Saturday 8 January 2011

Porky models - Ork (4) - Head 1

Finally getting back to this guy. If you have no idea who it is, you can find the mission here, thoughts on Orks and conversion here, and every part using the 'modelling' tag.

The head has been ready for some time, but the original picture I took was so poor I'd been waiting to photograph it again with the finished model. I'm posting the head here alone to keep to a separate post for each element, in case anyone does one day want to find it again for reference. The rest of the pictures of the finished model I'll post as soon as I finish the write-up on how I got the various effects, hopefully this weekend.

With the head I had a chance to play up two of my favourite Ork elements - 'teef' and fungus. Teef function as currency, and Ork mouths and faces are very much defined by them. I love the ways the sculptors have played with them over the years and this is an homage. As for the fungus, it's always been in the background as food and drink, and since the late '90s and Gorkamorka the Orks have grown from it. Ork spores drift, Orks and their ecosystem grow in cool places and worlds are infested. I like the idea of fungus sprouting on an Ork as moles might on us, and a bare head is a good space.

The first of the two pics then.


Not much to say that isn't obvious. I chose the head that's possibly my favourite. I love the mixed-size, snaggletooth effect, and I like the bare heads more than the helmeted because the helmets are too suggestive of our designs, plus bare looks more barbaric.

The tooth was made in the same way as the one on the stikkbomb arm. The mushrooms were made so long ago I can't quite recall exactly how, but almost certainly by rolling a ball of greenstuff, then slowly and delicately pressing in on one side and rolling the edges around to form a cap. The key here is to avoid leaving fingerprints on the surfaces. The stalks are just short lengths of rolled greenstuff.

I probably made the mushrooms whole before fixing them, which must have been problematic when it came to blending the stalks into the scalp without disturbing or deforming the caps. An alternative method, and I imagine a better one, would be making the stalks slightly longer than needed and adding the caps after the blending. Care would then need to be taken only to avoid bending the stalks when pressing down.

Here's a view from above to better show where the new elements sit.


If there are any questions, I'll do my best to answer. For more on using greenstuff see the posts on the body and the stikkbomb, or better yet the tutorial at From the Warp.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey, that's a very orky ork (if it makes sense!). I like it! By the way, my wife calls me "orky-dorky-porky" but I consider this a compliment.

Loquacious said...

LOOOOOOOOOOVE the teef!!!

Anonymous said...

Glorious. This is both timely and compelling. Your work with the greenstuff is tremendous. Great post. I look forward to much, much more.
Cheers.
B

Anonymous said...

Nice work Porky.

My screen loaded the second pic first and I was scratching my head trying to figre out what the 2 round lumps were meant to be. My only bit of feedback would have been to rough up/texture the top of the shrooms as they are a tad smooth - maybe a dimple or tear in the edges etc.

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Pom

Papa JJ said...

Really impressive work, Porky! You have an admirable attention to detail and your greenstuff skill are enviable. I'm eager to see more of your sculpting and modeling talents.

Harald said...

I've been waiting for the next instalment in this series with bated breath. This one looks to be shaping up really good. I can't wait to see some pics of the assembled ork.

Xyanthon said...

Fantastic work Porky! I look forward to seeing more!

John Lambshead said...

I wish I could sculpture like that,
J

John Lambshead said...

PS
I need an email address that can accept PDF attachments.
J

Porky said...

Wow - this is a pretty good response! It's just a head after all! I'll enjoy it while I can. Thanks very much for the compliments, everyone. I feel better about showing the whole model now. I'll get working on the write-up today.

@ The Antipope - Makes sense to me! I'd also take the name as positive, not least because I'm most or all of those things too.

@ Loquacious - Me too, and the teef are the thing. I'm happy with how it turned out. It's not subtle, but it felt the Orky thing to do!

@ b.smoove - It was your last post on Orks that put me in the mood to finish. Those colours are haunting. If you like it, I'm happy!

@ Rogue Pom - You're right, especially as the Ork looks a bit old and scruffy. I'll bear it in mind for the next time they're sprouting, and I'm sure they will be again. This kind of feedback is a good argument for putting things like this out there, and I'm grateful. Hopefully the idea will be useful to plenty of other people too.

@ Papa JJ - A bit too much attention to detail maybe. The work went better than I could have expected, but it still took a fair bit of time. Still, I'd always recommend it to anyone wanting to spice up special models.

@ Harald - I'm surprised and pleased at the interest! The approach is even more valid when a player has only a single miniature to worry about. If you care about the character it seems natural to care about the physical representation too.

@ Johnathan - Again, I'm a little surprised, but pleased by the interest. It's a lot of fun to add character to a model, and that may be the hook for gamers who gravitate more towards board games and pen and paper roleplaying, the tactile for the board gamers and the personality for the roleplayers. The elements on this particular head are less applicable in most adventurers, but the techniques and approach can be used more widely. The pics of the rest should be up in a few hours, and there'll be more general elements there.

@ John Lambshead - I'll bet you could. A lot of it is just visualisation, knowing what you want, but being flexible and taking a chance as the situation develops. As I wrote to Papa JJ, the work went better than I could have expected, and I'd imagine it would be the same for most people. The way to start is to pick up a pack of greenstuff and just start playing around with an old model. Practice makes perfect! As for the email, I've had a tidy and it will fit now if it's 11MB or less.

Thanks to everyone again!