Lindon's Badges - A Gift from Cradle

For the love of Cradle

The badges of Wei Shi Lindon

A Brief Introduction

For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, I am a massive fan of the book series Cradle by the extremely talented American author Will Wight.  The series is best described as a magical martial arts epic wherein the main character Lindon, progresses through various levels of mastery punctuated by some truly amazing set pieces.  I cannot recommend them highly enough and I would definitely urge you to listen to the audio books which are narrated by Travis Baldree - I've never heard audio books like this before; his inflection and tone change so dramatically and specifically for each character that you know exactly who is speaking and there are a lot of characters in these books...

The levels of competence and power which can be achieved by Sacred Artists (Will's equivalent of a magic user / martial artist / spiritualist) are defined by stages of advancement.  These are expressed in the novels by materials; copper being the first rung of the ladder, progressing through Iron, Jade etc.

In the first book, Lindon is given a wooden badge sporting the Unsouled (worthless) character.

In the second novel Soulsmith, Lindon discovers a box of 8 medallions which represent the levels of advancement as physical emblams:

"The first row contained a badge each of copper, iron, jade, and gold. That much he expected. But the second row moved from halfsilver to goldsteel to materials he couldn't identify. One of them was a deep, fiery red, and the other a blue so rich it was like a Forged slice of the sky."

The image and importance of these badges is so strong in my mind that I was inspired to create them physically in a display box which I intended to send to the author himself as a sort of thankyou for making such an amazing book series that's given me so much joy and inspiration to keep pushing through my own difficulties and hardships!

The Unsouled and Soulsmith Badges

Designs & Sculpting

Both of the badges which I needed to sculpt already existed as drawings in the form of cover art:

Lindon's wooden Unsouled badge from the cover of the first book in the Cradle series 'Unsouled'

An Iron Soulsmith badge from the cover of the second book in the Cradle series 'Soulsmith'

My badge sculpts in Super Sculpey (after the moulding porcess)

As the Soulsmithing badges all have the same design but in different materials, I only had to sculpt two badges then cast various copies in resin.  I sculpted both badge designs in Super Sculpey then created silicone moulds so that I could cast the badges in resin.

The moulds look a little beaten up now, but they took a fair bit of abuse during the casting process!

Casting

Casting the badges was pretty straightforward if a little time consuming as I only had one Soulsmith badge mould to work with!  I cast most of the badges in a plain grey resin and painted them in metallic colours.  3 of the badges (jade, red and blue) were cast in clear resin with pigments swirled into the resin.

The fiery red badge curing on the radiator looks just like a fried egg!!

The finished Medallions

Once I'd finished casting the badges, I painted each one to resemble the correct materials. I then painstakingly hemmed 8 lengths of blue satin ribbon (as described in the novels) which was then tied to each badge with a look knot.  I rolled each one and used a widened paper clip to keep each one neatly folded for display.

All 9 badges after painting, sealing and threading 

The blue and red badges were deliberately cast to be semi-transparent

I was really pleased with the bamboo texture I achieved on the Unsouled badge - it's a very close match to the cover artwork!

Display case

I the Soulsmith description, it notes that the 8 badges are displayed in a single case in two rows of 4.  I hunted high and low for a box to accommodate them, but couldn't find one that I liked in this configuration.  In the end, I managed to find an antique slide topped box approximately 40cm long that I could use to display the badges in one row.  It was too perfect in depth and length to resist, so after weeks of searching, I made this concession and ordered the box!

Although the box was old, it was in fairly good condition, needing minimal restoration work

I had to carefully remove some paint marks from the outside of the box and re-varnish it

I carefully measured the interior then designed a 3 tier insert to hold the medallions.  I painstakingly cut this from 0.5cm foamex

Once the three layers were cut from Foamex, I lined the three components with self adhesive black felt. This took a frustratingly long time...

...but was worth the effort!

Once the three layers were inserted snugly into the case, it was ready to be filled with badges!! 

A close up of the 3 layered inserts.

The final display

All 8 badges - I was pleased with how distinctly different they all looked

Copper Badge with Verdigris effect

Iron Badge showing slight signs of rust in the recesses

Jade Badge - semi-transparent resin glazed with a rich green gloss

Gold Bade - I gave the classic gold a deep rich tone

Halfsilver Badge - as this isn't a real metal, I had to distinguish it from the iron badge.  I made it a much lighter silver with a slight bluish hue

Goldsteel Badge - as it had to look different to normal gold, I painted this one to resemble fool's gold which is lighter with hints of green and purple.  I always think of it as peacock gold!

Fiery Red Badge - semi transparent red resin with swirls of yellow and orange. Glazed with transparent gloss red. 

Deep Blue Badge - Transparent blue resin with sky blue swirls

On the inside of the lid, I place the description of the medallions from Soulsmith on some aged paper

Final Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this little side project and I was super happy when Will received it safe and sound all the way over in Florida!  Will was really pleased with the collection and I hope it brought him as much pleasure as his book series has brought me!  I certainly can't wait for the next instalment!

Maybe I'll be revisiting Cradle again with another project in the near future...

A load of old Dross?

Troggherd Unleashed and a visit to Cradle

Stupidly hungry or hungrily stupid?

My herd of Troggoths - growing in size if not in intellect

My Troggherd has been stowed away for months while I've been working on various Knight and Titan projects.  With the advent of Age of Sigmar 3rd edition, I decided it was high time that I dusted off these big idiots and got them ready for the field of battle!

I've now completed several units and have only my Dankhold Troggoths to finish!  I've included the Troggoth Hag WIP images at the end of the post for anyone that's in interested in how I put her together. 

Mollog

Unfortunately, I completely forgot to include Mollog with my group pictures, so here he is with his coalition of squig buddies - just super impose him with your mind... :)

Mollog surveys the currently vacant Trogg Throne.  Who could possibly sit here? 

Fellwater Troggoths

I finally finished painting the unit of six Fellwater Troggoths which I started over a year ago with a single test model.  I'm very pleased with the final colour scheme! 

Smelly, ugly and stupid - these guys are a real triple threat!

I kept the colours a little muted as these trolls are supposed to be cave dwellers

The troll vomit is still one of my favourite parts of this kit!

The bases all have a similar cave theme across the herd

Bleurgh!!

Fellwater Troggoth Hag

A Fellwater Troggoth of gargantuan size is a foe to be reckoned with...

I'd been planning to add a Troggoth Hag to my army for some time, but wasn't 100% sold on the Forgeworld version.  Besides, this would give me yet another opportunity to convert a miniature and I never shy away from a challenge!

In the end, I decided to use a plastic Great unclean one miniature as the basis for my Hag.  I love the basic model and it had the lumbering proportions that I wanted for my smelly lady of the bog!

As hideous as she is potent, my Troggoth Hag stands taller even than the herd's giant!

No Hag would be complete without a sack of stinking bones, junk and foetid meat

All manner of junk is contained within the hag's net

Note how the bra rope pulls into her fleshy back

I was particularly pleased with the sail and scales on the hag's back

With spindly chin hairs, a glowing lure, and even a crown on one tusk, the hag is a real beauty

The hag's staff is hung with many scavenged trinkets

The rancid cave pools on my Troggoth bases gave me an opportunity to add a little extra character!

Towering over her Fellwater charges, the hag fits right in!

I used a very similar colour scheme on the hag as I wanted the lineage to be obvious

I'm very much looking forward to using these guys in a game!

One big smelly family!

Rockgut Troggoths

Time to rock.

Rockgut Troggoths are pretty much the mainstay of most herds - they're tough as nails and pretty nasty when fielded in large groups.  I have nine Rockguts which I intend to run as either one large unit or a group of three and six for more flexibility.

As far as the kit itself goes, it's an absolute joy. I used most of the options from the three kits I had to make nine very individual and characterful models.  I think you could easily squeeze twelve models out of four kits without any of them looking the same!  That's a huge amount of variation for a set containing only three miniatures!  The heads alone gave so many options that not one of them is repeated in my collection!

Rather than going with the traditional blue, I wanted to try out a really sandy yellow scheme for my Rockguts.  I complimented the yellowy skin with orange around the faces, then added spot colours on weapons and crystals to contrast.  Overall, I am very happy with how they turned out!

It's testament to the variety of the kit that not one of these Troggoths look the same

Catch dis!

The contrasting green crystal in this guy's rock works nicely

I love this face - quizzical, confused, pondering?  Who can say?

I used a spare Dankhold Troggoth cannon necklace on this Rockgut - I think it works really well!

Ready to bash out your brains with a stylish geode club

This Rockgut has found some valuable realmstone - he'll probably throw it at someone.  Or eat it.  Maybe both.

I really enjoyed painting these miniatures; particularly the crystal areas like the one on the end of his Trogg's club

Fungoid Cave Shaman and Badmoon Marker

As Troggoths are not natural magic users, I decided to make myself a Fungoid Cave Shaman using an old Sourbreath Troll miniature in order to keep with the theme.

Although I don't intend to use it for its intended purpose, I painted up the Badmoon spell to use as a marker in the game to illustrate the position of the Badmoon as it changes position during the battle. 

Chanting to the Badmoon, this Troggoth Shroomancer prepares to cast an undoubtedly pungent spell

Endless spells such as the Badmoon are always fun to paint!

Troggoth Aleguzzler Gargant

My Troggoth Gargant is like a walking forest of fungus!

It would have been rude not to include an Aleguzzler Gargant in my Troggherd, but he needed to be 'Troggified' first!  The conversion itself was pretty simple - I used most of a spare Dankhold Troggoth head, resculpted the neck to fit.  I then enhanced the skin of the body to make it appear more wasted and flaccid as if sagging from the weight of all the fungal growths hanging from his body!

I added all manner of fungus, moss and toadstools to his skin to make him seem like a part of the very caves he inhabits!  He also carries a club fashioned from an expired pet dragon, made entirely from parts included in the gargant kit!

Rather than the normal fleshy tones, I painted this ugly behemoth in pallid greens and blues to simulate the effects that living without sunlight would have on the skin.

Saggy of moob and belly, my gargant lumbers from his underground home

Covered with a patchwork of cloth and fungal growths, this gargant could be mistaken for a pile of detritus while sleeping!

There are even a couple of cloth patches made from Rockgut hide on my gargant! 

The dead dragon skull was clearly taken from a beloved pet as shown by the spiked collar hanging from the club's shaft 

The Trogg King's Throne

The Trogg King's literal seat of power

I wanted my Loonshrine to be related to my Troggoths rather than the badmoon itself, so I made a throne for the Trogg King (see more of him here) using a Magewrath Throne scenery piece which I'd had squirrelled away for a while.

The throne itself is decorated with fungus and even a Stalagsquig, while one of the two statues has been smashed to pieces by a falling stalagtite from the cave ceiling.  I was especially pleased with the Stalagtite chunks embedded in the ground next to the smashed statue, having even flipped up some of the surrounding flagstones!

The seat throne itself is covered in dubious brown stains, with the Trogg King's favourite bone (maybe his badge of office?) leaning against it.  Skeletal remains lay nearby, while a trail of blood up the steps to the throne suggest that the Trogg King enjoys the occasional humanoid snack...

Clearly a reclaimed relic of a former empire, this throne lies deep within the Trogg King's underground caverns

The smashed statue and upturned flagstones next to the fallen rocks add a little narrative to this piece of terrain

I painted the throne as obsidian, heavily weathered and covered with colourful mushrooms!

I look forward to being able to use this potent (pungent?) relic in a game!

One of the Trogg King's unfortunate dinner guests

Clearly not from Ikea

All fungus great and small

Shroomy Hollow - a selection of fine Fungus and lair of the Shroomancer...

To accompany my Troggoths, I created yet more fungal delights to act as scatter terrain.  These were made to fit in with the Shroom Hovel (check it out here), fleshing out the Shroomy Hollow themed terrain set I've been working on.

The new mushroom clusters

I originally sculpted these two large toadstools to go on the Shroom Hovel base, but they proved a little large.  I repurposed them as scatter terrain on their own base

The base is also home to a number of smaller purple mushrooms

Some smaller fungal clusters

By the shape and colouring, you can see that these toadstools are all of the same species...

...even if the largest of their number has succumbed to rot and decay

All together now!

The bases really tie my Troggoth menagerie together!

The surly Rockguts lobbing boulders

A clutch of Fellwaters vomiting corrosive bile

What a handsome bunch!

Making the Hag

As previously mentioned, The Troggoth Hag started off as a Great Unclean one plastic kit.  I assembled the basic shape then carved off any large details like the spilling guts and toothed maws which would indicate this was a creature of the dark gods.  I roughly filled all of the gaps this left with some basic epoxy putty.

The basic model all assembled, cleaned up and filled

I started by lengthening the staff and sculpting protruding spines on the back - these would become the sail

The observant of you will have noticed that I left the head blank as I would need to sculpt a new head from scratch.  In order to get an idea of how I wanted it to look, I sketched out some ideas...

The final face took elements from a few of these sketches

I started work on the hag's net by creating the contents on a large pear shape on her shoulder

I made the contents from all manner of items which a troll might gather up for later use!

I added a few trinkets to the Hag's staff to give it a more scavenged, shamanistic feel

While I had created the net's content from plastic components, the net itself was made from plaited string which I then made into a net by creating a knotted lattice.  This took a whole evening, but I was very satisfied with the final look!

I filled in the sail gaps and started to texture the skin areas which I'd filled

I also wrapped the net around its contents and fixed it to the hag's back

I love the tentacle hanging out of the net!  The tentacle was actually a spare Necromunda marker

When planning the miniature, I had deliberately selected the arm with the reverse gripped knife as the position made it perfect for convincingly carrying a sack!

With the other main areas in place, I started work on the head

I used aluminium wire for the ear and lure shapes, metal ball bearing for the eyes and carved plastic for here teeth

Once I had the basic shape down, I went back to the face in several sessions, refining the details and adding extra features

At this stage, I felt she looked a lot like Deputy Dawg!

I sculpted a bra - even trolls can be modest!

I started adding some hair and other details such as scales to the cheeks

I removed the ear wire then sculpted them on a flat surface for ease.  Once cured, I flipped them over and sculpted the backs before gluing them in place on either side of the head

I sculpted the gross looking pools of slop onto the base after I'd worked out the Hag's final foot placement, creating ripples and bubbles in the surface

And here is the final miniature!

I think this was my fastest ever large miniature conversion, taking only two weeks from buying the kit to having it completely painted!

Orthos - Cradle

And finally, I wanted to share a pencil drawing I did of a character called Orthos from the book series Cradle by Will Wight.  I've worked my way through all nine of the available books on Audible and am eagerly awaiting the 10th entry in the series!  I highly recommend the book series to anyone who likes intricately fashioned fantasy worlds, fantastically engaging characters and some genuine laugh out loud moments!  

Orthos is one of the protagonists in the series; a huge sentient fire turtle possessed of a surly disposition and a huge reservoir of raw blackflame power.  I was so taken with Orthos that I knew I had to draw him in detail!  I even earned a nod from the author himself with my depiction! :)

Orthos in all his spikey glory!

I was so pleased with the final result, that I have decided to scuplt Orthos - stay tuned for future updates on my progress!