Hello everyone! Brandon here from GMM Studios with a little blast from the past, Adepticon style!
I have been going to Adepticon for five years now, with 2013 being the fifth consecutive. I have made “Chicago” as it is know among those close to me into something of a personal test of will, creativity, and drive.
Every year I try to top or at least match the year before in not only creativity, but size, quality, and charm. I tend to take 2 months or so from work and just pour myself into the project of the year right before the event. Now it’s time for last year’s army, and the biggest to date! Rime of the Merchant Marienburger.
Standing at almost 8 feet tall wheels to sail, this is definitely the biggest army I have done yet!
The box is actually an almost 100 year old chest that is a family antique. I made sure to get permission to use it!
The ship itself is made out of a foam mock up and then covered in about 1000 hand cut and carved wooden boards. It took 50 packs of 10, 10″ strips to make this army. It also took a good solid 3 days and some cramped hands to cut all of those.
The ship actually sits in a second dummy box which can be removed from the trunk. I needed something more manageable and also waterproof for the resin.
The wood is all hand done, freehand wood grain. I did that with a #1 and I have no regrets!
The water is 2.5 gallons of clear resin. It poured perfectly, despite the fact that because of the weather it was rushed and by all means it should have pulled off the ship hull and/or shattered.
The second picture above is about the view of an average height person standing next to the army.
There is about 10 inches of depth to the resin. The tentacles go to the bottom and there are kegs and other items in the water.
This was the hardest army of all to fit just right into the display. Each unit had to fit in between the planks, and they were all designed to interact visually with the display.
The Kraken lure.
The captain – Van der Kraal. An actual unit in the Forge World book and allowed at Adepticon, so I took him.
The Wizard Lord – a priest of Manaan and chaplain of the ship.
The BSB is based on Marius Leitdorf – I have no regrets! The banner itself is my take on the Manaan’s blade banner, the Sea Bride. The Forge World kit comes with one, but it’s a lot smaller.
The first unit – the swordsmen and the Soggy Batten Boys. Each and every model in this army is converted in some way, and locks perfectly in a specific place in the unit, not only in terms of pose but because the lines of the planks in the wood line up with the display.
Greatswords. This army was insane to chop up and pose. The army was basically a mini display that was cut up vertically into 20mm squares.
Halberdiers. The heads are all from the Manaan kit, and the halberds all hand cut. Again each model is individually posed and has a specific place in this unit.
The Land Ship – required! A fun model to play with but not too impactful game wise.
The cannons are all scratch built other than the barrels themselves. They are designed to look hydraulic. Pull one lever to fire, another pulls it back and forth to reload.
I needed some fast cav, so I added pistoliers in the form of flying mates with guns. These are based on the old birdmen models.
And with that, I will leave you with some pictures from the work in progress! About 1.5 months from start to finish.
I hope you enjoyed this series on my armies! If you want to see me work on next year’s, feel free to follow me on the site of your choice below. Until next time!
Hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane. Keep up with my latest work on Facebook, or connect with me on the blog! –GMM Studios
