1/4 T'au Fire Warrior Full Figure Sculpt

[rockpopandchips]

Really nice work and a handy guide to keep....😁

 

Sorry could resist...

[StarWarsCreation]

Fantastic work! Really impressive. 

[Hunter Rose]

20 minutes ago, rockpopandchips said:

Really nice work and a handy guide to keep....😁

 

Sorry could resist...

 

 cheers Brian 

 

8 minutes ago, StarWarsCreation said:

Fantastic work! Really impressive. 

 

Thank you, appreciate the compliment 

[Hunter Rose]

Right its update time! First thing I did in the last session was to add some creases to his left arm. I'm not going to go crazy on his lower arm and I wont put any on his upper arm as I'm planning on that mostly being covered by the arm shield.

 

So as before, rolled some thin sausages, laid out where I want them and then blended with my metal tools and then neatened smoothed and finished with my silicone brush.

 

IMG_20220119_190251770 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220119_190807582 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220119_191337084 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Once I got to this point I thought it would look better if th higher of the two creases went around to the front of the arm to show the crease hanging/falling.

 

IMG_20220121_185710810 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_190746485 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_191012480 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I added a few more creases and dips just to add a bit of visual interest and to balance out the look of the main creases I just did.

 

IMG_20220121_191140830 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_191401674 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

And with that done it was time for the fun bit, I had a crack at getting his left hand done after my previous practice. Your hand span should be about the size of your face, thats how I was going to size it but then I realised it would be simpler and more accurate to use the hand off of my scaled skeleton drawing to get the right size.

 

IMG_20220122_184407621 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

And for the thumb bit I decided to recycle the thumb off of the old hand and make it a little smaller as it was already a good shape.

 

IMG_20220122_184407621 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_184710663~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_185024762 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Now on the practice hand I did I thought the palm area was a bit short, so I made sure to have a really good look at my own to make sure I wasn't cutting the fingers too low. Then as before I made 4 equal cuts for the fingers and then splayed them so I could remove all the square edges with my fingers and round them off.

 

IMG_20220122_185352063 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_185730526 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then refering back to the seletal drawing I cut the fingers to the correct length and rounded them off.  Also I want the hand to be in a fist so bent his thumb around a bit too.

 

IMG_20220122_190006705 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_190218208 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I enclosed the fingers and put the thumb across in the fist position. Throughout all of the below work I was constantly putting my own hand into a fist to help guide my shaping and proportions.

 

IMG_20220122_190407308 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I added some bits for the knuckles and rolled a thin bit for the top of the palm as the hand was a little thin I thought.

 

IMG_20220122_190706307 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_190937699 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I blended it all in, though there was a bit too big of a gap where the back of the knuckles met the other bit I added, so I rolled a thin sausage to put in the gap first just to make sure the blend was even with no dip.

 

IMG_20220122_191046008 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_191146322 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_191228511 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I also cut some of the sides of the fingers to help with the shape and trimmed the knuckles too.

 

IMG_20220122_191403908 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_191741391 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Im continually checking my hand and looking what needs to be done, I'm using the silicone brush to help shape the knuckles and the indentations go between them.

 

IMG_20220122_192236242 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

When I enclosed the fist as its soft clay with no internal structure it was a smooth curve, where as I need angled joints, so added and blended bits to the joints to help harden up the angles of the knuckle and finger joints.

 

IMG_20220122_192241928 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_192250361 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

At this point I noticed the thumb muscle was looking a little small, and on a fist the skin opposite it gets a bit bulged too, so I added some clay and reshaped it.

 

IMG_20220122_192301841 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_192405235 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_192517445 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I added some clay to help get a sharper shape on the lower thumb joint, and putting in the finger creases (the hand is gloved but similar creases would still be there)

 

IMG_20220122_192621887 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_192846917 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_193140298 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_193156065 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_193203180 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I cut it off at the wrist, so it will meet the sculptures wrist at the same correct spot, and began making the armour plate for the upper palm by rolling out a bit of clay and cutting it to shape.

 

IMG_20220122_193739941 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_194528910 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_194612279 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_194755722 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_194911526 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I just roughly put it in place and took a couple of pics

 

IMG_20220122_195222460 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220122_195226207 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Very very pleased with that, especially as in place to my eye it looks spot on in terms of size.

 

So thats where I'm up to, next I'll have a crack at the arm shield, I've already had done a paper mock up, I've based the design on the typ of shield a unit commander has as I like the design compared to the standard one. Below is a pic of it in place.

 

IMG_20220121_192913369 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So yeah thats whats in store for the next update

 

Thanks for looking, more soon

[rockpopandchips]

Amazing! The arm with the hand just looks spot on.

[voozet]

It looks better and better every step of the way. You are doing great.

[Hunter Rose]

10 hours ago, rockpopandchips said:

Amazing! The arm with the hand just looks spot on.

 

Thanks!  Yeah when I put the hand in place it seemed like the whole arm came to life, very happy 

 

18 minutes ago, voozet said:

It looks better and better every step of the way. You are doing great.

 

Cheers, appreciate it Voozet! 

[Pete in Lincs]

6 hours ago, Hunter Rose said:

it seemed like the whole arm came to life

I'l second that. I just did a long overdue update and it's looking better and better.

[Hunter Rose]

1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I'l second that. I just did a long overdue update and it's looking better and better.

 

Thank you! 

[Hunter Rose]

Right, been faffing about quite a bit with this so time to update.

 

I started work on the shield, I was toying with doing the shield in styrene sheet but in the end decided against it; I think it would look odd having a really crisp piece of armour alongside the sculpted look of his body armour.

 

That of course means the shield will need some internal support so I cut a shape from brass mesh and sandwiched it between some clay. I did cut it to shape but of course it warped when I rolled it together so I re cut it to the shape of the template and then bent it into shape.

 

IMG_20220121_193757039 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_195219988 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_195557984 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_195749333 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_195958168 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I cut in the panel lines

 

IMG_20220121_201021325 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220121_201715115 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I wasn't all that happy with it, the edges were very soft curves, and I was kicking myself for not doing the side bits seperately inside so I could have got a sharper edge.

 

But then to top it off I realised its totally the wrong shield! I just looked up a shield piece to sopy and this was called a commanders shield, and then I realised T'au commanders use large battle suits and this is where the shield is from!

 

So back to the drawing board, I made a template based on the standard firewarrior shield.

 

IMG_20220125_135907568 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220125_135426113 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I got as far as cutting the brass mesh before I stopped because I really wasn't happy with it, I just dont like how it site on him and I'm not too keen on the standard design. So I decided on a compromise, I've come up with my own design that is halfway between the two designs.

 

IMG_20220203_185233052 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I have just cut a steeper angle for the bottom corners more like the standard shield, changed the panel lines to the standard shield design but kept the single bent panel at the top with the open sides.

 

I wasn't happy with the brass mesh either, its a bit too bendy and a bit too fine to easily get the clay to mesh between it, so I plan on making a wire one with some mesh just between the wider areas and solder the whole thing together for strength.

 

IMG_20220203_185807022 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220203_190834176 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220203_191331404 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So thats as far as I got with that, next I'll get it soldered and covered in clay.

 

But whilst I was looking at that I also made a start on his pulse rifle, I started by sizing up a print off of the minature part to get it about the right size using my sculpted fist.

 

IMG_20220125_100904662_HDR~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I wasn't too sure at first how to go about making it, I had planned on layering up styrene sheets, but instead I've used some 5mm foamex board to cut out the main body which I will then clad with styrene for the panels at the front which will also give me two levels of thickness for the handle section and main body.So for now I've just made a start marking it out and cutting the foamex.

 

IMG_20220131_191719800 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220201_165756729~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

I'm still giving the grip some thought so not cut it yet, not keen on the weird circular cut outs of the miniature, so probably going to make it a bit more angular or at least a bit smaller as the top cut out doesn't really seem to serve a purpose.

 

So next up its soldering the shield armature and more work on the pulse rifle.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon

[The Chief Smeg]

You…er… not planning to leave him holding his rifle when you bake home are you?  Not that you have ever done that before… [cough - arm computer cover - cough]…
 

must say your improved shield design really is an improvement - nice 

[Hunter Rose]

2 hours ago, The Chief Smeg said:

You…er… not planning to leave him holding his rifle when you bake home are you?  Not that you have ever done that before… [cough - arm computer cover - cough]…
 

must say your improved shield design really is an improvement - nice 

 

    trust me after that I'm making sure it's not even in the same room when it bakes!!

 

Thanks Chief 

[Hunter Rose]

Time for a little update, needed a break from faffing about with the shield armature and the gun so decided to jump ahead and get some paint on the head!

 

Got it primed and noticed a small crack on the back which was simple enough to fill, then the first step was to paint his eyes.

 

This was simple enough as from what I could tell from a lot of searching around the T'au have red eyes as they see in infra red (apparently) so painted them red, and also did a colour test for his skin on his forehead.

 

IMG_20220212_164312913 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Wasn't that keen on ther skin tone (it was humbrol 89) its a bit of a washed out chalky blue that actually looks a little too green to my eye, so I added some more medium blue to it to make it obviously blue.

 

IMG_20220212_164906284 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

With that brushed over I went in with a darker blue here and there and when dry I dry bushed a lighter blue over the top light areas.

 

IMG_20220212_165524159 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220213_142604950~2 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Oh and you can see I also added a white dot of light to the eyes too. Then I gave the round bits a first coat of white (think they are where the helmet would attach) and blocking in the face by painting the underarmour black.

 

IMG_20220213_144404732 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Next up I'll give the white a second coat, and then the middle bit of it will be painted red. Going for the newer white and red scheme for his armour.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon

[The Chief Smeg]

Amazing the difference that the white dot makes, those eyes suddenly ‘came alive’

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Not to take away from the work being done here by Hunter. Has anyone noticed that this race looks similar to a Duros from the Star wars realm. Cad Bane was a Duros. 
 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/v2Ov53

[Blade2009]

Its been a while since I last checked in on this thread, this is looking great.👍

[Hunter Rose]

5 hours ago, The Chief Smeg said:

Amazing the difference that the white dot makes, those eyes suddenly ‘came alive’

 

Thanks Chief! Yeah that was a good tip i picked up from my last sculpture, and it still amazes me as well what a difference it makes

 

5 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Not to take away from the work being done here by Hunter. Has anyone noticed that this race looks similar to a Duros from the Star wars realm. Cad Bane was a Duros. 
 

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/v2Ov53

 

Yeah funny you should say that I thought the same thing when I saw him on Boba Fett. Looked it up, couldn't find anything concrete but a lot of people think GW must have been "inspired" by the look. 

I should have done 2 heads and done a Cad Bane sculpt next!

 

1 hour ago, Blade2009 said:

Its been a while since I last checked in on this thread, this is looking great.👍

 

Thanks man appreciate the interest

[Pete in Lincs]

I agree that the paint and the eyes are making this come alive. Great progress.

[Hunter Rose]

39 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I agree that the paint and the eyes are making this come alive. Great progress.

 

Cheers Pete!

[Hunter Rose]

Just a very quick update, I got the second coat of white on and all the black down, and it was an excuse to show some better pics of the paint job on the face, it was very dark in the last photos. My light has died on me which is irritating, roll on end of march for more light!

 

IMG_20220214_162318642_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220214_162307569_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Next up I'll get the red on the centre circle of the white bits and then when thats dry I can weather them a bit in the same way I'll weather all his armour when its all done and painted.

 

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

4 hours ago, Hunter Rose said:

I should have done 2 heads and done a Cad Bane sculpt next!

If you ever do a Cad Bane I will definitely follow along. 

[Toftdale]

I just wanted to say again, thanks for taking the time to make your posts so comprehensive, your progress is a stunning as ever - Andy

[Hunter Rose]

Appreciate it Andy! Thanks

[Will Vale]

This is so great. It's really weird because I'm painting a squad (well, half a squad, 5 models) of Fire Warriors at the moment and it's so funny seeing the tiny details like the hand armour replicated in ginormo-scale.

Love the face, it's amazing. As is that hand, which must be one of the hardest things to sculpt.

For the shoulder armour, I think the one with the curved cutouts at the top is for the Breacher Team members - they have slightly different helmets and shotgun-looking weapons rather than the long rifles. Your compromise version looks nice, it captures the angular Fire Warrior armour but keeps the nice notches that make it look less like a bin-lid  

[edit] Looking at the pics above again, I think the prototype pad (2nd version) was a bit too flat - the sides should be quite deep relative to the ends, so it ends up having a more 3D shape and sits over the shoulder and upper arm rather than along the upper arm. They are weird, you can imagine them banging into the backpack, helmet etc. etc. as you usually end up with limited scope to place them on the model.

The pic of the shas-ui (red pad) here shows the shape quite well, as do the 3D spinnies:

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-NZ/Tau-Empire-Fire-Warriors-2017

NB: the T'au insignia on the miniatures are moulded in 3D, i.e. they don't just have relief but also curvature. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, I suspect that a flat version would look more stylish especially in the larger scale, and also looks more like functional armour?

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[Hunter Rose]

Thanks Will really appreciate all the compliments! Yeah I've tried to keep the details as close to the mini as possible with just a bit of artistic license here and there. Oh man the hand was by far the bit I was most nervous about going into it, I made sure I looked at quite a few sculpting vids for some tips on how to go about it.

Was over the moon with how it came out, I think the biggest help when doing hands is that I dont have to keep looking at my phone for reference images I can just literally look at my own hand as a 3d reference.

 

Totally agree about that first shield, looking at it now its way too flat, I think my heart wasn't really in it because of how much I liked the commander design but glad you like the compromise design.

And I am planning on having the 3D domed relief for the insignia on the shield, I have some domed plastic bits that may fit the bill or simply sculpt the logo (thats probably the easiest way for me tbh)

The shield itself is going to be styrene sheet now, been stressing with armatures and clay and how to support it so just thought forget it and got some sheet styrene.

 

I have (shock horror) actually made some more progress, I've pretty much finished painting the head now! Sorry for lack of progress and updates, first it was broken shed light, storms and cold weather and lately (being an avid gamer) I have been totally obsessed with Elden Ring on my PS4.

 

But with the shed time I managed to grab Igot the red center part painted on the white bits

 

IMG_20220217_163447949 by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I dry brushed a light grey onto the underarmour material on his neck

 

IMG_20220301_163231722_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220301_163257773_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Once that was all dry I did the panel lines in black

 

IMG_20220306_150752510_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220306_150759986_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

Then I darkened the shadow areas under his eyes and on his temples with a dark blue, and added chipping and pigments to the side bits. Oh and also I built up a few layers of gloss on his eyes to give them the shiny look.

 

IMG_20220309_163255997_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220309_163336576_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220309_163350825_HDR by Nick Frost, on Flickr

 

So thats one bit of him complete at least!

 

Next I'm going to bake his torso so I can start the paint process on it and the legs, and I need to carry on carving out the gun and cutting shield pieces in styrene.

 

And I've done nothing with it yet, but a nicely turned round bit of mdf has turned up which will be a nice base for him, so plenty on the to do list so time to crack on!

 

Thanks for looking, more soon