Sunday, February 5, 2017

'Home' from JohnSe: Homer Jungle Statue



With all of the responsibilities that come with being an adult, I haven't had a ton of time to paint over the last few weeks, but I did manage to steal a glance at this weeks theme challenge. I was pretty surprised to see it had something to do with "Homer Terrain". That was sure to be a unique set of entries, and I wracked my brain trying to figure out something that would stand out from the crowd.

Naturally, most entries will likely depict a terrain feature from one of Homer's epic poems. There were sure to be plenty of Trojan Horses, Gates of Troy, and Greek Beach Camps. I thought we might even see something pulled from the Odyssey (maybe a Cyclops cave or two?), but I decided to go a bit farther afield. I thought I could get a more liberal interpretation of the "Homer" theme for my terrain piece, and I considered doing Fenway Park, with a 28mm outfielder unable to snatch a "homer" as it sailed the Green Monster. That seemed beyond my skills though (and wouldn't really lend itself to a wargame), but I spotted a cheap plastic knick knack depicting Homer Simpson as a snack food Buddha. Inspired by his zen-like countenance, I decided to base my terrain on the toy. A perfect start for a conversion into a mysterious jungle idol, carved by some long dead civilization of peculiar lemon colored tribesmen!




I built a small dais from wood and foamcore, and gave the whole thing a stippled coat of spackle/dry wall compound to mimic the weathered stone of the idol.



A dark gray primer gave the whole piece a uniform, stone-like base to begin painting.



I used a variety of grays and browns, with the faintest hints of yellow, green and pink (no doubt remnants of the festive paintjob the idol once must have sported).




I used numerous brown and gray washes to weather it, and added quite a bit of flock and tufts to represent the encroaching jungle foliage that will one day engulf the statue.

I don't like to take all of my wargaming so seriously, and plan on using this idol for some tongue-in-cheek Rogue Trader or Fantasy gaming. A unique subject for a unique category! Altogether, I was pretty pleased at how it turned out.



Wait....

"Home" Terrain????

Doh!

17 comments:

  1. A...unique take and unique piece of terrain, but I like him

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  2. Cracking bonus round entry, love quirky stuff like this.

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  3. Fantastic! And certainly not a Duff piece of terrain :)

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  4. Now that's a real bummer! I absolutely love it.

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  5. Great entry .. nicely off the wall

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  6. I like it - creative interpretation should be rewarded!

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  7. Great entry, made me laugh!
    Best Iain

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  8. Awesome work John! Love the modifications you did. My only suggestion would be to have had the steps as descenting sizes of doughnuts. ;P

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  9. Good one John. This made me smile!

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  10. So that's all kinds of awesome. Love it!

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  11. Having seen this I am tempted to make one myself!

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  12. Definitely the most creative entry of this round, and very well done.

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