Tuesday 17 June 2014

XLVI. Eater of Children

This weekend I've been busy with this miniature version of the Pale Man, a grotesque child-eating monster from Pan's Labyrinth. I've wanted to make this conversion ever since I first saw the film, and now I had an excuse to do it. He will be a Henchman in the fairy crew I'm working on. :)
If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a peek at this post: HERE.

The Pale Man.

I found the perfect miniature to start from: GW Dark Eldar Ur-Ghul. It is Finecast (I won't comment on the quality of GW's resin casts; it's been discussed and ranted about enough all over the Internet), and it comes in two parts, plus an extra head for those who need more than one and want variety. The creature is about human sized, and it comes with a 25mm round base. It would look best on a 30mm, but I put it on a 40mm lipped base for practical reasons (if I ever wish to use this crew as counts-as Hamelin&co. in Malifaux this mini would represent Nix, and Nix is on a 40mm base).

When I was thinking about the pose I had several options, but I went with this one because it is the most iconic. This meant I needed a couple of open hands to replace the original fists.

The bits: one Ur-Ghul and a pair of plastic Pink Horror hands.

First I needed to take my power tool and grind his legs thin, turning some of the muscles into hanging skin flaps. I took the tool to his head as well, removing all the excess nostrils until he was left with the proper amount of two. I cut off the arms and built complete new ones with green stuff over paperclip armature. You can see the armature showing on the right arm in this crappy picture.

I sculpted the skin hanging under his chin, and the eyes on his palms. The eyes drove me crazy, I just couldn't get them right. Had to redo them three or four times.

After all the bits came together and got properly blended in, the mini was ready for some paint. This is just the white basecoat and the first light-grey wash.

The idea was to fit him among other fae, and at the same time keep him recognisable as what he is supposed to be. The colour scheme obviously deviates from the source material because I wanted to adapt him for the crew; this unnatural skin tone is standard for my fairies, and so are the creepy black eyes. But the details on the sculpt and the iconic pose should be enough for him to look familiar to someone who had seen Pan's Labyrinth. 





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You might have noticed a couple of new elements in the sidebar. In case you haven't, they look just like this:
 
Clicking on them will take you to pages dedicated to the Countess' and the Plague Doctor's crews. They contain pictures and fluff about the characters, all gathered in one place. For now it's just these two, but eventually each of the factions will get their own page.

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18 comments:

  1. This is wonderful Ana.
    Pans Labyrinth is one of my favourite films of all time and you have really done Del Toro proud :).

    Eve

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  2. I'm impressed. Very good conversion and great painting. :)

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  3. That is a fabulous rendition of that character. Close enough to the source material to be recognised, yet still in keeping with your faction.
    I love it!

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  4. Great miniature, Ana! Looks just perfect! Guillermo del Toro should be proud of you. :)

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  5. Really like your conversions & appreciate you letting us know how you go about making them. It's a great source of inspiration for conversion addicts like myself :)

    Cheers.

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  6. What a great piece! I haven't been around in a while but you've definitely kep yourself busy! :P As a HUGE fan of Del Toro's movies I am absolutely in love with this. Great conversion and great paint job! 10 Points for Gardens of Hecate! o7

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  7. Excellent conversion, excellent idea!

    I really can't believe the model is power-trimmed, it sure hasn't lost any detail...

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    1. Thanks, Jimmy!

      A rotary tool is a great thing; there are some things that just can't possibly be done with a blade and a file. It can be wonderfully precise with the right attachment and steady hand. I only got mine some six months ago, and it opened a lot of new possibilites to me.

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  8. Your blog never fails to amaze, Ana, but this is just something else! I involuntarily shivered when seeing the first picture of the model, remembering the sene from the movie. Utterly amazing work!

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    1. Thank you, krautscientist! If my creations can elicit an emotional reaction from a viewer it means I'm doing something right. :)

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  9. Ana, that is very excellent. I was particularly surprised when you said you sculpted the eyes on the hands, because they are so well realized.

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  10. This is such a great conversion it gave me a "damn why didn't I think of that" moment. You have done an excellent job on realising a character that really creeps my girlfriend out, I think I will sent her a link to this post... :)

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  11. WOW, I'd have never guessed where the original model came from, your conversion work is that good!

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