This Summer, as always, has been a weird mix of relaxation and hard work.
Despite a sudden and unfortunate event prevent us from going back to my Liguria and enjoy the sea (a water pipe above our apartment broke, a waterfall got our ceiling all wet, causing the collapse of our electric curtains..so basically our house now is a worksite again...), we managed to dedicate some quality time to ourselves and enjoy Turin in its most beautiful yearly period, when everybody is away on the vacancy and you can cross the whole city in 5 minutes by car.
We discovered two very nice Asian restaurants, "Tutto fa brodo" (lit: "everything is good for broth", which is an Italian saying that basically means that in several situations, it's good to accept everything for the sake of the result) and a fancy restaurant where you can directly cook your Thai soup on your table, which is a super '90 thing, and I love it.
Of course, you're not here to discover Turin's finest restaurants, so let's get straight to the point: despite I took some rest, between a Giulio's mess and another, the Forge never stopped and it's finally time to impress you with two new 75mm kits that you will be able to grab on our next Kickstarter divertissement: Durgin the Wanderer (taking a nap!) and a mighty Iron Crow Veteran!
Let's start with the older, following the dwarf Galateo.
The Iron Crow Veteran doesn't want to tease you with subtleties, it's not a delicate dish made by a 3 Michelin stars restaurant: it's badass like a truck, strong like a truck, and it hits you like a truck. It's the 1Kg (for our British followers, 1Kg in your imperial system corresponds almost to a Europe Tournament Cup that won't ever come home :P) carbonara perfectly made by an ogre-sized cook in Rome.
All these nonsenses to say what? That with this character, I wanted to make something familiar, classic and immediate. Of course, crafted with our personal style, but it's a long time since we designed a subject like this one!
I wanted to give a majestic vibe, with this guy, and I wanted it to be immediately recognizable as one of our Dwarves, which are at this point one of the most appreciated in the market*.
Indeed, this guy inherits the DPF flavor, starting from the boar-themed heraldry (if you've carefully read the first volume of Peoples of Inneath, you surely know why this animal is so connected with the warriors of Kazhuk Izril!), the big nose (now in 75mm scale!) and an amazing Imperial Crow: definitely, it is an Iron Crows' leader!
I wanted, for once, to give you a look at a Dwarf of Kazhul Izril ready for war: usually, our minis are designed to represent characters made for a skirmish setting, and despite of course we design warriors, wizards and pugnacious guys and girls, I prefer to keep the warfare vibes low.
This guy is battle-ready, and I can imagine him fighting in the Disputed Lands!
It has been difficult to catch the perfect pose: I wanted (as always!) a static composition,and the risk of making something dull is always around the corner. I must say that Valerio hits the target, once again, and turned my ideas in reality perfectly: I wanted a kind of majestically thoughtful vibe, that kind of feel of a badass character that stands towards an explosion, without looking at it (like any badass individual would do!). I particularly like how the Crow is landing on the Dwarf's arm: I wanted an epic pose, that doesn't distract the eye from the whole scene, but that adds drama to it. We had to try a couple of variations, before arriving to this final pose, and I think that now the Cros interacts perfectly and elegantly with its master, contributing to the scene not as an accessory, but as a co-star.
Talking about the interaction between animals and characters, the next scene perfectly represents my approach to this kind of subject.
As mentioned in a previous post, I'm liking so much this brief divertissement in the landscape of big-scale miniatures because it gives me the chance to design scenes that normally I couldn't make for classic board game/32mm subjects.
Durgin the Wanderer couldn't be left apart from this project: after all, he's DPF main character, our first Dwarf and the most representative one.
Waiting for Fumika Baba, which sooner or later will become our official testimonial, Durgin comes back on the scenes with this new kit, a funny and relaxed composition with him taking a nap with his trusty companion, the Old Grüd.
I wanted to bring you a peaceful scene, something that gives you many ideas for inspiring dioramas, it's designed for painters and modellers: there are plenty of different surfaces, with textures and smooth areas to enjoy, and the composition itself is perfect for some nocturnal dioramas!
I wanted to highlight the relationship between a Dwarf and his peka (the big boars kin of Kazhuk Izril), which is strong and fraternal, almost the same as our relationship with our dogs.
I like to imagine this dynamic (well...) duo wandering all across Inneath, discovering places and enjoying outdoor life.
Indeed, it's not all sunshine and puppy dogs, in Durgin's life, and in fact there is a specific reason behind his scandalous decision of leaving the Iron Crows organization (he's a former Captain): Urghor took something extremely precious from Durgin's hands, something so precious that the honour of his whole clan has been severely compromised by that!
Durgin wanders across Inneath, in search for Urghor, with bitterness and shame, and is determined to restore his honour, no matter how much time he will have to spend searching for his rival!
"Fine, but what did Urghor take from Durgin?!"
Well, I can't answer this question yet, but there will be plenty of time to do it, once our Orcs' range will hit the market (headed by the new incarnation of Urghor, obviously!)!
This scene is simple, yet effective: I love how these two friends sleep shoulder to shoulder, I want to make clear the bond between animal and character and I think that Valerio nailed this goal. The design itself is pretty loyal to the 32mm version of it, I just asked to remove the shield and the hammer, in order to focus on a plain "daily life" mood.
Sometimes, it's cool to leave weapons and battles apart!