I hate Plastic arms! Squat arm sculpting...?

[Blue in VT]

hello all,

As my collecting binge is starting to taper off I'm switching to thinking about how to deal with the Lead mountain to achieve the units that I want to place on the table some day. Some of my favorite sculpts from the RT era are the Squat Bikers and Adventurers...these guys...


...however...I detest the plastic arms that came with these guys...or any RT figures for that matter...because they all end up have the same awkward poses (a complaint I have about most modular figures) So I'm considering the idea of having someone sculpt arms and weapons onto these bodies in hopes that it would make them unique and more varied.

My questions for you are as follows:
Do you think this is a viable idea? Do the static standing poses allow for enough variation even with individual arms?
Do you know any sculptors who would be interested in this fairly small project?
Should I just get over my aversion to plastic arms?
What is the meaning of life?
etc.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts.

Blue

 

[Chico]

First of all I'd like to say your mad for considering such a expensive undertaking (Having them made and then having them cast) second of all make extra for me! hehe.

I quite like the Squat arms but it is a bugger getting hold of them at times and not to mention a bugger when it comes to the bikers.

 

[Asslessman]

I think I heard (well read) Theottovonbismark say (well write) he had the suat arms covered but you might want to see this with him. As for the human-sized ones, there are some alternatives arond the web (will post links when I can) which can make things easier. I agree th eposes are always wrong with either straight arms or bent in a weird way. Getting spare arms from other lead models is often the nicest way to me.
Otherwise, using only the hands and sculpting arms over a wire length seems like a good way too. To be honest, for all my armless RT models, I've been using a mixture of all these solutions and I am going to try alternative metal arms too.

Apart from that, seeing the growing popularity of RT models lately, the question is one tha twill be raised more and more so having big batches made to reduce the cost may be a thing to consider...

 

[Blue in VT]

I actually have a good supply of arms for these guys...I just don't like them...

@Chico...I'm not sure I would even have them cast up...just unique models for me...and me alone!

Muhahaha...my precious!



Blue

 

[Asslessman]

There's been a conversation about that issue on the FB page and EVo (Dieselmonkey here) brougt up some very nice alternatives I just can't seem to find back.
Oh and if you really don't like them, I could always find a use for them

That said, I reecently bought some IG arms from bits stores and even a box of the new tempestus/scions to get arms for my armless lead friends (they have PDAs AKA pip-boys on the forearm I couldn't resist to)

 

[theottovonbismark]

They wouldn't be terribly hard to restyle with GS and then guerilla recast using siligum. What exact style did you have in mind Blue? I am pretty full on with projects at the moment but post BOYL the pressure will be off me.

>Do you think this is a viable idea? Do the static standing poses allow for enough variation even with individual arms?
Well they are short little feckers and that limits what one can do with them but there is always some wiggle room. This can be assessed pretty easily with some pieces of wire.

Do you know any sculptors who would be interested in this fairly small project?
I would do it for you if you cover any meagre siligum and postage costs - after I do some work for JB that is.

Should I just get over my aversion to plastic arms?
No, definitely not. One should follow one's heart in all things.

What is the meaning of life?
What do you want it to mean?

 

[Blue in VT]

What exact style did you have in mind Blue?

well...I'll have to spend some time look at at each and coming up with some basic ideas/sketches...but maybe one ramming a magazine into an AK looking gun... a guy holding a pistol pointed toward the sky in one hand while he looks a his "tricorder" in the other hand...one lighting a stogie with a SMG slung over his shoulder...Maybe Biker 2 pointing down range with one hand and his SMG or AKish weapon in the other hand....a guy holding a 40oz can of brew in one hand and a pistol in the other...maybe one has a bionic arm? that kind of stuff.

Do you know any sculptors who would be interested in this fairly small project?
I would do it for you if you cover any meagre siligum and postage costs - after I do some work for JB that is.

Well thats very generous of you mate...I may take you up on the offer! I'm certainly in no hurry to do this...just something I've been considering for awhile now.

What is the meaning of life?
What do you want it to mean?

...42?

I appreciate the input ya'll.

Cheers,

Blue

 

[Chico]

Oh the meaning to life is Math...

 

[Thantsants]

Have you seen this thread on Frothers before?

Amazing work!

 

[Jonas]

Oh the meaning to life is Math...

Lucky it wasn't METH

Anyway, on topic, I really hate the plastic arms too, so I have come to the point where I only collect Space Marines with cast arms and to some degree I do the same with the Squats.

The plastic arms are just awefull.

Besides RTB01 Marines I don't really like many modular miniatures and totally prefer anything cast in 1 piece! In METAL!

 

[theottovonbismark]

Have you seen this thread on Frothers before?

Amazing work!

I saw that stuff before, it is indeed pretty cool. Anyone know if he progressed the idea further or was it just those two? I have a bit of a fetish for doing the 40K races in Imperial Guard uniforms from that era, as you might have noticed.

Lucky it wasn't METH

I <3 Life!

@Blue - have a fink about it and do some preliminary sketches, don't have to be works of art or anything just get the rough ideas down and we will work from there. Re-using the hands etc. from the existing arms will be quicker than sculpting everything from the ground up, but don't stress about that for now, just go for idealised vision first.

 

[mbh]

http://blog.zaq.ne.jp/noharaya/category/14/

Hands down my favorite squat army.


This guy has resculpted the majority of the arms and they do look much better.

 

[Asslessman]

http://blog.zaq.ne.jp/noharaya/category/14/

Hands down my favorite squat army.


This guy has resculpted the majority of the arms and they do look much better.

+1 and the guy even has a sentinel with moustache

 

[Mr Papafakis]

Not saying I've got the answers Blue, but I've dabbled a bit in "repositioning arms" in the past. You could get away with moving their arms to different orientations by heating them up with a lighter & then bending them to where you want?

I wouldn't "throw the baby out with the bathwater" as it were, because I think it can be quite hard sourcing the perfect scale arm.

 

[Asslessman]

Considering how fragile those old arms are, I would consider heating them to bend them with extreme precaution...

 

[Mr Papafakis]

Their not out of paper mache JB

Besides, heating them would offset their brittleness.

 

[Asslessman]

Their not out of paper mache JB

Besides, heating them would offset their brittleness.

Honestly I've never used this technique so it's just my inexperience and cowardice of trying talking

 

[theottovonbismark]

WOW those squats are fantastic. This guy is a genius, whoever he is.

 

[Blue in VT]

WOW those squats are fantastic. This guy is a genius, whoever he is.

Agreed! very impressive indeed! I will need to spend some time digesting that blog....and trying to translate it!

Thanks for the link.

Blue

 

[Timbor]

Really, the solution is easy. Send White Knight an email, and have him give you some pointers to have your own range sculpted. Then you can have them cast and sell them to people here, and you might make back close to one quarter of your investment. You will, however, become a legend amongst the puny mortals around here.