'Facing' the challenge head on

Okay, so it has been a little while since updating the blog. The trouble with being a teacher is that work tends to take over, especially when its the final run to exam season; but this week is half term and the 6th formers I teach have gone on study leave - I make that pimms o'clock, well at least modelling time!

I am a green stuff virgin, but it's time to break out the putty and moulding tools. For the 'regiments of renown' list that I am planning (only 200 points!) I need three fimir models, this seems like a nice amount for me to start with and check if my skills are up to the challenge of then going on to model an entire army. I've previously posted some pics of one model that I started doing some work on - a musician, well I have continued working on that model, plus adding another two to it.

So this is the original musician test figure that I made. I found the green stuff a bit tricky to work with to be honest, and it's going to be a challenge to do that for an entire army, but I know that it'll get easier as I get more familiar with it. I'm actually rather proud with how the head turned out seeing as it was my very first attempt. I think it sticks to the ideology well and actually looks like a fimir (well, it will do once it's been painted anyway). I also tried to cover the scales along the back with liquid green stuff. I'm not convinced with how well this has turned out though. I think it has made them less prominent, so perhaps once painted I can make it just look like a leathery, tough hide rather than actual scales.

This is the model that will be the leader of my regiment of renown, armed with a morningstar and shield. Obviously the shield is a special magic, invisible shield - or alternatively I haven't got the ones that I want to use yet, so that will be something that I'll have to come back to at some point. The morningstar is taken from the GW tomb kings range (a friend of mine collects the skeles and has a load of spare bits that she has, incredibly kindly, passed my way - I'm using them for this project, but also as additional bits to help stylise my black templar crusade for 40k). It's supposed to look like the morningstar is being swung down, about to crush the head of some unfortunate victim. I'm not convinced that it looks right, but hopefully the finished model will give a bit more of an idea. I haven't got around to covering the scales on the back with liquid green stuff, that's next on the list of things to do. The face on this one is alright, but I don't think it is as good as the first one I did on the musician - think it was really beginners luck. Generally this one is just lacking a bit of definition I think, but hopefully some paint and washes will help get the desired look.

These photos show the model I'm using as a champion, dual wielding hand weapons to boost the attack output, hopefully this guy will be all about dealing damage. The head on this one took quite a while to do, the green stuff just wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. However, I eventually got something that I think is pretty cool, including some nice bony ridges along the skull. Again tried the liquid green stuff along the back scales, hopefully when painted it will look as I want it to, not convinced at the moment - think I might need to get the filing tools out.

Having done all of this now I'm getting quite excited about the project, but also realising just how much work is going to be involved!