Scratch built Treekin

Want to get advice on paints and colours? Want to brag about your models? Come here, my friend...

Moderator: Council of Elders

bark
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 68
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 11:51
Location: austria

Scratch built Treekin

Post by bark »

hi all out there in the woods,

i want to show you all how to do some nice treekin from scratch.
as i play a forestspirit army i have the need to include some treekin (9 at the moment), but as i don´t like the gw ones i had to think about some alternatives.

as there are some big woods outside my house i went for a short stroll and found what i needed, lots of different sized dry twigs (but never ever take one from a living tree, you could never know.........),
with those i decided to built my treekin. this is also ok with the fluff for them, as they are described as dead trees animated by some spirits.

make sure that you collect different thicknesses of twigs, this will help to give a more natural look to your treekin.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... kin001.jpg

here are some of my used tools

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... kin005.jpg

i wanted to give them a similar look as those made by gw, so i went for some roughly manshaped forms.
i used a drill to pin all those different twigs togther and glued it with a 2partepoxyglue, this should give them some hold.
the red thing (i don´t no the english word is used hold the twigs together while the glue drys)

keep a look on the natural shape of those twigs and how you can use them to enhance the look of your treekin.
i used smaller pieces of wood to create some movement in the limbs by building elbows and knee´s.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... kin009.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... kin007.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... kin006.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... kin008.jpg

then it took quite i while till i get to motivation to go to the next step.
the heads, faces and details.

but this will come in an seperate post.

bark
bark
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 68
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 11:51
Location: austria

Post by bark »

ok, lets proceed with the second part.

for the heads i used greenstuff and modeled roughly shaped heads with a seperate lower jaw.
i used the heads of some needles to create the eyes.

at this stage the heads look like some bigeyed, toothles serpentbeast something..

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed002.jpg#
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed001.jpg

then i added the theeth, i imaged them as wooden splinters that where created during the reforming of the dead wood by the forestspirit.
so i used greenstuff, rolled i out flat and used a knife to cut out triangular shaped pieces, those i glued into the open mouth.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed009.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed010.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed008.jpg

also in this stage i added some greenstuff around the eyes to get rid of those big staring ones.

as the "skin" or better the bark of the face ins´t finished yet, you don´t have to work super clean, it will be covered later with more greenstuff.

to get some details i sculpted some treefungus by adding a litte piece of greenstuff, making it flat on the top an adding some line on the underside with my modelling tool.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed004.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed003.jpg

for more details, little fingers and to get some connection with my dryads i added some left over dryad bits biy drilling holes into the twigs, gluing them in an smoothing the connection with greenstuff.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed007.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed006.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed005.jpg


ok thats part two, tomorrow i´ll post how i´ve done the bark on the heads and some finishing touches.

bark
Ardanwen
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 79
Joined: 25 Feb 2007, 12:07
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Ardanwen »

very nice so far :nod: but 1 thing: how do you make sure that the bark of the twigs doesn't fall off? (now it will be sturdy but it will get looser in time)
Sorry for my English, I hopes it makes sense. If not: tell me.
bark
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 68
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 11:51
Location: austria

Post by bark »

hi,

the problem with the bark is a big one.

after building them i brushed them with thinned pva glue, i hope that this will give a good hold.

i´ll also basecoat them with several thin layers of black spray paint, and after painting is done they´ll get some coats of varnish.

i hope this will work.

bark
Ardanwen
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 79
Joined: 25 Feb 2007, 12:07
Location: The Netherlands

Post by Ardanwen »

Ok, good idea :nod:
Sorry for my English, I hopes it makes sense. If not: tell me.
User avatar
DarkMark
Trusted Bowman
Trusted Bowman
Posts: 159
Joined: 15 Mar 2007, 10:23

Post by DarkMark »

I think pinning would have been a good idea, and must say so far you've done rather well. Lookingforward to end result!
bark
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 68
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 11:51
Location: austria

Post by bark »

@ darkmark

i did pinning on all those guys, maybe you missed that part in text above.
i realized soon that without pinning it won´t work,

bark
bark
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 68
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 11:51
Location: austria

Post by bark »

hi,

as promised, i´ll post some more pics of my work.

more details on for the heads:

to get a better match with the dryads and according to the artwork i added "hair twigs", for this i again used left over dryad bits.
i glued them with superglue and blended them with GS.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed014.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed012.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... d011-1.jpg

and finally here is how i´ve done the texture on the faces.

again i used GS, i put little portions onto the head, smoothed it out with a modeling tool and than used the thin side of it to create the barktexture.
make sure that you make them irregular, so it will look natural.
i also reworked the "eyelid" parts.
i also extended the fresh GS onto the theeth and to the branchhair to blend them into "skin"

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed029.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed026.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o152 ... hed019.jpg

now i´ll basecoat them with a few black layer and then start painting.
i´ll keep you updated, but it might take a while

bark
-= Racka =-
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 78
Joined: 13 Sep 2006, 21:46

Post by -= Racka =- »

looking good so far!
User avatar
Ryikko
Wild Hunter
Wild Hunter
Posts: 1240
Joined: 19 Jan 2007, 03:53
Armies I play: WE, Nurgle WoC
Location: pursuing a whim

Post by Ryikko »

I like the faces a lot! keep it up!
Image
Atlarge wrote: It's not GW if you're not scraping off a dozen nonsensical skulls from each model.
Who clicks on these anyways?
User avatar
MortenLarsen
Wild Hunter
Wild Hunter
Posts: 1292
Joined: 18 Dec 2005, 08:00
Armies I play: Wood Elves & Vampire Counts - mostly...
Location: High aloft the Pine Crags

Post by MortenLarsen »

They look really good so far, and they are proberly the cheapest option :lol:
"The owl askes but never answers."

Character list
https://1drv.ms/w/s!AvkMwC1v8aTy0scTF0V ... g?e=oAA3RC


Image
User avatar
Sethayla
Wild Hunter
Wild Hunter
Posts: 1621
Joined: 27 Jan 2007, 01:12
Armies I play: Wood Elves... Lots and lots of points... whether they are painted or not... ugh
Location: [insert witty remark here]
Contact:

Post by Sethayla »

Very good! :nod:
Nagathi wrote:Only on Asrai.org can a thread about a joke turn into a mature, serious and intellectual discussion. It's almost frightening...
How to use Glade Riders
How to use Eternal Guard
hal
Trusted Bowman
Trusted Bowman
Posts: 163
Joined: 01 Jul 2006, 20:38

Post by hal »

The teeth are nice 'n sharp. Presumably you did them separately.
bark
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 68
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 11:51
Location: austria

Post by bark »

@ hal

yes i did ´em seperatly, i flattend some GS and then cut out small triangular pieces, those i put into the mouth, afer having hardend i blended them into the face in the same step i did the whole bark texture.

bark
JMGraham
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 31
Joined: 31 Oct 2006, 19:44
Location: Bellingham, WA USA

Post by JMGraham »

Outstanding! You've done a nice job creating dynamic poses and adding interesting little details (fungus, sprites). I'm really looking forward to seeing these painted.

Jim
crystalnickel
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 27
Joined: 31 Mar 2008, 19:03
Armies I play: Wood Elves
Location: Louisiana, U. S.

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by crystalnickel »

Wow, these look great, and what a creative idea. I'm very impressed.
“We’ll defend the Wall to the last man,” said Cotter Pyke.
“Probably me,” said Dolorous Edd, in a resigned tone.

"Vengeance. Justice. Fire and Blood."
User avatar
Beithir Seun
The Philosopher
Posts: 17411
Joined: 18 Apr 2006, 18:03
Armies I play: Wood Elves, Bretonnians | Sylvaneth, Soulblight Gravelords | Astra Militarum, Tau
Location: Staffordshire, UK

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by Beithir Seun »

Some very nice models. They're quite similar to my own Treekin, which were also made from Green Stuff and twigs because I hate the GW Treekin models! Great work Bark!!
Carrot and Stick ~ Beithir's Blog
EC was here
Trusted Bowman
Trusted Bowman
Posts: 100
Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 21:08
Armies I play: Only Wood Elves at this time.
Location: Central Arizona

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by EC was here »

These are very very nice. Excellent work.

I will be curious to know how they hold up. In a dry climate, such as where I live I would expect them to quickly become quite brittle. It might pay to store them in a humidor (they'll smell great too :D ).
Les sanglots longs
des violons de l'automne
blessent mon coeur
d'un langeur monotone.
DreamCatcher
Newcomer
Newcomer
Posts: 64
Joined: 10 Nov 2006, 20:07
Location: Cambridge UK

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by DreamCatcher »

Hey I'm the middle of almost the same project. I used some twigs and left over metal parts to build my treekin.
So far I've finished sculpting the first tree kin. I'll post pictures when I'm all done with them.
I must say that i didn't think they were going to look good after your first post but after seing them all made and painted... Great job!
One thing though, you could have blended the limbs with the bodies using a bit more green stuff but hey, they look really good anyway. ;)
W/D/L - WE
44/5/3

W/D/L - Tzeentch WoC
6/0/0

Probability is a load of bullsh*t, Praise the Dice Gods!
ampao
Horsemaster
Horsemaster
Posts: 441
Joined: 03 Feb 2007, 07:15
Armies I play: Wood Elves, Dark Elves, Hordes of Chaos
Location: Athel NYC

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by ampao »

AWESOME!! WOW!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

I didnt expect for it to come out this way! Great job!
User avatar
Ryikko
Wild Hunter
Wild Hunter
Posts: 1240
Joined: 19 Jan 2007, 03:53
Armies I play: WE, Nurgle WoC
Location: pursuing a whim

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by Ryikko »

That's absolutely mind-boggling-ly cool!
I'll have to "borrow" the idea if i ever decide to have Treekin... :paranoid:
Kudos to the amazing work
Image
Atlarge wrote: It's not GW if you're not scraping off a dozen nonsensical skulls from each model.
Who clicks on these anyways?
User avatar
Sethayla
Wild Hunter
Wild Hunter
Posts: 1621
Joined: 27 Jan 2007, 01:12
Armies I play: Wood Elves... Lots and lots of points... whether they are painted or not... ugh
Location: [insert witty remark here]
Contact:

Re: Scratch built Treekin

Post by Sethayla »

Nice! Very Nice! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

How did you paint the wood? Did it look different painted then the GS so you had to blend them?

-Seth
Nagathi wrote:Only on Asrai.org can a thread about a joke turn into a mature, serious and intellectual discussion. It's almost frightening...
How to use Glade Riders
How to use Eternal Guard
Post Reply