You'll find a little of everything here. Genres covered in this blog include (so far) prehistorics, fantasy, old west, swashbucklers, pulp, Blood Bowl, Ghostbusters, gladiators, nautical, science fiction and samurai in 6mm, 15mm, 28mm, 40mm, 42mm and 54mm sizes. You'll also find terrain, scenery, basing, gaming, modeling, tutorials, repaints, conversions, art and thoughts in general about the hobby.


Monday, September 16, 2013

Steve Barber: A commissioned sculpt

Keep in mind, these are only a few reference photos I used; I sent Steve a lot more, so he could do this figure justice.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, then you know I love Steve Barber's 42mm samurai range. One figure that I think was missing from the range (or at least that I couldn't figure out how to convert myself) was some sort of unarmored archer.

WELL, Steve Barber also does commissions, so I scrounged up some money and commissioned him to create this archer (which I believe will be added to the catalogue, so all of you can get one, too :)

It cost me a couple hundred British pounds, but your mileage may vary if you decide to try out his sculpting services. Like most good artists, Steve considers a bunch of factors when determining a price. He was also easy to work with, and asked all the right questions to fill in the information where I had left gaps.

One thing I suggest if you want to commission a sculpt, is to not only have a good idea of what you want done, but have LOTS of photo reference- especially reverse views. Many people will see a picture of a soldier, for example, and say, "I want that sculpted," but forget that the image is 2D, but a sculpt is 3D.

I couldn't find many reverse images of this archer, especially with the bow arm sleeve hanging down, so I actually took multiple photos of myself wearing a simple kimono.

Anyway, I look forward to painting this figure. It looks like it'll be a real joy to paint, with all the sweeping wrinkles, the distinctively Japanese high-drawn bow, and the reverse-legged kneeling pose (ie, raised knee is to the rear instead of out front.)

Old Timey Football

Something I'm also thinking about commissioning, but haven't made a decision on yet, are some old time American Football players (think "Leatherheads.") I think there would be a smaller market for these to those Blood Bowl players who like quirky teams, and maybe for some who might have their own home-brew rules (or maybe even to crazier Dreadball players.)

There would be four to six poses: A passer, a catcher, a blitzer and a lineman (and possibly a runner and a second blitzer/lineman.)

These would be much more expensive to commission, so I'll need to sell a bunch of my collection to fund it. And, in fact, I will be selling a few figures: My Bad Bay Hackers (about $350) and Wood Elf (about $200) teams for sure. And possibly my entire 28mm collection of prehistoric figures ($500). I need to work out how much I want to sell all of these for sure, but if you're interested, keep an eye out. (And, of course, I still have a small group of pirates for sale. $100)
All of my sales include shipping and are domestic (including Canada) only; it's pricey to ship heavy metal.

Or maybe I'll just win the lottery, and I won't have to sell anything to fund some fun football players.


1 comment:

  1. Great looking figure well done on you for spotting a gap and filling it
    Peace James

    ReplyDelete