Scoutdad is absolutely right. I kit-bash a lot as I am often very displeased with the poor sculpts of some of the ships.
Darren,
As one of the sculptors I would be interested in which of the designs you have problems with. (This is not meant as an argument starter, I just want to see what I can do to improve my craft). If we have dissatisfied customers (and if any of the designs are mine) I want to do all I can to make sure my mistakes are corrected on the next sculpt. Or once I find out what the minis/flaws are determine if its the casting process or the sculptor.
Feel free to PM or e-mail me direct (my e-mail address is in my profile).
Thanks!!
--John
Ooops! Okay, I'm gonna just insert a little clarification here:
I'm glad that I can post in this forum so that I can discuss making VERY cool starship minis even better.
That little blurb was meant to state my modeling standard and give a reason for intensive kit-bashing - nothing more. I feel bad that I may have been ...nebulous with my wording. Starline miniatures are some of the most innovative designs I have ever encountered and I love doing them justice with my modeling.
John, thanks for coming forward with your question. I would be happy to give you input via PM.
We'll, i guess I better make it a troika and chime in as well (since I have one sculpt produced, with hopefully more to come). Feedback is always welcome.
Just do please frame the feedback with the knowledge that all three of us are doing it for the love not to get rich as professional minis sculptors.
John and Tony are both better than I am.
Me? I did the FedEx on a lark and SVC liked it. I didn't expect anything other than some warm fuzzies that something I did was worthy of note. Happy endings are always fun.
I find the sculpting to be of highly quality. The metal the minis are cast in however is a different matter. Hopefully that will change as the new mix is used on future minis.
Dude, those ships rule faces. So much so that I crawled out of my dank cave of lurking to post. Very, very, skilled craftsmanship - from the modeling, to the painting, to getting sweet engraved bases. You inspire me to tackle the pile of Romulans I have collecting dust.
Mayhaps if things goes well, instead of offering feedback to the sculptors, something could be worked out and you could in fact join the sculpting ranks...
Those are absolutely beautiful. My wife even commented on how fantastic they look. Please tell me how you made your nacelles so picture perfect? What kind of paint do you use?
Darren any input you would like to give would be great. Actually, this goes for anyone that has input. Making a better sculpt is the ultimate goal so any constructive input (or what you don't like as well) would be appreciated.
One of the guys that sculpts the minis (Starline 2400)
John Schneder II wrote:Sorry it took me so long to get back here
Darren any input you would like to give would be great. Actually, this goes for anyone that has input. Making a better sculpt is the ultimate goal so any constructive input (or what you don't like as well) would be appreciated.
John, I'm putting something together for you guys and should have it to you by the weekend...thanks for the compliment. I really appreciate it!
My "application" was posting some pictures of my sculpt of the FedEx, getting encouraged by Tony and John, and then sending an email to SVC asking if he wanted it. The key would be to sculpt something that is needed - re-doing an existing product is unlikely to go anywhere without up-front discussions with SVC.
I have ideas for three others, and I'm in the process of drawing up "product memos" for them, which is the more usual process, IIUC (i.e. propose, then sculpt).
Malleman made some masters for ships of the Omega sector. Maybe you could start in on a second batch of ships for races he didn't touch yet, like the Vari or the Trobrin, etc. Besides, this could be really fun for you Darren - a way to flex your creative muscles. A lot of these ships don't even have artwork done for them yet - only the SSD, which is more an abstraction of the vessel than anything else.
R
malleman wrote:SVC said he received them in the mail today.
I did 5 so that there was an option to do an Omega Cruiser Box set, like Cruiser Boxes 1 & 2.
