Ewal Painter and Puck's Dance are here

And finally the Ewal Painter and the Puck's Dance diorama are here.

And some spares have now been packed up and are looking for a new home :)

 

 

 

Click on the little blue button: "How to get some" (top, in the right side bar) or follow this link: http://claminiatures.blogspot.dk/p/how-to-get-some.html

Where were we?

Ahh! .... yes .... that's right! - so sorry for the lack of updates in here recently, but it's not that I've abandoned the project or anything.
It all come down to a few personal issues (like a back surgery in June 2014, and a planned re-try coming early next year plus a few other real life issues, concentrating around or highly sensitive son), a major laptop breakdown (a sewer hard drive failure and replacement) - but mostly due to the fact, that the sculpting and casting process are a bit more time consuming, that I've been used to. All due to a high demand for their great services, which is a good thing in general :)

But here is the State of the Nation, so to speak:

1. The Puck's Dance Diorama piece is currently with the mould maker in the UK. Was shipped out 6-7 weeks ago, so I expect news anytime soon.
2. The Ewal Painter will fill out the new "Puck's - mould" - so he will become available, when Puck is done, too.
3. John will start the sculpting on the Ewal Warriors with Guns (roughly based on the crossbowmen - sculpt) very soon. Latest guesstimate for a stating date was around New Year 2014. This will be another 2x4 bodies, 8-10 heads set, like the two other core warrior sets. 
4. John will also look into a minor conversion of the current Musician. It will be another "Drummer", but with different head gear and a slightly change pose (I think).
5. 2015 will also see a small run of new evil dwarfs - the "Son's of Siegward". These dwarfs are perhaps even more cruel and evil than their Ewal brothers, as they have been blessed by the ancestor Gods and given demonic powers and mutations - so a small line of mutant dwarf characters to spice up my army. Rather excited about these. Sjoerd Trouwee is the guy behind these, and will give a preview very soon.

Ewal Dvergr Painter

The Old Bag: Puck's Dance

Something a bit different than the usual commissioned Ewal Dvergar. The Old Bag is a small diversion from the main strategy here - but definitely something that fit very well with my passionate need for bringing more John Pickford sculpts out to the painting and gaming world :) Can't say if this will be a lonely Wolf or if more will be acquired, guess time will tell - but for now, it's about a mischievous little forest spirit called Puck :)

Back in 2007 the Frother’s Unite Community ran their 4th Pro-Am Sculpting Competition. The theme for this competition was, as always, a very open theme trying not to limit the sculptor's creativity. The theme for this 2007 Competition was: "The Unseelie Suspects or the dark side of faeryland" and sculptors where to do fantasy characters, spirits and creatures with inspiration taken from the classic folklore and fairy tale without going Disney.

John entered this competition and was competing in the "Satyrs and woodland spirits" category. For this category John did a entry called "Puck's Dance" - a diorama piece with roots in classic English folklore and Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - but with the usually little twist of evilness and humour that is seen on many Pickford sculpts. Puck was inspired by Neil Gaiman's "the Sandman" - in here Puck aids the Norse God Loki in kidnapping Daniel, and am playing a small role in the death of the Sandman.

Entry commentary: 
The main figure is Puck, dancing on a rock, his true nature revealed from behind. With him are Peaseblossom on lute and Mustard Seed on trumpet, who provide the music for Puck's dance. 

They do not care that they are disturbing the inhabitant of the rock, and are therefore neighbours from hell. It must be early morning as he has not yet brought in the milk from the doorstep. ©Frother's Unite

The Frother's sculpting competition concept has that the winner/winner's and selected runners-up are moulded and sold through Frother's for a limited period of two months. After that, the miniatures faith are up to the sculptor.

John didn't win his category, as it was won by Kev White's lovely Oberon, but Puck's Dance was moulded and cast in limited numbers. Unfortunately, I wasn't around in time to get myself a copy. After the limited sale on Frother's the rights went to White Knight (WK). White Knight has then released the two characters Peaseblossom and Mustard Seed - both available in his Hors Série - line - but he has never released the entire "Puck's Dance" - diorama. Such a petty, I'd say - and I've been nagging him over and over again releasing it - but with no luck .... till

... 6 weeks ago when WK surprised me with an offer of letting me have Puck's Dance and put it in production, cause as he said: "It's more chaotic anyway, so makes more sense in your range than in mine". 

For me, it was one of those offers you can't really refuse, so I gladly accepted his strict license terms and signed the 50 page contact ...., in blood - and I've just donated the first kidney. Hopefully he can wait a bit for the second one :-P

So, here is the master cast I've got from WK, and I will now try and give it a proper release:

The 2007 FU!-UK Sculpting Contest "The Unseelie Suspects" - Puck's Dance

The trained eye will see it's now after breakfast, as the little Milk bottle on the doorstep has been brought in. The little bottle might have been lost in transit or it was still sitting in the master mould, when the master's were spun :-?

Here's all the diorama pieces:

And here is Puck, will work great as a stand alone piece as well :)

And that's not all. It actually came with an additional head piece. Puck head ain't a separated piece, but think it's an easy conversion - should you like replacing the awesome head he already has.

Crossbowmen and Infantry Command Group has arrived

Took a bit more time than anticipated getting the moulds done but I glad to announce that the Crossbowmen and Infantry Command Group miniatures are finally here.

The Core Warriors with Crossbow comes in a set of 6 miniatures (2 of each pose). In this pack you'll also find 8 different Sallet type helmets and 2x4 different crossbows. Should give you an opportunity for nearly a hundred different builds.
Some of the helmets might not fit all 3 bodies equally well - so some adjustments (filling/gab filling) might might be neeeded.

The Infantry Command Group come in a set of 2 miniatures - a Musician (the Drummer) and a wolf-cloaked Standard Bearer. The Standard Bearer has three different pole-hands to choose from.

Keep in mind that the pole-hands will also fit quite well on some of the regular warriors from set #1 and (in particularly from) set #2.

You'll find all the details by clicking on the "How to get some"- blue button in the upper right-hand corner or by clicking this link

Master casts have arrived - soon going to "the next stage"

The master moulding of the Crossbowmen and Command miniatures are finally done. They will now need some cleaning and quality control and then they are sent back to UK for production moulding.

If all goes to plan,  most of the new toys will be ready for play, mid May-ish :-D

But before they all go back, I got a few pictures to share, so you all can see how nicely they turned out.


Ewal Dvergar with Crossbows

Body-blanks front

Body-blanks back

Assembled warriors with separate bows and Sallets 1-3

Assembled warriors with separate bows and Sallets 4-6

- and then the magnificent Command Group ..... :)

Ewal Dvergr Standard Bearer and Musician

Standard Bearer and Drummer

Standard Bearer and Drummer - back

As mentioned earlier, I have had alternative banners made. These will not only fit the new standard bearer but also some of the pole-armed posed Warrior's from Core set #1 and #2. Here , they are glue to the new standard bearer, though:

Alternative Banner #1 and #2

Alternative #1

Facial details

Alternative #2

Banner details - front

Banner details - back

All the above will now go back for production moulding - and will of course binge you an update when they get here.

Core Warriors #1 are back

I've just received another batch of Core Warriors #1, so for those that have been asking, lately ..... dinner is served .... :)

Also in the box were a few more Grenadiers #2 and then all the new master casts, but much more about that later on :)

Ewar Dvergar by Blue in VT

Friend of the Ewal Dvergar, Blue iv VT has been painting evil dwarves again - and has done a magnificent job.

Blue has painted five Ewal Dvergar in a mix of the set #1 and #2 Core Warriors - and they give you a good impression of how easily unique warriors can get build from those two sets.

And as always, the colour pallet used is stunning. Great job, Blue :)

As Blue in VT use his dwarfs for 3rd edt Warhammer Fantasy Battles and plans to mix them in with Old Marauder Miniatures MM90 Chaos Dwarfs Blue has provided these with Games Workshop plastic shields.

So, I should probably mention that the standard core warrior #1's come with plain round shields.

Should you like seeing more of Blue's work, check out his blog: Blue's Maraudering Miniatures

Command and Crossbow mastering and re-stocking on a few items

The mastering of the Command Group and the Crossbow-men are now done and prototypes have been shipped from the UK. The London Salute Show have made my life a bit more difficult than expected, but the wait is soon over. Not sure it will get here before everything close down here for Easter, but I'll then pick it all up right after, then.
After quality check and cleaning they will then go back for actually production moulding. Luckily, Salute is over and then it won't take that long (hopefully).

The box also holds more Warrior #1s and Grenadiers #2 that have been out of stock in a few week. So for those that have be awaiting re-stocking, lights ahead.

When it's all un-boxed, I'll do an "un-boxing update" of all the new pieces, for you all to see.

Ewal Painter

By popular demand, the Brush Slave League Mad Painter has been converted and turned into a regular "Ewal Painter".

To set him apart from the "BSL Prize Only"-one, John has converted the original and has added snake hair, Dali-beard, a regular Ewal Dvergar heavy armoured hand, and put a sketchbook in his belt.. Also touched up a few other details - now he had the chance.

The Ewal Painter will made available on here during spring 2014.

Is that a PONY ..?

... some might ask!

And a rather delicate matter it is, too :)

For some time, John and I have been discussing what approach to take, should we decide doing some cavalry for the Dvergar range. During these discussions we have even been talking about doing some centaur type creatures.

I come from a time where dwarves where riding Bears or where Boar mutations. And, my original vision for centaur types for the Ewal Dvergar have been more alien/bug liked creatures, as I have never really fancied the cow-type centaurs, some have made for their evil stunties - and have been even less thrilled by peoples pony-centaur builds. So when John presented me this idea, I wasn't "sold" .... (to say the least) ... but was I proven wrong ... ? So very wrong .... cause, look at this:

The Centaur is done from a White Knight Pony base and a Ewal Dvergr torso. John has then added armour and build two brilliant head-options picturing the two things I would probably dis-like the most - but this here is done with so much humour and love that I feel for it, instantly.

I'm undecided about it's faith, though. I have the permission from White Knight to have it cast, but question is - should I go for having a hole united made? - or shall it be a stand alone piece? I'm not sure! I'm leaning towards, doing a small unit - but can we keep this great feel? Can we come up with new ideas, without repeating ourselves? Can we continue this humoristic vibe this guy has? Guess, only time can tell what will happen.

Ewal Dvergar Support Command

Also like to share another couple of miniatures John did for this 3th wave.

For a long time, I have been wanting John to do me some supports, so I can field a proper command groups for the infantry.
Long time ago I tried to do a standard bearer, myself. And not that I ain't pleased with it, and that I'm not proud of having him released by awesome Four A Miniatures - no, it's just that I have always felt, that John could have done so much better - and that I wouldn't ever succeed doing a musician, that would match my impressions of a such, Better leave that to those, that actually know what they are doing :)

So, in the brief for this 3th wave of miniatures, the job was clear: "do me a musician and a banner bearer, the Ewal Dvergar worthy". And I wasn't let down - no, not at all (not that I actually thought there would be a chance of failure). Cause, look what John did......

Ewal Dvergr Standard Bearer

Eval Dvergr Musician

I'm so impressed by their look and they exceeds my greatest expectations. And again, look at the level of details here - it's unbelievable ....

And that's not it, cause there have actually been two more standard poles made.

These two are not themed like the wolf plet one is. They are more generic and can actually be used with most pole-armed troopers from core set #1 and #2.

Ewal Dvergar with Crossbows

Next batch of miniatures have just arrived from John. This time, main focus has been on creating a missile choice for the dwarves - or more precise the new Ewal Dvergar with Crossbows.

This set sees a new swappable helmet system, meaning that the beards and lower face is sculpted on the main bodies, but the Sallet is a separated piece, giving me the opportunity to individualize each trooper. 

Reason for these changes are all due to the poses. Only the "marching" pose could really have used the old "separate" head system, and as I really wanted the loading and aiming pose, we had to change the head system.

Also, has each Crossbow been made all different. Not any major changes to the overall design,though - but we have added a little bolt in one of them, change the little facial detailing on the stock and done minor rework on one of the bayonets, as well. 

To give you an idea how they will look assembled, I've blue tacked them just to show some of the builds:

The amount of details one these is amazing and it especially shows on their back side where the aren't blocked by weapon and beard. I'm so impressed by their look - and look much forward putting paint on these.