delirium treemens - Scratch-building a monster

 

Perhaps not the acute alcohol poisoning that my title suggests, but painting so many miniatures in one month is pretty tiring. So why not scratch-build monster on top of that?

Anyway I've never scratch-built a large figure, so I thought I'd do just that with a large character - a Tree monster.

A humble enough start - a foamboard torso mannequin to 'hang' the sculpted parts from.

Greenstuff more form to it...

After leaving it to dry at each stage, as handling it turns previous work to mush, start applying detail to each limb. I was working with a very specific form in mind so didn't need sketches to work to.

Work in the first suggestions of a face

Start building hands and filching parts from my GW stuff...

Bark is prettyy forgiving to simulate in greenstuff so the rather skronky detail to texture doesn't detract too badly imo. Prime the bugger.

Orc for scale ( he was to hand.)

I have actually painted it, but as of the time of writing i have no photos.

Basing a mini, without removed pre-slotta base.

Rather than destroying the original mini's base - in this case an Alternative Armies Orc character - I use a mould to sculpt a base and squoosh the mini into that. I hate removing them.

The 'mould' in question is a base from the failed(commercially) Fantasy Flight miniatures game "Runewars"

I've not seen anyone else do this and it forms a perfectly useable stable base, that isn't too thick and can be sculpted upon easily enough.

five little Orcs baked in a pie.