The Hunting Beast (2)

Thank you guys!

@ Malevengion - now that's a word :)
Remember there's Tar'Akoona, the Raptor of The Hunt, and Artemis of the Dragon Rider

@Optimus - thanks. Unfortunately the link was outdated. But as you can read below I found a good solution.

@Mordian7th

- thank you Mate! Glad to see you're still with me :)
Thanks

As mentioned I wasn't quite happy with the thickness and sturdiness of the wing skin, so I decided to make the skin thicker.

For this I created a two-layer skin 

with a layer of aluminum foil in between.

That's now relatively thick and sturdy.

The two skin types in comparison (left is the thinner original skin)

For the already sculpted wing, I removed the already burned skin.

Tip to yourself:
"Don't recycle too much - after a while the aluminum foil gets too fragile and disintegrates"

It was quite a task to remove all the little bits of foil.

But the finished result was worth it.

The wing with the new thick skin.

Looks good!

After some cleanup and improvement (this time with Green Putty) I did another position check with the girl.

The wings are rather massive, so I have to change her position a bit.

Due to the weight the wings now tilt forward and I have a rather large gap to fill.

Since I can't fit the whole dragon including wings into the oven, I have to use self-curing GreenStuff to sculpt the wing base.

But I think this works just fine :)

I still have to do the second wing, but I'm quite happy.

So what do you think?
I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Cheers

Klaus

The Hunting Beast (1)

Hi all,

well thing never seem to go the way planned, do they?

I had already started a different project, but it didn't "catch" me the way I expected, so I abandoned it rather quickly.

Typical ADHS :)

However, as mentioned there are several ideas percolating in the back of my head, so I had plenty to chose from - haha!

And if nothing else works, a dragon always does.

These images are from about the last two weeks.

I have the idea of a stalking dragon, coming down the steps of ... well, maybe a ruin?

and being accompanied by a (usually beautiful) women...

So I started off with a wire skeleton, which I fixed with some FIMO.

Once the wire was set I wrapped it in paper and masking take and applied a first layer of FIMO.

Once the main body was prepared in FIMO I sent it to the oven to cure.

After it cooled off, I started the actual sculpting process with SuperSculpey.

Still very "raw" but with the first hint of muscles.

More muscles and a first sculpting of the wing base.

Here he still has 4 toes.

Another positioning check for the wings.

Loosing toes :(

So after another trip to the oven I started to work out the rear legs

and the tail.

Basic sculpting done.

As you can see I cut down the front paw to be re-modeled.

This is a female body I had started for a different project (was to be a Cat Woman) and will be used in this project.

 

I quickly sculpted the rock to support the left hind-leg.

Another position check with the girls - I broke her arms to reposition :)

I also reworked the wire frame for the wings.

And did a check to see if it would still fit the cabinet.

With that in mind I started to build out the base.

While the base cured I started to sculpt the head.

 

As usual I started of with some beady eyes.

 

And slowly added facial features.

 

Still pretty plain

 

A bit grimmer

 

But still a toothless smile

 

So I sculpted teeth, horns, and spikes with GreenStuff.

 

Bad hair day?

 

Ah!
Looks better.

 

Still not very menacing

 

but ready for the first curing in the oven.

 

With the body and head cured for the first time, I started to add the final muscles (and you can see the still uncarved base).

 

Adding more facial details

 

The base has its pattern carved and most of the final muscles are sculpted.

 

As you can see I reworked the front paw completely.

 

Face and muscles done!

 

I added a layer of liquid GreenStuff smoothing the surface and began fleshing out the wings.

 

 

 

 

The wings received their final shape - and another position check with the girl.

 

Last not least I sculpted the skin for the wings.

 

But I'm afraid the skin is too thin and fragile - a first crack already appeared on the outer section of the wing.

 

So I will look at the other wing and try a thicker skin there - if that works better, I re-do the right wing.

So!
What do you think?

Any suggestions or comments?
I look forward to hearing from you :)
Cheers

Klaus