Another slightly crappy Shadows of Brimstone model again today. One that’s both Neglected and Terrain and is also so uninspiring that it’s missed several challenges of each type at this point before I drove myself to complete it and just bloody get rid of it from my painting desk the other week. Truth be told, I didn’t even know what it was – I’d assumed it was some sort of beaver Dam for some reason – and painted it as such. It wasn’t until literally moments before typing this sentence that the resuls of 5 minutes googling told me what it actually is. A Rat’s Nest.
How could I be such a dumbarse? Well, because the Kickstarter was run back in 2013 with a projected ship date of August 2014. They finally delivered Wave One in 2016, with Wave 2 in 2017, and most of the stuff (especially Wave 1) was delivered via a box of unlabelled baggied sprues in a box. Truth be told, I still don’t know if I got everything as inventorying that mess was never going to take less than a full day of stressful cross-checking with online lists and guesswork as to what the fuck things actually were/are.
In an attempt to make it alook a little better, I initially based it on a 60mm flat round (aka old-school Titan base) and glued some offcut plastic tabs to it, to essentially sharpen up the super-soft details. Now that you know they’re there, they really stand out as offcuts. But they didn’t before I told you – which is kinda the point. Anyway, it looks ok. Good enough for a rough tabletop look, anyway. I might add some moss to it, but truth be told I don’t really want to waste my moss tufts on this thing, so…
Most importantly. It’s done and off the painting desk! Hurrah!!
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
😉
LikeLike
Turd polishing if ever I saw it, good job on what looks to be more than a bit uninspiring.
LikeLiked by 2 people
At least I didn’t get shit all over my hands doing so! 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
The offcuts really lift a truly uninspiring piece, great painting as always mate
LikeLiked by 1 person
When something as simple as gluging bits of what equate to plastic matchsticks onto your models makes it look better, then you’re not doing it right…
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL yes the original sculptor didn’t do his job properly at all
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, you definitely put a lot more effort into that one than the original sculptor did. Pity the poor rat who has to live in there! Well done for making a go of it though, you’ve managed a fine result from uninspiring materials.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right now, skaven and ratskins aside, I’ve not got a whole lot of pity for rats. We had the exterminator in today to take care of the little bastards in my roof cavity… Timing, eh? I didn’t even plan it that way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, my mind first went to Beaver Lodge as well. Nice work on a lazy sculpt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess I can use it alongside those Statuesque beavers! Possibly as scenery in the background of …something. Maybe SAGA.
LikeLike
True to your word! I can honestly say I have never, ever, seen a better painted model of a rats’ nest! That’s the honest truth! Only small-minded people would point out that I have never, ever, seen another model of a rats’ nest, so we won’t listen to them! Well done with tarting this up nicely and getting it finished – it looks spot on! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
From what I can tell from my limited life’s experiences, a rat’s nest looks like pretty much whatever that particularly dark and tight space usually looks like, but with more gnawed wood, and shit pellets everywhere!
I, uh, skipped that level of realism for this model, though…
LikeLiked by 1 person
The little touch you added really lifts it up.
Cheers,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Pete. It does look marginally better than it did, but it still looks shite!
LikeLike
Somehow you have managed to polish a turd. The off cuts were pretty inspired and until you said I didn’t realise. But as others have said, it is pretty piss poor (paraphrasing there) to sell something as meh!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe the rats (when I find them again and do the work to make them paint-ready, and then actually paint them) will redeem this set? I dunno!
LikeLike
Phew, you’re right: It is a terrible sculpt! In hindsight, I wonder if some added texture (sand, cork chaff, some of GW’s various crackle and sand paints) could have made it look a bit more interesting, but that’s neither here or there now — if nothing else, you did the best with the material you had 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, adding to it in the ways that you suggest would definately have made it better, and in no way did I do my best with what I had – both of those are kinda the point. This is the epitome of a “good enough” model! 🙂
You know how long it can take to paint something, so with an uncountable number of good models here to paint, and a limit to time, there really wasn’t any compelling reason to put more effort into this than what I did. I’d even go so far as to say I gave this thing more than it deserved by gluing it to the 60mm base and adding the offcuts.
Plenty of better models to put that effort into!
LikeLike
Certainly a valid point! More time for the pieces that really count, then 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
exactly! 🙂
LikeLike
Kind of reminds me of Yoda’s hut on Dagobah… if Yoda lived in a bad neighborhood. That sculpt is really bad and you did a great job instilling life in it. I’m flabbergasted that there are no details sculpted into the wood. That is such an easy thing for them to do to make it look better and they didn’t bother obviously. Good job getting this one finished. It would be so easy to push this one off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It could work for that – though we’d have to drop a scale to 25mm or 20mm or so. 🙂
It feels like it was either a “training” piece, or a “good enough – just send it” piece. Or both. Ah well, I’m not going to care about it any further – after all, they clearly didn’t! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha, well said and I think the great Jedi master deserves a better sculpted hut than this too 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person