Sunday 29 July 2012

Crowmantian squad


The second MOTN squad is ready for shipping to Anvil – 6 Crowmantians!

Same idea as the Imperial Borderer's, separate heads and rifles.

Very happy these are done now because I feel I've broken the ice with the first two factions – the basic troopers are done!

Now for the cool weapons, leaders, fanatics, horse sized bugs being ridden with palanquins and machine guns mounted on them...

I'm also doing a little experiment with these miniatures – the hand fittings can easily accept crossbows... we could have a fantasy alternative with these too! I wonder if it's too much to hope that these arm fittings can accept shields and swords as well.







Cultists - first look


Cultists really need no explanation! Here's the first test based on my Crowmantian dolly parts. The real design behind them was driven by the Crowmantian occult theme, with a dash a pulp adventure thrown in.

The hands and head will be loose as shown here (that gun is a stand in: I'll be making new revolvers for them).

There will be alternative weapon options in case you want to use these as fantasy counterparts!



Thursday 26 July 2012

Imperial Borderers now on sale!

Anvil Industry have done a fantastic job on the mold making and casting front - the Borderers and the Occult  investigator are on sale over at Anvil now.

http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/

Expect finished pics in the coming days of the 6 Crowmantian troopers (hoods and robes) which will be the next release.

Sunday 22 July 2012

Occult Investigator


The Imperial Ministry does a good job of concealing the cosmic horrors and alien intelligences that beset Helot Prime. 

The Imperial Church does an even better job, supplanting knowledge with faith and diverting public attention towards veneration of the Tzar God, through fear and devotion.

Occasionally though, lone researchers from the Imperial universities and colleges or lowly theologian's of the Imperial Church take matters into their own hands... and investigate matters of the occult.

Through the crumbling catacomb ruins of the seven titanic Alpha cities to the forgotten temples of the desert and jungle belts, curios investigators peer into to forbidden shadow regions and encounter dark mind rending beings of terrible power.

Either accompanied by a cheap, worn out automata servant or a squad of Imperial troops, these investigators probe the mysteries of Helot Prime and the dark secrets the planet holds...


Aether Pirates - WIP

Work in progress studies that may or may not go on sale. I'm very capricious with sculpting and a lot of the time, like these examples, I work without an actual plan. Occasionally I end up with something worth progressing to completion, usually I start again having learned from the first pass.







Tuesday 17 July 2012

Imperial Borderer Squad



First off: thanks to everyone and anyone who has 'liked', commented or expressed an interest in this blog across the web: very much appreciated.

Barring a few minor touch up's I present here the first Imperial Borderer squad, complete and ready for mold making! Enter Anvil Industries – this fantastic UK outfit will be managing production and distribution for these miniatures, in resin.

Everything below is held together with blu- tack so the connections look a little weird – when glued together things will be a lot tighter

I know what your thinking now... heavy weapons? exotic weapons? a leader? a medic? comms man....

The short answer to these queries: Yes.

The long answer: Yes, sort of.....

Despite initial impressions these are not proxy miniatures: weaponry, equipment and squad sizes are geared towards a MOTN skirmish rule set, pending publishing. Squad sizes are 3-5 miniatures, hence the choice of 6 different poses (One pack gives you two squads. Two packs will give you four squads of three men, or three squads of four men).









A note on the design of the Imperial Borderers: victorian SF/steampunk is the cue. Coats and straps were actually inspired by Napoleonic troops. The original head design featured a gas mask shako. Unfortunately, I made it too big! I'm sure you'll agree it looks a bit silly. The helmets being used for final production were a quick afterthought that made it into the mold for the resin master parts, and they've proven a saving grace.



Tuesday 10 July 2012

Fallen Dwarves WIP

More to follow on these in the near future, these will be the first fantasy release for MOTN.

Fallen Dwarf Phalanx front rank (2 of 4 mini's)

Mini's are single part with loose shields and weapons (connection occurs at the wrist, hands will be sculpted on weapons)






Some of the resin master torso's. Big hat mini's will appear.


Stock Parts

Here are a selection of the resin master parts being used on the first ranges being developed: some of the heads are intended to be robotic in nature.

Torso's are being used to maintain uniformity in scale on single part miniatures, however there is a chance everything will be available as parts in the future (head, weapon, torso and leg sprues).




Imperial Borderers - first look


Imperial Borderers are recruited from the endless farmlands and vales between the Alpha Cities of Helot Prime. In the time of civil war these countryside provinces have become nightmare battleground of foetid trenches and smashed bunker complexes, where the Borderer regiments repel constant assaults from house Crowmanita and their Occult allies.

Below is the first of 6 Imperial Borderers.


House Crowmantia - first look


Oppressed and taxed to the extreme by the Tzar, House Crowmantia's city state is a smog shrouded environment of industry and labour where the population is forced to wear heavy duty overalls and hoods as a means of protection. In this nightmare of subjugation Occult forces have flourished and empowered a generation of freedom fighters with new found sense of identity, and their lust for civil war has become fuelled by sinister dark forces.

Below are the first 3 of 6 Crowmantian troopers wearing ceremonial armour.



Parts

To ease casting and cut cost, arms are sculpted in place whilst the rifles have hands attached to them in a universal scale fitting, affording weapon swaps across all miniatures. Heads are all loose as are any backpacks.

As a standard, 6 different poses will be made for each design/faction.


MOTN scale

28mm/30mm, heroic, true, to the eyes, top of the head... you decide.


First Post!


What is Miniatures of the North?

Plain and simple: a blog charting my own personal sculpting endeavours.

Production rights need to be finalised so right now there is no solid time frame for release, but rest assured, production is not far off!