Since Rogue Trader the Clawed Fiend has developed, it was first called the Cthellean Cudbear and looked like the picture below.
Next it appeared in the 3 rd edition 40K and was called the Clawed Fiend of the Donorian sector, a model was never released so I built one, which my friend who liked Dark Eldar really liked so I gave it to him for his Birthday.
It then didn't appear again until the second edition codex, and when the model came out I wasn't enthralled, but preferred Jes Goodwins concept sketch instead, so I built one based on that, whic a customer spotted in my display cabinet at a show and bought it.
So after two attempts I still hadn't actually painted one, now I know I said I was going to do this for Monster May(hem) but once I finished sculpting it I just couldn't wait, I've changed the design on this one a bit, but I like the modifications, I've also included the greens below so you can see it was all scratchbuilt.
After finishing this one I realised what it now reminded me of, Stitch from Lilo & Stitch, just bigger and more angry looking ! LOL This is my first entry for the challenge, next could be more DE or mutants, or Star Wars, I will see what grabs my attention. So until next time stay safe and have fun !
Cheers Dave
Crikey, Dave, that's brilliant! :-) Third time lucky!
ReplyDeleteThank you John, indeed third time and I actually got paint on it ! LOL don't mind on the other two, as they went to good homes, and as long as they get enjoyment out of them that's the main thing.
DeleteHaha, killer Stitch turned out excellent! Really interesting sculpt, faithful to the concept, yet quite personal in the style, I love it!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Suber, good old 626 ! LOL Indeed the second sculpt was a faithful rendition, but this one has more my style in it, which I'm happy with.
DeleteThat is an excellent showcase of your sculpting skills, Dave. Truthfully, many in the hobby would dream of being able to sculpt a mini they want to paint like this so I think you should be proud of what you accomplished here even if it is another day in the office for you so to speak! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeff, I started like most people just doing the odd bit for conversions, and the most I had sculpted was an arm, then a friend asked if I could convert a model he had into a character he wanted from a piece of artwork, the base model he had was completely wrong, so started my scratch building, that was 14 years ago. A lot was trial and error, and learning how to break things down. It certainly comes in handy when you can't find a model you want ! LOL
DeleteI'm a big fan of GW's Clawed Fiend personally. But I can definitely see why one of your customers bought your sculpt of it. It's absolutely superb - and was presumably a one off which wasn't cast in resin or some such..? Your latest sculpt definitely captures the spikiness more though of Jes Goodwin's illustration - and that's an eye-catching colour scheme you've given it too :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Simon, our tastes are all different so can understand your liking it, I was undecided on it until I saw the concept sketch, which I greatly preferred. It was a one off green, as I didn't have the ability of casting figures at the time. The colour scheme was a combination of the GW colours and Jes markings on the sketch.
DeleteWow! those are three superb sculpts mate! all three are marvellous work, I think personally I like the face on the original version best, but I can see why you went with the later illustrations for the other two as they were more "official" at the time.
ReplyDeleteCheers Roger.
Thank you Roger, the earlier one is more earthly than the later one, so can feel more familiar, personally I quite like the more alien feel, not surprisingly after some of the creatures I've created ! LOL
DeleteChrist, Dave, that's incredible work on the sculpt! The way you've done the face and fur is just amazing to me, and the paint scheme suits it so well. Bloody fantastic stuff, sir!
ReplyDeleteThank you Matt, it's a bit more my style this time, but that's not a bad thing as it is my army ! LOL
DeleteThis piece is a masterpiece of horror; fascinating details (multiple eyes etc) relly add to thr modl. Amazing bit of sculpting..
ReplyDeleteThank you Joe, hopefully the next one will look just as good ! LOL
DeleteOooo! I really like that first photo, real eerie!
ReplyDeleteAmazing bit work Dave!
Thank you Justin, when making one off's your not limited with casting constraints, so any pose is possible ! LOL
DeleteThat thing'll bite your head off with such a bloody huge maw!
ReplyDeleteExcellent work my friend.
Thank you Dai, will have to remember to do a shot of him next to a standard Dark Eldar, as he could probably bite them in half ! LOL
DeleteWow, that is a beast! What did you prefer about the Goodwin sketch over the released model? They looked pretty similar to me, except the pose looks more formidable rather than dynamic. I noticed the fur quite a bit as you had mentioned a technique for sculpting fur, and I must say it looks really great! I will have to give that a go next time.
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian, it may well have been the odd pose of the model, plus Jes's was a bit spikier, but tghey are similar you're not wrong. this was short fur on this one, so pretty easy, when doing longer fur, you want to add a flick at the end of the stroke, this will generate some interesting effects.
DeleteOh yea, the spikes on the back! I see that now. The GW mini looks okay...the pose is dynamic, but it has that 'I've seen this GW mini pose before'. Kinda like in the Marvel movies where they all land with one hand out. It works the first few times but then starts to get old. Then again, there are only so many dramatic poses you can really do. Which is probably why I also liked Jess's. The monster is not flashy, it's just in your face and doesn't care. It's all about the business of making you it's dinner! ;D
DeleteLimitations with casting can make them all seem similar, so a full sculpt allows a bit more freedom. Indeed I think Deadpool sums it up best, Superhero landing coming up ! LOL
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