First up, he needed four men-at-arm types (prototypical Fighters in other words). I did something new with them, I used a split bead to make shoulder plates for their plate mail armor and I really love how it turned out. I've done heavily armored characters in the past, but they always looked a little too much like Iron Man in the beginning of the first Iron Man movie ... too big and clunky. These guys I think turned out great.
Next up, he needed two Acolytes (Clerics in other words). The only thing I did differently on these was to cut the shoulders at an angle (actually, I did that on the Fighters above as well) and instead of putting in the split bead as a shoulder protector, I used a tile spacer and gave them leather shoulder pads. They look better on the female figure than the male, but I doubt I will do the shoulder pieces like this again in the future. I may taper the shoulders, but only if I'm going to use the split beads for shoulder protection. If I use tile spacers, I probably won't taper the shoulders. Anyway, here they are, I'm particularly fond of the female figure. Also, I made them both have shaved heads ... they are priests after all, shows their devotion.
I did a different paper piece for their neck covering as well, what I was hoping to accomplish was to have a high collar that essentially covered their mouths. It worked out better on the female figure than the male one, but I'm happy with each. His holy symbol (in his left hand) turned out pretty good too, but his pose is a bit static and boring. I really like the female figure, she turned out great. I won't show the back picture because all you can really see are their cloaks, which is really boring.
Next figures are two apprentice wizards (Magic-users in the game). I went a little crazy with the scrolls on these two, but I really like how they both turned out. His pose is a bit more dynamic in terms of casting, but her reading the scroll I think looks really cool.
Thom also needed a couple of pickpockets (Thief characters in the game). I love how both of these turned out. I got a lot of movement with the female figure with her swirling cloak, but the male looks very cool too. I did something with his face that you can't see in the picture which was, because it is so far back inside his hood, to paint the entire face black and then just have the lower part of his mouth and jaw painted with the flesh tone. His eyes remain in the blackness of the shadows of the inside of the hood but I painted the whites of his eyes. It looks really cool and eerie. Other than that, nothing new really construction wise except to go with exaggerated and large hoods for their cloaks because ... well ... they are supposed to be pickpockets and men and women of the dangerous city streets.
Finally, he wanted two "jack of all trades" who could stand in for a Fighter, Thief, or other more "generic" character type. I decided to do two lightly armored archers as this would also allow people who wanted to play a less heavily armored and melee-focused Fighter if they wanted to. Nothing really new here, I stuck with the archer poses that I think work the best. Kept both of these figures very simple, although I did want them to look quite different from one another so I made their armor different. Also, I got a tube of plain, unpainted wooden beads of three sizes, small (the size of her face), medium (the size of her helmet), and large (the size of the female Fighter's helmets). Anyway, having this medium size bead really worked well in terms of giving her a smaller, and lighter armor-wise looking helmet, which is what I was going for.
All that's left, if I get around to it, is to do the alter mimic. If that doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world. I got everything else done, and I'm pleased with the result. Here's hoping they get a warm reception at the Con!
Wonderful stuff, particularly like the Clerics. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteWow, your papercraft is really getting top notch.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I wish I could predict exactly how the figures were going to turn out in terms of the paper hair in particular, but sometimes it really comes together, as in the case of the female thief, and sometimes it is not as impressive. But having done more of these pieces, I will admit that I’m not as apprehensive about the paper as I was at the beginning in terms of being fearful about how things will turn out. I just sort of go with it and pray for the best.
ReplyDeleteJust found the site and working my way through it. Amazing to see the progression of the wooden miniatures. I do have a fondness of the simpler ones, but these do look amazing! I have always wanted to text some rules, mostly medieval and WWII, but didn't want to fork out tons of money for something I may not enjoy. I also do some D&D, but mostly 'theater of the mind' type stuff. But... now... I would love to see a 'how to' blog, or even better yet a video of how you do these and maybe a source for the parts?
ReplyDeleteWell, even if you don't do either, thanks very much for sharing. They are inspirational!
Sorry, The Bane, I don't check back to the older entries often enough to see when people respond, so I didn't say anything back to you about your post.
ReplyDeleteIn some of the older posts you will see some "how to" narratives, and every time I try and identify what exactly the pieces I am using are to construct the figures, but I appreciate that this only goes so far and in many cases, such as with the paper parts of the figures, is really no help whatsoever. I agree, you need a video version of the construction. I have toyed with doing a YouTube channel about these guys for a while, but my "real life" is so busy that I'm afraid to start it because I'm not sure I can keep up with it regularly.
That said, the fantasy PC figures anyway are all made with 7/8" tall wooden milk bottles for the body. Here is a link to a site where you can get some.
https://www.caseyswood.com/shoppingcart/zen-cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=516_45
The arms are 5mm tile spacers that you can get at any hardware supply store (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.). The tricky thing with these is cutting them to the shape you want.
The heads and helmets are a combination of either round beads (split if the character is wearing a helmet). These beads I believe are 1/2" that I use for the actual heads. The helmets are split 1" beads I believe. I literally go to a solid surface (I use the concrete floor in the unfinished part of my basement) and take a utility knife and split the beads on the floor either by banging down on the top of the knife with my hand (not safe) or a rubber mallet (much safer). Then I take a wood file to the split side to make it smooth. You can then glue them together easily. For example, one of the heads with a helmet that I use for female figures and also for some of the male figures that are more lightly armored is a small split bead and a large split bead glued together flat sides touching each other with the small bead centered in the middle of the large bead. Then you just glue the round part of the small bead to the top of your body piece (milk bottle for male figures, peg for female figures) and you've got the head and the body done.
For the more heavily armored male figures I use a 1" (I believe) tapered flat plug (flat on both sides) and then glue a large split round bead to the smaller side of the flat plug. I usually overlap the bead on one side and make it flush with the other side of the bead. This allows you to put a nasal guard on the front of the helmet if you want. The larger side of the flat plug is then glued to the body (usually a milk bottle) and again you've got the head and the body finished. You can see this very easily in all the Dark Ages guys I've been doing of late.
As far as the hair, capes, and other paper parts of the figure, I'm sorry to say it has been trial and error for me, and I don't really have a "pattern" that I follow. I just sort of visualize what I'm going for and try and cut the paper and fold it in such a way (if necessary) to produce the effect. I will "dry fit" the paper on the figure, though, before gluing it just to make sure I'm at least in the ball park.