Buckbeak Bows

one of several 'live' animatronic features at the Warner Brothers Harry Potter studio tour, the griffon/gryphon from...well, whichever one it was in. Went for a visit there yesterday with a couple of friends for one of their birthdays.

Whatever you think of the whole Potter phenomenon, the tour thing is really quite an experience - granted I'm pretty biased by way of being a sculptor/modelmaker, but - so. much. stuff! - six hours and didn't feel like we'd taken it all in - massively impressed with how much practical stuff is still involved, and how much of it goes unseen, but also with how the practical is tied in with the virtual.

And the enormous 'Hogwarts' model...oh my effin' g. I nearly wept...

- eyeballs are still aching from trying to see everything that was there. Really well-organised layout, no time to get bored in between exhibits...the people-wrangling was very well handled, didn't seem to have to wait any great length of time even for having a go on a broomstick (be warned, there *will* be video of a Brum on a broom!)

...image quality a bit grainy here, had the settings a bit stuffed after several readjustments throughout the tour - looks ok though I think.

I mean hippogriff.

Cthulhu Wars roars

 - well, somewhat belatedly after the finish-date of the funding process, a quick blurb on the CW kickstarter: it was successful, to say the least – the Green Eye Games folks were hoping to raise $40,000 to produce a prototype of their game, with which to approach all and sundry to try and draw on further funding for full production of the game.
What actually happened was that the $40,000 was achieved somewhere within the first couple of hours of going live, and it just kept going madly onwards from there, to the astonishment of everyone involved. Certainly none of the GEG crew were expecting to achieve the $1,403,981 that was raised by the time the campaign came to its end! Needless to say this is going to allow them to pretty much do everything and more beyond their original plans; it’s going to take somewhat longer because of course a lot of extra stuff got added along the way with the achieving of stretch goals and such, adding more and more to the sculpture pile for those of us doing that side of things.
Anyway, good on ‘em, glad it all went so well. I’m just about coming to the end of the last couple of bits I’m sculpting for it – I’ll soon be able to put my feet up – for about ten minutes – before getting started on the next batch of figures for the next Kickstarter that Fenris been asked to be a part of after folks have seen the success we helped to bring about with CW and GEG; I think there are one or two others besides who’ve asked us to do some stuff too, and indeed there are rumours that GEG might be doing something else as well once the Cthulhu stuff is done and dusted.
busy, busy, busy…
 - anyway –
Cthulhu Wars at www.kickstarter.com/projects/1… and/or greeneyegames.com/
Fenris Games at fenrisgames.com/ You can also find both on facebook

scale size stonehenge

- a couple of pics of a series of models created for the soon-to-open new visitor centre at Stonehenge, showing its progression through the ages: first, about 3000 BC, and before the commonly-known henge has appeared, a circular ditch enclosed a series of stones or wooden uprights known as the Aubrey Pillars, the entrance to the site fronted off by the larger ‘heel stone’; by 2500 BC most of the Aubreys have disappeared but for a small number of station stones, while the heel stone has been moved to intercept the line of the solstice. The henge proper has materialised by this stage, the main circle housing an inner ‘horse-shoe’ formation of larger trilithons, as well as a series of smaller so-called ‘blue’stones; by 2200 BC, most of the circular earthworks are greatly diminished, while an ‘avenue’ has been demarked to either side of the heel stone, leading to the site’s entrance.

The second set of pictures shows the original model made for moulding, along with the bronze-effect casting produced from it. This piece represents the modern situation of the stones at the site. All four pieces will be housed in sequence on display at the visitor centre: http://gu.com/p/3y2mf/tf

 - I’ve rattled off a making-of thing, the subtitles don’t seem to work properly on all platforms, but here ya go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxrW-rs0WWE

Big Chief Sittingbourne

- interview with big brother, our Ian (aka Geronimo of Fenris Games) at Salute 2013, regarding Goblinaid and Cthulhu Wars: Salute 2013 Other interviews also feature, Ian's bit starts at 16:32...ish.

Cthulhu

...and here's the monster of the moment, Cthulhu himself. Same credit-roll as for the previous two, though of course I should also have added, initial horrible idea from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft, and Call of Cthulhu game (and now Cthulhu Wars) conceived by Sandy Petersen...

 - more details on all of this lovely stuff on the facebook pages of Cthulhu Wars and Fenris Games.

Miniature Figures for Cthulhu Wars

 - another one of these, then - the Star Spawn. Concept by Richard Luong for Green Eye Games, sculpted by meself, moulded and cast by Ian Brumby at Fenris Games...

Miniature Figures for Cthulhu games

the Green Eye Games crew have started to promote the images of some of the figures and/or miniatures that we at Fenris Games have sourced and sculpted for the Cthulhu Wars boardgame, so I'm assuming it's fair play to start posting them around elsewhere too... it's shameless self-promotion too of course since I sculpted the first few of the ones they've been showing :)

Based on concept art by Richard Luong, here's a hunting horror for ya!

Cthulhu Wars

- a bit of a coup for big brother and meself...

CTHULHU WARS – a board game by Green Eye Games

Dallas,TX / News Outlet / 4/17/2013 --- Legendary game designer Sandy Petersen, has teamed up with accomplished game professionals Robert M. Atkins and Richard Luong to form the board game company, Green Eye Games. They are extremely excited to launch their first game Cthulhu Wars, debuting later this year.

More than a half-century ago, H.P. Lovecraft changed the face of the horror genre forever, influencing science fiction, horror, film, games and mystery writers for generations. His most famous creation is the Cthulhu Mythos, a cosmos filled with alien and inner dimensional horrors. Inspired by this work, Sandy got his start in gaming by developing the tabletop roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu. This seminal game has proved a cult success over the years. News of Sandy's first board game in 20 years has fans across the globe excited, including the Founders at the H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, who noted "The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society is thrilled that our friend Sandy Petersen is developing a new Lovecraft-inspired game."

On what makes this game unique, Sandy remarks, "The marketplace today has many board games featuring the Cthulhu Mythos. In most such games you strive to avert the impending catastrophe. But in Cthulhu Wars you ARE the catastrophe!" Cthulhu Wars is a competitive strategy game in which the players control one of four unique factions, which produce cultists and monsters to build mystic gates, and awaken Great Old Ones.

Being a fan of the Mythos-based figures sold by Fenris Games, Sandy reached out to get them involved with sculpting the figures for this ambitious title. Ian Brumby explains his excitement upon getting the call, "As a small manufacturer one can only dream about the big projects, the hall-of-fame products that the giants of the games industry seem to produce on a regular basis. So when you open your email of a morning and find Sandy Petersen asking if you'd like to work with him on his latest project, it's like all of your birthdays have come at once."

At Fenris, Ian has spent the past 5 years building a range of miniatures and gaming aids that inspire a wide audience online and in games rooms around the world. "The opportunity to work with one of the biggest names in gaming history to produce truly iconic models is something I had, indeed, only ever dreamed about before, and that same inspiration has driven all of the sculptors I've been lucky enough to work with on Cthulhu Wars. Sandy's enthusiasm for his subject has been infused into every page and every Cthulhu-related gaming experience there is, and we hope this shows through in the work we've contributed so far."

Each copy of Cthulhu Wars comes with 80 high-quality figures, ranging from 28mm to 200mm – the same size as used in D&D or Call of Cthulhu – and are suitable for use in any game of the same scale – such as Descent or Zombicide. We think the figures created by Fenris Games are worth the price alone.

CONTACT:
Green Eye Games
Sandy Petersen
Email: CthulhuWars@gmail.com
[link]
-----
Fenris Games
Ian Brumby
info@fenrisgames.com
[link]

ABOUT THE GREEN EYE GAMES TEAM
Behind every great project, there is a talented team driven by a shared dream. Our team has a proven track record, and our members' games have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide, and has received dozens of awards from the game industry.
WHAT WE'VE DONE
Board Games, Roleplaying Games, & Film:
The Whisperer in Darkness film \ Petersen's Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands \ Petersen's Guide to Monsters \ Arkham Horror \ Ghostbusters roleplaying game \ RuneQuest 3rd edition \ Elfquest roleplaying game \ Call of Cthulhu \ Over 30 paper game supplements and products from 1981-1988

Video Games Credits:
Age of Empires (II & III) \ Halo Wars \ Quake \ Age of Mythology \ Rise of Rome \ SiN \ DOOM \ Star Trek Elite Force II \ Duke Nukem 3D \ CounterStrike CZ \ Darklands \ Civilization \ Osiris Legends iOS \ Hexen \ Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2 \ Elder Scrolls Oblivion \ Fallen Shadows \ Darklands \ Hyperspeed \ Sword of the Samurai \ Midnight Mysteries \ Lightspeed \ Dr. Floyd's Desktop Toys \ and many, many more.




ABOUT THE FENRIS GAMES TEAM
Fenris' background is in the world of industrial modelmaking and prototyping, with almost 50 years' combined experience. We've built everything from life-sized dinosaurs and attack helicopters to display models for some of the world's biggest museums. Now our work focuses on the miniature worlds of horror, fantasy and science fiction.
WHAT WE'VE DONE
3D board pieces for (Grindhouse Games') Incursion, publisher/writer of PBMs Wyrdworld, MMCII and Children of The Morning Star, producers of minis, scenery and gaming aids.


- pics of the figs to come soon...

Fenris Games

a small but gradually expanding venture under the stewardship of the brothers Ian and Jo Brumby (in other words big brother and meself), pictured here in the early days with a couple of close relatives...

- initially boasting scenery, accessories and basing for fantasy and wargaming miniatures and dioramas, and recently beginning to stretch out into the creation and supply of our own range of miniatures, a few examples shown below:

find further information on the Fenris Games facebook page, or visit  http://fenrisgames.com/

works in progress

 - some small stuff still in stasis. Although, some of 'em aren't all that small, if I'm honest...

Otherworld Miniatures

some of the various bitsnpieces I've sculpted for Otherworld - some of 'em painted; others, not.

miniature madness

some of the miniature works I've done for folks other than my more established clients: a wendigo for Darkson Designs; some cute stuff for Dragonblood Miniatures; a clutch of 'kiergi', an alien race, for a competition by Hasslefree Miniatures; some argonaut automatons for Crooked Dice; and LeBrock and Ratzi for Grandville Miniatures/Ocelot Games.

Viking Burial - skeleton reconstruction

a model reconstruction for the Jorvik Centre of a recently-discovered Viking-age skeleton found near Coppergate in York (actual skeleton in first pic): the remains are those of an unfortunate female of the time who, after already having suffered a life of probable agony what with a withered femur grinding away at her pelvis, and a resulting curvature of the spine caused by a life lived with a crutch, had the further problem of being sword-chopped in the face - which it seems she may have survived from for a little while, since some degree of bone-growth is apparently evident...