Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Proof Of Concept

After almost three weeks with my lights packed away, I finally had the opportunity last night to get them out again and snap a few shots. It has been a while since I've actually made a few "proof of concept" models. I'm not really sure why. I've done quite a few of them in the past.

Anyway, for those that haven't worked with them before (or given a name to them), "proof of concept" (POC) models are the ones you do at the very start of a project, to see if your thoughts and ideas (concepts) will work out in 3D. It's all well and good sketching things out on paper, but I much prefer to sketch things out with plastic and putty.



First up is the Corpse Handler concept (based on the Dave Gallagher sketch below). A Flagellant body and arms (with weapons removed) with quite a bit of greenstuff. The hat is from the Greatsword sprue. I'm thinking that I'll have around 15-16 of these as artillery crew and associated hangers-on.



In the Uniforms of the Empire book there's a Knightly Order shown in there - The Order of the Black Rose. Obviously these guys are devotees of the Death God, and here's my POC model for their Order. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out, and I like the massive bulk of the Chaos Knight horse.


If I end up going with this approach I'll need to pick up a few things, such as a dozen 'skull helms' from the Chaos Warrior sprues, and almost the same number of Empire Lord lances. For these I'll be heading to my friend Alex's revamped bitz store at Battleroad Games & Hobbies. He has recently uploaded around 250 different 40K bitz and will be adding Warhammer bitz very soon. If you are looking for 40K or Warhammer bitz, and a bunch of other miniature ranges, check him out.

Let me know what you think of my POC models.

Cheers
Dave

21 comments:

  1. Where are the legs on that Knight from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the concept sketch you are working from, but I think you should also check out the mask's real life doctors wore in the Renaissance on google. Im sure thats what inspired Daves drawing. Fun fact about the masks: they stuffed the "beak" with fresh herbs and other strong smelling things to help work around the sick and the dead. They also believed it would help protect them from getting sick themselves. Some of the masks looked quite sinister too. Hope this helps!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good stuff, although the corpse handler looks a lot like the Spy vs Spy guys from Mad Magazine... Give them a look if you arent familiar with what I am talking about....:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the Corpse Handler.
    What a great conversion!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really like the knight, and agree about the use of the Chaos Knight horse.

    I'm a little less convinced by the Corpse Handler. I think it's the mask. I get the inspiration and like the sketch, but the nose on the mask looks a little too horizontal to me - it looks like something rigid and fixed in place, rather than drooping like the sketch does. It might be the combination with the hat - together they reminded me of a Venetian-style Carnival outfit (the nose of the mask looks a little like a beak, and the hat is quite florid), rather than a corpse-handler. The paint job might fix that of course.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Apart from instantly making me think of Fingermouse (mid eighties childrens puppet show in the UK) I do like the Corpse Handler concept, it has so much character.

    Not so keen on the helmet of the knight though, I like everything else about him but the helmet looks a bit, erm, cartoony perhaps? Can't quite put my finger on why I don't like it as much. Not much help I know...

    ReplyDelete
  7. The corpse handler looks great, although I agree that it could have a bit more droop in the mask. Having a dozen of them will help that issue I think.

    The knight is ok, but really, the chaos horse still looks too chaos-y. If you want to use them, then carve off the stupid shin armor and some of the spikes. Then they will look more like a proper empire horse.

    ReplyDelete
  8. More droop in the mask I agree with.

    Rictus, I think you're right about the helmet being cartoony, and here is why: Its too big for the smaller stature Empire Knight body. Unfortunately, I haven't a clue what to do for an alternate for that.

    I do like the Chaos steeds, spikes and shin armour and all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Corpse Handler is good, the Knight is phenomenal! I think previous comments have made some good points about the Corpse Handlers and I agree with Lasgunpacker that having a dozen or so will make them look better.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd leave the shin armour on the horses, but I would carve off the spikes on them. Have to agree on the corpse handler, the beak needs to droop more to convey the look.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi guys

    Thank you all for your comments.

    I'm liking both models a lot, and it seems that most of you like the corspe handler (who will have lots of friends with variations of the mask - smaller and droopier versions). Opinion seems split on the Knight. I think the next step is to get them painted up to see how that changes opinions. Specific notes to commenters below:

    @Anonymous - the legs and torso are from the Empire Pistoliers/Outriders set, a bit bulkier than the standard knights.

    @DukeOfVandals - pictures checked, should be very helpful.

    @Author - I'll steer clear of broad brimmed hats ; )

    @Lasgunpacker/Jake - I might shave off the spikes, but I think I'll keep the shin armor.

    Cheers
    Dave

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh Dave, I like the shin armour, that's where I disagree with Las. The spikes, not so much.

    ReplyDelete
  13. No worries Jake, I got that. I just lumped the response together with Las because you guys were talking about different ways to tackle the same elements.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Both POC's look pretty damn good to me. It'll be interesting to see how you paint up the Corpse Handler, will need to be pretty striking to work I think. Look forward to see the progress on this.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Awesome concept for an army, and an army of Morr would look great amongst all the latest GW Skullfilled terrain pieces.

    Have you seen Brother Vinni's miniatures, he has a Plague Doctor miniature that would suit this army admirabley. I use that one as a Death/Shadows Wizard in my own Empire army.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm a huge fan of doing proof of concepts. I will experiment with painting, modeling, or conversions in this way. You will learn a great deal about what the level of effort will be to complete a project, and you often will have some happy accidents that will modify your final idea. Great stuff, Dave!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I like the POC models, remind me of the skeksis from the dark crystal. Looking forward to seeing them painted.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi! Did you see the new throne for vampires? It would be a great source for things to this new proyect.

    ReplyDelete