I've got something cool to show you all – John Dennett has just finished sculpting a Sirrush for me (Forge of Ice). It's based on the Babylonian dragon, the 'Sirrush' or 'Mušḫuššu'.
I tried to imagine what it might look like if it was a real creature, and I came up with a giant, long-necked monitor lizard. Larger than the Komodo dragon, and adapted somewhat for a terrestrial life as a predator, I took some anatomical notes from some extinct crocodilians, too.
I imagine it as a rather lazy beast, primarily a fish-eater. Most of the long-necked predators I could find in the real world are fish eaters, so it seemed sense to have that be the Sirrush's primary diet.
Rather than giving it a mane like it has in the original artwork, I decided to do something a little different. I made all the scales on its neck larger and flexible – they serve to break up the silhouette of the neck for any fish that are looking up at the shadow as it waits. Also, they can flare them out as part of a threat display during the mating season – other Sirrushes being just about the only thing in the world that can threaten one.
Here's an photo of the unfinished sculpt from the back so you can see the movement a little better:
And, here are the parts separated for moldmaking. It's about nine inches long from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. A second head is being sculpted with an open mouth – snarling.
Hopefully I should have it for sale in a month or six weeks or so.
-Alex
might, or might not, have finished the last units of his Volcano Dwarf army!
