Greetings Terrans! Ok, so dodgy post title, but I wanted to share some progress on my Scumbos for the Wolf Time campaign and it just kinda popped into my head… the ‘5’ in the title is misleading – there are way more than 5 of the buggers! As a reminder from last time, Skumbos are the generic name for the 30 cannon-fodder Orks that inhabit the top floor of Gov’ner Kulo’s fortress in the final scenario of the campaign. They are armed with bolt pistols & swords, and are described as being ‘low-caste’. I decided to use fantasy Orcs for the majority of my Skumbos – partly to get across the whole low-caste thing, but also because there are only a handful of actual bolt pistol & sword Space Ork minis of that era. So far, so simple, right?
Weeellll… turns out that chopping up 23ish Orcs and sculpting in all the pistols, swords and/or scabbards, plus the pouches and various other doo-dahs needed to hide cuts & make good is quite a lengthy process… My respect for professional sculptors has risen steadily throughout this project, but it bloody sky-rocketed during this phase! I’m just glad I had a few actual Space Orks to hand and didn’t have to convert the full 30… 23 was quite enough! But hey, I’m done with all the conversion work now, and we’re all based & ready for undercoating. I just thought I’d share a few pics of the work so far – before the paint goes on:
So there we have it – all those brown bits are done by yours truly! I don’t think any pro sculptors out there need to worry just yet, but I reckon these guys will do me just fine. I definitely feel that my technique improved as I went along – some of the early efforts are noticeably rougher than later attempts for example, and I found my speed improved significantly as well. The guns were the trickiest part, but I think they read as bolt pistols well enough… They may be a bit rough around the edges, but these Orks feel more ‘mine’ than any mini I have yet converted, and I’m super excited to get painting! At the end of the day, I reckon that’s about as good as it gets.
Until next time dudes! :-)
Leadballoony - It's a lead thing 
Thanks a lot for putting Mambo no 5 in my head. Thank you. Not.
Hahaha.
I can’t wait to see these geezers all painted up and ready to rumble.
Mate, I’m itching to get painting again – fingers crossed for an ok spraying day before the weather all turns to shit! Sorry about the ear-worm dude – it is a bloody irritating song :-)
I forgot to mention the sculpting before but I think I should – the pouches and belts look spot on. I’m in awe. The pistols are great too.
The weather over here doesn’t really allow for any spraying. Subzero or just a few degrees above zero. Rain, snow. Rain and snow at the same time. It’s quite abysmal right now.
Cheers mate – I think really got the hang of the ‘soft’ stuff like pouches etc, but the ‘hard’ metalic stuff is a different beast… I now understand why sculptors use weapon dollies! :-)
I just can’t make a straight sharp edge when sculpting. I find it impossible.
Me too mate – the best I could do was to get it close with a shaping tool and then shave the edges with a scalpel once dry… lost some surface detail in the process sometimes, but hopefull I can paint it back in :-)
I think the best way is just use plasticard as a base. Every time I try to shave I just end up making a mess of things.
It’s a lot easier with brown-stuff – it dries harder than green… less rubbery!
Ok, I need to check it out.
It’s okay. Just watch the video and slowly turn the sound down and then slowly put some equally catchy music that you like on. I’m erm.. *told* that there might be some slightly distracting elements in the video that might help while you transition the music.
And yes, Alex’s title did the same to me, except I’m so sick that I can’t properly remember the song, even though the music video channel that I use for background music often plays it – so I get a pass this time!
ain’t no Destination Calabria though ;-)
I can throw in a YouTube link if you really want to remember. 😂
The song that keeps coming into my mind is “Tequila”, mixed with that tiny bit of Mambo where he says the song title… Destination Calabria… I’ll just splash some cold water on myself as I fail to drink from this bottle… not because I’m staring at the screen..
Mmmm… splashy…..
Those are really great- love the bolt pistols.
Cheers,
Pete.
Thanks mate, they were a pain to sculpt but hopefully do the job :-)
Impressive conversions really, and 23 of them to boot! Bolt pistols look spot on – if ever I need to build me own, I’d like them to look like the ones you’ve created!
Cheers matey, I’m very happy with that endorsement :-)
Niiiiice. The bolt pistols are cool.
Cheers dude, they’re a bit rough but I’m pretty proud of them, and I reckon the painting will improve them :-)
Well done mate. I think any adjustment makes for a more personal figure and one which is far more unique. Looking forward to seeing them painted, they are going to look even better then that’s for sure.
As for the song in my head, sadly I’ve got the Bob the Builder version going around, even more irritating! 😉
Thanks mate, yeah – painting will definitely help! I’d forgotten the BtB remix… *shudder*
Great work! 1… 2… 3… 4… 5… all the Orks in the spaceport c’mon and jive!
*groan* :-D
its a fantastic project, I am continually impressed!
Cheers dude :-)
Very impressive work here, Alex. I expected to see plastic Bolt Pistols or at least press-moulds rather than self-sculpted pistols. That’s a lot of work!
Cheers matey, yep – took bloody ages! I figured it was worth a go though :-)
Looks good now so they will only look better once painted.
👍
👏 nicely done!
:-) Thanks dude!
Hang about, you’ve been sculpting all those guns and other gubbins?! I thought you were just going to be kitbashing them in from other models – respect mate!
Yup, all sculpted mate – it’s been an education! :-)
Wow, that’s some bold work there! You took this project to another level!
Cheers dude! Hopefully a couple of levels left to go :-)
My goodness that’s some nice work there. Good thinking to use those old fantasy orcs as the basis for these. I think that the slightly rough looking bolt pistols are very fitting for the miniatures, perhaps more so than very clean weapons.
Cheers mate, I’m so glad I went with the fantasy boys… they were a fair bit cheaper to source for a start! Glad you like the bolt pistols – I also think that crisp & clean plastic ones would’ve looked less appropriate.
Jesus Christ man! These are bloody incredible!!! You really are getting good at this sculpting. those pouches and especially the weapons really look great. Excellent choice of base mini’s too…much better than what they were intended for IMHO.
I will find those tiles for you in about four or five hours and be in contact on the Messenger thingy.
Happy days mate :)
Cheers mate – it certainly feels like progress on the sculpting front, and yeah, I’m really happy with the decision to go with fantasy figures… they cost a lot less for starters!
I think the pistols are a bit iffy, but they are good enough for the job I reckon… Kulo would only give shity stuff to Skumbos, so I’m happy for them to be a bit ramshackle :-)
Mate, that would be fantastic if you could do that with the tiles – I’m thinking about doing a 3D version of the castle, and I want to check the scale to see how feasible it is… :-o
Me like Skumbos. Skumbos no low kast, dey hi klass.
Also, in good American English, conversion is like renovation – it ALWAYS takes more time…nicely done Alex.
Dats ryt, jus need kolerr now and be riddy fer fite…
:-) Cheers mate, Ahl be gittn the kolerr ohn real soon!