Narcissus' Prisoner Exchange log

I am really excited for the prisoner exchange. I have lots of ideas. I have a few that I am really wanting to do. I am excited to build something for someone else and to push myself to do something different. I haven't ever built a diorama beyond adding detail to bases. There are lots of ways I want to push myself this time. Here are some things I am thinking about:

-I am thinking about making a diorama where a prisoner is being exchange with a rival squad. Prisoner has a bag over his head and his hands bound and is being prodded out of cover by another model. The races involved depend on who I draw. I was thinking I could model one of my recipients models being returned to them by one of my models (or vice versa) (ex. two renegades returning a bound and wounded ork to Mordheimer, renegades in cover in a diorama, the ork covered head and tied up, walking out of cover into no mans land).

-Another thought I have is to try and sculpt a model nearly from scratch. I tried this once before and failed badly. I want to try it again. I saw something recently where someone used heads and hands from plastic and sculpted around it. If I took my time I may be able to do that. It might look awful though. Likely it would look awful. Probably someone in a greatcoat or something similar. I don't want to sculpt flesh really.

-Originally, I had been thinking of creating a hired gun for someone's faction. A doctor or assassin or saboteur or servitor or something. Just spend a lot of time on the conversion. Now I am thinking this is a bit less exciting that the other ideas I have been floating around.

-I want to include some form of diorama. A small scene or a larger scenic base. This is an area I want to expand my abilities in and would represent a new challenge for me. I still plan to make the piece playable on its own but would go to town on the diorama a bit. Might be cool to do a winter scene or something similar that doesn't fit into my forces at all (and that I have always wanted to try).

Thoughts on these would be appreciated. All are rough ideas right now and I don't intend to get too heavily involved in the building until I know who I have and what they want.

Well, since the exchange is first and foremost a 'you' project, you could go for the exchange idea with the playable character from the faction you play, and sculpt/convert the bound and hooded character from the faction the person you got plays with.

You'll see, dioramas and scenic bases are the most fun part of this hobby, mini terrain pieces to highlight with your toy soldiers =p

I agree with balangaz... if YOU have fun, the Recipient will love it too! I think your 1st idea is GREAT! You get to build a diorama AND give a playable model. You can start building YOUR guys on a 60mm base, just leave the space for the 25mm base for the Prisoner. Once you know the Recipient, you could do anything for him.

If you strap the Prisoner with bunch of explosives, he could be a Demolition Expert! You could make the hood out of real cloth, so it could be removed and the Prisoner playable. Sewing... another Skill pushed for you!

Thanks for the feedback.

I had thought about adding some bombs to the prisoner so he could double as a booby trap. I thought that in game an unarmed model might be nice. Everyone needs an unarmed recruit to go to the front and soak up incoming fire from time to time...

I guess a little diorama it is. I will do a single mini or a fancy display base soon too. I've been wanting to do a little diorama like this krieg one from Santa Cruz Warhammer for a while. I may make the diorama a little larger. I will also make both models removable so they can be used as gaming pieces as well.

Ace concept - putting the prisoner in an actual exchange.

Balangaz's idea of building the diorama first and adding the specific prisoner later will allow you to get on with it (and share pics of course).

You'd be able to put time into building the basic body/pose of the prisoner (if you went that way). I've used the Reaper armatures whenever I've toyed with sculpting (they include the basic musculature).



I've made this (admittedly rough) model with these armatures...



I was my first ever sculpt though!

Laney:D

Bronze Age also has a nice series of blanks...they call them generics. They offer males, females, & skeletons. You can check them out here:

http://www.bronzeagemin.com/miniatures_html/32MM/GENERICS/generics.htm

Those generics are really good (added to my favourites) - the Skeletons in particular. How easy are they to re-pose? The reaper super muscle version of their armatures are virtually impossible to change pose without destroying half the muscle structure (Sorry to go off topic).

Laney:D

Laney wrote:

Sorry to go off topic

You ARE on topic... the topic is to "marvel at Narcissus' Prisoner" and "help Narcissus with anything we can for his Prisoner"... you guys ARE helping him and ALL of us! Maybe by Prisoner Exchange 2020 I would gather enough courage to sculpt something from scratch... then I will remember this! Thanks for the info!

Laney wrote:

Those generics are really good (added to my favourites) - the Skeletons in particular. How easy are they to re-pose? The reaper super muscle version of their armatures are virtually impossible to change pose without destroying half the muscle structure (Sorry to go off topic).

Laney:D

A little trick to repositioning: I dip the mini into boiling water. I've found, once the mini is heated, the metal becomes just malleable enough to bend easily...the blisters go away eventually.

The armatures are interesting. The legs look so bulky on them though. The skeleton is the most promising.

Right now I am leaning more towards a heavy sculpting model over preexisting pieces. I may just take some models and file the down and remove most of the details and then sculpt the new details over top. Keep things like the face, guns and hands in plastic and maybe arm sleeves. Sculpt layers of armour and things. Basically just some greenstuff but aim for over 50% of the final model to be putty on the surface.

I have started to plan out the scene. I think I am going to try and build it on a 60mm base, so it stays compact. I am going to build the edge of a small building with brickwork and a tiny corridor leading to a metal door. A renegade will be half in the doorway prodding the prisoner forward with his rifle. The prisoner will be bound with a bag or blindfold and will have lots of his armour stripped. The renegade will be pushing the prisoner forward in an exchange of prisoners. The prisoner's race and appearance will depend upon the recipient.

For the models, I will start on the renegade soon. I plan to get really in depth with sculpting the details. Taking my time and building in layers. The previous renegades have been a bit rushed in some cases. I will let layers cure in between this time. I'm planning to try and document the step by step conversion and sculpting as I have been meaning to do this a few times. Both models will be on 25mm playing bases and fully removable. Maybe I will equip the renegade as a hired gun too (demolitions expert?) for use by the recipient.

Pictures coming soon (maybe...).

Hey!

Any updates?

Well, no updates. I drew Mordheimer as my recipient. He obvously already knows. The cat is out of the bag. Now I am plotting on what to do and how to do it. I have some ideas. I want to share my work as I go on the forum, but I also want to torment Mordheimer with some suspense, as he already knows what he will be getting....

Any thoughts? Ideas?

Sweet Baby Emperor... you recruiting EVERYONE into your torture scheme? I know is is impossible to hate Canadians, but you are pushing it! Heheheh...

...I see there is some one else who gets carried away with things. That makes about 20 or so of us working on the P.E. Project.

While we're on the "carried away" subject, one of the Guys on Tom's Forum, quidamcorvus, makes INCREDIBLE display bases for all his War Bands. You can check them out here...go back from this page for more examples:



http://boringmordheimforum.forumieren.com/t1097p600-gallery-by-qc

SO...when P.E. is over, there's no reason why we can't continue with the madness.

Incredible display! WOW!

So Narcissus... are you making ME something like that? Because you ARE really talented AND generous!

Alright, still no pictures.

Here is what I am thinking. You mentioned you were interested in starting a chaos cultists force. So I will make you a cultist and a prisoner as part of a diorama. As I talked about before, cultist returning a prisoner. Cultist will be carrying a gun and prodding the imperial guard officer forward.

I am trying to decide how much of each to sculpt. I think I will sculpt the whole cultist (except maybe hands and possibly one arm). With most of my models I've been sculpting a good percentage of my renegades, so this is just a step up in doing the proportions properly and taking my time with each layer. The guardsman I might just reposition and add details. Still trying to decide on that.

I will post step by step updates of the models as they go along. This will be something totally new for me. So we will see how it goes...

PS-I hope you like Nurgle!

I don't know if I like Nurgle... but Pappa Nurgle loves me!!!!

Hehehe... Nurgle will be GREAT! Can wait to see what you are doing.

Is there another chaos god who you prefer? I am open to anything. Are you of a more violent persuasion? Do you like beauty? Trickery?

That is MY problem... I like them ALL! Nurgle is fine... specially YOURS! HAAAH! I don't see a Khorne follower being captured... much less returned. A stinky Nurgle lover... you can have him back... PLEASE!! Hhehehehe

Mord, I am thinking now about just making a single model. But trying to make it a display piece with a nice plinth and a good paint job. It would really push me to try and "perfect" a single miniature. I am imagining a scene called "Renegade's Winter". One renegade, in trench coast, muffed collar, tank on back, standing at ease on sentry duty in a snowy urban setting. Generic renegade (or I could even make a good guy imperial guard if you wanted?).

OHHH!!! I like that too! I like models that inspire stories! Anything that you want... doesn't need to be perfect... just has to have a part of your soul. Ohhh... that sounds very ... sorry. You know what I mean... as long that I see the model 10 years from now and think "Narcissus was so crazy cool!" I will be happy.

Haha. So much pressure. My deadline for my death guards passed so now I have more time to devote to this project.

I am still doing a single model on a display plinth. It will be a demolitions expert/saboteur. A bit of evil taint but not openly aligned with chaos. Model will be kneeling, rigging a booby trap in a snowy urban landscape. I've also built six other traps for the owner to place on the board as part of his special rules. Unfortunately I can't find my camera memory card to upload any pictures. The model will have a greatcoat, gas mask, and russian style fur lined hat.

Pictures coming when I find my memory card!

Narcissus wrote:

Pictures coming when I find my memory card!

AGHHHH!!! You ARE killing me, bro! Stupid memory card... hehehe

Project idea looks awesome. Can't wait to see some pics!

I found my camera memory card but now the batteries are acting up. Here are two bad pictures of the traps I built for the demolitions expert:


The white plasticard always gets washed out by my camera. The white is plasticard tubes. Some dynamite sticks strapped to a fuel canister. A small pile of TNT attached to a trip wire, a bomb attached to a satellite receiver. And three land mines.

really cool! love the bombs!