Great Uncle Gus

I don't think this needs any introduction, it isn't my first go at drawing Gus, but this is the sketch I most pleased with. Hopefully I'll start building it soon.

I can't wait. If it looks anything like the concept, it'll be amazing. Just curious, what scale is Gus? Goblin sized? Man sized? Ogre sized?

Scale? That YAARRing Orc Pirate smilie is about the right scale. Great Uncle Gus is going to be a gargantuan! Taller than a Giant and longer than a Dragon.

Oooh. Maybe there can be a faceoff between Squigzilla and BlitzBob's Lava Giant sometime in the future.

Let's play Guess-The-Quote!

Some say he be half squig half fish, others think it more of a 60/40 split. But, whatever the percentage, he's one fishy bastard.

(Partially paraphrased to fit situation)

AAAAARRRRGH! Now I be knowing the Truth of the Tale [being based on MY Great Uncle Gus]. He be having the BEST of a Shark & an Octopus; he drank like a fish & certain Ladies of his acquaintqnce oftimes said he had AT LEAST eight arms. He ALSO smoked [various substances] like a chimney, had a forehead that was considered THE ultimate weapon by some of the roughest characters in dozens of rowdy saloons from Canarsey to Hell's Kitchen, smuggled Hooch into Freeport during Prohibition in a converted WWI Subchaser [the Nasty Nancy], drove a beer truck for 40 odd [appropriately] years without the benefit of a drivers licence, AND now he be back to wreak havoc on the land lubbers [as he did in life].

He was also one of the three Old Guys who raised moi, inspiring me to become the Crazy Old Man I am. He proved the point that we admire people for their strengths, but we love them for their weaknesses.

Thanks Alan! I hope the real Great Uncle Gus would have got a kick out of having a sea-beastie named after him!

From what you've said about him telling tales of the sea and hanging out in places a bit like Vercuso, he fits the "old salt" category perfectly.

Chad - you'll have to tell me, I recognise it but can't place it!

Chad wrote:

Let's play Guess-The-Quote!

Some say he be half squig half fish, others think it more of a 60/40 split. But, whatever the percentage, he's one fishy bastard.

(Partially paraphrased to fit situation)

Old Greg, a legend of our time.

I look forward to seeing the giant Sqig-fish, mostly for the comedy effect.

Yay! A Boosh-quote indeed!

WarbossKurgan wrote:

I hope the real Great Uncle Gus would have got a kick out of having a sea-beastie named after him!

I'm sure he would have gotten a kick out of it. If nothing else, he'd finally get to be tall. The only thing lacking in the sketch is a Tam in MacKenzie tartan & a cigarette dangling from his lip.

The base (made from a pack of War of The Ring movement trays - each one is 60x110mm - glued to a piece of plasticard):



The base with the toy dinosaur that will form the core of Great Uncle Gus:

Looking promising! But it doesn't look anything like your original sketch. Also, it seems a bit of a waste of movement trays considering plywood would work just as good and wouldn't be full of little round holes.

It will look a lot more like the sketch... in time.

The movement trays were £2.45 for three, they needed no work, they already have chamfered edges and they were available today. Whereas I have no plywood or tools to cut plywood and I have no carpentry skills whatsoever! There is also the possibility that wood would warp when painted.

I'm going to remove the dinosaur's head and tail and add fishy replacements.

Fair 'nough. I didn't realise the trays were so cheap! I was expecting GW to charge much more than that (as they could of got away with it)! Well, looking forward to some more progress.

Shhhh! Don't tell them!

I have a load of bits gathered to use on this project - I may take a "stock parts" photo.

This would be fun to watch it grow! Unfortunately, I'll be away for ages without internet... still, that means I have something great to admire when I come back!

Good luck on this project, I bet it's going to be awesome like the rest of your stuff

OH MY GOD, IT'S A GUSIASAURUS! RUN!

The Old Rogue would LOVE this Sucker. He'll run ramshackle on land & sea much like he did in life. This IS going to be a treat to follow. You ARE THE MAN, Saul!

Any way you can get the dino body to stand up more erect? One of my favorite things about the concept sketch is Gus's pose.

cool concept, it looks like if you cut the dino off right below the arms and add the head at that point, it would match the proportions of the sketch.

Well - this was unexpected! The dino toy is hollow!





I've done some "surgery" and started work in earnest now! (Though I'm still not sure how to build the fish-head... some form of light-weight shaper with a Greenstuff skin I think)

Looking forward to more progress!

PS. Most toys like that are, it saves huge amounts of money for the manufacturer.

Chad wrote:

PS. Most toys like that are, it saves huge amounts of money for the manufacturer.

I'm sure they are, but this one was heavy! I was certain it would be solid!

It's probably a good-sign: it'll mean that the plastic's nice and dense.

Quote:OH MY GOD,IT'S A GUSIASAURS! RUN!

Yet more words of wisdom from the gerate DeafNala master of all monks,the warboss of warbosses,and the longest beard of longbeards.

If it's going too be as big as it looks watch out for my Slayer you shall soon see his tiny red Crest bobing up too Gus and then...IT'S ON!!

Hope too see more soon it's lookin good