What's in the box II - Drukhari Surprise...

The box thing again?!

Welcome to another edition of What's in the box!

 

Previously on Kaiju Country I posted some images of a whimsical boxed project which I completed in a couple of evenings.  Today's offering took considerably more effort and is back in the land of Warhammer 40,000 - specifically back on the subject of those naughty Drukhari flesh-smiths in The Hex Haemonculus Coven!

 

It can be said that I have a penchant for 'themed' armies and paraphernalia; rather than pursuing a competitive meta munching list, I prefer to build my projects around what excites me in the hobby and go from there.

 

I have always loved the Haemonculus Covens and what they represent.  Twisted and sinister, these depraved flesh sculptors spend their unnaturally lengthened lives in search of the perfect form which they work towards with a horrendous amount of unnecessary surgery on less than willing patients!

 

To assist me in gathering my own experimental slaves, I put together a case.  Presented as a Haemonculus' personal collection of instruments, it's a theatrical, but I think it really represents my own hobby obsessions as much as those of an imaginary evil-doer!

 

The outside of the case - made to look as though it has been bound with the finest selection of skins...

The rear of the box - all of the strapping and strings were made with red thong to represent sinewy twine.

The binding 'human skin' is featured on the front and side facings, with black reptilian skin covering the larger three.

The box had to look like an exquisitely constructed case, incorporating grisly trophies such as flesh, bone and skins weaved into a functional object.

In this image, you can see that the fastening acts as a carry handle when passed through the hoop to the rear.



Once the fastening bone hook has been passed through the loop, it is drawn up to the lid as the box opens, acting as a stop to hold the case open.

Upon opening the case, you are presented with the decorative facial skin of a worthy adversary.

Sculpted in polymer clay then moulded and cast into latex, this stretched facial skin was then painted and attached to a felt backing board which lies across the first layer of the box.  And yes, the eyes and mouth are stitched shut with thread.  I'm nothing if not thorough...

So despite the rather grisly premise, you will have guessed that this is actually a transport case for all of my themed Drukhari gaming paraphernalia!  The second layer is black EVA foam which my Codex sits on top of (preventing it from damaging the other contents by falling in!)

 

The next layer is simply the dice shaking tray located in the top left of the box

Under the tray sits the bulk of my gaming items seated within another layer of thick black EVA foam

The bottom layer of EVA foam with cut-outs for all of the items.  The foam has been heat treated and coated for durability.  Beneath that is red felt for a lovely plush finish - see, a torture chest can be snuggly!

As you can see from the dice shaker, Tape measure, dice bag and dice box, the theme for the contents was carried forward from the outer aesthetic.  All of the items were either coated and painted or fashioned from skin coloured faux leather and embellished with paint.



First up is the hand made dice bag which contains some nice black and pink dice which I picked up online.

I was very pleased with the veiny patterning which I used to add some light detailing to all of the items, tying them together.  By the time I'd finished the whole set, I was pretty damn good at adding veiny patterns to just about anything! :)

The dice shaker was a pig to sew as it is double layered with a crimson coloured leatherette for the inside.  I also made it more difficult for myself by deciding that I wanted the crimson thread on the outside!  Once the sewing was complete, I embellished the item with the symbol of the Hex Coven and the aforementioned vein patterning.

Coardboard dice box repainted to match the other items, containing some limited edition Games Workshop skull dice that I've had for years.  They're some of my favourite ever dice; it's such a shame they hate me and always roll 1's!

The tape measure was made by coating a regular cheap measuring tape with paper maché and painting it to resemble dried, cracked skin.  The hold button was painted in a bone colour and heavily varnished.  It still works perfectly and is only slightly diminished by the fact that I couldn't think of a way to coat or paint the metal tape without ruining this functional equipment and making it completely useless!

A shaped cardboard box - lined with felt and painted to match the other items.  This was a perfect fit for my Drukhari cards

The dice rolling tray was also a straightforward felt lined cardstock item.  I always take a dice tray to play games as I hate it when stray dice take out miniatures...

Added just before completion is a small softwood box which I layered with black and red glazes before varnishing to make it look both blood stained and old.  Inside the box are 7 small dice holders which can be used as wound markers on larger models. A selection of skulls from various kits were used to decorate them and also give me something to use when trying to pick them up!

The final offering is a collection of small jars which I collected as I saw them, saving them for my various items which are (from left to right) smaller mottled red dice, older Games Workshop plastic skull shaped wound markers and finally a selection of plastic & glass 'blood crystals' which I use for various functions during games such as command points etc.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed looking through my more whimsical recent posts; rest assured, I'll be returning to full on mini action soon! :)

Goddenzilla

What's in the Box?!

Today I wanted to focus on a few different subjects rather than just one...

First up... What's in the Box?!

The Box

My sister and her family recently came over from Canada for a short visit.  One of our days out took us to Nottingham for the annual Sherwood Forrest Robin Hood festival.

It was a great day out as you can see from the picture below which I took at the end of the 'Outlaw Hunt' which involved searching for Robin Hood and his incredibly well hidden men.  We found Robin Hood in a bush, Will Scarlett inside a tree and Maid Marrion with a fern on her head!


The Sheriff was pleased with our Outlaw tracking skills, rewarding us each with a certificate.
Next time I'm asking for cash.
Up front.

Anyway, as she was only with us for a few days, I wanted to give her, her husband and the kids something nice to take back to Canada with them.  I instructed each of them to find a stick as I wanted to try out some new techniques to make them a nice little keepsake each.

'But how does that relate to the box?' you ask...

The simple answer is WANDS!!

That's right, I made each of them a whittled 'Harry Potter' style wand and created a custom storage box for them!

I was pretty pleased with the overall result as a sort of display piece rather than having any really practical use.

The box was a basic softwood storage which I picked up a while ago.  A light sand, some wood stain and a couple of coats of varnish later and it was ready for the lining which I made from sticky backed felt to protect the wands from the wooden surfaces.

I then carefully measured the inside rim of the box and stencilled the wand shapes onto a large piece of 10mm EVA foam.  Once I'd cut it all out and covered it with a black priming agent, I glued it into the lid and main box recess. It's worth noting that I deliberately cut the foam slightly larger than the wands at the bottom (to allow for foam shrinkage when I heat sealed it) and smaller at the top to hold the wands in place.

Overall I think it worked pretty well and may well use the EVA foam again in the future for creating transport cut-outs for large miniature custom cases life the one I put together for my Reaver Titan.  I wouldn't recommend this for small or delicate miniatures as the heat treatment and priming stiffens the foam to the point where it could damage intricate components.

Anyway, here's some more shots of the wands themselves...


White Witch Wand.  Simple and Elegant.

Carved and sanded smooth from an angled branch elbow then varnished after a white wash was applied.

Dryad / Woodland Wand

Carved from a simple branch with engraved flower and vine patterns etched into the surface.  Coloured with acrylic washes in the engraved areas before varnishing.

Practical Wizarding Wand. Stockier but carved to fit into the palm and forefinger.

Again, carved from a single piece of wood with an etched Maple leaf and red leather inlaid stripes on the grip.

Conical Mermaid Wand.  My Niece adores mermaids and I adore her, so this was a no brainer.

Once the stick pattern had been carved, I painstakingly adjust the shell and receiver on the wand to give a nice tight fit before it was glued into place.  Simple clear varnish was used to seal it.



While we're on the subject of random props...

I thought I'd show some pictures of a Cthulhu-esque Dungeon Master Mask which I created a while ago.  The creation process was pretty straight forward.

I bought a basic pre-fabbed mask, added some texturing using paper maché and then after it had dried, I sculpted over the top with my usual bulk putty mixes (see my brood horror article for more mixing tips!).  Following that, it was just painted and varnished as normal.



Basic shapes were built up on the surface before refining and sharpening them with files once the putty had cured.

I blended the pattern with the texture I'd already applied to give a cohesive, organic look.  I also tried to make it look like beaten metal rather than a forged piece of armour, which I think worked out really well!

Painting and weathering was pretty quick.  I applied a couple of layers of thick gloss varnish, polished the mask then applied a thin matt spray.  The overall effect nicely simulated aged bronze.

The finished piece - I think it has a really sinister look to it!

Git outta moi dunjon!

And finally...

I have been working on a Frost Giant conversion for a friend recently.  Tom from the AoS Path to Glory campaign I'm taking part in collects Beastclaw Raiders and had a Mourngul miniature which he wasn't sure what to do with.

I had recently seen an excellent conversion over on the Exprofundis Blog (http://www.exprofundis.com/frost-giants/) and was desperate to give it a go, but with a slightly different take on the idea.

The Frost Giant which I wanted to build for Tom would use the 'Incarnate Elemental of Fire' ruleset but replacing Fire with ice.  To fit this, the Frost giant would need to be a part magical force of nature, hunting the desolate icelands in search of prey...

My idea was for a gigantic, wiry tracker, sniffing out its quarry in a squat pose, ready to spring up and lope off towards an unwary victim.  Being partly magical, he would have a chill aura around his hands which he'd also use to fashion huge icy spears which could be thrown like a javelin to skewer a raging Thundertusk!



I assembled then painstakingly trimmed down the model leaving only what I required to fashion this colossal beast

I used the size of the arms to calculate the rough length of the legs then created a frame from wire

I quickly realised I was going to need a bigger base...

Very rough putty 'bulking' was the first step in the process.

I used enough putty to add bulk and solidify the wire frame, but not so much that it would interfere with the musculature which I would need to build up next.

The Mourngul miniature has very odd musculature and proportions - although I was using my human anatomy books for reference, I had to elongate a lot of the muscle groups and in some cases, bend anatomical rules to get it all looking right!

Oddly, I think it needed the loin cloth to really get me believing this could be a real creature!

The leg on the right still needs needs slimming, but the muscle posing is now fully locked in. Also, now that the base is mocked out, I can finally start the feet! 

Here's a view of the ice spears which will attach to his back and the spinal column which you can see now extends right down to the end of the Coccyx

Well, that's all for now, but stay tuned for more updates soon!

Goddenzilla :)