CIII. The Wilderness Project vol.3

The Wilderness Project continues at a slow but steady pace. This update brings another Wyrd large  Hanging Tree and two new dry stone wall sections.
 

I converted this one, changing a number of details. I didn't want it to look exactly the same as its twin.

The back view.

That's three done out of the planned eight pieces.

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And now for something rather more exciting: plans for a centrepiece. So far I've made some sketches and I'm compiling reference material.

I haven't attempted making a building in quite a while. I think my skills have evolved considerably since the chapel and the house I did back in 2013. Now I want to put them to the test with a new project: the forest chapel of St. Hubertus.
 

This mysterious piece of sacral architecture stands somewhere in the Waywode Hunting Grounds. It was erected by the Waywode family, many generations ago. The counts take good care of it, making sure it gets renovated as time erodes it. The nobles visit it when they set out to hunt, to pray for safety and good luck. There are several legends associated with the chapel. But more on that later...

The actual building process will take a while, I expect. I want to give my best. I'll probably get down to it in a month or so, once my semester ends and I can focus on it fully.  I already got a pile of antlers and skulls to properly decorate the chapel and its surroundings:

They come from Mierce Miniatures, who let you order bits from their store. It wasn't exactly cheap, but they do have a fine selection of different shapes and sizes of good-looking antlers, and I'll need more than a couple pairs for this project. Sculpting them all myself was out of the question.

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And, as if this wasn't enough deer parts, I present this beastie I painted just for fun:

It's the first half or a diptych, the second being the Monstrous Hedge Hog (not yet done).

CII. The Automaton

Another Iron Painter entry from me: The Automaton.

The robot is based on this illustration for a Magic:The Gathering card:

Proteus Machine. Artwork by Greg Staples. © Wizards of the Coast

I wanted to make a clockwork automaton like that one for Gardens at some point. As a mercenary or even a part of a whole new faction. I made a skech and notes for later. 

But round 3 of Iron Painter had a theme in which such a miniature would fit, so I used the opportunity. But I had to turn the idea into something a bit more elaborate than a gaming piece. Not that I cannot still use him for games; it would not be too complicated to make him removable from the large base to a 30mm round one.

Sketch of the composition.

The robot started as a Necron Warrior.

The faces are 40K Blood Angel masks. I made copies rather than cutting the actual bits.

Originally I meant to make the head actually rotateable. However, since I later decided that I want dramatic lighting coming from one side of the scene, this idea didn't seem right any more. I ended up gluing it in place.

The torso needed some sculpting.

The finished conversion.

Once again I relied a lot on washes and glazes when painting the miniature.

The base was simpler than the last one. I used air-drying clay, plaster and real tree roots.

 

The feel I was hoping I would get was that of an old-school SF illustration. I think I did that part right. But there is just something missing. The scene seems to me too static, too dull. Do you have the same feeling? How would you fix it? It's too late now to improve it for the competition, but at least I can learn for next time.