Monday, June 04, 2007

Largin'it!

Wocha,

This week I will be finishing off a commission piece I'm doing for a friend. It's odd but the only private work I seem to get offered these days is completely unrelated to wargaming. It may have something to do with the Beasty boys general threat of leg breaking should anyone else try to hire me but that is pure conjecture...

Anyhow, a good chum of mine is getting wed this year and has asked me to do the figures for the top of the cake. Unconventional as they are the happy couple wanted to appear as they would on a normal day so the groom is to be in slacks and rugby shirt nursing a pint of beer whilst the bride is wearing field hockey goalie kit! I have had the project on the go for months now working on and off between other projects and this week I will be finishing it off so I thought I'd post up a few of the stage by stage shots I have been doing at various points.



Here is a shot of the early stages. I tend not to base these large scale figures on a wire armature preferring to use a plasticard silhouette. I bulk this out with putty as normal to give a basic body shape.

You can see the silhouette clearly on the bride and make out it's edges on the groom.

Here are the basic shapes now fully bulked out.


Now that the basic shapes are done I start adding the clothing and equipment over the top.


And this is where we are at the moment. By the end of the week they should be finished but I wont be posting any of the finished figures until I get a shot of them painted and on top of the cake!
This isn't the first large scale commission I have been given. I've done a few large scale historicals and fantasy style figures for local collectors but my favorite was a piece commissioned by the mother-in-law for my brother-in-law's birthday present. As it's the only one I can still get hold of I borrowed it back for a quick photo. So here he is:- Asterix the Gaul!


And to give you an idea of the size of these pieces:


And in other news.....

Obviously, the Saxons are on hold for the week, or at least until I finish the cake folk, but all of the dollies are now posed and most have their tunics on and I'm working through the laborious task of putting the putties and leg bindings on them. Once this tedious job is done I can move forward with finishing some full packs so there is something to show you.

I am having a curious yearning to do something with pirates. I have yet to explore this.

My tournament bug has now passed thanks to a proper spanking at the WPS club challenge. Let's talk of this no further.

I quite fancy doing a secret project of some kind but always end up blabbing. So I wont.

This weekend the wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Quite frankly neither of us thought anyone would remember but loads of people did, which was nice.

That's your lot. See ya.

Soaps.

6 comments:

mawdslio said...

Its too slim to be him !!

Nice work I actually thought about asking you to do the same thing for when we got married (or to make one as a present for the best man - a fellow wargamer) but couldnt be arsed !!
Anyway get on with a secret project - you know you want to !!

Adios
Chris

Soapy said...

The wife wanted me to do us as well but that would have meant putting some effort into the wedding planning and as we all know there was no chance of me doing that. Especially with the wife able to watch over my shoulder. I really can't be doing with that kind of supervision!

Stay lucky,
Soaps.

Bill T said...

Very cool old bean. The Astrix is superb!

MikeH said...

Hi Soapy

I found this blog from a link on Bill T's site, I do like your work so keep up the good work

would it be ok if I link to you from my blog?

Soapy said...

No problem Mike.

Stay lucky,
Soaps.

Anonymous said...

Soapy, the figures are great and as H says, don't worry about the lack of curves on me, in that gear it was more michelin man / sumo wrestler, then petite female form (oh what a lovely picture I paint). Although don't ask H how I nearly destroyed the work when I took the first one out and dropped it, narrowly missing the glass coffee table. It's so much easier to stop 7 ounce ball coming at you me at 80-90 mph.than it is to hold a valuable treasure!

Anyhow, they are fantastic, Its nice to hear you enjoyed doing them.