Preview: Left at the Bottom of the Garden

Left at the Bottom of the Garden is Statuesque Miniatures' new range of lost toys, a ragtag group who have come to life and are wandering through the woods. I've been working on this range for the past few months and soon I'll be taking it to Kickstarter to help fund the launch.

The prints prior to master moulding.

The launch range will consist of two cloth dolls and their beanbag cat, three singing toy rats, a toy penguin and two toy hoodie crows. The sculpting, printing and master casting is all done and now I'm working my way through making the production moulds. I'm planning on having everything bar the production casting done prior to the Kickstarter launch so there won't be any unforeseen delays.

The master castings.

So far, this has been one of the most satisfying projects I've worked on and I'm really pleased with this initial set of toys. Indeed, I've already started work on the next chapter of Left at the Bottom of the Garden, so fingers crossed the Kickstarter will be successful so I can continue enjoying myself sculpting odd little toys!

I'm hoping to be ready to go in the next few weeks. I'll be sure to post here when the Kickstarter is live and don't forget to keep an eye on the Statuesque Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest info.

Statuesque Asylum now in Glorious Technicolor!

I’ve long been aware that the Statuesque Miniatures Online Store can be a somewhat monotone place due to the lack of painted figures for many of the products. Well now I’ve decided to do something about it…

Charlie Kirkpatrick, known as Countersunk81 on various forums, has painted Dr Strukov, Sister Anaesthesia and Lillie Poots for me and needless to say I’m very pleased with the results. I’m hoping to get Charlie to paint up more of the Statuesque range over the next few months. Next up will likely be some creepy Frothing Loonies!

All the Statuesque Asylum figures are available to buy now.

In other news, stay tuned for new Pulp Alley Miniatures coming tomorrow...

Captain Wolf and Minerva - a Pulp Alley Miniatures preview

With the figures away for production moulding and Pre-Orders planned to begin on the 1st of July, here are photos of the next Pulp Alley miniatures set from Statuesque Miniatures and Pulp Alley.

As with Phantom Ace and Pulp Girl, Captain Wolf and Minerva will be available from both Statuesque Miniatures in Europe and Pulp Alley in the US.

Captain Wolf and Minerva:

And here they are with Pulp Girl and Phantom Ace:

Stay tuned for the Pre-Order announcement on the 1st of July!

Pulp Alley Promo Video

Now it's the turn of Pulp Girl and Phantom Ace to get their close up.

On sale Monday 24th of February.

Statuesque Asylum

A preview of our forthcoming attractions:

Pulp Alley restock now in store

A big box has arrived from across the Atlantic and all the Pulp Alley products have now been restocked.

I know a few people have been waiting on the Fortune Deck so now is your chance. I don't imagine we'll sell out quite as quickly as before but best be sure and make an order now!

http://www.statuesqueminiatures.co.uk/c/4513058/1/pulp-alley.html

In other news, a big box of master castings and resin castings were sent away to Griffin Moulds yesterday. When the production moulds are made Mei-Lin Mayfair and the Hong Kong Killer Fembots will finally go on sale.

Ok so they didn't make it in 2013 and 'coming soon' was rather optimistic when I first posted this image, but they are certainly 'coming soon' now! I, for one, will be very, very glad when these figures finally go on sale...

Wizard Adventurer Preview

Here's the Wizard 3D print for my questing warband!

I've already shown the renders for this figure and I think you can see how good the quality of the prints are by comparing these images with the renders. I've also made a couple of minor changes for the cloak since my original blog post.

It's always interesting to see how details that look quite chunky and over-simplified become really nice, crisp detail on the print. That's why I'd prefer not to show renders in preference to photos of prints or castings. Digital sculpting for miniatures in this respect isn't as intuitive as hand sculpting. The sculptor always has too remember the final size of the print and I have to say I see a lot of renders of 3D sculpts that I know are simply not suitable for miniatures manufacture due to excessive, tiny details.

Would anyone be interested in alternative parts for these figures? I'm thinking I could sculpt 'leveled up' parts- the wizard could get a new head and staff, the barbarian a new sword and perhaps a shield in his other hand, the elf a new bow and the dwarf a new axe and shield. Each part could represent a special item found on a quest or an advancement of the character.

p.s. I don't know why Blogger insists on lightening the images!

Barbarian Adventurer Preview

RAR! Here's the barbarian for my group of fantasy adventurers. This is the 3D print and it will be going off for moulding shortly. The other characters are printed too. I'll get some photos of the wizard taken soon, though the dwarf and elf will have to wait as I can't assemble the prints due to parts being on sprues. These figures will be going on sale after the Pulp Alley and Statuesque Asylum figures, so hopefully around February. He's a big bugger; unashamedly 'heroic scale' and around 33mm tall.

Lillie Poots, aged seven and a quarter

Here are some photos of a figure that I hope to have on sale in the new year. This is the 3D print and she will be going away for moulding tomorrow, along with some other Statuesque figures and the Pulp Alley duo.

Lillie Poots is the heroine of my forthcoming pulp horror range Statuesque Asylum...

She's very small - around 21mm tall. I'm really pleased with how she turned out. I originally started her in Fimo almost two years ago for my old fantasy range, though I'm glad I redid her digitally as she's turned out much better. She's been transplanted from a fantasy world to a pulp horror setting. The Malinquents will also return, though this time as patients at Statuesque Asylum...

She's my favourite figure I've sculpted and I think one of my best!

Statuesque ventures down Pulp Alley

Statuesque Miniatures is pleased to announce we will soon be stocking the Pulp Alley rulebooks and playing cards. With a European retailer for the games, it will be easier and cheaper for Pulp Alley fans on this side of the Atlantic to get their hands on the printed copies of the game.

What is Pulp Alley?

Pulp Alley is a pulp-themed miniatures game, with all the rules you need to bring dashing heroes, dastardly villains, and pulse-pounding action to your gaming tabletop.

Pulp Alley captures the fast-paced excitement of classic cliffhanger serials and pulp magazines to more modern action/adventure stories. Designed primarily as a multi-player miniatures game, each Pulp Alley scenario is jammed full of villains, unexpected perils, and plenty of two-fisted action.

Pulp Alley’s unique and innovative rules offer players a thrill-packed and engaging experience –

• Pulp Alley plays at the pulse-pounding pace of your favorite pulps and serials.
• Characters are easy to create and customize, making each league unique.
• Players never need to consult charts during a scenario. The action is on the tabletop – not in a rulebook.
• Control of the Initiative is based on events as they occur during the scenario rather than an arbitrary die-roll.
• Fights are fast-paced and simultaneously dangerous for both characters, instead of the old I-shoot-then-you-shoot sequence.
• Perils and challenges are unpredictable and offer multiple paths to success.
• Scenarios are plot-driven, encouraging action, and offering an array of different rewards.
• Through campaigns and experience your characters can increase their skills and develop new abilities.

In addition to the Pulp Alley Rulebook, we will also stock the Perilous Island expansion and the Pulp Alley Fortune Cards:

Perilous Island is one-part thrilling campaign and one-part exciting expansion. The book includes rules for creating and playing one-character leagues, new perks, 11 new scenarios, 5 new Fortune Cards, and new weird abilities.

The Pulp Alley Fortune Cards are premium 310gsm plastic coated (linen) playing cards. Each deck also comes with a sturdy plastic case – worthy of protecting your Pulp Alley cards. In addition to the basic 45 Fortune cards and 5 Reward cards, the deck includes 2 blank Fortune cards and 2 blank Reward cards. These blank cards may be used for replacements, designing your own cards, red-herrings, and so on.

Why Pulp Alley?

The main reason we want to stock Pulp Alley is quite simple - it's a great game. However, it also fits will the style of characters I've been creating for Statuesque Miniatures. From Foxy and her Kill-Team to Rosa and the Resistance girls, in my head they're all larger than life, heroic characters from a dodgy B-movie, and Pulp Alley is perfect for capturing that on the tabletop. Pulp Alley is not limited to portraying pulp-era games set in the '30s and '40s, it's prefect for anything from sci-fi to fantasy - any setting where the characters are heroic, the plot improbable and the action cinematic!

Want to know more?

If you're tempted by Pulp Alley, but want to try out the rules first, the Quick Start rules are available to download from Wargames Vault.

In addition, you can find great support and information from Dave and Mila -the father and daughter team behind Pulp Alley- on their Pulp Alley Forum. They are also active on the Lead Adventure Forum, where many players are already enjoying Pulp Alley games and are posting their leagues, game reports and reviews of the game.

What about Pulp Alley miniatures?

The great thing about Pulp Alley is  that you can play it with whatever miniatures you like. However, watch this space for an exciting collaboration  between Statuesque Miniatures and Pulp Alley...

To Be Continued!

And then there were three - A Wizard joins the warband

Here he is along with Lowri Lowrisson and the Nameless Elf. As yet, the wizard doesn't have a name either...

I had a lot of fun working on this figure. Considering a wizard of this type is such a common archetype, I couldn't find any wizard miniatures that satisfied me - so I had to make one myself!

He's got the classic wizardly, adventuring accoutrements; nothing too fancy, nothing too 'concept art', just a good, solid, gnarly looking wizard.

I'm really pleased with how he's turned out. As before, I'll keep tinkering with bits and pieces before it's time to go to print.

I've now got to get stuck in to the Barbarian. It'll take a bit longer to finish as he's still in the basic body staged but I'm looking forward to it. I've also got a hankering to sculpt a Halfling henchman with a lantern to compliment the four heroes.

The Nameless Elf

I've just finished work on the Elf for my warband. Again, like his comrade Lowri Lowrisson, I didn't want to reinvent the genre but to sculpt exactly what I wanted in an adventuring elf. He's currently nameless as I've yet to come up with an Elf name I like, but now that I've written it, I kind of like the sound of 'The Nameless Elf'...

For me, an important part of this project is that I don't want the clothing or equipment to appear 'over-designed'. I want simple, classic design done well, not extravagant, over-the-top, 'concept art' style figures. Nothing wrong with those but that's not what I'm after with these figures. Hopefully the pose, character and sculpted forms of the figure will be the focus, rather than a zany new concept.

This figure wasn't as straight forward to work on as Lowri; the need to avoid too extreme undercuts and keep the figure as few parts as possible meant there was some thought required on how too achieve this. Midway through the process I also found myself becoming too involved in fine detail and design. I had to remind myself of the aims of the project and keep it simple and bold. In the end though, I'm happy with the figure and how he ties in with the style of Lowri the dwarf. An elf perhaps doesn't allow the same freedom to exaggerate and caricature as a dwarf but I think I've hit the right balance. I need to get pictures of them together but the file sizes are currently massive and my computer grinds to a halt when I try to combine the two figures on one canvas.

Work is well underway on the Wizard, which I've really been enjoying sculpting. Hopefully I'll have pictures to show soon. I've also made some minor changes to Lowri, mainly to allow the shield to be a separate part. You can find the photos on the Statuesque Miniatures Facebook page.

Statuesque Fantasy Reboot

I've just finished off the first figure in the new Statuesque Fantasy range. In contrast to Ezmeralda Tyke, this new range will be very differently styled to my sci-fi figures. I really like Ezmeralda as a figure - I think she is among my best work - but due to her size, proportions and delicate features, she doesn't actually work with any of my favourite fantasy figures from other manufacturers. I realised after making her I prefer a chunkier, more caricatured figure in that genre. As such, I have never completed her gang of Malinquents. I also didn't really have a strong enough design for the other characters so she remained alone. She'll be going out of production when current stock sells out. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the positive is I can reboot the Statuesque Fantasy range to a style that will match my fantasy collection!

Anyway, on with the new figure... Lowri Lowrisson, Dwarf Adventurer!

Yup, it's a dwarf. I make no claims to be reinventing the fantasy genre; I want a band of warriors in the classic Heroquest or Warhammer Quest mould, and no-one makes figures that are exactly what I want so I'm making them myself! The plan is for a dwarf (check), a wizard (in a pointy hat), an elf (with a bow) and a barbarian (ridiculously muscled). The other figures are all in progress and share Lowri the Dwarf's caricatured style and exaggerated proportions.

Lowri stands 21mm to the top of his helmet. He'll be quite a chunky little figure, with a large head with exaggerated features and large hands and feet. I think the body design I gave him, where his hips are wider than his shoulders, gives him a nice planted look and avoids the 'barrel' look of some dwarf figures. Please note his knees! ;)

It will take some time to get him on sale as it would probably make sense to release all four adventurers at the same time. I just wanted to share, as I'm quite please with how he's turned out!

What of the Malinquents then? They're likely to appear in another form entirely in the other new genre I'm exploring at the moment...

Tallulah Caine, ace TV New reporter

“This is Tallulah Caine reporting for KPTV News, from the Occupied Zones.”

Ace TV news reporter Tallulah Caine and her trusty cameraman Carter have been in the Occupied Zones for many months, bringing stories from all sides of the struggle straight into homes around the world. She has reported on vicious fighting, the horrendous conditions for those living in the Occupied Zones and the political machinations of the parties involved. Now, however, she believes she has the scoop that will change her career – and possibly the world - forever...

Coming soon from Statuesque Miniatures! More photos on the Facebook page.

Faceless Oppressor Troopers Preview

Hi,

With the latest batch of figures sent to the printers earlier this week, I have been able to get back to work on the Faceless Oppressor range. I have now finished the basic trooper pack, though in a change from the original plan, this pack now contains four figures rather than three. With the two NCO figures, this means six unique poses even before the Heavy Weapon troops are included.

Each figure features a separate, poseable head and separate rifles which can be swapped with the weapons from the Special Weapon sprue - a flame thrower, grenade launcher, squad automatic weapon and an energy weapon. The renders show the figures on 25mm bases.

Next I will be finishing the NCO pack of two figures. They are already posed and nearing completion. Each figure will have a separate head as with the troopers and two separate arms. The arms will be able to be used on both figures allowing plenty of variety. I also plan to make a sprue of NCO weapons, such as laser pistols, energy pistols and possibly some close-combat weapons. Any ideas as to what to include would be much appreciated!

The original plan was to release the Troopers, NCOs and Heavy Weapon Teams at the same time. However, I think I will likely release the Troopers and NCOs first, giving me time to perfect the Heavy Weapon teams. It will be less of an outlay for me (and also for the customers!) but I intend to get the Heavy Weapon teams released as soon as possible after the initial launch.

The launch is still a few months away, with plenty of Resistance Fighter goodness still to come before then, but I'm really pleased to have completed this first stage of the preparation!

Cheers,

Andrew Rae

Eva of the Resistance teaser...

On sale tomorrow!

(Apologies for the bad photoshopping!)

Commissar Vespera Venko Preview

Here's another of my quick attempts at cell shading!

This is Commissar Vespera Venko, assigned to a Resistance cell to ensure their efforts further the aims of the ESU!

She'll be a two-part casting with an optional gas-mask head. I hope to get these figures, along with a few bits and pieces, off for printing this week with the aim of getting them on sale late January/ early February.

Resistance Cell Officer Preview

Yesterday, I put a couple of preview renders of the Resistance Cell Officers on Facebook. I'm not normally a fan of showing renders of my work as I don't think it's a particularly nice medium, especially for figures sculpted to be miniatures. However, the new Zbrush update has some new 'posterization' render settings that give a nice cell-shaded look; I find this much more pleasant and indeed flattering than the usual renders! Now, I know very little about the rendering process and don't intend to spend too much time learning it as I'm rather busy sculpting for printing, but I had a quick fiddle about and came up with these. Lots of room for improvement, but I'm glad to have found a render option that I'm happy to show the world!

These figures will be sold together and both feature separate right arms (cut at the handily placed arm-band) that can be swapped between the figures. Doing this actually changes the pose quite considerably, so along with the usual separate heads, these figures should have a lot of posing options. I've also designed a weapon option sprue for even more variety. For later release I have more figures planned that will use this arm sprue, as it provides me with another method of adding variety to the Resistance Fighter range.

Also coming soon is the Commissar Vespera Venko. In the hope of boosting our progress towards the Prize Draw, if we get a few more 'Likes' over the weekend on the main Statuesque Miniatures Facebook page, I'll show you a preview of her, too!