Warhound's GD Sculpt and construction blog ±2010±

[Warhound]

Hi there!

so as some of you will all know, this was my coming out of retirement year, and I did not anticipate winning a Gold at the UK Golden demons!

Given the shock, the fun, the sleepless nights (literally) and the funky new toys, the chatting with friends old and new, I have decided that 2010 will be the year I get that darn sword!

Therefore, consider this, the start of my new blog. I have posted this content previously, so far only on ATT, and so to bring it up to date for RA, here is an abridged version, just showcasing the various stages of transformation. As comments and work are added, so it will become active.

This thread will be an ongoing saga, which will detail each of the projects as they appear (I aim to enter 6 categories+!!):
Construction stage here, and when past the construction stage, they will be added into the Painting forum, and finally when complete, then into Solitary (the galleries). We would ask that anyone posting in these forums follows this process to allow for a clean and efficient ward;-)


ENTRY ONE: Warhammer 40K Squad

Havoc insertion squad: unit of 3, with unique drones designed to look more 'melee' than shooty, but would use the same rules as existing drones.
You will see that I have already tidied up the new suit, and I could not wait to show the folks here! Nothing major has been done, as when you get the kit in your hands, you realise that there is not a lot wrong with either the cast or the sculpt!. However, there were the odd area of mold slip or design void and so I have just added little bits here and there:

1: Vents to the underside of the pectoral area- enhances the VRT feel
2: Tau symbol to the left pectoral and right wing membrane. The existing model had NO symbols, which seemed quite bizarre, so again, rectified!
3: Antenna to the ends of each wing tip- enhances the fact that they are communications nodes, but subtly placed.
4: Dry lined the front of the hull around the central 'thorax'. This was to create a feel that the hull would be able to petal open and out, allowing access inside.

I will also be adding some detail under the feet, to add a thruster or 'gyro' feel and also finish off the 'eyes' for the head.









So, what do people think? I know that there is a slight controversy about this model, but quite frankly, until you have one in your hands, you really can't appreciate it. Also, I love the suit and will be mixing them into my XV8 builds for my cadre. (that will be a whole other tread!)

I look forward to this next journey!

cheers
Warhound

[Warhound]

And who said they didn't like these suits?

Ok, so as well as wanting to hyper detail the XV-9, I also want to make it modular, to fit with my original XV8.2 suits. Given how each day, I am falling more and more in love with these new suits, I may actually have my entire cadre in the new XV-9, just because I can!;-)

SO, what you will see below is the next evolution of the suit.

Engine thrusters inserted into knee pods-It may be hard to make out, but there are 'vent line' on the disks inserted to represent thrusters/ repulsors.
Lense array completed
Weapon pods adapted to click onto the wing anchors.

Over the weekend I hope to have a full set of weapons that can be 'slotted' onto the pods that then clip onto the wings. In addition, I already have the lower arm mounts from the XV8.2 that will allow for all 3 battlesystems to be added to the suit and so making it fully modular;-) When the new variants come out, I will get one of each so that I can add the weapon systems on and then I can 'pic n mix' what I need in my army;-P

Finally, I want to add 'treads' to the bottom of the feet and figure out how to work the photonic charges. I am still stuck on this- any fresh ideas anyone?

Anyway, I hope you like the new details?







cheers

W

[Warhound]

The main point of this update is to illustrate how flexible and versatile I have now made the suit. Having added the level of 'tech detail' that I like all my suits to have, a sense of 'reality', ie the suit can open to allow the occupant in, but also to give it dual functionality, between XV9 and and upscaled XV8 with all weapon options.

I am sure that when the new weapon options come out this year, I will need to make further alterations, but for the time being, this fully posable, characterful suit will be the stock unit that my army is based around;-)

You will notice the missile pods being a key focus, either as the single rack, or the wing mounted pods. The missile strips themselves are taken from a cyclone launcher, and the rack is from the new sentinel sprues. The little green blocks, when cast will allow them to be clipped off and then used on the arm mounts instead- again adding total flexibility to the build.

The head also has been detailed as blank round drums are not that inspiring;-) While the shots don't show it, I have also sculpted a vent array into the back of the head, as it was a blank area before;-)

Hips redone as when cast, they always suffer from mould split and vents added to the feet for extra VTOL effect. Finally, I am really chuffed with the additional counter sunk 'lenses' around the body, that are not intrusive, but do give the effect that it has remote cameras for full fields of view :crafty:
Anyway, onto the shots!


















So, this brings the blog up to date. As I am moving soon, all tools are packed away, and then full steam ahead with my new studio and desk set up! Back soon!

cheers
W

[Warhound]

13TH COMPANY BUST

Ok, so while moving house, getting exams done, creating a gaming table and other RA projects yet to be released, i thought I had better show off something that has got me really excited recently!

I was rummaging through Flapjacks garage the other day, and came across this OOP FW bust, and as it meant that I could sate my excitement for the old space puppies in one hit AND get a great GD entry done, I stole it off him;-)

Each night he is in pain as I dremel the hell out of big rare model, but hopefully, like him, you will appreciate where I am taking this great model?

There is going to be a trophy rack on one side, to give the feel of 'scavenging' and mimicry of the chaos elements/ termintors in the Eye of Terror, the mohawk is going to be re-sculpted, runes added to the armour along with rivets, pendants hanging from the shoulder pads, icons and claws added and the interior of the pads detailed up. The skulls on the rack will be one plain, and one chaos leiutenant head with flesh and branding/ gore etc.

Any thoughts/ critique/ ideas:
Moustache/ hair?
Extra tech?
Pelts?







cheers
WARHOUND

[mangozac]

Very nice. Very interesting! Very unique!

This is such a deviation in terms of the scale we're used to working at so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

[Vaaish]

I'm not a big fan of the XV9, but I do like the adjustments to the burst cannon arms you have there. I think part of my problem with it is that it looks rather fragile and scared because of the large eye and hood like structure.

I also like the modifications you are doing to the bust (as an aside, the bust was just re-released from FW)

[Warhound]

Hey Guys,

so, more work done last night and quite happy I am with the results! The hair/ 'tashe thing was really bugging me, so that was the first thing to be tackled... not sure about adding muttons chops, as it would loose the definition in the cheek area, and I quite like the exposed flesh ??

Scar added to eye (will possibly add some more at a later point), sensor unit finely detailed, cloth broach's added (I reeelly like the idea of the wood juxtaposed with all the metal), Ear piece added and trophy rack 'mocked' up.
At the moment, I like the trophy rack as it balances the model nicely. I tried it with 3 pikes, but it looked too 'chaos', while the 2 add more of the wood element and retains the more 'feral' vs chaos feel. With skulls/ heads then put on, will allow me to add the 'chaos' trim to the wolf shoulder pad, which I will have battered and cracked/ peeling off to reveal the runes underneath.

What I would like to get done tonight, is rivet all the armour areas and finish the trophy rack installation (if everyone is in agreement with me?) add a permanent nose ring (add some more hair to the right side of his head- its skew-wiff right now)

SO, what does everyone think?









Oh, and yes, I saw that it had been re-released cheers! Just glad it cost me nothing and felt sorry for the guy who bought one on ebay 2 weeks ago for £56!!! - gutted!

cheers
WARHOUND

[mangozac]

Wow nice work on the hair and mo man! Seriously tight work! How big is this thing?

[Warhound]

Cheers:-)

It is 10cm wide and about 7cm high all in;-)

WARHOUND

[Warhound]

Hey Guys,

sorry for the lack of updates, however work has been progressing, albeit at a slightly slower pace than I wanted.

Mainly on to the fine detailing of the areas now, and work done so far:
Added braid to head to give more wolf appeal
Rivets on all relevant areas
Pendants added, secured and detailed
Fixed the mohawk to be equal
Trophy skulls cast and added.

The most obvious area of work is the skulls and I am quite happy with them at the moment, but there is still work to be done.. I know my thoughts, but would be very happy to hear everyone elses?

SO, onto the piccies.....











cheers
WARHOUND

[Warhound]

and to show the differences so far....



cheers
WARHOUND

[mangozac]

Dude the Chaos skull is pretty gory. I look forward to seeing it painted!

All of the detailing you're doing makes the original bust look so plain and un-Space Wolf like. The rivets set into the armour have really taken things up a notch

[Arkangel]

Hey mate that looks awesome. Sorry about not blogging recently work has been......emotionallly busy to say the least. I like the small braid but maybe you should consider a larger one coming from begind the head to bring round to the front you could then add runes or beads to it for hyper detailing?
Just my tens worth mate. Looking forward to catching up and showing you my stuff first hand, get some thoughts for sculpting etc

Arkangel

[CMDante]

Looking great mate!

The one thing I would say is that the mohawk and beard look a little neat and trim for a Space Wolf living and constantly fighting in the Eye of Terror. Difficult to sort though without taking away from the face a bit but I think the beard at least could be a bit more wild looking.

Crazy to see just how big that piece is when you see marauder shields looking so small on him!

Looking forward to more.

[zuluhutu]

You did a really nice work. Looking good so far.

But it is me , so I hope you don't mind for some of small suggestions I would like to give:
Maybe add an eyebrow piercing on the right eyebrow.
Maybe some wolf canine tooth on the necklace.
And i would like to see a head tattoo