Making The Warlord On The 6th Ed. Army Book Cover!, Article - Stage by stage with pictures

[Roba-Fett]

Here is an excellent talk through and breakdown with pictures of how an especially exceptional Orc model was custom made. Who else but the Warlord from the Orcs & Goblins rulebook himself!?

The pics are very large so that you can see the details carefully.

I would suggest this as an article for the main site and also for other uses such as e-zines etc.

This article is submitted to me by my friend and master artist/painter/sculptor Paul Cubbin and I bring it to you now.

Enjoy

Part 1

The mandate was to recreate as closely as possible the Orc Warlord from the front cover of Games Workshop's Orcs and Goblins Army Book. He was going to be used as a unit (and presumably army) leader, so would have to be relatively sturdy and mounted on a standard 25x25mm base with not to many bits sticking out. He was also ordered to be extra large as it was hoped he would look imposing to opponents! This was a very tricky project that I really couldn't pass up and, frankly, was something that had been in the back of my mind for a long time. After studying the cover for a while it became apparent that the huge differences between what an artist will include on a great detailed picture and what a commercial sculptor is able to achieve would make for a very challenging and interesting time for me. For one thing, I knew a lot of the details would have to be changed or omitted altogether as the scale would make them prohibitively fiddly and fragile. I was also frustratingly limited by my own abilities and equipment and knew that, although confident I could do a good job, there would be some aspects that I would wish I had been able to copy exactly. But, never one to shy away from fun, I made my fiendish plans and dived in.

A1 - the base. I wanted to get a similar feel to the scene from the front of the Orc and Goblins army book but was mindful that to recreate it precisely would be impossible and also very boring (the figure is not in a very dynamic pose). With this in mind I used some bodies from the Empire Free Companies sprue with armour from the old Skeleton Horsemen sprue. The top figure has been chopped in half (mostly so his legs didn't dangle off the base!) with his (greenstuff) guts falling out in a most untidy manner. I originally gave him a broken cutlass but swapped it for a broken halberd later on. Both bodies have the heads dangling loosely to show their demised state and the bottom one has a cut throat (greenstuff again). There is space left for a shield and various foliage type things later, but for now we have an interesting base that adds a great deal of height for the main figure.


A2 - the main figure. Here we can see the mutilated body of a former Minotaur Lord with boot soles from the Ogre sprue and greenstuff boots, shins and leather strapping. The straps utilised a method that will be frequently used for this model; greenstuff is rolled out thinly onto a powered (talc) sheet of plasticard and left to dry overnight. When set it can be cut into whatever shape you want and is sturdy but flexible enough to work with. I usually don't like using Superglue as it doesn't give a very secure fit and is liable to be brittle, but in this case it is the best for the job. The cut straps were glued onto the ankle, held whilst drying, then wrapped around the leg and glued in place with each turn. The torso was also widened and a paunch added as I suspect the Minotaur was a bit more of a salad eater than your average Orc. Pin holes have been drilled into the wrists ready to take hands and the whole model is securely pinned in a great dynamic pose. The exposed wires will be covered later with foliage and debris.


A3 - the head. After spending ages prying the old minotaur head off the model, I finally decided to put it back on! The muzzle section has been completely cut away, leaving only a back 'plate' for me to build a greenstuff face onto. The bull horns were pared away and bent round to match the picture and the entire top of the head and surrounding neck/fur has been cut back to the skull. The front spike is a long piece of pointy wire that has been bent and penetrates all the way through and secures the head to the torso. Using the rolled greenstuff again, plates and strips have been added to the model in imitation of the armour worn in the picture. The Orc sports a huge amount of small spikes all over his gear and I knew from the start that 1) they would be very fiddly and would take ages and, 2) it was no point trying to attach them until the end as they would be forever knocked off during sculpting. The spikes would, I decided, be the last job before painting and it was not a task I was looking forward to. A chest strap with a loop from the end of a Space Ork axe is added and knee pads and a belt buckle are also added (pared down from Orc shield bosses). At this stage I have to be very patient and plan each stage in advance. I cannot risk putting too much detail in as it could be damaged during the next process; conversely I must make sure that I don't miss out a bit that will awkward to put in later because it is partially covered by other stuff.


Next stage - the head details! Stay tuned!

Paul Cubbin is available for commission requests via –
fox@foxandpaul.freeserve.co.uk

This post has been edited by Roba-Fett on Jul 21 2005, 04:57 PM

[Magic-Arnold]

Looks very impresive (spelling?) can't wait for the follow-up.

Cheers MA

[Lord Gorfasil]

Which orc is this? The big one with the axe? 'Cos I don't recognise the model right now.

[Roba-Fett]

The Prominent Army Book Cover orc, yes.

[Garbag]

Lookin good .

[Paul]

Hello to all. Yes, it is the large Orc Warlord from the front of the Orcs and Goblins book. He's in a yawningly boring position so I thoguht I'd jazz him up a bit to something more dynamic. Rob will keep you posted stage by stage and if you have any questions let either of us know and I'll do my best to accomodate you. Have fun, Paul.

[Snotstaff]

Awesome man!

[Warlord Ghazak Gazhkull]

It looks very nice, I see forward to the rest( stands that on a normal 25mmx25mm base ).

Greetz
G

[DRESSWEARER]

SWEET! Great job and welcome back Fett

[Groshnak]

Oh damn! In-f*cking-credible!

I can't wait for the update!

[Roba-Fett]

Well folks, here comes the next exciting instalment of the article.

Part 2

A4 - the head (and other stuff). The Orc Warlord obviously has a very distinctive helmet with jawbone cheekplate decoration. This was something I was a little nervous about. After having a quick peek at the bits and pieces in my.....well, bits and pieces box, I realised there was nothing suitable, so I'd have to do them myself the hard way. I cut out the shape of the cheekpieces from rolled greenstuff and then built a jawbone on it with more greenstuff. It was actually a little easier than I imagined. With that safely out the way I set about constructing the head itself. I actually enjoy making faces with greestuff as its elastic texture makes it easy to pull a facial expression into your subject using a cocktail stick. The nostrils and mouth will move about in a natural way until you have achieved the desired effect. The nose ring is a link off a brass chain (more on that later), and the mouth was left deliberately toothless (a la Gareth Thomas, Wales Captain) to take prosthetic fangs later. Similarly the eye sockets are empty. A little work went on smoothing out the horns and general detailing on the helmet, but not too much. Some more brass chain (but not all) went on his 'leash' for the collar (more rolled greenstuff) and fun with beading wire and plastic heads completed his gruesome ornaments on dislay. I was happy to leave all the loose ends round the back of the model as I knew a fur cloak would cover all sins.


A4 rear - the left shoulder and back. On the picture we only get a teasing peep at the left shoulder armour as it dangles down. That gave me free rein to make up something interesting. I opted for armoured plates (from cardboard) joined by lengths of chain (see, that's where the rest of it went). I love working with chain on my models as it is very easy to manipulate and never fails to give you a striking effect. My top tip is to trail your chain through a small superglue puddle and dangle it to let it dry in a straight line. When dry it is actually pretty flexible and can be manipulated without it flopping around annoyingly (please, no rude sniggering). I think the whole thing looks great and the loose ends will again be covered by the cloak.


The model is really starting to come together and all that it requires is a great big set of paws to look ready for business, which brings us to that very special axe of his. It is a mini project by itself and is the subject of the next instalment.

[Garbag]

Looking even better now.........

[mar-win]

omfg! f^#&&%^ great article and astonishing work!!!! lovely gs-job there!

[Groshnak]

Yeah, it's indeed one of the most interesting GS-works I've ever seen. I really like it! The model is massive, and when he gets his axe he'll look M-E-A-N!

Keep up the good work!

[Lord Gorfasil]

Awesome. The face is incredible.