The making of the pig-face orcs that never were

Orcs WIP

I made several attempts to summarize some thoughts on orcs miniatures to go along with some pics of the WIP orcs, but each attempt digressed into such a rambling mess of ideas I have on the business of making of miniatures as a whole that I again opted to let the pics do the talking for me.

Here are the bare conversions:

I used brown stuff/green stuff mix to help them keep their shape a a bit. I learned to use a wire armature under any extension of green stuff, no matter how small. Drill a hole in the face and stick in some wire. Just sticking on a blob on the face and forcing it into submission works, but with a wire it's easier.

I had open pics of the old illustrations for reference while I was sculpting. I always use reference. You'll notice that pig-face is a bit of a misnomer, actually the snout is fairly different than a pig. The first figures I did were more piglike despite the reference I was using but eventually, on the leader type and brown-skinned solid gold line orc I started doing them a little more like the illustrations.

Priming my conversions is usually one of the most satisfying moments of a project. Before priming the different-colored parts make the whole appear jumbled unless you concentrate, whereas after I usually get what looks like a unified whole. It's a bit of a moment of truth too, so whatever the result, good or bad, you get the satisfaction of dispelling the mystery and or anticipation.

The pig-face orcs that never were

Painted: Orcs

I've shared quite a few D&D encounter groups here, but I've been holding out on you when it comes to the orcs. This is another project that I finished years ago (early 2010) but I only now finished the legwork for a proper post. I think I'll come back and say some more about the project to convert these from several varieties of Grenadier orcs (and one goblin), but pics will do fine to fill up this particular post. Essentially, after scouting my options for 25mm D&D orcs I decided to bring together a bunch of dissimilar orcs produced along an even spread from as early as the late seventies up through late eighties and that I happened to have lying around, and attempt a sense of cohesion by means of adding the same pig-snout to each, made from greenstuff. The pig-face, of course, is that attribute orcs have in official D&D illustrations from throughout the seventies but that almost no miniatures have besides the Minifigs ones ~1977 and the Otherworld ones (~2007?). And so these are a bit of a what-if—the orcs that never were.

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: Fantasy Lords (second series)
Set: 020 Orc Command Group
Figure: M255 Orc leader
Base markings: M255
Release date: ?
Sculptor: John Dennett

  

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: Fantasy Lords (second series)
Set: 020 Orc Command Group
Figure: M256 Orc drummer
Base markings: M256
Release date: ?
Sculptor: John Dennett

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: AD&D "Solid Gold Line"
Set: ?
Figure: Lesser Orc w. Spear
Release date: 1980
Sculptor: Andrew Chernak
Notes: It's possible this was an alternate figure in the 5002 Monsters box set.

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: AD&D "Solid Gold Line"
Set: ?
Figure: Lesser Orc w. Bow
Release date: 1980
Sculptor: Andrew Chernak
Notes: It's possible this was an alternate figure in the 5002 Monsters box set.

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: AD&D "Solid Gold Line"
Set: 5002 Monsters
Figure: Lesser Orc w. Sword
Release date: 1980
Sculptor: Andrew Chernak

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: AD&D "Solid Gold Line"
Set: 5002 Monsters
Figure: Lesser Orc w. Waraxe
Release date: 1980
Sculptor: Andrew Chernak

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: Battle Lords
Set: 1602 Orcs, Army of the Black River
Figure: M112 Orc w. Club
Base markings: M112
Release date: 1986
Sculptor: John Dennett

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: Fantasy Lords
Set: 109 Orcs
Figure: Orc
Release date: ?
Sculptor: John Dennett

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: Fantasy Lords
Set: 108 Goblins
Figure: Goblin
Release date: ?
Sculptor: John Dennett

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: AD&D "Solid Gold Line"
Set: 2011 Orc's Lair (also in 103 Orcs blister pack)
Figure: B. Axeman
Release date: 1980
Sculptor: Andrew Chernak

 

Manufacturer: Grenadier
Line: AD&D "Solid Gold Line"
Set: 2011 Orc's Lair (also in 103 Orcs blister pack)
Figure: E. Swordsman
Release date: 1980
Sculptor: Andrew Chernak

A face off to show you their size

As always, the whole collection is also on flickr.

New Year's resolutions

It seems that most resolutions posted on game blogs are about getting more done, driving oneself to bigger and better, etc. While that's admirable, I post my own this year to aid in keeping my many hobby obsessions in check, mainly so I have some room to get other kinds of projects done. The short of it is I've accumulated too many miniatures and started too many projects in recent years. Since it's my leisure time we're talking about I don't intend to go hard on myself to finish more, but rather I want to start at the source and stop any potential new projects in their tracks, and have the little boxes of lead arrive at my door with a bit less alarming frequency. And then work smarter, not harder, on the existing projects in the works.

Here's what I came up with:

• A set figure budget, and it's only for "emergency" purchases—opportunities too good to pass up
• No kickstarters
• No new projects
• Work on a project until it's done. no more than five active at a time, except for sculpting sessions when unused putty can go to whatever's near at hand. Shelve the rest (my project management software, Asana, has easy means to shelve and unshelve).
• Only work on projects I'm excited about. No pressure to work on projects as a obligation.
• Either it's hobby time or not. This is a big one for me, and by way of explanation, I often find myself on a Saturday or after work slip into a kind of ambivalent hobby limbo, chipping away at this or that but not really applying myself and feeling vaguely guilty to boot. I plan to cut this out and either go whole hog or stop and do something else. Hopefully I can be both more productive with the time I do take for it as well as leave more time for other things like reading, outdoors, other creative projects etc.
• Priority projects have priority. I tend to instinctively know which projects are a bigger priority to me, in the sense that finishing them would yield more satisfaction or I'd like to use the figures in a game, etc, but I bet you've experienced how it's often whatever's closest at hand or most visible that gets undue attention.
• Sell off/give away. I have a lot of stuff earmarked for this, but the business of selling stuff and even just finding a good home for things is no fun, plain and simple.
• Try not to research new projects unless there is potential for entrepreneurial venture or fulfilling creative expression outside the gaming realm
• Manage all hobby projects in Asana. I'm already well on my way here.
• Discard projects (pass on to others) I don't want to finish. Projects are hard to give up. You've invested skill and energy and money, and your return on investment is going to be pittance if not nil. But keeping them around often takes a toll in the long term and sometimes its better to cut your losses.

These won't be easy for me to follow, but they're my bid for a more restrained, organized, and in the end, rewarding year of games and miniatures. I'm also curious if you have or plan to make resolutions of the sort aimed to keep a potentially overwhelming hobby in check, and please comment and link to your own resolutions!