WIP - Siege Crab (update - painted and done!)

[Valanthe the Sleepless]

Inspired by the all the wonderful mini artists around here, I figured I'd share a work-in-progress -- the Siege Crab from MMIII.

This is for an upcoming fight for us in Wizardru's campaign. Scorch and I were hoping we could just find a bunch of large plastic crabs and touch them up before putting them on a 6" x 6" base.

We went to all the craft store and pet stores in the area. Nope. Then we looked online. What we found is that there seems to be only one large crab made at all. It comes in 1 or 2 sizes, but not the size we need. So I figure I could try and make one.

I am using two different gauges of floral wire and some floral tape for the wire framing of the body. And then I am going to try to use Crayola model magic for filling and covering the body and legs. Model magic is much lighter than sculpy/fimo, but is harder to sculpt. Since this thing is going on a 6" base, I think I'll go fo the light weight over the sculptability.

After it's all done with the model magic part, I'll just paint it then put it on a base.


Here's the basic frame with 4 of the 6 small legs. (I apologize for the poor pics. My basement lighting isn't good at all for photos.)

And it is agian with the mouth area framed out and the last 2 legs added.

Here's the small claw wire base.

And a large claw that I wired and then started the process of wrapping and sculpting with the model magic.

And a final shot of the 2 small claws and the one large claw.

Well, that's all I did tonight. I'll keep updating with the progression of the crab. I need to have it done for this Sat. night, so it shouldn't be too long until I do update.

Thanks for the inspiration guys!

 

[pogre]

Looking good!

 

[ml3]

so far so good.

Is Model Magic the one that hardens in water?

 

[WizarDru]

After this gets finished, we'll have to do a side-by-side comparison.

Val is basing this directly off of the picture in the MM III, and it's looking pretty cool. Scorch has been creating set pieces for the swamp where the epic battle (or should I say Epic battle) is taking place.

Here's a sample of what the crab will be crawling over:

 

[Scorch]

Looks Awesome!

I love the claws. The segmented exoskeleton is da bomb.

I can't wait to see what you do with the body. Let me know if you need paints. I believe it is blue in color unless the templated up version WizarDru statted out is colored differently.

Right now I am busting my hump doing six more swamp pieces. Using a hair dryer to speed up paint drying process helps but I can't use it too much or I melt the foam.

Scorch out.

 

[HellHound]

Wow. Looks like it is going to rock.

I wish I had the time in my life to do everything I'd love to try doing... minis make me weep, for have neither the skill nor the patience to develop said skills. I wish I gamed in a group with mini nuts like you guys.

Great stuff, keep us posted!

 

[nyrfherdr]

Looks great so far. Keep the photos coming.
You're inspiring me to get some more photos posted!

Great work.
Game ON!
Nyrf

 

[Valanthe the Sleepless]

Thanks for all the encouraging comments gang!

ml3 - no, just air dries but never quite fully hardens. It still stays little tiny bit spongy. And I am finding that it shrinks a wee bit when it dries. But That's okay. I still like the fact of how light it is.

Pogre and Nyrf - you guys are awesome when it comes to minis and modeling. I am always looking to your threads for tips, guides, creative inspiration.

Hellhound - Thanks! And I really like how the P-shop parchment pages turned out. Very nice.



Update time.

Earlier today I made the other large claw, little spikes for the large claw arms, and the little eye stalks.

And then this evening I put on the front area and made the mouth and teeth and put on the two right claws.

And here is a little bit closer shot.

- Val

 

[Scorch]

Holy cow, woman, you are putting me to shame...

 

[Angel Tarragon]

WOW! Frikkin' amazing!