Wednesday 31 October 2012

Keepin' It Snappy...

Hi, All!

Wutha-F'Kahwi dinosaur cavalry. Finished!

Just a short one this week. (ooh-err, missus!)

Sadly, my creative output this week has been somewhat curtailed, derailed, distracted and crippled by the brutal onslaught of some lovely weather and a convenient pub...

The finished unit, unpainted. At this stage, things looked pretty sketchy.

Nonetheless, I battled through and completed the dinosaur riders I started last week - which is a result, at least.

As you will recall, I set myself the challenge of taking some prety awful plastic dinosaurs and making them look good in a short space of time. Here are the results...

The unit leader, unpainted. I gave him a rifle in the end - he started with a spear.

What a fearsome fellow!
Standard bearer, unpainted.

The finished standard bearer.

The keen-eyed and pedantic amongst you will doubtless have noticed that I completely forgot to add girths and martingales to these fellows - a mistake which eluded me until I was well into painting them. "Bugger!" I quite accurately stated, "Oh well, these felows are probably used to living dangerously - they're riding bleedin' dinosaurs for Pete's sake!"

So I carried on regardless.

Warrior #3, unpainted.

Warrior #3. Finished. I love the contrast of blue and yellow on this one.

Warrior #4, unpainted. This one was a challenge - he's riding the most ridiculous looking dinosaur in my opinion. Rather like a big duck.

Warrior #4 finished. Not a bad result. I couldn't do much about the flash lines on some of these creatures - I would have ended up carving huge chunks out of their legs!

Warrior #5, unpainted.

Warrior #5 finished. There's a great feeling of movement to this one.

You might also notice that each mount bears a different colour for their livery, something like that of feudal knights. I wanted to make this a very bright and flamboyant unit and I think I have achieved this.

As with my warlord of a couple of posts-ago, I added feathers from GW High Elves to the livery. These have been painted in identical colours to bind the unit together, as have the riders' very simple clothes.

Not a bad little unit of beasties, if I say so myself!

Next up for theWutha-F'Kahwi forces: A Shaman...

It'll be interesting to see how this fellow develops. Right now, I haven't got a clue!
Anyway, that's that for this week. More soon!

Wutha-F'Kahwi cavalry prepare to charge...


All the Best!

19 comments:

  1. They look fine, Col. I certainly wouldn't want to face them in battle . . . they'd probably eat me!


    -- Jeff

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    1. Thanks, Jeff!

      Just be sure to face only the herbivores and I'm sure you'll live to fight another day!

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  2. I would really hate to see the lot of them charging out of the jungle.

    ColKG

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  3. Well modeled, Col. I enjoy "one-of-a kind(s)" figures; and your factory puts them out regularly, and in 1st class condition. Woe be the being that stands in these cavalry chargers path.

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    1. Thanks, Jay. I'm only too pleased to keep churning them out, so long as folks like you appreciate them.

      I'm loking forward to seeing how these fellows fare against my various British VSF creations!

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  4. These are very fun :) I'd like my own dino to ride, would beat driving

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    1. Glad you like 'em, Ferret!

      I'd like that, too. But imagine the smell!

      Delete
  5. Gotta hand it to you, they're pretty darn cool for cheap plastic dino toys!

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    1. Thank you, Scott. They weren't a bad investment after all, at $5 for 12 dinosaurs!

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  6. Now as impressive as these are, very impressive in fact, I do have one concern - what about stabling these beasties?

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    1. Mr Awdry, my friend, I'm glad you are impressed. But I can assure you that these (and most of my other creations) are decidedly UN-stable.

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  7. Hi,
    I really enjoy your work.
    What is the brass foil you use to make saddle and blanket ?

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    1. Hi Sylvain. Thanks very much!

      The brass foil I use is from tubes of tomato puree. (The brands I get here in NZ are "Mutti" and "Delmaine")

      When I have used the puree (or squeezed it into a jar, if I'm pressed for time and not particularly hungry) I cut off the two ends with some big scissors, split the tube open by inserting a sharp knife, open it out, wash it and press it flat. I find scraping it out with the edge of a steel ruler works well.

      This stuff is easy to work with and doesn't tend to tear. I hope you find some and find it useful. Be careful - the edges can be sharp.

      All the Best!

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  8. Lovely work as usual, colonel! A nice colourful unit. Fierce beasties like those are the very stuff of high VSF.

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    1. Why thank you, A J old chap!

      Always a pleasure to hear from you.

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  9. Hello Colonel - Wow! Well, all beautiful paint jobs as ever! They really do bring these naive and crude toys to beautiful, animated life. It is wonderful to see the transformation. Speachless. (Although, not quite, as you can see). The end result is a work of art complete with movement, character and ebulliant life!

    And I like your style: when you realise you've made a mistake, use a great British expletive and change the remit. Spot on.

    I presume, dear Sir, you were were merely frequenting your local hostelry as research for future tribal and character names? Your dedication to the cause is indeed boundless! Perhaps I will help out and pop down my local wine bar... How about a lady: Sophie Gnon-Blanc, the aristocratic Parisian spy? Or Rio-Ha - the Wutha-F'Kahwi Tribe leader needs a wife...maybe? (Sorry, you probably don't do wives and such-like in war-gaming...not something I'm au fait with myself... apologies. I do not mean to de-base the seriousness of the cause. Ahem.)

    I bow to you Sir, and tug my fore-lock. Bravo!

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    1. Ah, Miss Bentley! Brief and to the point, as ever!

      Very glad you like my dinosaurs - I'm a little disappointed in retrospect that I didn't know how to do this when I was a penniless teenager saving everything I could for expensive metal miniatures! What a bargain these creatures were!

      I can only marvel at your astute observations - the very idea that I would visit a public house for anything other than research is frankly laughable...

      Great name ideas, by the way - and yes: we do include the female of the species in our games from time to time...

      Now; all this talk of forelocks has me thinking of the cavalry I still have to finish...

      All the Best!

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  10. 28mm scale? I am dong some in 1/32.

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