Plastic Harpies (WIP)

I started this project a few months ago, with the intention of making a full post about it, with WIP and finished pics. Unfortunately I have not had any time to continue working on it lately, so it has remained WIP since them. I don't know when I will be able to finish it, but I thought it might nevertheless be nice to share it.

And Cianty will be happy to hear that those are NOT Wood Elves (for a change)

Enjoy! (more on TBMB, see link above)

Oh my god those are amazing, Tom! Love the bases, excellent minis. What did you make the wings out of? Can't wait to see a finished product eventually. Good job!

Ethlorien wrote:

Oh my god those are amazing, Tom!

Thanks Ethlorien!

Ethlorien wrote:

What did you make the wings out of?

The wings are out of simple cardboard.Cereal packets basically. They are just meant as scaffolds for the greenstuff that will go over it... it's a little experimental at the moment

I described it a little on TBMB .

Great work! Thy Creativity know no bounds Tom.

That "this project" thingy is DANGEROUS; I hit the sucker & it locked up my Ancient PC.
That aside, the Harpies are WONDERFULLY NASTY little creations. VERY IMAGINATIVE! AND the bases are INCREDIBLE! All in all NOT BAD!

No way! haha, I'm, actually working out the very same thing to make succubi out of these models! I have 2 awesome ones by rackham and thought these would work out great... Thanks for testing and confirming my thesis!

Now I'm curious to see some of your pics, Ez!

it was a thesis! hehe, I'm not yet in the construction phase, as I want to finish a bunch of hired swords... oh, and my scenery... and ... and... and.... sigh, I need some rehab!

I really love your bases, though, isn't it a bit cumbersome in play? - and I thought harpies were skirmishers?

Ezekiel wrote:

it was a thesis!

Oh, all right. But still, can you post some pics of the Rackham harpies? Might give me some additional ideas.

Ezekiel wrote:

isn't it a bit cumbersome in play?

No, not really. I made sure the "rocks" do not overlap the bases. I am not a big fan of just glueing huge chunks on bases, so in the rare cases where I do so, I make sure I trim them down so that they fit the bases.

Ezekiel wrote:

I thought harpies were skirmishers?

They are. But I wanted to make sure they rank up, in case they get into Close Combat.

Wow those are some good looking harpies

Awesome use of the Daemonettes... I just picked up a box to do my mutants and now I want to use the remaining ones to make harpies. Great job!

great idea ! and wonderfully worked out ! (or started at least .... you have to finish them !)

how did you bend the cereal cardboard in the required shape and how did you make it strong enough to support the green stuff ?

how did you make the large rocks ? I'm always afraid of a) having a not strong enough rock (eg cork) to support metal models or b) getting an uneven balance in weight (eg by using real life rocks) and have the minis falling over

pascal the rascal wrote:

great idea ! and wonderfully worked out ! (or started at least .... you have to finish them !)

I know! But I am doing a rather big commission painting project atm, so unfortunately these girls will have to wait

Here's a little update however: I made a scenic movement tray for them. The idea, again, was to suggest a rugged, stony, mountainous landscape from which the harpies take off.
There will be lots of snow added.

More at TBMB.

pascal the rascal wrote:

how did you bend the cereal cardboard in the required shape and how did you make it strong enough to support the green stuff ?

http://boringmordheimblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/chicken-wings.html

pascal the rascal wrote:

how
did you make the large rocks ? I'm always afraid of a) having a not
strong enough rock (eg cork) to support metal models or b) getting an
uneven balance in weight (eg by using real life rocks) and have the
minis falling over

I used bark. Some trees have bark with just the right texture, that you can easily peel off. Be gentle with the tree, don't RIP the bark off but instead look for pieces that are nice and dry and come off easily with little effort.

I then pinned the models to the bark with little metal rods (= chopped up paper clips) and a drill.

Voilà

thanks for the links !
I've been drooling over the plastic daemonettes (although I prefer metal mini's much more over plastic ones, I must say that my metal daemonettes look not as "dark" and threatening than the plastic ones)
I'll have to try out some of your harpy conversions though ! (sometime ...)
I suppose you just bend the cardboard a little and the GS helps it to keep it into place.

I use bark as well, but I always used one side (the outer side). So I was wondering how your rocks look on the other side. (at least, my bark pieces have one rock like surface, and the other is more "threadlike".
So lets say I'd want a standing up rectangular rock, I never was able to reproduce the rock like structure on the other side. Guess I'll have to experiment with GS some more...

Your tutorials are real inspiring ! Makes my hands itchy although I'm almost falling asleep.

Thanks !

pascal the rascal wrote:

I never was able to reproduce the rock like structure on the other side.

So what I do, is break off bits from the "smooth" side (I use a blunt old knife which I use more like a wedge. I gently force it into cracks and then twist the blade to make the bark crack roughly where I want). That way you get a rugged surface resembling the "outer bark" and it is somewhat random too.

Alternatively (I have done this for one harpy) is glueing 2 pieces of bark together along their smooth (=not stone-like) side, so as to have a similar texture on both sides. Gaps can then be filled with GS.

pascal the rascal wrote:

Your tutorials are real inspiring ! Makes my hands itchy although I'm almost falling asleep.

Haha! Great! That's the purpose

pascal the rascal wrote:

Thanks !

Not at all it's lovely to help.

Wow Tom! Again very cool when are they coming over again ?
BUT, I only see six of them.. that's 4 to less, isn't it..

I love how you did the bases and wings! and I'm sure it'll look even better with some snow on it (on golden demon level, that is )