Sunday, February 14, 2016

Dollar store monsters

Dollar store toys are a fantastic source of cheap miniature gaming stuff.  I am addicted to browsing through the shops, staring at cheap crappy knock offs and dreaming up ways I turn them into something special.

I grabbed these two toys on the weekend for a crippling $4 total, whilst my girlfriend was hunting for glowsticks for a costume. Yeah, she is a batshit crazy arty type too <3.

How to convert your dragon...

Rowr.  Dinosaurus wrecks!

Since my recent misfortunes, pushing my dollar value has never been so important.  But there is a joy to turning trash into treasure!  Rich or poor I am going to be haunting dollar stores.

I am drooling over some of the amazing minis coming out at the moment, but this will do plenty for playtesting Skulldred and keeping me in craft projects.


Aaaaaaaand after a short lunch break session, I have the joints filled and have remodelled the 'train your dragon' toy a little by shaving off its bulbous cartoon eyes and adding some of my own.  I am tempted to do more prominent ball eyes and add spikes.
I used a water thinning putty to fill toy cracks- in this case aves apoxie- so I can use a moist brush to smooth it down.  I only use greenstuff to fill flexible models.

[update]

Okay, so I made some balls of putty at the end of lunch and let them dry.  I glued them onto the face then sculpted around them, using a blue heavy mix of greenstuff with a little super sculpey added (to help control the stickiness and hold its shape).


The eyelids where made with two sausages.  The first is for the lower lid.  It is pushed into place, then smoothed in.  The top lid goes over this, and is shaped to give some expression before smoothing.  I will let this dry overnight before washing off the vasoline off with alcohol wipes and basecoating.


Meanwhile...


Rowr!  Dinogasm!

8 comments:

  1. Really cool finds there. I always love finding non-gaming stuff and converting it. That was something that pulled me into the hobby. It is almost an addiction at times. I find myself looking at old shipping materials, remnant building supply stuff, random odds and ends in any retail store bargain bin ... thinking ... "Oh that would make a good terrain piece."

    Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Got so much junk in da box out da back full of toys and well..........junk. Err sorry cool terrain ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had fun painting a "monster in my pocket" a couple of years back but this dragon just screams ROGUE TRADER to me, with the eyes as they are, the only thing I can think about now is a RTB01 beaklie on top. Brilliant brilliant stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG OMG ! Looks even better after the update ! The asymetrical eyes are a very nice element t omak eit look weird and all.

      Delete
  4. Love the conversion on the dollar store dragon. Can't wait to see the paintjob on that one!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Triceratops was a good model but your paint... it is perfect now

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice work on that dragon. The tiny wings make me think that they are useless, but maybe the dragon uses them for signaling.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great conversion work! I routinely check out pound shops and charity shops for things to use in gaming, they're treasure troves, there's just so much to use for miniatures and terrain if you look past the intended use of most items.

    ReplyDelete