Durgin Paint Forge: Weitere Kickstarter Preview

Es gibt weitere Previews für den kommenden Kickstarter von Durgin Paint Forge.

KS focus: „Ryuko“

Ryuko“ is the biggest kit designed for this upcoming range, I’d dare to say a gamble. I honestly fear to read the quotation concerning the production costs of a 75mm Pachycephalosaur but I hope you would agree with me that there are trains passing once in a lifetime and I didn’t want to skip this chance.

When I was a little boy, in kindergarten, I used to play all the time with a little girl: I played with a toy pachycephalosaur and she used to grab from the toy box an action figure of Jasmine (from Disney „Aladdin“). We spent hours, pretending to live incredible adventures with this unconventional duo, but we had a lot of fun. Years later, the same girl took my first kiss, but this is another story. Since when I was a little kid, I loved dinosaurs (as any other kid, after all…) but I always preferred herbivores over predators, my favorite ones have always been Pachycephalosaurs and Stegosaurs. From the beginning, I decided to design a tough Elf character and, being this range all about big and ambitious things, I wanted to make something that could not be ignored.

In our 32mm range there is already an Elf knight riding a Pachy, but this time I wanted to design a more noble and elegant subject.

With that in mind, „Ryuko“ was born.

„Ryuko“ is named after a Japanese name (it’s the feminine version of „Ryuji“, maybe you remember it from the main character of „Toradora“ anime) and we can roughly translate it as „Dragon’s Child“: I think it was an appropriate name for this character!

The draconic theme, in fact, is clearly evident: not only does she ride an enormous scaly lizard (after all, dinosaurs are dragons in disguise!), but her armor is shaped like a classic Japanese dragon! I added a subtle cloudy pattern on some armor plates because it’s always a good match with those mythological beasts.

Despite this scene having a lot of details, I tried not to overdo them and, if we don’t take into account the Elf’s armor, the sculpt is pretty clean and easy.

This was meant to enhance one of the focus points of the composition: the knight’s big shield!

This enormous shield has been designed by Davide (the sculptor of the Iron Titan and the Hounds of Zorn Uzul, and illustrator of all the Peoples of Inneath booklets) and from the first time I saw it, I knew I would use it in one of my characters. Unfortunately, at that time the Elf range was already designed, but luckily I didn’t have to wait for long.

I think that all the painters out there will have a lot of fun, painting this element!

Despite this being a classic fantasy archetype, I tried to portray the scene without indulging too much in the „warlike“ thematic, I imagine Ryuko more like she’s on the patrol and, as I always prefer, the composition shows a relaxed character, with a static pose.

I think that static poses are more versatile, despite dynamic ones being more „catchy“ to the eye of an observer. Of course, there is not a „better“ or a „worse“, it’s just personal taste, but I think that a static scene has more interpretation available, while a dynamic one is more „directed“ by the creator. I always prefer to give the painter/hobbyist as many ways as possible to express himself/herself and, when possible, I prefer relaxed and static poses because they can be set in many different environments and scenes. If I’d give this character a more aggressive pose, maybe portraying her during a fierce assault, for sure the impact of the scene would be more intense, but you would be forced to set the scene in a war/duel/battle context.

To make things even more ambitious, this kit will have also a couple of alternative parts (to unlock as Stretch Goals): an alternative head, wearing a super-cool helmet, and an alternative arm so if you don’t want to put her lying on her shield, you can choose another part to replace it with.

I loved to work on our Elves and despite I’m proud of how I achieved with the 32mm range, I think that the 75mm scale is the best scale for them because I can think less about all the production compromises that these subjects require when designed for a tiny wargame scale.

My favorite detail of the whole kit?

The Elf’s hairtail. I think that Valerio managed to sculpt an amazing hair texture and haircut on this girl. From the back view, I can’t help but admire how elegant Ryuko’s hair flows, and how his move is accompanied by the headband. by far, this never stops fascinating me.

KS focus: „Little Pest“

If you follow this blog for a while, I owe you for sure a proper apology. But apart from that, you might have noticed that many of our kits do reflect not only my personal taste but also my life experience. „Little pest“, today’s focus protagonist, is one of those kits for whose design I got my hands full with my daily life, in specific the turbulent first months of cohabitation with Giulio, my English Bulldog.

There are two types of Bulldogs: the lazy ones and the crazy ones. In general, people only know about the first type and use to imagine this dog-shaped mortadella as chubby, narcoleptic and lazy boys but indeed they could also be almost the opposite. Giulio, being part of the second type, since his arrival was anything but calm or lazy. At all.

Never tired, never exhausted, never quiet: Giulio was, and still is, an untiring war machine whose only goal is entropy.

„Little Pest“ is the first scene that I designed for this project, a year ago and, as you may guess, is about a little trouble made by this little Bulldog to his owner: taking advantage of the Dwarf’s distraction, the little pest managed not only to give a good bite to that tasty sausage, but he even cut a hole in his owner’s backpack to grab some cheese! Bad boy, baaaad boy!

I love to give a touch of humor to my creations and portray daily life scenes, this kit is a nice mix of both.

It’s not easy to narrate a story, no matter how simple, with a static sculpt. I wanted it to be easy to understand so I make things the most obvious possible: there’s a hole in the backpack, a piece of cheese that is falling out, and a piece of torn leather is suspiciously in the dog’s mouth.

To complete the scene, the sausage shows the sign of a bite. No need to be Sherlock Holmes, to figure out the situation!

It has been fun to work on the Dwarf facial expression, frowning as only a Dwarf could be!

What I love about this sculpture is how the tiny details have been enhanced by Valerio: I know that it sounds weird, but one of the details that impressed me the most, when I saw this character for the first time, was the Dwarf’s fingernails! They are a bit chewed, surely this Sentinel doesn’t spend time on a proper manicure!

The classic tropes of our Iron Crow Sentinels are still there: the chubby backpack, the many maps, the tasty food and the little doll (you know, my Dwarves are kinda sentimental!). Of course, it’s not all about being cute and eating proteins, and the big shield and the crossbow are there to remind us that this character still is a warrior. Or kind of.

What I wanted to add, designing this scene, is a piece of daily life: Iron Crows live outdoor for most of their time, their life is often lonely and far from their relatives. Imperial Crows and Hunting Bulldogs are not only precious allies in their duty, but they also are everyday life companions.

„Little Pest“ has been originally designed as a bust, but as you can see I decided to give this character a pair of legs. The reason is simple: initially, I wanted to create a range with both busts and full figures, but then my aversion for busts took over. I’m sorry.

Said so, this kit will be available both as a full figure or bust (in fact, it’s just a matter of assembling the legs and feet or not…).

KS focus: „Warden“

I would describe „Warden“ as a quattro stagioni kit. Quattro stagioni (four seasons) is a type of pizza that I liked a lot when I was a kid and it is basically a Margherita with a rich topping made with olives, ham, artichokes, and mushrooms. The topping is carefully divided up into 4 segments, so you have 4 slices each of them covered with a thematic topping. It is the perfect pizza for those who want to change flavor in every bite and it is always very practical to share: for example, my brother didn’t like mushrooms and I didn’t like artichokes, so I used to eat the mushrooms part and my brother the artichokes one. Then we fiercely disputed concerning who would eat the ham part (the best one), but this is another story.

What I’m trying to say, with this long digression on pizza, is that „Warden“ has a rich design made with a lot of tasty tropes that all those who love Dwarves will appreciate: a classic yet mighty hero pose, that won’t ever go out of fashion, a highly detailed and 200% dwarfy armor and axe, a grim and brooding longbeard and a majestic crow who’s majestically landing on his o owner’s arm.

I didn’t try to reinvent the wheel, with this kit: instead, I just wanted to take the classic Dwarf archetype and I tried to portray it in the best way I could imagine.

Compared to the other kits I designed for this new range, „Warden“ pushes more on the raw detail: this range is more painter-oriented than the other ones I made, and each kit has been imagined to give the hobbyists a different experience, as much as possible.

I wanted you to be encouraged to test your skills in many ways. „Chilling“ and „Lunchtime“, for example, are kits that I design with „environment“ in mind, they invite you to think about how the characters interact with the surrounding environment, and they try to narrate a story that you are asked to complete with your personal taste and creativity.

„Warden“, on the other hand, is more oriented to give you a more technical canvas to train (for example), your NMM/TM skills. In fact, metal and hard surfaces in general represent the vast majority of this character, with the only organic elements made by the Dwarf face, the fur/cloak and the Imperial Crow. I think you can really enjoy experimenting with this kit, maybe you can exasperate the contrast between organic and non-organic parts, for example pushing with textures and brushstrokes on the organic surfaces, and painting the armor with clean and smooth transitions!

Despite being a portrayal of a classic archetype, „Warden“ is not a generic Dwarf but it still represents a proper Dwarf of Kazhuk Izril, sharing many iconic details with the other stunties of the main 32mm range. The shield (there will be also a plain shield version, so you can have fun with freehands) displays the boar theme of the Thunderbeard clan (the same clan as Galarr and Durgin) and shows with pride many Orcs‘ fangs, classic war trophies of the warriors of Kazhuk Izril (do you remember this guy?). The Dwarf’s beard is adorned with gemstone and trinkets, like those of the Iron Crow Veteran: they are not only an aesthetic fashion, they are real medals of honor for Dwarves (each gemstone is earned in battle and represents a specific success of a Dwarf’s saga…so the more of them you see on a Dwarf’s beard, the more you should carefully think about engaging fight with him or not…).

Last, but not least, is the Imperial Crow itself, which is basically the bat signal of the Iron Crows organization.

With this scene, I wanted to portray the mightiness of Dwarves. It’s not easy as it seems, despite Dwarves being handsome by nature, because the extreme proportions of these subjects make it difficult to obtain a proper vertical composition, which usually helps to enhance the stage presence of a character. For this reason, I thought about this particular composition, with a kind of mountain staircase and the landing crow, in order to extend as much as possible the oblique axis of the scene: this way, despite the character still being a kind of armored panettone with extremely short legs, the final result has the same a majestic vibe and towering effect on the viewer.

to achieve that I had to add a massive scenic base (it’s a separate part, so you can easily create your scene and replace it if you want a different environment), which will add some extra costs and weight, but I think that the final result is worth this effort.

KS focus: „Mindgame!“

„Mindgame“ has been inspired by one of our backers, Rowena, known also as the official DPF German chocolate treats dealer (she sent me tons of amazing chocolate goodies, that I managed to make disappear in a few days!).

I like to interact with DPF customers (Durginians?) and over the years I met amazing people all around the world, establishing relationships that go far beyond the mere „I buy your products, you send me your products, thank you“, which is absolutely fine but how cool is to chat with friends all around the world and be aware that in France or Australia there are people who care about you (and vice-versa, of course!)?

This is surely the most rewarding part of doing this job and, for an introverted individual like me who struggles to find any kind of friendship in real, it is a precious, priceless element to feed my need for human relationships.

Several months ago, during a brief chat on Instagram (I use to bother Ro to get a kind of external feed, from a customer point of view), I asked her to imagine a couple of subjects to her liking, promising to turn one of them into a proper resin kit.

As Galadriel, „she gave me three“ and they all were so interesting that it has been so hard to pick only one. I was undecided whether to pick the „little Elf playing cards with Kodamas“ option or „a Japanese style Elf tea ceremony“ one (the third suggestion is a secret!)

In the end, I went for the card game option because I wanted something less complex and easier to produce, keeping the Tea Ceremony suggestion for a future 75 release because the „big and expensive“ spot was already taken by Ryuko.

So I started to imagine how to turn the interesting idea of Ro, into reality.

The most difficult part of „Mindgame“ was to narrate a funny scene with several elements, without having to explain it. I wanted a carefree vibe because Inneath is not „only war“ and I want to portray my characters also in daily life and happy scenes, not only in dangerous and dramatic situations.

All of the „Mindgame“ storytelling revolves around two main elements: the Elf expressiveness and the interaction between the Kodamas.

Being an anime (Japanese animation) fan, I wanted them to play that card game (whose name is unknown to me…) in which two or more players have to randomly draw a card from the opponent’s hand, trying not to draw the Joker.

Of course, I adapted it to fit my Elves‘ aesthetic, and I designed a proper thematic deck!

The Elf deck has 4 suits: Suns, Oni’s clubs, Dinosaur footprints, and Cherry Blossoms.

The Joker became the Oni.

This is probably my finest art achievement:

Being Italian, when I think about card games I can’t help but think about cheating, so the whole scene is about a funny…mischievousness.

The Kodama is clearly about to draw the Oni card (Joker) from the Elf’s hand, and the little Elf can’t dissimulate his excitement (he surely must train a lot more on his poker face!).

However, the little Kodama on the Elf’s shoulder is playing dirty, because it clearly warns its companion not to draw that card!

It’s a simple scene, with classic humor: I didn’t want to make the composition too complex, but I wanted to add a story to the scene, something more interesting than simply portraying an Elf who plays cards.

The scene is filled with cute and funny details: I love, for example, the Kodama that holds the cards. It’s one of the cleanest sculpts we ever did, but I think it has some incredible stage presence: it reminds me of those old men who used to play cards in summer at the bar when my grandmother owned a bowls club. They used to arrive at 10:30/11 am, they started the day with their first (of many….) „bianchino“ (literally „little white“, a little glass of white wine). they kept drinking wine and playing cards ‚till late afternoon when finally the cool of the evening allowed them to play bowls. I was a kid, I used to help my grandparents serve at the tables and during those summers I learned the most spectacular and colorful swearing (old men use to be extremely competitive and warring, when they play cards after 3-4 hours of white wine!).

I couldn’t help but design yet another chubby cute bag: the Troll-bag!

I love to imagine bags shaped like animals or fantasy creatures: I started with the Female Adventurer’s Bulldog-bag, then I designed the Young Adventurer’s Dino-bag .

The Troll-bag is only the latest one, but for sure not the last one.

„Mindgame“ is a heartwarming scene, I think that it may not be noticed at first sight among the more towering and complex kits, but I’m sure that will conquer many hearts the same. I mean: there is even a Kodama eating an onigiri, how not to be in love with this kit?!

I think that this scene can also be perfect to get your children interested in our hobby: it’s simple to paint, it has nice „Studio Ghibli“ vibes, and it is funny.

What about printing one of the Kodamas in an even bigger size, then just covering it with a coat that glows in the dark and using it to decorate your children’s room?

Who doesn’t want an Elves of Inneath thematic room?!

KS focus: „Quicksilver“

Sometimes, things just find their way. I designed this character a long time ago, soon after the end of the Second Government campaign. At that time, I wanted to design a small range focused on Zorn Uzul, with plenty of robots and mechanical goodies, but…life simply had other plans.

Davide (the Iron Titan’s sculptor) should have sculpted the vast majority of that side-project, but he unexpectedly decided to give a turn to his career and became… a traffic policeman!

Without the main sculptor, I remained with this kit, sculpted by Valerio, in my (virtual) hands and I had no idea what to do with it!

I didn’t want to release it individually, but it didn’t belong to the following range (Elves) so this girl, ironically, stood still in the pits for several years.

When I decided to make the 75mm range, suddenly an illumination: here is the chance to start this kit’s engine and make it shine!

So, after a brief stop at the DPF Garage (the scooter gained a new exhaust and brake levers, while the Mechanical Familiar has been updated with new hands and feet), I’m extremely happy to present you „Quicksilver“, the first scooter ever built on Inneath!

Despite it being originally designed as a 32mm range, I think that this kit works perfectly on a bigger size too, and I bet you will have a lot of fun while painting it!

Indeed, I think that this kit really screams for being personalized and I’m curious to see if some crazy hobbyist among you will try to customize this scooter, as we did in the ’90s!

Talking about lore and fluff in general, „Quicksilver“ offers an interesting view of the technology developed by the guilds in Zorn Uzul, in specific this character is equipped with the latest exemplar of PX-8 made by Giotto inc. (basically the Tesla of Inneath).

I love to put modern stuff in a fantasy environment: it is not easy, and sometimes it might look weird, but I like this kind of oddity: they remind me of some artworks made by Akira Toriyama, i love it!

Of course, this vehicle is clearly a kind of old Vespa exemplar, but I didn’t want to invent something never seen before, on the contrary: familiarity was the vibe I was in search for!

I just wanted to make you smile and think „oh damn, but that’s a fantasy Vespa, I want it!!“.

Sometimes, going straight to the heart is the best thing to do.

Like many other kits designed for this 75mm range, „Quicksilver“ is a carefree scene and, by just removing the rifle (maybe you can replace it with a bag!) you can turn this character into a simple traveler, removing all the warfare references: again, I think that it’s important in our hobby to take a breath from war, once in a while, and focus on more peaceful and relaxed subjects.

The Mechanical Familiar completes the scene, adding another little level of storytelling. As I often do with this kind of character, the Mechanical Familiar adds some humor to the composition and I imagine it just enjoying the ride, looking at the horizon with the wind caressing its hair (well, it doesn’t have hair, but that’s another story).

Despite being originally planned for another project, I’m so happy with having finally found a place for this kit. Valerio did a great job on this character and now all his effort can be finally rewarded!

I hope you like this as much as I do, and if you think that this is the last time you see a Giotto inc.’s creation, well, you probably don’t know me very well.

One of the most appreciated vehicles, in Liguria, is the „Ape“ (literally: „bee“. Vespa means „wasp“ in Italian. Apparently, we love to name vehicles after the name of bugs!), and one of my career’s goal is to design a kit of travelers all aboard a fancy Ape!

But that’s another story, again, that I want to keep for another project…maybe another 75mm range, who knows?!

KS focus: „Payday!“

„Payday!“ portrays the first Orc of my Inneath range. Ok, if we’re being picky, Urghor the Blue is an Orc of Inneath too, but at that time I had not a clear idea in mind, concerning the art direction of this range, so I prefer to consider the blue-skinned Orc as a kind of „Orc prototype“.

With Payday! I wanted to set the aesthetic of the Orcs of Inneath, or at least a kind of zero-point of the future Orc releases. As you will see, in fact, when the Orcs range will hit KS (2023, if you are curious about it), this kin will be anything but „standardized“: I want to play with different body shapes (there will be classic muscular-type Orcs -like this one- there will be thin and tall Orcs, there will be chunky ones and even puny and old Orcs as well).

This big and smiling guy (Orcs do know how to enjoy life!) represents a Mercenary, which is a common career for this kin. They are blessed with natural strength and stamina, but they are cursed by a very short life.

Being a mercenary is an appreciated lifestyle, in Orc society, because it allows them to earn good money, make the most out of their natural talents and, above all, it grants them a life full of adventures and adrenalin!

Talking about „natural talents“, this guy is one of the biggest kits we ever made: with a maximum height of 120,54mm and a wingspan of 92,42mm, „Payday!“ won’t only tower above almost all the other puny kits in your collection, but it grants you also a decent exercise for biceps and triceps. It’s an amazing gym both for your painting skills and your arms. What other product would give you the same, for 55€?

„Payday“ is not only the debut of Orcs in the DPF society but, as you can see, there is a minion that you never saw before in our range: a cat!

I must confess: this little guy has been extremely painful to design, because soon after I started to design this scene, after 12 years together our beloved cat, Piuma, unexpectedly passed away, in November.

Any pet owner among you would easily understand how much pain is to lose a member of our family and despite I love this kit so much, I’m still sad every time I look at the grumpy cat on the Orc’s shoulder.

Said so, I want to look at this first little guy (the first of many!) as a way to salute our grumpy daughter who, I’m sure, at this moment is somewhere in the universe sleeping inside a stellar closet (her favorite occupation, 21 hours per day).

I think that since the beginning of this post, you are wondering „ok but why „Payday“?“.

When I look at his face, the big bottle of rhum and the general drunk attitude, I can’t help but think that this Orc is celebrating something.

And what a better reason to celebrate, than during payday?!

After all, he’s a mercenary so he literally earns his money by risking his life!

Being still alive and being paid for that are two reasons to celebrate and it seems like this Orc is coming out of the pub with enough gold to visit another one, and that typically Orc attitude of taking other gold from the pockets of an unlucky man along the way!

If you don’t like liquors, I’m happy to anticipate that there will be a little Stretch Goal that will give you the chance, if unlocked, to replace the big bottle with something different.

A cigar!

I know, cigarettes and cigars are not cool and are extremely dangerous for our health. In fact, I don’t smoke.

But I won’t be the one who will go in front of him, asking him to stop smoking.

„Payday“ is a portrayal of a classic subject, with a DPF touch. I like how the many different styles mix together in this character: the wild west vibes and the conquistadors‘ hues I think look well side by side and this is a sign that the art direction of the future Orcs is promising.

I can’t wait to explore it more and more!

But first, let’s see if this first experiment will be welcomed by the community and all the backers out there!

Quelle: Durgin Paint Forge