Army Sculpting Commission

[Toon]

So, I have this crazy idea. What if we manage to get one of the guys who sculpted the original warmaster armies (like araby or empire) to sculpt a new army for us (like wood elves, chaos dwarves, maybe special/alternate units for already existing armies or something totally different). Yes, there are miniatures from different companies already available, but they are quite different in style and dont have the standard "stripe" structure.

How expensive could such a thing be? How long does it take to sculpt a single stripe? What do you guys think?

[fracas]

I'd be interested

[Stormwind]

I feel that the problem isn't simply the sculpting, it's then the cost, equipment and energy of casting as well.

[forbes]

Contract casting is readily available - it will be much cheaper than the sculpting.

Costs are going to come down to the number of different figures - if you have variants they will be cheaper, and many of the WM figures use this already to change the look of figures slightly, which adds to the variety of the unit.

HE and Araby spears are quite uniform, but Empire Halberds have much more figure variety.

I think from a sculpting perspective, having the figures cast on strips won't make a lot of difference, as they are likely to be sculpted individually, then have some cast up, converted slightly, and made into a strip.

Time scales may depend more on the schedule of the sculptor rather than just the sculpting time. In the recent Pendraken Mongol release - the range was sculpted in a few months - with 15 or so packs, each with probably 3 different figures - though these shared a lot of horse dollies, and probably some bodies.

[Stuart Bleything]

I would be interested , depends on what army though .

Stuart

[marell le fou]

I would probably contribute too.

A kickstarter would probably be a good option to raise funds. But we could be at the origin of the motivation for a sculptor.

Chaos Dwarves looks like a good choice to me. Green Elves are alredy available in various ranges.

Ogres ? Beastmen ?

[Stormwind]

Yes, the problem is that everyone has different priorities about what army they would like.  Some people have partial armies and only want to fill gaps in established armies.

Other people want Fan armies.  We had a poll about this a year ago and people were very split.

Ogres are in limbo - with two different people perhaps offering some up at a later date.  Evil and Chaos already released Ogre Bulls and Leadbelchers.  Steppe goblins likewise might make an appearance within a year.  I feel that Eureka makes a good stab at offering up both Wood Elves and Chaos Dwarves so I feel those should not be a priority.

[Stuart Bleything]

Hmmmmmmmm , still leaves lots of possibilities , could do alternative units to existing armies .

or do major new armies ie skaven , demon , vampire count undead .

Stuart

[Geep]

I would be interested, but what armies to do is a tough choice.

If I had full control over a sculptor and casting equipment right now, I would try to supplement what's already around to make proper armies.

For example- Eureka does have some good wood elf models, but IMO it really falls down when it comes to actual units (as do most other casting companies). Glade guard can be made and look ok together, but they still don't look uniform enough to be units. Eternal Guard, Wardancers and the like are right out- the current models are a weird hodge-podge of sword and shield, spear, two swords and many other things. In large numbers they look more like a peasant horde than a proper unit (hope I'm not causing offence, this is just how I see it).

Eureka's unique designs do lend themselves well to characters though, so I probably wouldn't try to make new Wood Elf characters.

I wouldn't try to tread on E&C's toes by making ogres, but I may funnel money to him so that they can come out faster (and with a wider model range).

[Stormwind]

Mind you, based on some of the prices on eBay, Skaven, Dark Elves and Lizardmen seem to be sorely wanted...

[Stuart Bleything]

Don't forget demons as well , or most things from gw world .

Stuart

[Stormwind]

If it would promise a whole army being sculpted, I would love to chip into an Ogre kickstarter for Evil and Chaos. He is someone who has already started work on the range, you see.

[andys]

I'd say fill in gaps in existing armies of units that aren't currently in production somewhere. Whether that's financially viable or not is another matter altogether...

[Stormwind]

@Andys

That's the problem, though - "filling the gaps" is so subjective.  Nobody does a decent steam tank or War Altar, but those units are really common on eBay.  Whereas fantastical Araby I would love to see - but people will argue that you can get good proxies for a lot of that range.

If you stick to one Fan/Tournament list, like the Evil Men Indiegogo campaign did - there's a much greater chance of some work getting done because it's not a Sisyphean task.

[andys]

Yes, there are plenty of good proxy Araby figures. The "missing" stuff, as I've mentioned before, is the magical/fantasy side of things, basically Flying Carpets and Djinns.