Bog Trog Ambushers 2a: What color scheme?

While the Bog Trogs certainly have a reptilian look to them, I promise that they're rather ichthian. They've got these sloped skulls and big eyes and little mouth feelers that all scream catfish. I didn't get many shots that emphasize those features, but they're there. I promise.

Bog Trogs are ambush units (hence the name "Ambushers"), so I wanted them to look like they'd blend right into a swamp. That meant dark colors and lots of browns, greens and blacks. There's another reason for this: I want there to be an obvious hierarchy to the army. Crocodiles obviously trump catfish; it's true in real life and, dammit, it's true in a board game. These guys shouldn't upstage the voodoo-lovin' crocs, and a quiet color scheme will help with that.

For ideas, I turned to the best guide to these sorts of things -- nature. A quick google of "swamp fish" was fruitless, but "catfish" gave me a few cool ideas. (Maybe the swamp fish search wasn't fruitless, per se -- I discovered that the smallest invertabrate in the world is a fish that lives in acid. Try it yourself, it's a very small fish.)


(stolen from aquapage.eu)

I really like this one. Not only does he look like a Bog Trog, but it's a simple and approachable color scheme. The flecks along his back would probably be lost, but the Bog Trogs have scales there anyway -- sooo seems like a wash.


(swiped from indiangameandfish.com)

I like how dramatic the difference is in this big guy's colors! Unfortunately, there's not much of a scheme to work with here. However, the color difference is something I may steal.

(burgled from aquariumlife.net)

This is something that's probably too delicate to do on all of the Bog Trogs, but I think this little guy's precious. Maybe I'll put something like it on the leader.

Now, I'm not married to any one scheme yet, but for now, I think I'll do something like this:

There's really not enough brown in any of those colors, and they're all really too bright, but it gives you an idea of what I'm aiming for. (I mix paints gooder than I PhotoShop.)

Bog Trog Ambushers 1: The Assessment

I had originally intended to use the Bog Trog Ambushers as sahuagin in my Vian campaign. However, I never did more than put them together (the major reason being that 4th Edition and Pathfinder essentially nullified all the work I'd done with 3rd Edition OGL).

That's them -- the bases are about an inch and a quarter wide. That's a package of Hi-Chew in the background to give you some scale (and because I didn't bother clearing off the workspace before snapping these pics).

The first photo is of an average grunt; the second is of the leader, who wears an alligator-skin cap. (That's the swamp equivalent of a coonskin cap. He's like the Davy Crockett of the marshes.) Already, though, you can see some of the problems with the figures -- there's an awful lot of flash. On the sample grunt, it's very prominent along the top of his left arm; on the leader, there's a good deal of it along the bottom edge of his weapon. It's especially obvious along the blade and on the bit at the bottom. That's fix No. 1 -- remove all that nasty flash. It looks bad now, but it really, really comes out when it's painted.

More problems:

The leader's got a terrible gash where his head piece was glued to his body. It's really, really noticeable, and will have to get filled and molded with putty.

Ditto here behind an arm joint on a grunt. This is by far the most common problem; many of Privateer Press's molds have large gaps in them, so it's somthing that you just get used to fixing. (There's also the fact that I tend to force things to go where I want them, then green stuff the difference. It's not always the model's fault.)

This weapon is pretty warped, another common problem. Just a few small tweaks should fix it, but if not, the haft can be clipped out and replaced with a brass pin and some green stuff will replace the detail.

Once those fixes are made, I'll prime these guys (in white, unfortunately, since I'm not aware of an acrylic spray in a medium tan) and get started painting them.

Blindwater Congregation

Privateer Press is unleashing a new Hordes semi-faction on us -- the Blindwater Congregation.




ogodyes.
The congregation is a collection of swamp dwellers -- alligator men, frog men, fish men. It's like they did market research on a certain Joe Simmons. The only thing missing is the squid men ohgodwait. My life is now complete.

Here's what we know so far.

1. There's only five "core" models that we have stats for yet: warlock Bloody Barnabas (pictured above), heavy warbeast Blackhide Wrastler, solo Croak Hunter, unit Bog Trog Ambushers and unit Gatormen Posse. The last two are already out, having been released in Hordes: Evolution a few years ago.
2. There's several also-ran (re: off-theme) models that will be legal: Feralgeist, Swamp Gobber Bellows Crew, Thrullg, Totem Hunter and Victor Pendrake.
3. There's at least three models whose stats haven't been spoiled: warlock Calaban the Grave Walker, heavy warbeast Ironhide Spitter and light warbeast Bull Snapper. I strongly suspect we'll see an additional light warbeast and a new gatorman unit, but there's already a lot of new models -- those additions may have to wait until the next Hordes book.

It's still too early to actually mock up a list yet, but there's certain models I will run because I love them with what all my heart (you know, the bits not already apportioned to more rational loves). So, here's my skeleton list for a 35-point group:

• Bloody Barnabas (+6)
• Blackhide Wrastler (8)
• minimum Bog Trog Ambushers (5/8)
• minimum Gatorman Posse (6/9)
• 2x Croak Hunter (2)

Of our 41 points, that's a total of 23 points. That leaves 8-10 points for warbeasts -- either two Bull Snappers or the Ironhide Snapper, depending on what they do. That leaves us with 8-10 points for additional units and solos; I'm hesitant to go all in yet, since I don't have the new rules for any of the also-ran units. However, a 2nd unit of Bog Trog Ambushers or Gatorman Posse is very attractive; they're both very solid units at a decent cost. That would leave enough points to invest in the utility of a Swamp Gobber Bellows or Thrullg, or to flesh out one of the Gatorman Posses. I have a feeling that, as cool as the Totem Hunter is, I won't have room. Everything's already so killy, spending points on an off-theme killy unit seems silly!

Started on terradons

So, here's the start to the terradons. I'm trying a different approach with these -- I've got a base frame started. I found some cheap, medium-gague copper jewelry wire (about $3 for 7 or 9 yards). It's got a good amount of tensile strength but is still flexible. I had to use pliers to clamp and twist the wire at the heads, but was otherwise able to craft the frames with my hands.



The wings are made of stencil material. It's light, flexible plastic that's easy to cut. The frame is made of two lengths of copper wire, connected with a blob of Milliput. The wings were forced into the putty when it was still wet; I then shaped the wing vanes to the wings, added a dab of super glue, clipped them and let them set overnight.

Second, I began working on the body. I'm going to cover the vanes of the wings in Milliput, like this; it's really rough right now, but most of that will be smoothed out and later sanded down. Superglue was added to the Milliput and wing intersection; I really want to get those wings sturdy!

You can see the back here. It looks really silly right now, but I think I'm going to need it that tall. I'm going to be adding a lot of shoulder muscling with green stuff, and I'll also be smoothing out a lot of the body with green stuff. (I have a suspicion that these guys are going to be expensive -- about $10 in materials is my guess. Thank goodness I'm planning on casting them, not making more.)

Finished Tetto'Eko work (Sort of)

Tetto'Eko's done!



I had to use the flash on these, and they're a lot paler and washed-out than I'd like. Still, you can get a sense of the contrast of the overall piece, and the back of the palanquin is pretty real to life. (To get an idea, the glyphs at the bottom of the palanquin are actually the same color as the gold on the back!)



Here's the back.

While the paint's essentially done, there's still some detail work to be done. What needs changing? I don't know! I sat in front of this for a few hours today, and I'm a little tired of staring at it, frankly. It's like staring at a monitor -- your eyes get tired and you start to glaze over details. I'm going to knock out whatever jumps out at me tomorrow -- things that won't show on camera well enough to shoot -- and then seal the whole thing so the paint won't chip and rub off.

I'm working with my wife, Safiya, on drawing some terradons. Those'll be the next project. Terradons: Adventures in molding and casting!

One model down -- what'd we learn?

I feel like I have to enunciate what worked -- and what didn't -- about Tetto'Eko. Organized reflection is the best way to make sense of an experience, so I think it's important to review what I learned while making him.

The bad:
1) Organization. This is a broad topic, so I'm going to break it down a little bit.
First: I had no precise vision of what I wanted. In the future, I'm going to create a sketch of what I'll be sculpting. While the final composition worked for Tetto'Eko, having a reference -- even if I end up deviating from it -- will reduce some of the experimenting I ended up discarding. (There were going to be vines on the palanquin, for example, but modeling showed it was just too busy.) I typically do things somewhat fast and loose, so I don't want to bind myself too tightly to a predetermined design, but Tetto'Eko was a little too loose. A perfect example: Tetto'Eko's staff. Not only is the staff itself really rough -- partly a result of not having a solid direction for it -- but neither the palanquin nor Tetto'Eko were designed to carry it. Oops!
Second: For organic shapes, having a physical frame to build from will be invaluable. I mentioned this earlier, but connecting blobs of Milliput for Tetto'Eko's core was a major pain in the rear. I pinned them -- that is, I connected them with small pieces of metal -- but building on an existing frame would be much better. I'm going to try building on small blobs over a wire frame next time. (At this rate, I may actually finish off my box of paper clips that I use to pin and frame things!)

2) Craftsmanship. Again, a broad topic.
First: Part of the success of this piece came from the fact that I didn't have to sculpt small, intricate pieces very often. When I did, I could usually cheat a little bit and do them in two dimensions. (See the plaques on the palanquin's back.) However, where I had to do actual, three-dimensional sculpting, I typically failed. Examples: the base's cornices, which I had to rebuild; the knotted rope around the base of the horns, which I had to repair; Tetto'Eko's staff. Part of the solution is just being more patient and aware; that will go a long way toward not damaging soft green stuff and in ensuring that it's properly shaped the first time. Another is in the use of my materials; the staff would have come out a lot nicer if I cut thin strips of mostly cured green stuff and glued them into place, rather than trying to craft concentric rings. I've got shaky hands, so trying to go the more delicate and intense route was just a silly idea -- better to fake the piece a little than try something beyond my current skills.
Second: Better tools will go a long way toward helping, too. I was constantly wishing I had good files (mine are all clogged and disgusting, and weren't that amazing to begin with) and real sandpaper (I was using this stuff called glass paper, which is supposed to be reusable. Maybe it would be if I didn't take the grain off it with one go!). I'm also going to keep my eyes out for a squared-off bit of metal on a handle. Having something to square corners will be much-welcomed (I had been using the back edge of my hobby knife, which wasn't terrible, I guess). In terms of work area, I'm going to see if I can't find wax paper that's a little nicer than the kitchen variety; I had a consistent problem of the wax sticking to my green stuff bits, making them lose their tackiness. This wasn't normally a problem -- we have super glue for a reason -- but when I needed the green stuff to stay sticky, it was a huge pain in the rear. Also, I'll probably get a small jar of mineral oil to lubricate some pieces; green stuff doesn't stick to water, but water beads up, making it less than ideal for working on the wax paper or on small pieces. On Milliput, water's a no go for lubrication -- the stuff reacts to water a lot like clay while it's uncured.

The good:
1) Detail wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Building up the detail, bit by bit, worked out well. When I tried cutting to create definition, it usually failed, but it was all easily repaired by just building up again. When building, underestimating something's size is better than overestimating it; it's easier to build up than to pare down.

And the neutral:
1) The composition of a miniature affects painting in ways I never really considered before. While Tetto'Eko himself works on his palanquin, he would have been a failure as a stand-alone model -- he's just too bare! Painting him by himself would have required some creative use of color to make him interesting. When I make my terradon riders, I'll keep that in mind -- a little bling will go a long way to breaking up the miniature, especially on those long wings and crests the terradons will sport.

What's next?
Terradon riders are my next big project. I'll be building three of them. The major differences won't be in sculpting, but what I'll be doing afterward: Once they're built, I'm going to saw them into pieces and cast the parts with resin. This way I'll be able to have several riders. Eventually I'll purchase the real ones so I can play in tournaments (though I'll probably keep using the ones I made whenever possible), but this will let me play the game at a not-insane monetary cost in the meantime. (And let's be honest, I've sunk a lot of money into the hobby over the years anyway.) Additionally, I'll be sculpting extra legs for the terradons -- they start the battle carrying rocks, which they can drop on enemies; once they've dropped 'em, that's it for the aerial attacks. The resin casts will be half with rocks, half without; I'll have a handy visual guide to who has rocks still.

After that, I'm going to make a kroxigor. I have old ones, and those will do for now, but I want a really big one. The ones I have are 2 1/2, maybe 3 inches tall; the new ones are a little bigger still. I want to make one that's 6 inches or taller, in a nice action pose -- mouth open, fangs bared, charging forward and preparing to swing a massive club into a line of enemy troops. Essentially, I want the brute to be as big as possible for its base size!

Tetto'Eko's almost done! Paint next!

The sculpting on Tetto'Eko and his palanquin is essentially done! He got quite a few additions:



High-qualtiy ties around the base of his horns. (Forgive the smooshedness of these, I had to repair them.)



A bowl of ixti grubs to snack on while fighting the hordes of Chaos.



And that's genuine carnosaur hide on the back there!



Here's what it looks like. That's his staff, out front; it's still being worked on and needs a lot more sanding. I may have to start over again on it, truthfully, but I'm trying to salvage what I've got there.



And this is the stand, with color. The snakes are perhaps a little too bright -- I'm hoping they don't distract from the final piece.

This is Tetto'Eko in his primary primer phase (ha ha!). I like to prime models I've had to do a lot of work on once; the paint makes little imperfections stand out. On this pass, I found a few places that needed more sanding and some clipping; I then daubed the primer where the model was bare.

And here's his base color coat with shading His scales are going to be much darker (and red), but basically, those are the colors he's got. Yes, he's also not wearing much bling, a pretty significant lizardman faux pas, but -- you know -- he summons magical explosive comets. I'm not too worried for his reputation. That's a more complete staff in the background.