Tauster's Miniatures

[deafnala]

The Face Huggers are UBERCOOL  Little Horrors. They look like the beasties that chase Pac-Man around. OUTSTANDING WORK!

[tauster]

I've hit the jackpot and got a 10kg box full of LEGO Bionicle parts on ebay for roundabout 35€!




This has so much potential. I've used bionicle parts in past projects already but I didn't have such a large pile to chose from. Just 1 min of scanning the top layer got me over a dozen of different face masks:




Now I could theoretically build an army of giant robots, but I don't have much use for giant robots in any of our campaigns. But the Mines of Tethyamar will profit extremely from those parts. Lots of scatter terrain pieces with little work - I just have to paint them in different metallic tones and add verdigris or rust to some of them.

That stuff not only makes for interesting combat terrain (piles of giant robot parts to hide behind, climb on etc) - the all-dwarven party could try to repair some of the not-quite functioning prototypes. A few years back, I got a Fist of Tezla and Dwarven Steam Behemoth from Mage Knight That would work great in a long-forgotten dwarven forge. The PC have to repair those beasties while under ever-increasing enemy fire... sounds like lots of fun!

[skunkape]

WOW, what a great haul! I would say you could use those parts for either Dwarven or Gnomish steam constructs!

[tauster]

Gnomish steam constructs... man, thats so obvious but I still didn't see this coming. A no-brainer, really. I've done a beholder ship for our Spelljammer campaign, now it's time for a Gnomish Sidewheeler. Thanks for that inspiration!

[tauster]

No progress on the Gnomish Sidewheeler, but we started a new minibigature project today. Nothing better to fight the Sunday afternoon boredom of an almost-six-year old than watching DMScotty make a crazy monster, then break out the craft stuff and start making one for each father and son!



Word of caution: When you cut out the maw opening, take care to work in small steps and do not rip out too much. At this stage you can always correct a mistake with paper maché, modelling paste, hotglue, crumpled tinfoil or whatever material you use, but if you can avoid breaking of to much material, that's certainly better.


My boy was so excited that after dinner he had to speedpaint the Agnar just before going to bed:



This will take a while to complete - especially since we're doing apair of them, plus two circular hills representing the hidden monsters (terrain traps for unsuspecting players, mwahaha), but the journey is the true reward here. Kiddo absolutely loves to craft, plus we can spend time together doing stuff both of us enjoy.



I'll probably make some modifications to DMScotty's method. I will use small pebbles for teeth, make the legs and horns from tinfoil and ...lets see what else. As always, any ideas are welcome!

[tauster]

Time for a Agnar update, I guess.

Paper maché drying on the oven (two days). In hindsight, I'd probably wouldn't do this step again because almost everything will be covered with hotglue and other textures (pencil shaving moss) later on.




I shaped the legs out of tin foil, and tried hard to come up with a good pose for them...




...I failed, it looks only meh. I wanted to give it a galopping look while looking downward, like it is chasing prey. Maybe the smaller one will do better.




Textured the central ridge with hotglue and blended the legs in. So far I've probably used about 1,5m of hotglue sticks. And In just started with the textures. On only one critter.




At this point, I'm not sure about the inner maw: Texturing with hotglue or using the folds of the paper towel? What I'm sure of is that I want a detachable, neodym-fixed, giant tongue.

...Also not sure about those topside spikes. They don't seem to serve any purpose. I know that I want to do 'top half only' versions of both monsters that look like natural hills, so when the party is exploring their next ruins, they'll be in for a true surprise encounter. And those spikes, if done like eroded stone pillars, could serve as cover during a combat. That's of course, right before the real battle starts. [insert evil DM cackle here]

[tauster]

I did some work on the maw, teeth and I added a magnetised tongue. Instead of fork tines I used irregular stones, which add a weathered look to the beast. I hope that I can build on that impression with later steps.




I wanted a the tongue to have a long, wavey shape, so I took an old shampoo bottle...




...and cut out several shapes with an craft knife. You can't really plan what you get (me, at least), so I usually start simply cutting along until I like one of the results. Worked everytime, ...until today. The three pieces in the foreground were the most likely candidates:




But then I realised that the tongue will have to go around the front teeth, and then when it is through the toothline, should make a slight bend downward. That just didn't work with those shapes, so I shaped one out of aluminum foil, glued a magnet on the back end and covered it with hotglue.




Looks good enough, if you ask me. Although I might be a bit biased. I can already see all kinds of fun with this appendage.
[insert tongue in cheek comment here]

[tauster]

The Agnar made some progress. I want that beast tobe hiding among the ruins, buried into the ground with only the upper hemisphere visible.

So I need another hemisphere which I formed out of several layers paper maché around a ball of newspaper, held together with painter's tape. It took several days to dry and harden on the oven, but it was worth the effort as it is very hard and stable, yet very lightweight. I used 4-6 layers of kitchen roll, but I gues regular newspaper would have worked just as well, and would have been even cheaper. I cut the ball in half and emptied it out:


 

You'll find details about this useful technique on GourmetPaperMache's youtube channel. This guy makes incredible dragons and other monsters. Here's how it works (first 12 sec of the vid).

I think many or most of his other videos show the make balls out of paper maché stage, so just click yourself through his stuff. He also made a few books which show his method in detail (plus, he's fun to read!)


I tried to replicate the stuff on top as much as possible, and added some metal scraps hidden under the hotglue texture.




I added pencil shaving moss and then sand & pebbles. In hindsight I should have applied the shavings after the sand, as they would grow in top of the soil. Lesson learned...

[tauster]

The agnar acquired a pair of eyes and some growth. The eyes wont be visible on the hill version. I desided that the beast can retract its eyes like some frogs do.



Actually I like the lopsided placement of the eyes. Takes a bit of horror out and injects a sense of comic relief. Which is totally inappropriate for this beastie, as the players will undoubtedly learn.

[tauster]

I got a dozen cheap nightgoblin giant spider riders on ebay (wohooo!), and they were packed in an empty Cygnar Storm Strider box. As much as I love that model, I was apalled when I saw that I'd have to spent the equivalent of a mid-sized dragon hoard if I would buy one!

Here's a few pics of that model,...


 


 



...plus a smaller model from the same fraction with the same thematic look & feel:




Now that design theme seriously rocks! Can't wait to craft my own version(s). I have loads of styrofoam and cotton balls. Check. Those circles could be made with small washers or rivets, or various other small parts from the workshop. Check, probably. And then there's about 7kg of Lego Bionicle parts waiting to be reincarnated. Check.

About 4 years ago I made some robots, and one of them looks a bit similar to the Cygnar model:




To get the look closer to the Storm Strider, I'd have to use parts that are not as flat as those washers, but I'm pretty sure I find some bits in the collection. Provided I find the collection. It should be in one of the moving crates, I guess. Here's what I used for the 2014 version:




To be clear I have no idea where this would fit in any of my campaigns* and more than a dozen unfinished projects on the craft desk, the table beside the desk and even more tucked away in several boxes. So far that wasn't enough to keep me from starting yet another project, so expect some robot posts sooner or later.

* Well scratch that, I just realized that our Spelljammer campaign is perfect to inflicting a small army of ancient war machine relics on my players. I have already done the writeup of a fallen realm whose signature shtick was getting overboard with animated objects, and our plot has them already pointed in the Crystal Sphere containing the planet where that realm is found. [cue evil DM cackle]

[erho]

Modrons in 5e

Minions in d&d anyone?

[tauster]

Modrons are always fun, and a large scale modron terrain set would be so fantastic to make and use in a game. One day..
In fact, that cube-shaped robot is Mati, a rogue modron and allied NPC in one of our campaigns. Loads of fun and fond memories!

In the meantime, I started collecting materials for the Storm Strider.

The legs are already looking fine. Three bionicle parts each and you're done. I love that stuff! The have ball and socket joints that allow them to acutally make walking movements. Too bad I have to paint them up! If I moved them after painting, the color would scrape off immediately. Different poses would be so cool in encounters. At least I'll hotglue strong neodyms on the top of the legs to make them removable. That's a cool feature because now the robot can be triped, loose a leg or both and fall apart on the battlefield. Hoth, anyone?


For the central platform I'll use a large-ish screw cap and started playing around with different ideas.




Those five lego bionicle parts that look like back fins of a robot stegosaurus just make a full circle around the cap. I quite like the spikes around the perimeter, and with another bit of luck, their inner curve fits the diameter of the scre cap. At first I just wanted to hotglue them on, but if instead I glue small neodyms inside each spike part, I could change the design of the whole thing, effectively giving me a construction kit to quickly make different giant robots or other structures. 

Not totally convinced by the three green elements. I totally love the trilateral symmetry though, but I might use some other element instead.

I'll prop that white ball in the center slightly above them (either with a clear acrylic rod or a thin wire) and will decorate itl with whatever catches my eye. That silver part I stuck in looks vaguely like a robot manta at the end, but its position as the topmost element of the robot means that it more likely part of some arcane weapon (shooting lightning at enemies or so) ar at least a vital part of the robot's magic. So there's an association with a robot manta that doesn't immediately fit with the thing's position, giving the players some food for speculation. ...or I might se something different altogether. Not sure at this time.


I then covered the cap with milliput and textured it with a 'dwarven runes' -themed rolling pin from greenstuffworld (can't recommend those pins enough, btw!).




The first layer was too thin and peeled off in some places when I rolled the pin over, but that was in part due to me forgetting to wet the pin with water. The result looked actually worse than in the pic below.




I scraped everything off, added more milliput and liked the second result much better. Sure there are still some areas left free, but that could have worn off due to age. Or it'll be covered with more features later on.




Thats where it stands right now. The milliput has to harden over night and I have another combatroom session to prepare. Let's see how the derro slime druid, the troll priest of Ghaunadaur and the two pyromancers from the Feydark will fare this time. [cue evil DM cackle]

[erho]

The best of luck to you and your upcoming TPK!

[tauster]

Thanks, but I don't see a TPK caused by that thing. First, the party is four characters around lvl 7-9 (ADND 2nd edition rules), with a
psionic thief (drow), a shapeshifter fighter/thief and two other crazy PC. Second, they have a flying ship, a loyal stone giant among the crew and the (rather unreliable) support of Erevan Illesere, the elvish trickster god who is currently on the run from unspecified cosmic forces after the party's cleric trusted him with a planar secret they'd rather had left undiscovered.

Killing the party with brute force or raw arcane might would be possible (it always is - rocks fall, everyone dies) but that would be boring. Oh, and they have already survived the rocks fall, everyone dies scenario. Twice.

These guys are used to find creative solutions out of certain doom, and if that fails, have gained some experience in bringing their dead back from the dead (they travelled to a particularly nasty layer of Hell and returned with the soul of one of their own who botched the resurrection throw). I don't even try to think of a way out of the trouble I cook up for them anymore during preparation, knowing that their solutions are usually so much more creative and practically unpredictable. In one word, or three: A fun campaign.

...um, sorry for the prattle. Back to crafting.

The legs are magnetized and so are the fins.

 

Thats how the legged platform looks like:

 


That rather unhealthy looking giant smoker talking to Lady Forscale? Don't ask me, he just appeared and claimed the not even half-finished robot as his favourite spot. *shrugs*

[tauster]

I made another mould run, because I needed another dungeon floor mould (the old one gets brittle) and I want to make some reptilian/draconian heads, tails and claws to frankenstein me some new monsters.

...oh, and I wanted to try adding baby oil to the silicone/starch/acrylic color mix (thanks erho for pointing that out!)












I will probably have to cut the tail moulds lengthwise from their underside. If I just draw them off the tail, filling the mould cavity with hotglue will trap air in the tips. If I cut the underside from tip to end, I can squirt in hotglue all the way to the tip, and I can pop the cold glue copy out much better. I just have to clean up the underside with a sharp knife.

Adding baby oil seems to work great. The mass gets much less sticky to other things while still sticking with itself, making handling much better. You still have a mess to clean up after you're finished (and it's oil mixed in, so take extra care to cover everything!) but you get much less on your hand, making modelling the mass around the object you want to cast much easier.

[tauster]

Does anybody know a good (video?) tutorial how to make noses, monstrous, humanoid and otherwise?

I just saw the wouderful Besniffler, a distant cousin to the beholder (get the stat block free here)...




...and now I just have to make my own besniffler. My players will love that critter!

[tauster]

Not much progress with the besniffler, but I got some other critters done today. And hey, they even got tentacles!

We found a potter on our holidays who makes gorgeous comical clay creations. I could easily spend hundreds of bucks in her shop, but we limited ourselves to a cat, a duck and a clam.

My boy immediately decided to open up his own shop at home: I'll have to make a showcase above our post box (which will serve as honesty box for the customers passing our street). He really thought it through, realized that it isn't trivial how to prize his wares and discovered that he'll have to spend money on materials before he gets his first money from customers. We were already asked for a credit. He'll enter school in 3 weeks, and I really hope they have an after school pottery class after school!

Anyways, when we were at home again I had to bring on the clay and the sea-themed silicone mold. We two were sculpting before the coffers were unpacked. I showed him the basics and then he set off, making a few clams and then all kinds of baguettes, little jugs, stalagmites and whatever hit his fancy. The thing is, I couldn't stop myself, so I made a little clam army myself.

I really like their squinting looks. The clay has to be fired, so in the meantime it's all hotglue and pearls. And tentacles.

Lessons learned:

- Use BIG pearls for comic effect!

- Clams work upside down just as well.

I'll probably make me a dozen clam NPCs. Any ideas how to integrate them in a Underdark campaign are more than welcome!

The clam army will probably provide some comic relieve when my players explore the Sunless Sea, both above and below the waves. The campaign will be at level 13-15 (ADND 2nd edition rules) and the mood will be quite dark as the group has to do recon against a whole city of aboleth. They have some powerful allies but still aren't sure how they can hope to win against a whole city of those eldritch horrors. So far they operate below the aboleth's radar, but should that ever change, they see little chance to survive for long. So now imagine a group of highlevel characters exploring island after island, bravong the worst that the deepest levels of the Underdark can throw at them. Powerful undead (a lich maybe), archmages that hide from the surface (a clone of Manshoon!), a clan of fire giants, and... an clan of clams!?¿!?

How would you design a clam encounter?

While writing the questions below, I already come up with some ideas. Feel free to criticize, modify and add your own thoughts!

Where would they live? On the shore of some isle in the sunless sea or completely below the waves in the lightless depths?

How are they living together? Is there a hierarchy (my thinking: yes because that way there is a leader which would be their contact). But imagine a totally democratic society where every decision requires a ballot: Each clam as one voice, and votes by putting her personal pearl into the clan's voting seashell. Stuff like that is almost too good to pass, so I may actually have make two different clans (conflict -> story driver!)

What do they eat?

Are they agressive or do they hunt?

What are their defenses? Venomed tentacles? Trained jellyfish? Spells, even? Or whatheheck, why not psionic clams?

How mobile are they exactly? Are only some of them able to move?

Any good names for clams?

How will they communicate with the party? Pure sign language might be fun for a few minutes but no way to make long talks with abstract topics. Can all of them speak undercommon? What accent or quirk to use when acting them? Or are they telepaths (all or some of them)?

What could they offer the party?

Knowledge?

Services?

Extremely rare pearls?

Powerful venom?

Weird alchemical substances?

Psionic defenses against the Aboleth even?

[sgtslag]

Make them psionic, with telepathic ability to communicate. They could be allies against the Aboleth.

How about the party steps on one, and gets "yelled at", telepathically, to, "Watch your step, Tall, Clumsy, and Ugly!!!"  

Maybe the PC's pass out from a gas cloud trap, wake up in the presence of friendly, helpful allies, but they don't discover they're clams, until later...  Give them subtle clues, without making it obvious -- the PC's are temporarily blind, but they feel their new friends lifting them, and "carrying" them around, on their tentacles?  

Off the cuff.  Use, abuse, ignore, as you see fit.  Cheers!

[tauster]

That 'rescue from the gas trap' scenario is pure gold!

[tauster]

Not sure this should go here or in the Tentacles thread, but tentacles aren't the main feature here, so...

Here's another quick side project: Carnivorous plants. I'm not really sure what they thrive on, but they look like they'd snack on a group of unsuspecting adventurers. What kind of party worth it's salt would be unsuspecting is beyond me however.

The blue thingie is a sticky (see here for more info). I made a silicone mold and started growing a small army of those. Well, three isn't exactly an army, but a start. I do have another plant type monster in the making; sometimes similar ideas pop up together...

Inside the stems is a bit of wire for stability. I gave them a hotglue base with a neodym on the bottom (covered with a very thin layer of hotglue so that the magnet won't fall out), so I'm more flexible when adding them to the table than with a regular base: With magnets, you could put them on sloping or even on vertical magnetized surfaces.