Tentacles to Crystal Stalagmites...

This project started out as an effort to create epoxy tentacles in a mold carved from a hard styrofoam.I created the molds in curling, twisting shapes, filed them with the epoxy, then allowed to dry. Easy enough.
But when I removed the epoxy from the carved molds, the foam stuck to the tentacles, creating a form of "flatness" or lack of shape to one side (visible along the top edge) as the epoxy settled into itself on the outer-most edge.







As a result, my "tentacles" came out 3 sided. More or less.
Lacking in the "roundness" and shape I desired to really capture the form of a twisting, reaching form. What the epoxy did do very well however, was form into useuable shapes that could easily be converted into stalagmites.

Peeling each tentacle from it's foam cocoon created a deep interior hue of green (from the foam) but also allowed bits of the foam to settle into the mass itself, giving the now shaped "stalagmites" various molds, growths, and bacterial lifeforms clinging to their crystal sides. A completely unexpected, and brilliant result.
By placing the various shaped stalagmites into random groupings, and adhering to a generic baseplate for use in dungeon terrain, I was able to create a series of small crystal growths that have an eerie, under dark otherworldly look and feel.

 

The small stands of stalagmites defy the standard "straight up and down and jagged" look by literally taking the crystalize-shape of giant quartz crystals jutting from an alien surface. 

By surfacing the ground structure each crystal was adhered too, the crystals take on even more depth by looking as if they are literally growing right from their own organic ground surface. 

While the epoxy was still hot, I sued a small tool to poke, mix, drag, and churn the hot epoxy into a series of undulating shapes and curves-think lava or underground flowstone. 

In the next update I will add color to just a  few spots to bring in a form of "cavern consistency" with the color palette I use on my own Underdark campaign world terrain, and to try to match these growths to the same realm from which other creations have come. I find that a touch of grey-blue or purple to the crystalline shape gives a magical sense of "glow" from each quartz crystal, and also unites these individual pieces to other modular terrain as a whole, adding even more possibilities for fantastic fantasy realms brought to life on the tabletop. 

Recreating Darkness...

One of my all-time favorite movies has always been Legend staring (unfortunately) Tom Cruise.                                                                    I'm not really a hater of Tom Cruise per say, but his "stardom" took a bit away from the films potential. But the movie, in every-single way, is exactly how I always pictured Falannessia - my campaign world, especially the Flanaes, or Oerth from the Greyhawk D&D realm. The forests, the light, the old-world fantasy feel...everything. That sense that shadow and darkness and trouble existed just beyond sight. Much like any good D&D or table top RPG storyline.

The lighting effects of the movie, the shadows and even the beautiful fairy forest scenes always appeared like something out of a dream. And i think I saw this at just the right time and place and it buried itself deep within my psyche of what a fantasy film should be. 

I re-created a module for two friends back as a high school kid where we essentially entered the Great Tree and attempted to free the Unicorn and destroy darkness, but fortune was not in our favor. As a result, it was our party's "Tomb of Horrors" and none save a very small few made it out alive. 

I always wanted to re-create a true rig table top miniature in the proper size for Darkness, the evil villain demon of Legend. 

I started with the Reaper miniatures greater demon and gently contorted, bent, and shaped him onto a subtle, albeit "first attempt" at creating Darkness. Creating the forward facing horns was easy enough through a bit of gentle nudging of the metal.

Creating the unicorn horn in his right hand was done through removing a single shaft from an actual unicorn toy purchased at a local thrift store and painting in a  golden-hued black to match that of the movie version. 

I immediately encountered two main problems, perhaps 3, with finding and converting this miniature into a true replica of Darkness.

First was his size. He really needed to be larger. 30+ mm instead of 25. While Jack from the movie was likely a standard Human or half-elf size, Darkness (played by Tim curry) needed to tower over a standard human miniature. The square Reaper base adds a bit of "eye-height"a s I call it visually on the field, but the miniature itself is still a bit on the smaller side. 

The second problem I encountered was the clothing that Darkness wore. 

In many scenes he is seen with a form of tattered black leather pants or disheveled armor of some sorts. His long draping black cloak looks to be the leather of some long forgotten beast, but almost had a "wing-like" look to it too. As a result, I went with a draping piece of black "leathery" wing draped over one shoulder. Better than I expected, but not ideal. 

The third problem was the skin tone. Throughout the movie Darkness is seen in a glistening red skin tone. Shiny, sweating, draped in blood, flickering in the firelight.
Achieving this would be relatively easy, BUT....it can also look very poorly painted and finished too.
It lacks the faded mate finish of so many professionally done miniature styles. Purposely making him "glisten" looked almost like it was simply poorly painted, when in fact painstaking efforts were undertaken to ensure that his skin did in fact have that reflective quality but his clothing, armor and cape did not.

All in all, a good representation for an ongoing campaign in the Dark Tree of the land of shadow, but I am constantly on the lookout for a proper D&D/tabletop RPG size Darkness.

A bit of Treasure, Cauldrons of Jewels, and Barrels of Evil

Depending on which artists rendition you prefer, be it Peter Jackson's (above) or J.R.R. Tolkien's (below), Smaug's Horde was a fairly sizable amount of wealth. 

Sometime ago I set out to create a tabletop roleplaying terrain version of a massive treasure horde (Smaug's Horde!) akin to a smaller, more "portable" version of Smaug's. 

Without an entire set of Dwarven Forge or similarly fantastic and awe-inspiring miniature terrain, there would simply be no way to capture a literal "room" filled with treasure...although I have something "brewing" in the works to do just this...future material for this blog for sure. 

After creating the Smaug's Horde project, I was left with a bit of extra epoxy, and opted to make a smaller more "believable" treasure pile. After all, if EVERY time players saw this same miniature as the token "treasure pile" it would quickly lose its splendor and the "curse of the dragon sickness upon this great horde" would fall victim to it's own splendor and eventually be for naught. Not to mention the great task at constantly adding up all the experience points, jewels, weapons, magic items, and coinage that every player would suddenly have from constantly finding such a massive horde.
This was done much the same as the larger horde, but with a much smaller pile of epoxy and less large-scale wondrous items. Costume jewelry still provided the majority of the light-catching splendor, along with a  few glass beads, and of course, the token "gold circular glitter of doom" which made for perfect 25mm gold coins.
But a true stolen dwarf horde should be far more than just gold coins and jewels the size of grapefruits (25mm grapefruits that is...). Cauldrons of jewels, gold, silver, and gems needed to be added in massive overflowing loads to truly capture the mens of awe.

This was done by first injecting epoxy into the open wooden cauldrons (A pack of 12 was $1.99 at Hobby Lobby, unpainted solid wood), then before drying, piercing the epoxy in hundreds of small holes with a small metal tool. I use a set of old walnut cracking spears, as these have a steel end that can easily be sharpened and were found both plentiful and cheap from a local thrift store chain. Once done, I let the epoxy dry, and bean dabbing single drops of multiple colors in layers: first red ruby's into the holes, followed by blue and even white for diamonds.

For solid colors, like in vats of gold or silver, I found that piercing the epoxy also worked well to create the sense of "texture," although leaving smooth like "liquid" would also work, giving the appearance of melted gold or silver cauldrons as well. Finally I painted the outside of the cauldrons in a black charcoal color, with a light faded grey stain to give the appearance of weathering and age. And since I was at it...I need a solid flaming cauldron, and of course, one with boiling hot lava and acidic green poison. Perfect for traps, dungeon dressings, and various evil plans.

For the fire, the epoxy was allowed to cool in layers upside down, then simply painted in alternating layers of yellow, orang, red, and clear coat gloss.

Off the board and outta the books....

So in light of my recent philosophical look into the hows of re-creating epic RPG sessions (See Reflections on D&D style), I've come to think deeply on small little tis bits of creativity that have, over the years, made their way into the games I've ran, written, created, and designed.

I have volumes of hand written journals, tomes, books, and small notebooks all designed to look like authentic bestiary's and gazetteers from the mythical realms I have created for my role-playing worlds over the years. Everything from small leather bound journals tied with sinew to large converted leather bound annals of the history of Flannessia - the primary world which I composited some years back that encompasses every known mythical realm into one large multi-contonent universe, albeit roughly at about the same time period. Another post would be required to summarize this concept, but the short of it would be Middle Earth at the upper northwest, followed by Oerth, (the TSR Greyhawk campaign setting, the Flanaess-hence the name Flannessia) to the south, Al-Quadim and Dark Sun to the south east, Kara turn to the direct east, Faerun (Forgotten Realms) to the southwest and Krynn (Dragonlance) to the north east, with small little kingdoms from film and fable intermingled throughout. For example, Florin & Gilder (The Princess Bride) are constant warring city-states located to the West, south beneath Grewyhawk but north of Faeurun's Iceland Dale, and due to the mystical geographical and weather related patterns of this world of Flannessia, subject to their own weather, climate, and isolated mythology, history, and development.

The goal in creating this tapestry of the imagination so many years ago was nothing other than complete indecision. Rather than campaigning in just one-world, Iw anted to campaign in them all! And as such, throughout the years, my players could re-create the legends and fables of nearly every culture, history, mythology, film, novel, fantasy and idea that they ever had. All with the same characters, in the same periods, and in the same time. The one caveat of this being that all worlds, more or less, were subject to a mid-to-late medieval high-fantasy period. Gunpowder, for example, while present amongst the Gnomes of Krynn and the pirates of the far western isles of Neverland, never really made its way into the mainlands of Oerth, Faerun, or Middle earth.

In the bowels of one such tome that captures stories, ideas and concepts for writing, design, creatures, and campaigns, is a story of an adventuring party that crossed these worlds, traveling east from the Flanaess through the desert lands and into a violent tribal area of Dark-Sun & Al-Quadim.
After a period of lost wandering, untold horrors, and wonders only barely alluded to in pre-game backstory, the lone survivor returned across the western mountains and into the forested lands of Flannessia to a monastery, where upon his deathbed  he presented the monks with both his horrific tale, and a single piece of his own Human Skin, the only parchment he had on which to record the details of what he had found.

And here is where the role of D&D gaming style, live-action Role-playing and epic game creation come together.
The flayed scrap of human skin is not only described to the playing group, but it is presented to them as well. Not in 25-28mm size, not in small miniature terrain-type detail, but in REAL, life-size shape and form. It brings the game, the story, and the detail alive, from the backstory, the leather bound tomes surrounding the game table, the maps, the miniatures, the terrain, the tales...all of it becomes REAL with the touch of this charred and rotting bit of "human flesh."
Now, as imaginative, and often times dark, as my imagination and love and devotion of the D&D craft can be, I do draw the line at using real Human Skin. So this is, of course, a replica, made with the same detail and creativity as any miniature terrain, painting, tree, mountain, dungeon wall or painted curio for use on the game table.

The "Human Flesh" is actually a small bit of haphazardly cut (on purpose) leather. Boiled in hot water, left to dry, charred at its edges, and stained with a thick red paste of tomato sauce and acrylic paint. A touch of purple wash at the early stages gave just the right sheen to achieve the "dried blood" look, especially to the back, where the surface was roughed with sandpaper and the remaining bits of scar and tendrils I would "assume" would come from an aged piece of removed epidermis. 

Disgusting. 

But effective. Not just at "bringing the story to life," but at capturing the essence of what role-playing is about:

For a few hours, allowing us to RELALY travel to these imaginative worlds, to REALLY take on the role of our characters, and to REALLY live in their adventures. Not just push buttons, tap keys, watch them move from a "third person view" or roll dice under cheap fluorescent kitchen lights among bags of Dorrittos and cans of soda, but to drink from mugs, feel the leather of our gauntlets in our hands, and squint int he candlelight to see the small bits of numbers that, when necessary, must take us out of this world for only brief moments, to actually allow the "game" to continue...

It has the potential to be so much more than just a simple pen and paper and plastic "table top role playing game." It has the potential to be a portal. and I believe that is what Gary really hoped for when he created this wondrous monstrosity back in the 1970's. 

And what an imaginative and wonderful portal it has the potential to be...

Reflections on D&D style...

There is a scene that since childhood, always captured the essence to me of what role-playing games, and D&D should be, if only in my mind:

Mazes & Monsters, the 1982 made for TV movie about the "dangers" of tabletop roleplaying. "Deep psychotic needs" of role-players and the "dangers" of Larping (essentially what they were doing before the term "LARP" even really existed...) aside, the dedication of the group, their commitment to story, their costuming, and the candlelight captured my imagination early on. To me...THIS was D&D! A bit of armor, a hooded Dungeon Master (not unlike the cover of the early 80's edition of the Advanced D&D DM's guide-I WILL own that green cloak someday...), candlelight, music, miniatures, mind-altering terrain, and jeweled Dragon dice...these were the elements that when mixed, made up the "potion of transformation" that encompassed my youth.                                       

I think I always envisioned this being the way the greats MUST have played D&D! Surely Gary Gygax, Tracy Hickman, R.A. Salvatore, and even Ed Greenwood MUST play D&D like this, right? THIS was real Dungeons & Dragons! This was what it must have been meant to be like! To truly feel you are propelled into another world through the moving of those peculiar dice and small miniatures, and cursed psychological damage and deep psychological needing be damned! I didn't care! To have a group of friends so close and so intimate that you REALLY could step out of yourself and become that character for a while...that would be truly grand. To find that as an adult, with other like-minded devoted players...heavenly.  

Needless to say...I have never found any others, much less adults, with this form of "imagination" or "devotion to the craft" that is both role playing, AND storytelling. Someday I hope to. Someday I hope to truly start a traditional Dungeons & Dragons gaming CLUB, just a club. Not a store, not a board game group, not a drinking group, not a hang-out group. A true, committed Dungeons & Dragons gaming CLUB. In preparation and anticipation of someday seeing this goal made a reality, I have even built a full-scale medieval european styled "guest house" of sorts on my homes outdoor property. 

 It is of course still needing a proper game table, and the majority of the game storage is in the loft tower room above, but the inside has the exposed beams and inner workings of the potential to become a great place for long hours of imaginative gaming. From old swords, to Edison bulb lighting, candles, props, books, and numerous pagan states, crystals, totems and idols from around the world, the "name to be determined" gaming club will hopefully someday be a reality. 

But beyond this, there remains the question of where does the line between table-top role playing stop and LARPing begin? I believe the line is much closer, or can be, then it currently is. 

The real question is...are there any others out there that think this?  

The quest continues....and perhaps time will tell. 

Gelatinous cubes and the nostalgia of the Water Weird...

First...some Gelatinous Goodness.....

Gelatinous Cube

This is one of the first gelatinous Cubes I attempted to create myself, and it won First Place at the Conduit Convention Miniature category. 

This is a clear Gelatinous cube, but with a half-dissolved adventuring victim in it's grasp. the poor soul was unfortunate to be brought into this world as part of the Horoscope line of miniatures, and as a result, his base was both too big, and too green, to match my collection of Wizards of the Coast branded Dungeons & Dragons minis. that meant only one thing...Death by XActo knife. 

A moment of silence for all those poor plastic should who met their demise at the hands of my twisted gamer imagination....

Ok thats plenty. 

Finding a small clear plastic box from a bicycle tire repair kit, I found that it was nearly the perfect size to use for an encounter with 25-28mm miniatures in a table-top RPG environment. I first covered the main structure with about 7 layers of alternating temperature hot glue. The key here was ensuring that despite alternating temperatures to give depth and layers, that the glue was all of he same color, mainly clear rather than the yellowy finish some hobby store glue sticks come in. 

As the 4th layer was slathered on in waving drops, pre-painted limbs were inserted halfway into the under layers leaving only the rotting and exposed armor of what was once a leg and an arm visible. 

The advantage here is that with multiple layers of glue to embed the "victim" into, portions show through, giving the eye a sense of even more depth and interior to the figure. 

As a result, the smaller, more nimble version of the Gelatinous cube was born. 

Water Weird

My first encounter with a Water Weird was courtesy of Rose Estes and TSR in Dungeon of Dread, the Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest Books. this was D&D's answer to the Choose Your Own Adventure books from the early 1980's. I still own every single one, and occasionally, much to the dismay of my wife, read them now and again. But this one, above all, was my favorite.

The Water Weird, a form of magical created Water elemental, was something I have never ever found a proper miniature for. And through experimentation with various epoxy's, a bent wire armature, and a bit of luck, I ended up with an award-winning water weird that captures the strange imagination this creature held for me over three decades ago.












I started by applying hot glue in layers over a wire frame, and while I would normally want to hidde this, the silver of the frame slightly showing through actually added some visual depth to the creature, almost a sense of sparkling spine or backbone. Allowing the glue to drip in its natural layers, and cascade down the frame in smooth flowing rolls added the sense of real "water" to the creature. And while the version from the book had a very "feel-like" face and mouth, I wanted mine to more resemble the alien water being from the 1989 film The Abyss:

The base was a layered pile of heated and cooled epoxy glue, with an added effect I had not originally planned for. 

When Gorilla Glue is added in small doses to the heated hot glue epoxy, the result is a bubbled mass of almost "foam-like" glue that hardens in the form of foaming water. Water features, pools, puddles, and ponds have never been the same since. Here is the only problem with this mixture:

It ages.

It does not stand the test of time as well as standard clear hot glue. As visible in the photo here, the foam is starting, even after only about 5 years, to yellow just slightly. This all of course could be fixed by adding a layer of color to the final version as well. It is only when left its natural "clear" state that it begins to show this sign of aging color ever so slightly, and the sun coming through the window at photo-right did not help to de-emphasiz this either.  

When placed against a standard RPG 25-28mm Player character mini, however, the Water Weird really comes to life. Its relatively easy, low cost, and fast production made fro a fairly large scale creature that is impressive and unique on the game table, and a real treat to bring upon unsuspecting parties of dungeon delving players. 

I hope this sees some play again soon. Poor lil' water weird is starving for some new blood...

Paladins, Mounds and Elephants...oh my! Part II

What good are projects of miniatures and fantasy characters without epic terrain and backgrounds to go with them? At the very least, a backdrop of old stone, forest pines, or stone mounds adds a sense of wonder and imagination to a simple image of a figure so painstakingly cared for and detailed.

For the continuation of my Paladin, Shambling mound, and War Elephant project, I tried to outfit and present them in an environment I thought they may actually find themselves in during any given tabletop game...

Paladin of the White Flame

For the Paladin, I added a bit of "distress" to his features not really captured by the camera. I wanted this cloak to look like it was "used" and not just court wear for the halls of old Greyhawk. Tattered spots, tares, and even holes are visible on the underside. Slight bits of fresh blood dripping down the magical rune script of the sword, and even wear and tare on boots and armor. Having looked at this closer, it seems it could use some additional depth, though, especially on the cape and backside. Nothing a bit of black wash can't "bring out" to add life to his adventure-torn appearance.

As detailed as the base is from Reaper miniatures, the texture would likely be best in a solid black. While this paladin's green base works well for outdoor encounters, I always prefer something neutral that does not take the character and your imagination out of the game if possible, and every time he sets foot into a stone dungeon, the green of his woodsy looking base seems out of place. 

Shambling Mound

The Shambling Mound was designed to look so much like a natural form, that unless the peering green eyes were seen, one would easily mistake it for a bit of brush or a rotting bush of some sorts. I always pictured a Shambling mound coming from the magical undergrowth of rotting leaves and dying vegetation, with its only life being the eyes itself. So its general appearance fitting into a woodland scenery was first and foremost. 

It is not until the small subtle slits of glistening green are seen, that it becomes apparent that this tangled mass is  a living moving thing. 

For size comparison, next to a Halfling, I wanted the creature to tower over, but not be so large and great that it would appear as an insurmountable foe. A small woodland encounter mysterious and nostalgic enough for a small raiding party was the goal with this custom-made creation. 

Sadly the photos do not do this creature justice, as he took Best in Show at the 2010 Conduit Miniature competition. 

Orc War Elephant

There are a series of thrift stores here in the state of Utah called Deseret Industries. Within these stores of used clothing, and just about every random item and outdated VHS tape one could ask for, lie often times isles and isles of completely scattered, mis-matched and discarded, but perfectly adaptable, toys. It is from these disheveled and rarely organized racks that I find some of the greatest creations. Such was the case with this Orc War Elephant.  

This poor fellow was missing one tusk, broken at the tip. But having just finished a Lord of the Rings movie marathon, the idea of the angry Oliphiant was fresh on my mind. Nearby his discarded glossy grey frame lie a battered toy of some sort with a long spoked flail. Together, they made for an odd and yet completely believable duo of Orc madness. 

Filing down the end of the already broken tusk, I adhered the flail to its single tip and added the brushed elements of previous victories in the form of small bits of torn tissue and stained blood. Arguably, the hardest part of adapting this creature to becoming the War Beast he is was re-painting both the eyes and the skin. 

he eyes were difficult because they simply looked too "happy." While I have a deep love and respect for all animals (most times more than I do people), I did not want this particular Elephant to look at all "pleased" with his current state. A solid black eye, with just a touch of small iris in opaque white and a gloss finish over its sweating, or crying base, added a sense of regret and angered vengeance to his appearance. 

Second only to making the eyes look "fiercer" was creating the sense of wetness or sweating from the workload, the abuse, and driving force of battle. The catch was creating this finish onto a simple rubberized-plastic surface without it looking too shiny...tough. Especially on the ears, visible here. All in all, not too bad, but there is room for improvement in future beasts of war I believe. 

From below the War Elephant presents and imposing force, allowing the Orc raiders to balance some 6-8 soldiers or more on top of the War Elephant's broad shoulders.

The sides of the war platform are lined with bones and two flickering torches. The bones are disassembled parts of a skeleton decorations from dollar-store Halloween parts. Torches are made from a rolled bit of brown paper over a simple paper clip, adhered together, and then painted black. The flame is simple hit glue left to dry in layers and molded while warm to create a flowing "fire" look. Gloss finish is added to the flame tips of both torches to give the look of flickering light, while small bits of basic brown hemp string were used to line the sides of the platform and "strap" the bones from some previous giant beast or victim onto the platform walls.

From behind a giant's skull adorns the far of the rack and the banner mount, bordered by two foul vats of boiling oil and flaming fire. Perfect for the Orc raiders to dip arrows in before launching at foes running in terror from the swinging ball of death at the front. The small barrels are simple wooden dowel shaped drawer pulls, turned upside down and painted as black cauldrons. Total cost for a bag of 12 at the local big box hobby store was I believe, somewhere in the range of only $2.00. 

Another area that was tricky was creating the sense of "structure" to the War Elephant. 

The platform was made from simple balsa wood with a round wooden front, almost like a jumping platform for dismounting orcs. Two leather straps were fixed from under the platform and around the mid-section of the beast, and cuts, scrapes, wear and skin abrasions were added to give the look of cruel and unusual punishment and abuse of their mount. I don't imagine Orcs being the most beloved of animal handlers. I also wanted visible signs of war damage from areas where mounted enemies could reach with arrows and spears. 

Th dreaded Orcs of the Black Eye War Elephant is a ferocious sight for any tabletop role-playing adventure group, and took first place in the 2010 conduit Convention large modified-miniature creation category. 

To this day, however, this poor beast lacks a name....Suggestions are welcome and appreciated. 

What is a worthy name for such a massive Orc war beast?

* Next, updates on award winning miniatures of a Gelatinous Cube, a Water Weird, and...a bit of human skin....sort of....