So if you've read my post about an Age of Sigmar Warcraft army... you'd know i'm making an Age of Sigmar Warcraft army.
For a center piece I've set about sculpting my favorite mount from World of Warcraft, the Enchanted Fey Dragon. Part Chameleon, part dragon, part in game purchase.
One of these things:
To make things easier I started with a plastic Chameleon toy from the real world Auction House.
I first cut off the head crest, moved the eyes backwards and removed the feet.
The front legs were also moved backwards and pinned in place.
These sculpts take a while, I manage to complete a step each evening. You have to stop yourself doing too much all in one go, the risk of ruining what hasn't set with your fingers is quite high as you continue to handle the model.
This sculpt was started on the 11th of January, as I type this i'm 13 days into the project and I've just about finished the head. The green putty is known as Green Stuff, quite a common product, the other putty is milliput. I don't tend to find you can get the fine detail with milliput so its used for base layers, muscle work before the final layer.
I still use plastic parts from the bitz box for horns and teeth, you can buy really fine putties to achieve the same results but i'm in the mindset of why bother? I have the parts right here.
The wings are made from copper wire and an ice cream lid. The plastic from an ice cream lid comes in very useful, pretty decent thickness and can be heated gently for flex.
Still a way to go but it's taking shape now.
2nd of February 2019
So I've been adding to the model each night and the front limbs are almost done. A little bit more work is needed on the bangles and i'll leave the feet until its time to secure it to it's base.
The left side needs more work on it's back frill.
The wings are also finished, I used Games Workshop's liquid green stuff to give the plastic a leathery texture. Hopefully this pays off once it's painted.
That's about all for now, need to start working on the back legs and saddle soon. I ordered a Stormcast Eternal Vanguard-Pallador (without steed) on ebay this week, once the rider is assembled I can start positioning the saddle.
10th of February 2019
Been very busy this week, started working on the saddle Monday and ended the week with gluing the dragon to the base and sculpting his (or her) feet.
Each leg was finished off with a bulbous end, trust me when sculpting on to dried putty avoid leaving sharp edges. You have more control over the flow of the model if the end of joints are smooth, specially when not being completely sure of the end pose.
The saddle, when soft had the rider pushed into it. Once the putty had set I broke the rider off. This means when its time to stick the rider back on he fits, but I can continue to work on the dragon without the rider being in the way.
To create the rope which joins the saddle to the head of the dragon I rolled out two thin lines of green stuff. I used a glass tile and some water to ensure as I rolled the putty it didn't stick to the surface. Once I had the two, I platted them together and gently rolled them again. I then cut it in half and placed it on the model, gently positioning it before leaving the putty to set.
To start the feet I used some milliput and pushed in plastic claws stuck to small paper clip cuttings. I could ensure the claw was gripping the tree before committing to the final stages.
Once the toes were finished I could complete the sides and tops of the feet, as per below:
Lastly I managed to glue the wings in place, next week i'll be working on the muscle work connecting the wings. I'll also more than likely revisit the saddle and add some fine details. Once the dragon is finished i'll need to work on the rider, I know I want him wielding some large Warcraft sword. I'll need to do some research.
17th of February 2019
So this week I've managed to finish off the sculpting on the dragon, well I only had to finish the muscle connecting the wings to the body. I also started working on the rider, or my armies leader.
The base was also finished off, well sand glued to it...
For my army general I needed him carrying a suitably Warcrafty weapon. I combined two old Skaven spears with a Black Templar sword, along with a part from the old banner from the Marauders of Chaos box set. That little hole will make sense in the end.
With a little green stuff and a lion shield from that very old Warhammer Fantasy Battle starter set I think the General has the right equipment. The shield, for the time being at least, is only held on by a tiny magnet. I want to keep my options open if I find a more heroic shield.
For my General's head I wanted a proper WoW haircut, Hopefully Warcraft players out there will know the one I was aiming for. The head is also from the old Marauders of Chaos box set, albeit with the top knot moved backwards and some green stuff additions.
The rest of the rider, as mentioned before is a Stormcast Vanguard-Pallador. The lion shoulder pads are from Kabuki models, although I can't seem to find them on the net as I type, must be an old set.
I base coated the dragon with some standard automotive grey primer, the rider was base coated in Chaos Black spray. The first stage of the Dragon was to paint his under belly, I figured I would make less mistakes doing this first rather than the blue top scales.
The first layer was Steel Legion Drab, followed by a heavy dry brush of 1 part Steel Legion Drab/1 part Flayed One Flesh. There was then a light dry brush of Flayed One Flesh and then a dry brush of White Scar. Lastly I mixed 2 parts Lahmian Medium to 1 part Steel Legion Drab and used it as wash.
The top body started with a base of Caledor Sky, with a heavy dry brush of Teclis Blue.
There was then a dry brush of 1 part Teclis Blue and 1 part White Scar.
For the ends of the Fey Dragons limbs I mix Teclis Blue into Sotek Green, then with a coat of Sotek Green towards the feet's end. To highlight these areas I slowly shaded Sotek Green into Warboss Green and then into Gauss Blaster Green. The whole area once done was dry brushed with Gauss Blaster Green. The face of the dragon was also highlighted with a mix of Teclis Blue and Gauss Blaster Green.
The end of the tail was slowly mixed from Teclis Blue, Xereus Purple and then Genestealer Purple. The whole area was then dry brushed with Dechala Lilac.
Lastly the whole dragon, minus the under belly was washed with Guilliman Glaze.
For the Generals armour I started with a base coat of Leadbelcher, the model was then washed with Nuln Oil.
Once the wash is dry apply a dry brush of Runefang steel all over, you want to build up a heavy coat so by the end the model is mostly silver.
Then mix a small amount of Blue Horror into the Runefang Steel, you will want to apply a light dry brush again, this time just trying to hit the edges.
Then break out the Nuln Oil a second time and wash the recesses, behind the knees, under the arms etc. Lastly mix two parts Lahmian Medium and one part Drakenhof Nightshade and try to shade the armour panels, you want to pick out the parts of the armour that would be in shadow if the under a midday sun.
This coming week i'll be looking at painting the markings on the dragons scales as well as hopefully starting the wings.
24th of February 2019
It doesn't feel like I've done a lot this week, took a couple of nights off due to feeling shattered after work. Still I think the hardest parts are behind me, specially now that the wings and body markings are finished.
I started painting the entire wing various shades of purple, slowing blending them as I moved across. The body markings are black with a "highlight" of Naggaroth Night purple.
I then begun the arduous task of painting the markings on the wings, making sure the underside also matched.
During the week I also finished off the orange frills, the leather and metal work of the dragon's helmet (if you can call it that) plus the saddle.
The metal work started as Dawnstone grey with a Nuln Oil wash. I then layered up many tiny directional lines of Administratum Grey. Once that was done I made two separate washes out of Lugganath Orange and Dechala Lilac, Still keeping with the directional brush strokes I highlighted with the orange and shaded with the lilac. Lastly I edged the parts in Runefang Steel (Silver). In World of Warcraft the metal never appeared super shiny to me, I believe this muted iron work is more in keeping.
For the eyes I pulled a little trick out the bag. Starting with some really obvious highlights, I top coated the eyeball with some metallic nail varnishes.
Really gives it the shimmer!
The army general only had his gold completed this week. I may focus on him more once the dragon is finished.
My gold technique is fairly simple, rather than go through it again you can read up on it in my Thousand Sons blog here!
I'll finish this week off with a picture of the dragon as I type. Pretty good sunshine for February!
End of the project
Finally at the end, i'll start off with the rider. The fine detail was finished and I also ended up inverting the colours on his shoulder guards. The smaller gems had a tiny piece of holographic nail varnish added to them, while the large gem in the swords is actually a swarovski crystal.
As for the dragon, the only thing left to do this week was its base. I painted the tree as a silver birch to compliment the edges of the wings.
Lastly take a look at the dragon with a few of the other figures in the army;
You can follow the rest of the armies progress here!
Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did making it.
If you'd like to vote on it at Cool Mini or Not please click here!
For the Alliance!