"Bit of a non-humanoid alien sculpt" Topic

I was working on a couple other sculpts that I am still waiting on paperwork to show :( so I was working on another to pass the time.

WIP early on…and my camera work is less then yummy…but you get the idea.

link

It is a starter, and if I like it after a couple more days I will knock out a handful of them.

Eight legs/limbs, nine eyes/sensory pits, and 10-11mm to the top of the mantle.

The "Seitnam" is the working name of the species.

Hopefully you can see the direction I was going.

Cool!!!

I like the copper armature too!

Dan

What armature? :)

I will be sealing the "mouth" with the under shell (which is more rubbery that hard chitinous exoskeleton which works with a fluid/flesh tube inner structure), adding tons of details to the aft shell which then becomes smooth (a few imperfections; hard wart like pieces) at the upper mantle, the legs will have raised partial orbs (carved by the aliens themselves for decorative adornment), and other small details to bring a mantis shrimp feel to it.

The weapon will be a projectile shooter of some type.

Looks like one of these, but with a "leather" helmet:

picture

Dan

Nice work so far.

What the hell is it?
Looks neat so far.

"What the hell is it?"

lol…a non-humanoid alien of course :)

Think squat lobster picture + mantis shrimp picture + brain bug picture

In truth I was sculpting it and the face/head just sort of happened…didn't want to waste the green stuff…only after did I realize that the familiar look was the brain bug face.

Now I will catch hell from our local IP terrorists lol :)

In the end there will be no look alike issues other than it looks like an alien bug sort of crab thing :)

I must admit to liking it very much – Then again, I once designed an alien race that was snake-like, but with a "mantle" that grew from their backs and covered the main body like a cloak, which contained the kidneys and lungs. So that "helmet" appeals in the same way.

If these are cast in 15mm I will buy a truckload! :)

-Will

I really like it!

It has an alien but functional look – very cool, indeed!!

-Shawn.

It is my intention that it be used for 15mm as a shorter but bulkier/heavier than a man type or a small alien type for 28mm?

PS
Started on the Wasserbär also :)

PSS
Thanks for the comments…it does look much sweeter in the hand, makes me smile :) I was shooting for functional.

Of course, now we need a whole range of them, including variant poses, multiple heavy weapons, snipers, command figures, comms and medical support figs, vehicle crew, and of course some casualty figs (rolled up like pillbugs, maybe?). Get cracking so we can buy armies of the little guys. :)

LOL…what BWS said, yeah!

Nice…Shrug(shrimp bug?). Is that what I think it is on the left? Looks like the Amphoran sculpt is coming along nicely. I'm really amped about those.

I wonder if it will taste like chicken? Looks great.

Yes, support weapons at least would be a must! :)

-Will

Moonbeast,

You are "amped" about the "Amphoran"?

LOL

Dan

I have four Amphorans; the noted armature was the starter for the fourth.

I have a second and third Seitnam (Shrug :) started.

And the waterbears…I have three of them in the early stage…
legs all down picture
five down three up img.leprosorium.com/955412
four down four up picture

I have jobs on the road, actually on the water :), over the next few days so I will post when I feel there is enough detail for interest…most likely by Thur-Fri morning.

The waterbears are 18mm in length and 10-14mm in height.

Neat, neat, neat!

I worked on a couple more in the non-humanoid 15mm's tonight link

alien elephantoid
cone alien
alien waterbear with male suckler

The Seitnam looks promising enough, tho I must admit I'm waiting for the Amphorans more.

Nice…

After working on the Amphorans for a bit now and looking at the artist's drawings every day (my computer background is an Amphoran) I find I have issues with the design.

I like the design very much, at first glance.

I have issue with the way the legs function and in some elements the form of the feet in particular.

But no worries.

I am still waiting on the artist to send his paperwork in…not sure what the delay is, though that does not bode well.

So we move on. I am taking the idea of a trilateral tubular body, a kettle top head with tri-sensory organs (why oh why would you put your respiratory spiracles directly on top of your head…pray it does not rain), and keeping with the tri-symmetry…three limbs.

The Amphorans have six, which does not offend but I am playing with a logic pattern here :)

The idea is to do the bat wing was a hand kind of deal with the arm/leg arrangement…meaning that the three limbs split near the trunk with different forms of fingers…heavy ones for weight support which are more peg like and lighter ones for manipulation.

The overall look is still close, think human compared to chimp…to an onlooker from another planet these two would be seen as pretty close in form.

More of a tweek to the Amphoran theme, a subspecies if you like.

The Volphoran?

I will have a couple done this weekend.

I didn't sleep last night and pulled out some out notes and drawings for other ideas.

My plan is to work on a new basic form every day until Jan 01 2011 and see what the end result is…I am hoping for sixty or so WIP miniatures in hand.

I got tired of wanting to work on a miniature and letting the time slip away.

So I am welcoming requests…even if it is an IP controlled design I will still sculpt it (for the sake of sculpting it and not for production unless I can work something out with the holders after the initial "for me" sculpt).

…I will sculpt any alien design IF…

1. I like the design…let's face it, I have been threatening to work on designs for some time and I do not need an excuse to stop :)

2. If it is feasible…if you were thinking a one hundred foot space dragon would be cool then I agree, but not for this project…so a general size gauge of no larger a proportional gap or range like that of a human to an adult elephant…unless the larger design meets #1.

Just post your idea in a quick description and provide a link to a picture of something close to your idea if you can please…if you make the description to vague then the point is lost and your effort moot :(

*****

Something like this would be a good starter (I will ask questions if need be):

The Kaeb Xa : centaur form with four legs down and two arms up, an upright torso, one head, of avian/reptilian design, this look and feel but with the extra limbs and less feathers picture

or

The Onihr : rhino body, no head, sensory nodes/clusters at both ends, four or six legs, mouths underneath central body, single trunk/tentacle centered on both ends…the body base like this picture (replace the tail with a trunk :)

*****

Or something along those lines.

So now is your chance to see a favorite that is not in 15-28mm or to have an idea put to green…not the best sculpting by any means, but hopefully by the turn of the annual clock the detail work will be finer.

Most of my sculpting experience is much larger, prop work, so the discipline of minutiae is a desired element I wish to refine as much as possible.

So I will need some input, sixty designs is a daunting thought…after all I like what I like and we tend to stay within our own orbits :)

why oh why would you put your respiratory spiracles directly on top of your head…pray it does not rain

Obvious reasons for that kind of layout:

1) They're evolved from waders, and needed their air intakes as high out of the water as possible. Might not even be able to operate outside of water, depending on bouyancy for support. Might be gigantic.

2) Their digestive system is connected to those spiracles as well, and they derive most of their water intake from rain funneled in that route. Perhaps a rainy native environment with groundwater that's dangerous to drink from – rain does tend to be fairly clean, at least pre-industry.

3) They're from a very dry environment with little or no precipitation. Rainstorms are very dangerous – bring your umbrella or drown.

Mind you, I don't think any of those apply to Amphorans, but there's usually a way to explain almost anything – even the platypus.

Nice…

1) agreed, I had considered water types but that makes interaction unlikely…I drew out some breathing technology for this :)

2) great great great, nice thought there…no argument or debate here :)

3) I had thought of this also; slight modified design with a flap of skin/muscle that would tent over the spiracle.

4) the platypus is just silly…but o'so cool…I had a skull of one (replica), one of the most interesting things I have ever had in my hands picture picture picture looks like a Mind Flayer picture or a graboid picture

Bones are quite inspiring in the hand.

Good thoughts by the way!

Very good stuff.

Are you doing these to 15 or 28mm scale?

Are they destined for production or just for the heck of it?

-Eli

Do IT 28mmMan…go, go, go!

"Very good stuff"
Thank you, it is entertaining to be sure.

"Are you doing these to 15 or 28mm scale?"
Yes?! When dealing with non-humans I can appreciate a miniature that can play in both games…smallish 28mm alien and larger 15mm alien all wrapped up in one package.

(the bulk of them are human 15mm tall or shorter, but most are thicker, stockier, etc…I just measured the eight different ones on my bench and most are 11-12mm tall, the tallest being the cone alien…he is funny, I have him in movement, makes me laugh when I pick it up)

"Are they destined for production or just for the heck of it?"
Yes?! I have several orders for 28mm and 15mm in other subjects, but this project is open. I just want to do it. If it goes somewhere then I am happy with that and if not then I will still be happy.

I suspect out of the sixty+ miniature types there will be ten or so that stand out beyond the others, that will draw me to expand into a series (six-eight miniatures)…and out of those sixty+ there will be ten or so that would work well together as random science fiction bar scene types.

But for now it is for me…but I still desire those suggestions!

4) the platypus is just silly…but o'so cool…

Incidentally, the explanation for the platypus: God needed a break from making all those beetles. :)

I am working off the Barlowe's guide to extraterrestrials this weekend.

:)

link

Triped, Puppeteer (not my favorite, I like the story version but not so happy with the images of the same), Cygnan, Polarian (always liked these guys), Demon, Mesklinite, and Dilbian.

All have interest for me.

And as before…I welcome input and suggestions for other non-humanoid aliens :)

Lensmen Rigelians – Tregonsee deserves a mini, and it's one of the few species from that series that's feasible to make in figure out of.

@BWS: this came up once before,at least :)

Tregonsee picture

Could you provide a good description, as you are clearly a fan?

And then I will work on one.

It is certainly within my interest parameters :)

Edit
I did find this "Tregonsee whose people's only sense is their "sense of perception".

And this "barrel-shaped with four tentacular arms and four stubby legs".

Don't have the books handy, but IIRC there are good descriptions of Rigelians in First Lensmen (when Samms visits Rigel IV to recruit the first non-Tellurian lensman) and in Galactic Patrol (when Kinnison reaches Trenco – Tregonsee is Port Commander there at that point).

Gotcha, no worries I have a bunch in the line and room for more later.

I broke out my Spacefarers guide link for more inspiration also.

AA
Argan (really like this barrel body style)
Belshorim
Chelki (barrel again…this is one of my all time favorite aliens for RPG Traveller style games)
Faract
Guerr
Hudlar
Ishtari
Jaganada (maybe…would be quite large/long)
Lithian
Paknii
Praxim
Rigellian (if this is based upon Smith's alien, the artist has an interesting view :)
S'Shula'a
Wibb

Four of the aliens in the book are based upon Doc Smith books/aliens…unsure of which four exactly, but I am sure some of our fellow TMP'ers will know.

My list of sixty is coming together…but there is still room :)

Original non-humanoid aliens would be welcomed :)

Rigellian (if this is based upon Smith's alien, the artist has an interesting view :)

It's definitely Lensmen-derived by the description (and name) but the artist has the details altered significantly. Wrong body orientation, wrong number of tentacles, etc.

Rigellian (if this is based upon Smith's alien, the artist has an interesting view :)

"It's definitely Lensmen-derived by the description (and name) but the artist has the details altered significantly. Wrong body orientation, wrong number of tentacles, etc."

I figured that to be true. When we were discussing the Rigellians before I thought of this picture from the Spacefarer's Guide.

While the artist when off road on this one, I like it as what it is. Reminds me of the blind men describing and elephant:

*****

A king has the blind men of the capital brought to the palace, where an elephant is brought in and they are asked to describe it.

"When the blind men had each felt a part of the elephant, the king went to each of them and said to each: 'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?"

The men assert the elephant is either like a pot (the blind man who felt the elephants' head), a winnowing basket (ear), a plowshare (tusk), a plow (trunk), a granary (body), a pillar (foot), a mortar (back), a pestle (tail) or a brush (tip of the tail).

The men cannot agree with one another and come to blows over the question of what it is like and their dispute delights the king. The Buddha ends the story by comparing the six blind men to preachers and scholars who are blind and ignorant and hold to their own views: "Just so are these preachers and scholars holding various views blind and unseeing…. In their ignorance they are by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality is thus and thus." The Buddha then speaks the following verse:

O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
For preacher and monk the honored name!
For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing.

*****

That is the image I had in my head when I described this one from an earlier thread

"The Onihr : rhino body, no head, sensory nodes/clusters at both ends, four or six legs, mouths underneath central body, single trunk/tentacle centered on both ends…the body base like this picture (replace the tail with a trunk :)"

@Covert Walrus…"I once designed an alien race that was snake-like, but with a "mantle" that grew from their backs and covered the main body like a cloak, which contained the kidneys and lungs. So that "helmet" appeals in the same way"

Give me a few more details and I will add this one to the list :)

*****

My first thought is something along these lines:

picture (which are great :)
picture (which is even better :) in fact this is one of my favorite non-humanoid miniatures, ever…that one and these picture

Well, yeah I suppose those might be conceived as snake-aliens and medusoids in powered armour, respectively. Snakey ones appear a little top heavy to be lifting themselves up from the ground that much, even when assisted. One would suppose they wouldn't have an inclination to do that as the posture wouldn't seem natural to them.

I am making a light box for better pictures.

Currently I have twenty one different armatures…I got in a groove making the little wire bug'ers.

Once I get the box finished and some green bits on board I will post the new photos.

PS
Those who sent PMs, I have included those aliens in my schedule, thanks for the input.

I caught a series of comments on another forum dealing with aliens and the rubber suit issue.

It struck home as most non-human aliens tend to be bugs or tentacle types.

Now I like a good bug and a tentacle type is always welcome, but I did see a trend in my selections.

So the thought process struck home, and I am taking a step back to consider so that I do not fall into this trap.

Non-humanoid aliens that are functional, ones that we can fight with and against; which is the point of tabletop miniatures of this nature…do tend to fall along those ideas of what we find alien to our societal eye…insects, spiders, crustaceans, cephalopods, etc.

Any of those that fit within our comfort zones…cats, dogs, birds, etc. seem to be accepted as familiar and while they may or may not be anthropomorphic are still much less alien than the creepy crawlies noted above.

"What does it all mean Basil?"

Does an alien need to be so bizarre and of a cryptic nature to be accepted as being truly alien?

I am thinking that if the standards of human form and symmetry are avoided then the stamp of disapproval can be avoided…the actual vote of approval is a matter I think of personal tastes…some will like a bug or a octo over a cat/dog type.

Just thinking out loud so I do not get caught in a trap of commonality, as I do tend to like the bug and tentacle types :)

I think Lovecraft had it right, with most of his monsters.
Sure some looked like Bats or Snakes…but others could not be described.

Think of what a Cuboidian race might look like…

Lol.
Fun.

"cuboidian"

I am lost to this one…which I suspect was the point :)

Any descriptive details?

Is it cube in shape as assumed by the name? Maybe like this Domo Kun link

I got an email vote for a Zoat,
and I will take a moment to emote.

I would sculpt a Zoat in a house.
I would sculpt them with a mouse.
I would sculpt them with a fox.
I would sculpt them in a box.
I would sculpt them here or there.
I would sculpt them anywhere.
I would sculpt them with green stuff and my hands.
I do like them, 28mmMan I am.

Zoat…fun times.

LOL.

But, what's a Zoat?

Dan

Zoat, in classic GW form they create an interesting race and then remove it link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoat

gorilla + rhino + crocodile = Zoat

Cube guy with Weapons…how to do it?
Lol…You said "Zoat".

If you're thinking about tripedal aliens, how about something similar to the Idirans, or even the Homomda, from Iain Banks' Culture novels?

link

Both articles have fairly vague descriptions which allow you a bit of artistic licence.

I'm guessing that the 'saddle-shaped head' looks a bit like that of Hem Dazon the Arcona starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Arcona