Lazarus Project P1

Hmm, suppose I should at least update on my week. Let's see, modeled for a friend, editing one of my novels, joined a graphic novel club, taking a pottery class, worked on Tron suit, and made cookies! Moving on to what I really care about, I needed a little break from painting the army, so pulled an old BJD project out to begin work. Up on the modding table is Lazarus, also affectionately known as my itty bitty servitor. He's not actually from the 40k universe, but he was inspired by techpriests and Necrons in his creation.

Story wise, Lazarus is a robot from a future world where humans are nearly extinct after several persistent wars. Living in a city-state where robots and androids outnumber humans 5:1, Lazarus is a systems operator where he manages the computers and machines of a war compound and later production factory during peace times. He maintains some humanistic elements to easily convey diagnostics to humans, but his programming remained relatively basic. After extensive use and facing replacement from newer models, he was reformatted with a controversial alchemic prototype to give greater depth to robotic emotions.

But to spare you extensive, boring reading, here's some concept sketches:

Like Family Photos, Only More Bad@$$

I went to the local game store, the Wizard's Keep, stocked up on supplies (sans replacement bases to the ones killed), painted more bases, then stole some props for some scenic photos of the three knights I have complete. I realize while I love photos, the high res shows all of those little errors I made while painting. Must...resist...self...criticism... Anyhoo, here's Stuart, Percy, and Bartholomew for your viewing pleasure.

All Your Bases...

...through strategic means now are possessed by the collective group.

This week I decided to get some bases made up for the army. Inspired by the bases made to look steampunk or ancient runes, I decided to make the terrain of the bases look like an ancient fallen city of machines. We'll get to that result later, but in the meantime, you must sit through my process. I decided to use my favorite sculpting medium, polymer clay. I personally use Super Sculpey for the colors, but it's a little weak. If you want polymer clay, use FIMO. If you prefer just painting and don't care for clay color, use an epoxy like Milliput or Apoxie Sculpt for added durability.

The first thing I wanted to do was make some gear molds. I have 16 bases, so saved some of the sculpt time by making a mold. I made a large one over some gears and jewelry I thought had the right texture using white Sculpey III...which is good in bulk but really freakin' soft, so be careful working with it when baked. I then scored the area with a wire brush to create a terrain texture in the negative space of the mold. With a mold this big, I can get many different angles for the bases without it looking repetitive.