# The Howling of Wolves- A Thunderwolf project



## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Well, I have finally decided to toe the line and get my SW army into shape but I was left with a slight problem... the total lack of Thunderwolf models. Now, there are a few alt models out there floating about the net but none of the ones that I have seen have struck a chord with my mental image of a Thunderwolf (a living embodiment of the fierce and untamed heart of Fenris) and tended to look a bit too over-fed sled dog for me.

After tracking down all the fluff info I could about Thunderwolves and their physical size/appearance... with a deep breath, I embark upon my first totally from scratch GS sculpt. This is where i'm at thus far:


























I've worked up from a wireframe base, slowly bulking the body out but keeping in mind that his main torso/body will be covered in fur and saddle. I started on the feet for details first and worked up the legs to give some muscle shape for the fur to later lay over. I intend for the fur texture to start 'showing' somewhere around his mid-leg/elbow and working thicker into the body. 

















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I did the lower jaw/base of the ears the other day and just finished adding his claws/upper jaw today & this evening in snatched moments. I've done some work on seperate saddle/armour pieces that I will apply 'into/on' the fur as I work with it... but forgot to snap off a picture of those. I'll toss one up for them later.

So far i'm fairly pleased with how he is coming out... enough to actually share the project without too much shame! I plan on a nice TWC pack so I have my work cut out for me :shok:


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## unxpekted22 (Apr 7, 2009)

looks really good so far, realistic at least and yeah more fearsome looking than the stock wolves. I dont know how hard green stuff is to use, I have yet to use it yet at all, though I did buy a pack of it...

how long did it take to do the first one?


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## Viscount Vash (Jan 3, 2007)

Like looking at an embryo develop those pics.

Good work so far.

How many are you doing?

Quick get those Armour pics up, I wanna see how you approached it.


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## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

took you long enough Euph. can not wait to see these finished. my wolves hit a kind of roadblock, I need to get working on them again eventully, possibly after I figure out a new paint scheme.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

looking really good so far mate! The details around the claws are very nice!


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## IntereoVivo (Jul 14, 2009)

Well done E! That is one scary looking wolf. Can't wait to see more.


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

Nery skilled work so far.

I especially like the way the areas that will not get fur look slightly too big at the moment so the addition of fur and armour will not drown them out, but not big enough that is suffers form the baby dinosaur look.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Very nice work, I am guessing this is not the first time you have worked with GS? The teeth and claws look awesome!


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## Hammer49 (Feb 12, 2011)

Looks very good. Keep up the good work.


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Thanks to everyone for the comments.

Unxp- I haven't really kept a hard track on the time as I have been working on him as I find the time (as well as allowing for parts that i have worked on to fully cure between handlings).

Vash- I haven't settled on a firm number yet, but i'm thinking to start at 3 and work up from there.

KhainiteAssassin- I know, I know... better late than never though right?

Dave T Hobbit- Thanks for noting that little bit. I wanted to make him look balanced in the end and knew that the fur was going to bulk out his chest a fair bit, but also wanted him to look physically able to rip apart an ork while carrying a fully armoured SW on his back.

As for the 'tack/armour', it is rather rough at the moment- mostly long strips that will be straps and belts in due time. In the upper left of the collection you can see what will be a chestplate/guard and the saddle girth.









The saddle is just the 'seat' part right now, it will have both a blanket/pad of some sort under it and some tooled/gemmed skirting. The rings on the sides will have chains with wolftails and teeth/runes

















And no, it is not my first time working with gs. I have chopped up/mod'ed in the past, however this _IS_ my first from scratch build.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Great job for a first scratch build!


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## komanko (May 16, 2010)

I have no skill at all in miniatures nor did I paint one ever but this just looks awesome and also a hard thing to do  Maybe I'm wrong though. Great work 

Edit: Was about to rep you but I just found out that I can't, probably still need to rep others as it wasn't that long since I repped you in the roleplay section


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Short update- had a bit of time over the weekend to get some fur on him, but still a fair bit to do still including (but not limited to...) fur on the head & forequarters, the collar and reins I settled on for control, buckles/chains/runestones, and base work. Not to mention I'll still need to find a son of Russ brave enough to ride him...

















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## KhainiteAssassin (Mar 18, 2009)

looking good euph, looking good. cant wait to see how you tackle the fur around the head, since im assuming your going to make it abit thicker there, yes?


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## Azwraith (Apr 23, 2009)

now I am no green stuff expert.

however. i think the face needs a fair amount of tweaking because currently to me he/she does not look like a wolf.

my suggestions.. cut out some of the teeth.. wolves generally have large canines but the rest of the teeth are fairly short and in a hilly style shape (-^-) kinda thing.

also flatten the front of the face and the eyes should me smaller and have barely any socket very sunken in eyes.

the nose and ears are pretty good. the ears look at bit off to me but i cant pick whats wrong and they look pretty good.

the jaw sizes are in good proportion but the teeth just make the mouth (to be honest) look stupid. how would he close his mouth without destroying himself? i mean all animals can close their mouths fishes included. so i believe he would be able to also.

not trying to be mean the scale of the body and everything is perfect just trying to help make the face perfect too.


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Azwraith said:


> now I am no green stuff expert.
> 
> however. i think the face needs a fair amount of tweaking because currently to me he/she does not look like a wolf.


Good. I didn't want him to look like a wolf because, to be blunt, a Thunderwolf _*is not*_ a wolf. I wanted to try to keep within the fluff and let's be honest here, there are quite a few creatures in 40k that don't follow the 'rules of nature' so to say.




Azwraith said:


> my suggestions.. cut out some of the teeth.. wolves generally have large canines but the rest of the teeth are fairly short and in a hilly style shape (-^-) kinda thing.
> 
> also flatten the front of the face and the eyes should me smaller and have barely any socket very sunken in eyes.
> 
> ...


I would say that the deep sea angler fish disagrees with that statement-









As I noted before, the face/neck/forequarters are lacking fur/details still so that will fill those areas out more and deal with the eyes (as of right now they are not done so they would look a bit odd). Here are a few of the images I've used as a referance for him:


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## Maligant (Mar 27, 2011)

Comming form somebody completely green when it comes to greenstuff, this looks great. One day I'll be able to do this... one day... *wanders off to plot something*


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

That is some amazing sculpting! The detail work on the back of the saddle is especially impressive! I look forward to seeing this progress.


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## Azwraith (Apr 23, 2009)

Euphrati said:


> Good. I didn't want him to look like a wolf because, to be blunt, a Thunderwolf _*is not*_ a wolf. I wanted to try to keep within the fluff and let's be honest here, there are quite a few creatures in 40k that don't follow the 'rules of nature' so to say.


if you look at your images below (or above) pretty much looks like a wolf. and they only have two major canines and the rest are relatively small.

however if what you have done has achieved the effect you desired then thats fine. i was just trying to give some helpful suggestions (also i still think the eyes should be much smaller)



Euphrati said:


> I would say that the deep sea angler fish disagrees with that statement-


Touche. but thats one  and it cant even survive at shallow depths lol.



Euphrati said:


> As I noted before, the face/neck/forequarters are lacking fur/details still so that will fill those areas out more and deal with the eyes (as of right now they are not done so they would look a bit odd). Here are a few of the images I've used as a referance for him:


and yeah as i said before they eyes are very similar to a wolf especially the first image. and on the last image you can see the teeth only have 2 large canines.

but whatever its your choice. it was only C&C and you can take it or leave it.


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## unxpekted22 (Apr 7, 2009)

If I understand correctly, the eyes will look smaller once there is a coat of fur around them. Also, I think she does have the canine teeth slightly larger than the others and we all know paint can do a lot of things to a model.


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## Azwraith (Apr 23, 2009)

i personally still see the eyes as way to big even with fur. 

and yes paint can add a lot to a model say for example 50% overall look.

you still want your mini to be at 50% to get a total of 100%
I am just trying to help achieve the full possibility of the mini.

and my suggestions (and thats all they are) are just to help the mini look as natural and plausible as possibly from my point of view. if Euphrati is happy with what she has achieved then who am i to argue that is great.

i am just trying to offer constructive criticism.

Azwraith-


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Been a tad bit busy lately but finally had a chance to get the rest of the fur on Skol. He is basically finished other than a chain that will run from the two rings on the sides of the saddle across his back and have runestones/gems on it.


















Pretty pleased with how he came out overall, in particular the choke-chain/reins.









Started chopping up the legs for his rider, will get those drilled/wired and gs'ed hopefully within the week.


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## Oodles (Feb 24, 2009)

OH MY WORD!!!! this is incredible! I wish i had your patience, let alone the skill to do this! Would love to see i beside a marine just to get an idea of the scale. Im soooo guna look out for this one!


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

That seems to have come together well.


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

Wow - this is great mate, whats even more amazing is that this is your first from scratch sculpt. Really looking forward to seeing more!


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## Hammer49 (Feb 12, 2011)

Great work. Look forward to seeing how you paint it.


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Definitely looking nice! Can't wait to see it complete with rider!


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## steamius (Dec 9, 2010)

great work! your an briliat sculpter!


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## demon bringer (Oct 14, 2008)

Nice job, i like all the finner detail on the reins and saddle


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## mcmuffin (Mar 1, 2009)

They Are Amazing!!!!. + rep for definite. i have only 1 quibble, and that is that there needs to be a small amount of fur on the legs, but only a very small layer, to make them look as realistic and fantastic as possible. That is just an opinion however, and they still look absolutely amazing.


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Well, it seems like lately there aren't enough hours in the day to even think about much beyond wishing I had more time for the tasks that find their way into my lap somehow. But I promised myself that I would start working on my wolves again so I finally set some time aside the other day to finish up Skol and his base!


















Now that he is done, I've been working on his rider, Orcir- the frost axe is in the rough stages, it will have gs done to the top to tie the blade into the haft with runic detailing. I also need to gs the gaps in the legs and chase down all casting lines to shave off but I loosely pinned him together for some pictures-

















The model (with rider) stands ~ twice the height of a standard grey hunter-









I started on the wireframe for the next of the pack as well- he will be 'leaping' and has yet to be named.


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

I think you should up the size by 25-35%

Other than that.... that's amazing GS work.


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

Thanks, I was going on the scale given for thunderwolves in the codex. Saying that they were ~8 feet at the shoulder which would put them roughly as tall as an armoured astartes.


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## arumichic (May 14, 2011)

I agree. Some really nice GS work. Keep it up with the cavalry. How do you deal with the stickiness of it? I always get angry with it because it is so sticky.


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## Euphrati (May 24, 2009)

In one word- water.

Keep your tools wet and also try to keep them somewhat cool. I also have found that setting the gs aside for a few minutes after mixing allows for it to stiffen up from that overly tacky stage.


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## Saulot (May 25, 2011)

Very nice GS work! Looking forward to seeing it painted!


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## demon bringer (Oct 14, 2008)

awsome i wondered where this thread had vanished to, really good sculpting


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

That is some awesome GS work. The detail on the claws and teeth is fantastic. I would agree that any others should be a bit bigger though, or at least bulkier.


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## arumichic (May 14, 2011)

Euphrati said:


> In one word- water.
> 
> Keep your tools wet and also try to keep them somewhat cool. I also have found that setting the gs aside for a few minutes after mixing allows for it to stiffen up from that overly tacky stage.


Thanks for the tips. Though I've tried setting it aside, but I guess my hands are too warm... >.<


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