 April 26, 2017 - 4:25pm | Alright kicked into gear by this image used as a avatar by another user on this site but in truth I earlier created this very pirate NPC for the Albatross solo adventure in the SFman #5 So this is the original:  Right out of Alpha Dawn one of the die cut counters. No TSR miniature for this personality was ever made. But I want one and since I write the Frontier In Minitature series and since we've done a series of kit bash and craft like tutorials with the series it might be time to do an actual sculpt. The primary features of this character are: cutlass, pistol (sci-fi appropriate), crossed bandolier belts (they could be part of the pirate pashtque or legit equipment like power belts), peg leg, eye patch, and bandana In the Albatross adventure Marlow Mustket Mouth was a brash dralasite that liked to play to the pirate motiff including carrying a loaded muzzle loading pistol that he would fire in the first round of combat before resorting to other weapons. It will be important to not do this project on a level that will tax a novice's skills to follow the tutorial. To that end I'll purchase a readily available Reaper Miniature since they have a number of pirates in their lines and cut off or trim away the details and features I want in my dralasite. tentatively the proposed figure will have: 1. Boots and peg leg- I judge the peg leg easy enoght to sculpt and dralasite feet might be a slight challenge so I'll look for figure with boots that are easy to trim away 2. a bandana could be tricky done right it will look good but done less right it will look bad-I'll look for a pirate hat that is easily cut off of a minatures head or one that might come on a sprue of extras. So I am commited to a pirate hat. 3. cutlass- the sword is actually a respectible enough weapon in Star Frontiers so I want a decent looking cutlass that wont be to much trouble to trim the figure's hand off of it. 4. as a nod to my own NPC creation Marlow Musket Mouth I'd like a flint lock pistol that can be trimmed out of a hand and possibly holstered in the bandoliers. 5. eye patch- this detail will be sculpted and its ironic on a dralasite which is part of the humor of the dralasite pirate. 6. bandoliers- sculpted features with at least one looking very like Chewbacca's and having a power cord to a suitable sci fi weapon in the dral's 2nd hand. 7. Sci fi weapon w/power cord- I have numerous extra weapons from Warhammer 40k space marines but none that suggest a Star Frontier's laser. this will take some looking into but I can certainly start this project without a laser weapon on hand as that will be one of the last things done. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
April 26, 2017 - 4:35pm | The following pirates had individual features that I liked:    The top two had the boots that I liked the best but the following figure has hat, boots, cutlass, and pistol:  Meet Blackbeard from Reaper's Dark Heaven Legends line $4.99 ordered on line on Saturday and arrived promptly on Wed. His boots and hat are not quite as flamboyant as I would have liked but he had all the features that I did not want to sculpt. I suppose I could have ordered a second figure to be cut up for this but that would double the base cost and this one figure gets the job done. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
April 26, 2017 - 5:19pm | Looking over the miniature: The intregral base is nice; it looks like the deck of a sailing ship which is ideal for a pirate miniature. not only will the boots be trimmed off the legs they will need to be cut off of this base- if I tried to squeeze in a thrid leg with a peg leg on this base it will be unbalanced and awkward plus the wood doesn't fit the sci fi theme. I thought I'd be spending some time filing down the hands after cutting the weapons off the miniature but maybe not In the sculpting process I can probably hide the pirates fingers on the cutlass. so just the pistol will need the tedious filing away of the fingers. The hat should be straight forward to cut off the head. All of that is job #1 Job #2 will be putting together a wire skeleton armiture for the sculpting compound to stick to and thus build up the dralasite. One item of concern is what will i do for the texture of the dralasite's skin? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 19, 2017 - 2:36pm | Well, I finally got off my but and started this project in earnest.  And bonus piece the jacked may be saved to sculpt an osakar. The one pic of an osakar in Zebs shows a funky naval type jacket so I'm going to save the cut up body, trim an file away the hair, resculpt some flamboyant lapels, and use it as the base for an osakar but that will be a project for down the road. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
