little low at the moment.

Dr. Oculus

This past week hasn't been very productive hobby-wise. Hopefully I'll be able to get some projects finished this week though instead. In the meantime here is a picture that my beautiful photographer took of an old miniature of mine Dr Oculus.

The good doctor was used in a Victorian Superhero game run many years back. As an agent of the crown he used his various vision based powers to root out the festering menace in the very belly of London.

This was taken to try out the new macro lens she got for graduation. I'm excited to get some more stuff completed so she can take some more great pictures for me.

Windows and Doors

Over the past weekend I was able to get some more work done on my architectural bits. I decided to do three different types of windows and two doors. I figured this would give me a bit of variety when putting together a few buildings. I also think I'm going to do wall sections, roofs pieces, chimneys, and other detail pieces. Then I can cast up a bunch of pieces and just mix and match them together to make several buildings. Of course this means it will take longer to get the first building done but after that I should be able to knock a couple of them out quickly.

I still had some mold making material left so I was able to make a mold. Unfortunately, I don't have any casting resin left so I'm going to have to order some more. I'll get some silicon mold material too while I'm at it cause I'm going to need some soon enough.

In the meantime I found a resin 15mm building ruin that I think its meant for eastern front WWII, but will work well enough for what I'm doing. I'm going to paint it up and use it in the background for pictures.

"As under a green sea"

  To begin with the Walloon Jacquerie was only remarkable in the speed and quantity in which the anarchists and workmen assembled and marched on Liège. Although contact was lost with the troops sent to guard the colossi foundries this was not noticed until much later and at first the attention of the Belgium command was focused on dispersing the rioters. This proved more difficult then first expected due to them being remarkably well armed. Nevertheless, the discipline and drill of the Belgium troops soon led to them having the upper-hand and they were shortly hunting down the scattered pockets of die hard revolutionaries. 

  It was at this point that many believe Professor Emil offered his services and research to the desperate hold outs. It is unlikely they understood what exactly he was offering but grasped at any possibility to turn the situation around. As the Belgium troops were storming the last stronghold of the revolutionaries that the spore clouds were first encountered. In the alleyways between the worker's tenements it was described as a "green-yellow fog" and like moving "as under a green sea, small particles darting about like minuscule fish." 

  At first the troops merely coughed and gagged on the spores, but as soon as they made it into the last hideout the source was revealed. The interior of the house was coated in a thick layer of fungus and great mounds pumped out the spores like bellows. Amongst the fungi shambled great heaps that once were men but now had become something else. And even as the figures lurched forward streams of spores blew out from gill like vents along their body. The soldiers did not know it then but soon the spores they inhaled would transform them the same way and much of Liège would resemble those small, mold covered rooms. 
                                                                                                         - A History of the Liège Incident

The first of what will probably be many fungal creatures is done. Here are a few fun fungus facts. Fungus are more closely related to animals than plants. Some of the largest known organisms on earth are fungus colonies. One covers 8.9 square kilometers and is estimated to be 2400 years old. No wonder Professor Emil is so obsessed with fungi!

Scale Comparison

The Cabal

Rough sketch of Cabal Soldier

Next on my cast of players is the Cabal. Right now I'm going to work on two figures for them. The first is a foot soldier. For the time being I'm going to use Cryx warjacks for the Cabal's colossi. In order to tie the soldier to that look I'm going with a skull mask for him. Plus since the Cabal is a secret society within secret societies it lends a bit of masquerade to the figure. He's armed with a ray gun due to the Cabal using a unique blend of mysticism and technology. Plus I haven't made one yet and I want to.

Slenderman

The second is the Slender Man. They serve as observers and hatchetmen for the top ranks of the Cabal. I wanted a pose that would show off their inhuman physiology but not be over the top. I kinda like this look but I'd like to do a more hyper action pose and a more rigid standing pose in the future.

Soldier a little further along

The beginnings of the Slenderman

The Liège Incident

I've decided to try to concentrate on trying to build up the characters to portray a certain event in the history of my steampunk world. I'm going to focus on a fictionalized and greatly altered historical event, the Walloon Jacquerie. In the real world this was a semi spontaneous anarchist/worker's revolt that was put down by Belgium troops in the Liège area in 1886. I'm going to make it a little weirder and use it to introduce several power groups.

Fungoid in Liège

One of the main characters we've already met, Professor Emil. Next up is one of his creations an unholy melding of man and fungus and the final product of the professor's experiment into creating the perfect socialist society.

The sculpt so far.

Looking Back, Looking Forwards

I realized today that I've been posting on this blog for 6 months now. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about it. First I think that my original goal of motivating myself has been met. Second my focus has definitely changed over that time. Getting a new job ate into a lot of the time I expected to have and I had to scale back my plans. On the plus side sculpting, with it's built in stops to let the putty dry, fits perfectly into my schedule. Plus I've found that I really enjoy it.

I also came to realize that the part of the hobby I like the best is the storytelling. I'm not a skilled writer so the best way I have of creating a world and showing others is with miniatures. While I enjoy playing games I'm perfectly satisfied with shaping a world that others might enjoy or play in.

Looking ahead I guess more of the same for the near future. More sculpting updates and I think I might try to tell a little more of the background I'm coming up with for my creations to live in. I'm excited to see where the next 6 months take me!