Bird Brain: Grenadier Dragon Lords Giant Griffon

I got abducted by aliens. I didn't take it personally. But I'm back, and so, striking back into working up some old minis, I turn my attentions and affections to the Grenadier Giant Griffon, a Dragon Lords branded release, obtained for about $40 (which I thought was a dandy price for such a massive and heavy piece). It was glued a bit here and there by previous owner, so I scraped that off. Now - to join these big chunks together as solidly as possible:

Holier Thank Thou
This thing is seriously solid metal, a few large bores are done, half to reduce the weight slightly, half to allow space to install some anchor pins between the parts...

Screwed
...which in these case were just some large screws with the heads cut off.

A little padding of Aves Apoxy Sculpt in between to make sure the two mate-comfortably (...oh... to mate comfortably)

And then the parts come together, with some two part epoxy, making sure the threads of those screws are really soaked.

That's all for now. Hopefully that light outside the windows tonight is not my 'friends from the stars' back for more... and more progress will be posted soon.

The Sweet Taste of Total Failure

I've got two days to paint a very large classic Grenadier miniature, and it will not happen. A little tiny bit less than one year ago I pledged to complete the Grenadier Death Giant of the Undead Legion

But things get in the way when one is older than one used to be. In the olden times entire evenings could be spent on painting, as long as the hands were willing and the eyes could hold out, and the books-on-tape kept rolling, the sky was the limit.

But now there's barely an inch in between all the 'grown-up' stuff, the mortgage, the gutter cleaning, operating a business, raising children, etc.

When I thought about writing this entry to resolve the unresolved pledge from a year ago I was bitter about it and angry that I was never able to find time in a hectic timeline of responsibilities. But as I write this I realize all of these things are blessings, and there will be time enough eventually to tackle the big old skeleton.

I used the excuse of being tired frequently, and instead of breaking the paints out would fall asleep watching some classic Doctor Whos (mostly Jon Pertwee era) as it took less energy. Not a bad way to kill an evening or two.

I did manage to finish a sculpt (future post) and I fell back into the addiction of LEGO, and I found a few more oldie minis that will now be slated for restoration (Dark Horse Miniatures mutants).

Honestly, with all the garbage going on in the world, I cannot complain, and I'll get the big skeleton done, someday. It's been over 25 years so a little more time won't hurt.

Big up to all the great blogs that I've enjoyed during the year, all the great finds and the classic minis being painted, the magic world of miniature-make-believe really is in full gear. Have a healthy, safe, productive 2013.

Grenadier Death Giant: Arm Support

With a big model like the all metal Grenadier Death Giant of the Undead Legion, strong support is needed to hold those parts up. I had arranged a decent pin for the upright axe-wielding arm, but I felt more was necessary and so added another pin.

There was no more room in the arm cast to drill another deep hole. Half of the cast was now occupied by a failed attempt: a snapped drill bit embedded in the metal. I had enough to seat a pin comfortable, but the corresponding hole would have to be on the torso.

To do this, I had to build up an area of Green Stuff, let it cure, then drill into that.

A brass pin was seated into the arm casting,

The two pins participate nicely, one being rooted in the torso casting (old steel) and one being rooted in the arm casting (brass),

The fit works well, and the two pins being (of course) ever so slightly not parallel actually makes for a nice tight grip, even without glue.

But an unsightly gap needs some filling and detailing with more Green Stuff. I'll share the progress soon. Thanks again for tuning in to this blog!

Grenadier Death Giant Skull-Work

Attention moved to the skull. The jaw is cast as a separate piece and needed some good adhesion to the skull. With a fine drill bit, and fine brass wire, the piece was pinned into place.

The trick of it was perfecting the final pose, so that jaw looked natural. I wanted it to be slightly open. A few shims of thin wood were placed in between the teeth, a bit of clay helped keep it in place before it was strapped with rubber bands for drilling.

Again I went straight through the two pieces from one side, making true the alignment of the pins. Green Stuff fills any offending holes. The yellow lines show where the pins are.

It's the little things, like this tiny jaw, that take a lot of time. Big things seem to take care of themselves. I considered leaving the jaw out, making him look really messed up from past battles, a little scarier perhaps... but my instinct told me to stay true to the model as it was cast.

Last part to getting the head right was to 'register' it on the top of the spine, so it would peer out in the right direction. I worked with the steel pin I installed many years ago, but the head tended to swing down to a silly pose. I created a special notch out of Green Stuff, with a corresponding notch on the skull. This makes sure that there will be no wiggle-room at all when the skull is glued into place.

I tell you it was a devil getting the 'look' right, I felt like a fashion photographer posing my subject, a push here, and move there, and perfect. Except in fashion photography the models are typically much skinnier than the relatively plump Death Giant.

Cheers. Maybe I'll actually post some smaller minis soon too.

Death Giant Patchwork: Filling Gaps

Filling gaps on the Death Giant, recreating chainmail and a little bit of the necklace that's almost invisible on the casting...

And bones, ribs...

Posting progress here keeps the project rolling, it builds discipline. What do I do if I achieve the goal (finish the model within 2012)? At this rate I may have to establish another goal...

Death Giant Left Arm: Joining Two Heavy Castings

In 2003 or so I had installed a pin to hold the left arm of the Death Giant, a corresponding hole was drilled into the shoulder of the arm casting, but on closer review I ascertained that there wasn't enough metal at that point on the arm casting to hold the arm in place with confidence.

The new goal was to increase the strength of the shoulder joint to hold the weight of the arm casting (which is quite hefty as it includes the shield as well).

I installed a new second pin, a rather thick brass post, a bit lower than the original. This creates a strong gusset to hold up the arm.

This was NOT drilled through the arm all the way, using the technique I've recently posted. I wanted enough material to rest on top of the brass post, so the arm was only drilled half-way.

It's rather ugly now and betrays its presence, but I'll come up with some Green Stuff additions, some torn fabric and detritus, to mask it on the finished model.

The important thing is that it makes the joint between two heavy castings very strong.

Next step will be to 'blend' the two parts together by creating more mail armor and a bit of necklace chain. I'll also share the connection of the ribcage.

Pinning un-even parts: Death Giant continued...

The 'Death Giant' comes in many parts, perhaps the most awkward area to assemble is the front of the rib-cage to the main body: there are really no connecting points at all and pins must be installed at multiple points to hold the weight.

I made a diagram to show how I tackle this. Drilling holes on either side will not work at all, as they would never align properly when gluing. I strap the two pieces together, making perfect their alignment, then drill the necessary holes all the way through the entire piece. I can then create the pins and glue them in one by one. After the glue has cured the straps are removed and the holes and gaps are Green Stuffed. The pins are buried and never seen. In this way some very delicate points on the model were pinned, including some areas where the material was 2mm wide. I use brass pins, notched and chamfered in the way illustrated in a previous post.

The result is quite satisfactory. I pinned the Giant at the ribs but also near the shoulders, and a few other areas where there was sufficient metal on both parts.

By drilling holes at different angles, the pins team up to act as physical locks against any future separation.

Hope this is helpful and not too clinical.

Pinned Plan as Executed for Death Giant

Back in 2002-03 I sat down and put some steel pins in the Death Giant, the first move on it since the 80s. It involved pins, drill bits to correspond, a little oil and patience. I believe I lost two bits in the process, as the deeper the bit made its way into the metal the more it bound and, eventually, they broke, lodging into the piece.

Here's a map of how I pinned this guy, blue lines show the original separations, the pink is the actual steel pin.

The worst part was the hole in the upright arm (holding the axe, as seen on the box-art) that was drilled to match the pin on the main body. The first attempt snapped the bit, this was a dead-center of the piece drilling that had to be abandoned for another hole parallel to the first. It worked out in the end, although I may shore up the arm with more support when I get to it.

One thing I favor for really strong support is aligning the pieces, clamping them together, and drilling straight through the surface that will eventually be painted. This creates a perfectly matched mating of the pieces, and the left-over hole can simply be puttied over and hidden. It's more accurate and much easier than drilling two separate holes in two pieces and trying to get them to mate properly. I've got to make sure the pin is slightly shorter than the hole so it won't stick out.

I glue pins with a cyanoacrylate and the working time is very short, so I dress up the pins to make them as effective as possible: at both points I chamfer the ends, that is: file a slight taper so that the pin will pass into the hole smoothly without any cutter-snipped edges binding before it makes it all the way in. I also notch the pins slightly with a file so that the glue has a physical hold on the metal. It take a little bit more time but I do want to make this as secure as possible.

Jawbreaker - Duplicating a Component for the Undead Giant

Nope, not the Judas Priest song... A fellow classic mini-afficianado who also has a Giant asked me about making him a jaw: his was long gone (it is the smallest loose casting in the set). Very fortunately I was about to pin and epoxy it to the skull and make the two pieces one, he got me in the nick of time.

A little 'squash' mold was prepared (nothing to fancy, two halves filled with more than enough casting material and pressed together, squeezing out the excess).

I did something I had not done before: I tested the mold with another material (other than the resin to be used for the final) - JB Weld, a two part substance I found at a hardware store that is supposed to be great at fixing metal parts (never had any luck). It's a great filler and worked well for determining if the mold performed well enough to pull a decent cast.

The subsequent (white in the photo) resin jaw came out fine, and I'm free to finish assembly on the skull. The gray jaw is the JB Weld piece.

Death Giant Pieces Stripped

Used a heavy duty paint stripper and got down to bare metal, of course some remnants remain after over 25 years sitting on there.

This is the bare material with which I have to work. The condition of the metal is fortunately very excellent, as crisp as was cast. The main body and the arm with the axe are assembled, comprised of a few pieces. These were pinned with epoxy and thick steel paper clips.

Detail is quite nice on the sculpt.

Usually I'm enthusiastic about the build, but in this case I'm really more enthusiastic about the painting involved in such a large piece. Incentive to get it done.

Resolutions to the Death Giant of the Undead Legion

Happy 2012 - I begin with optimism towards forthcoming projects as a newly-moved into workshop slowly takes form and functionality. One project that has been sitting around for ages is a build on a classic Grenadier piece: The Death Giant of the Undead Legion.

I got the kit as a gift from my brother, it was either 1984 or 1985. Over the next few years several layers of Testor's enamel went on the thing before being retired from memory. Back then I had no concept of pinning models together. It was revisited in 2002 with a decent drill-and-pin effort, and about two years ago I stripped all the ancient paint off, as far down to metal as possible. It now exists in a state of restoration, with all joints expertly pinned for maximum possible strength, and all joins and contacts between components properly built up with Kneadatite Green Stuff.

My 2012 resolution is a really weak one: Finish this damned model once and for all. I have a terrible habit of not finishing things and it desperately needs changing. I mean finish - build, paint, base, finished. I've never seen one complete other than on the box itself and the contorted re-cast on the Mirliton site.

I swear by golly I'll do it. And you can now hold me to it.

Sculpting an Ambull: Molding and Casting Continued

Once the first part of the mold had cured, the other side was removed. This consisted of the bottom of the mold box and the clay that was used as a barrier. The master and the sprues remain in place in the first part of the mold.

I use Vaseline as a separating agent between the two mold parts. RTV silicone will stick to itself really well, so a barrier cream is vital, at least on the rubber itself (most other materials are fine with silicone). I had some really old silicone that I was diluting with some silicone thinner, so these were definitely not ideal mold-making situations. Hopefully at some point in the future I can offer some examples of a more professional approach.


This picture shows the other component of the Ambull, the legs and back of the upper body. Same concepts applied: LEGO box, clay wall around the master, sprues cut from wood (found the dowels to be a bit better than the square stock). The little divots in the clay were pressed in with the back of a paintbrush. Once the rubber is poured in, they will serve as pegs to register the front and back parts of the mold.

Even More... Sculpting an Ambull

First half of the mold is poured. I do not yet have access to vacuum and pressure chambers, so it does make molding and casting a little difficult. I've done larger things before, but certainly nothing this detailed. In a case like this I simply drizzle a thin layer over the most crucial part of the mold and let it settle a little, doing as best a job to make sure the bubbles are gone. This is allowed to cure, whereupon subsequent layers can be added without too much concern for bubbles (as these would simply fill out the bulk of the mold).

Drizzle:

Drippy - This was allowed to cure before more rubber went on top:

Blobby:

Still More... Sculpting an Ambull

Top of the creature is sculpted, with respect to where the break of the two parts will be. I did have to slightly incise the Green Stuff a bit at the top to get it to separate but the join worked out well. Pink line indicates the break:

When I was sure I could not do any more damage to the sculpt, I began to clay-it-in for mold-making (it was my intention from the outset to try to cast a few in resin to make a little 'herd'). I began with a LEGO wall box, using a plasticine type clay to occupy form the barrier for the first half of the mold. Sprues and channels were made out of bits of wood.

The triangular part at the top is a pouring funnel built into the mold.

More Sculpting an Ambull

Forehead details were fun. I was really getting the hang of Green Stuff at this point, still sticking to the wooden tools I had carved initially, and more comfortable with the amount of water involved to properly lubricate and sometimes soften the material. Green Stuff sculpting must be done with a jar at hand.

Sculpting details on the Ambull's 'forehead' was fun, I redid the biomechanical tubes and meshed the mottled texture into the tubes. All the while I was thinking about how paint-able I wanted it to be, lots of recesses and lots of little raised bits to catch a nice drybrushing.

Sculpting an Ambull... More Progress

I had been avoiding it, but it came time to start describing the texture for the back of the creature. This area would be very prominent on the final model and I want to make it enjoyable to paint. I started slowly, but soon found a style that worked and went with it. Bear in mind that past the basic form I wasn't too interested in trying to duplicate the Citadel mini, but to make my own variation.

Back texture, what I thought of as 'scales:'