the Forge of Ice, miniatures from Alex Bates - blog/preview thread

[Alxbates]

Here's a preview of two of the new turtle shell shields that I should have within the week, to compliment my existing snapping turtle shell shield - this will allow some variation if you want to equip a unit with the shields.  One is smoother, as if from a younger turtle, and one is a little spikier and rough, as if from an old and rugged turtle.

[luckyone]

Neat - shields. I think they will paint up nicely.

[Alxbates]

Some time ago I sent a sample pack to Clarke Payne, an extremely prolific painter and converter.  It seems that I've forgotten to post a link to his album, so here it is!

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/572242339tkJueI

Some of my favorites:





Sorry about the small size, thumbnails are all I can figure out how to post...

-Alex

[Alxbates]

Alrighty, I was planning on waiting for www.ForgeofIce.com to go live (so far, just a logo and a bunch of behind the scenes stuff is there) before I announced these new releases as official, but what the heck!  I'm announcing them anyways!  Here are my new releases now available:

FOI 302 – Stone Dagger sprue - $1.00 each

FOI 303 – Stone Axe & Maul sprue - $1.50 each



FOI 405 – Old Snapper shield - $1.25 each

FOI 406 – Young Snapper shield - $1.25 each



FOI 501 – Mutant Terror Bird - $16.00 each



The terror bird stands on its own, and does not come with a base.   However, it is recommended that you mount it on a base for stability – the painted example is mounted on a 40mm round plastic base.  The Chronopia Dwarf is included in the picture for scale reference only.

All prices are in US Dollars, shipping varies depending on where you are in the world – I’m in the USA, central Alaska.

I also have a complete restock of the items I was sold out of – FOI 301, the stone spears, and FOI 404, the snapping turtle shields (which are complimented by the two new snapper shields).  I’m running low on the tents, and I will most likely not ever be restocking them, so get them now if you want ‘em.

Ordering is by the usual clunky method – email me at Arcticon2004@yahoo.com with a list of what you want & your mailing address, and I will send you an invoice through Paypal.  I know, it’s not ideal, but until I’ve got the store on www.ForgeofIce.com set up, it’s the way that works best for me.

[Alxbates]

And, www.ForgeOfIce.com is up and running, the basic framework of the site is laid out.  I even have a few tshirts for sale in the online store.

I'll announce it a bit more publicly with a news item on TMP and Frothers in a few weeks when I've got the online store completely sorted out - but if anyone here has any feedback for me, I'd love to hear it.

-Alex

[Seamus]

- but if anyone here has any feedback for me, I'd love to hear it.

-Alex

Looks good Alex.  Need to add this forum to your links.

[Alxbates]

- but if anyone here has any feedback for me, I'd love to hear it.

-Alex

Looks good Alex.  Need to add this forum to your links.

*facepalm*

See?  That's exactly the sort of thing that I need pointed out to me.  So obvious it missed my attention.

Thanks Seamus!

-Alex

[joshuaslater]

Looking forward to the online store working.  I did send an email, but never heard back.   

[Alxbates]

HM?  Never heard back?

I'm pretty dilligent about answering emails.

What address did you send the email to?

[joshuaslater]

Something like ArcticCon somethin' or other.  No worries Alex.  I'll just wait for the shop to open. 

[Alxbates]

Holy Smokes!  It's been awhile!

I'm sending new greens off to the caster this week!

I'm in a quandary... the pictures aren't all that great, and I'm concerned that bad pictures are worse than no pictures at all... but what the heck, I want to show them off.  First up, I've got four possessed mummies!

Cultists have broken into an ancient tomb, and planted Seeds of Nyarlathotep into the embalmed corpses found there.  Hoping to create powerful servants, the mummies rose up, uncontrollable and mindless - and bursting like hideous fruit.  Their ancient bones and bandages cannot contain the eldritch evil contained within!





The Marionette!



The supplicant!





The crawler!







The gesturer!



The mummies are in "True 25mm" scale, like old school Grenadier or Ral Partha models.  This makes them significantly smaller and more slender than current figures from, for example, Games Workshop or Reaper.  Sculpted by Tyson Rhody, based on designs by me!  Tyson used Ebob's excellent armatures as the base for the sculpts.

[Alxbates]

Next up, I've got a Pterro-Man, sculpted by Jack Wolfe!  The sculpt has two different heads, and as he's a member of an entire race of beings (albeit a rare and dying race...), this gives you the option to have more than one on your table. 

The Pterro-Men rule whatever parts of the Lost World that they inhabit, using their mystical/mental powers to enslave the brutal prehuman races that inhabit the land...



I've left the wing off for the first couple of pictures, to give you a better look at the body.



It's a multi-part model, I used blue tack to hold it together for the pictures... apologies for the lumpy fit, but that's what happens when you put a blob of putty in the joint...





And here's a picture of the wonderful textures that Jack sculpted on the back:



These are the photos that I'm unhappy with... I don't know why they look so rough.  The Pterro-Man is in "Heroic 28mm" scale, and matches well in size with most current manufacturers.

And I've got a couple of more poses planned...

[Alxbates]

And last but not least... it's a little turtle!

A snapping turtle!  Scaled to match my turtle shell shields, sculpted by Tyson again.





I'm sending them off to the caster this week, hopefully I'll have them back by the time I graduate from the Police Academy in mid November!

-Alex in Alaska

[Alxbates]

My buddy Brian Roe painted a few of the new figures - they turned out great!  Chek them out on his blog (and the rest of the blog is pretty cool, too - worth a read!)

http://roebeast.blogspot.com/2011/11/mummies-and-pterro-man-from-forge-of.html

-Alex in Alaska

[Alxbates]

I should mention prices:

The Mummies are $4.00 (US Dollars) each, or $15 for the set of all four

The Pterro-Man is $8.00 - that gets you both heads.

The Snapping Turtle is $2.00

Until I get them into the online store on the website, you can as usual order them by emailing me at Arcticon2004@yahoo.com

-Alex