Sunday 21 July 2013

Skara is finished!

It's taken a while but Skara, (in her current costume at least) is finished!

Aside from the base body, everything you see here I made from scratch myself.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

I based the top on the Miner's Clothes from Skyrim, but I used a lot of artistic licence, likewise with the weapons and things. I had an old top made from cheesecloth that I'd cut up for craft fabric ages go which was perfect for this. I'm usually useless when it comes to sewing but I somehow managed to make it look reasonably good. The fraycheck I used on the edges stained them a bit but I like to think it adds to the well worn and weathered look. Once the shirt was all sewn up and had the edges sealed I soaked it in a bowl of strong tea and water to make sure it didn't look too new and bright white.

Skara: costume WIP

I stuck some copic markers up the arms so it would dry to shape but alas, one cap must have been open a little bit as it left a mark on one shoulder. :/ I didn't bother trying to get it out as I thought it would just pass as some accumulated dirt or something. XD I painted some of the tea around the bottom of the shirt and the ends of the sleeves as they were the places most likely to pick up wear and tear.

Skara: costume WIP

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

The leather I used for the belt had a really horrible finish to begin with; far too shiny and new looking so I took a bit of sandpaper to it which made it look a lot more worn. The pouch on her belt is made from the fingertip of an old leather glove and opens and closes using a little toggle I made from carved styrene to emulate bone or ivory.

Her dagger is based on the iron and steel ones in game but I simplified the design a lot. When I get back to college in a month or so I'm hoping to use the lasercutter so I can make a few of the really fancy swords with carved out details but for now, simple is best.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash
The blade and guard are made from 1 or 2mm styrene (I can't remember which, sorry!) and the grip is just wrapped with thread and covered in a layer of superglue to hold it all together. The scabbard for it was cobbled together pretty quickly so I'll probably remake it at some point.


Her bow is a little small but I didn't have a long enough section of wood to make a proper longbow. As it was, I used a wooden coffee stirrer instead! I soaked it in very hot water until it was pliable, cut notches in the ends and strung it with tooth-floss. It sounds like a very bizarre choice but it looks and feels like sinew and does actually work!

(and yes, I did test it out. :P)

She used to be an adventurer you know...until, well... XD

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash


Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

It was sanded and stained with Games Workshop washes and finished off with some matte varnish.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

Now no archer worth her salt could go without arrows so I made her a few!

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

The heads are all individually cut out of styrene (again, another thing I'd like to make with the lasercutter is some more realistic arrowheads.) and the flights were all hand glued and fletched with thread. (which was incredibly fiddly as I kept gluing bits of feather to myself rather than the arrows!)

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bashSkara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

I thought I had a better range of feathers than I actually had, hence why they're all different sizes and shapes and colours. In my headcanon for Skara, she starts off in Skyrim as a bit of a scavenger so I like to imagine that she's picked up these arrows from all over the place, hence the variety.

The quiver is all leather, stitched together with thread. I struggled to find good photographs of all the associated straps and how they attached to it so I improvised a little.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

Her pendant has a real glass gem in the middle, the rest is Fimo clay painted silver and glossed with varnish with a couple of seed beads alongside.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

Given that she was wearing Miner's clothes, I thought she might benefit from having a pickaxe on hand...unfortunately I didn't bother looking up a reference picture to work from because I thought I remembered what they looked like...which I clearly didn't as I forgot that one side of the axe was wider at one end...oh well. XD

Skara: costume WIP

The handle is a scrap of dowelling I had lying around with some chips whittled off, the blade is styrene and the bit round the top is of all things, leather!

Painted up you can't tell though. It's probably way too small as well but never mind, if nothing else it can be a useful prop to have in the background at some point.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash


Inky got herself a tack set too! Seeing as I had already strayed from making exact replicas of Skyrim stuff, I saw no harm in making her stuff a little more unique. (Given the kind of world Skyrim is set in, I find it highly unlikely that everyone would have had exactly the same kind of weaponry and whatnot. :P)
 I have never liked the default Skyrim tack, especially the bridle with the little spikes and things so she got a simple snaffle bridle minus the noseband and throatlatch instead. Normally I make working buckles for everything but these ones are just for show as the whole bridle just lifts off. I had left a hole going through her mouth so I could use an actual mouthpiece for the bit - it only goes in a cm or two but with a little sticky wax, it stays in place quite nicely and looks far more realistic than if I just stuck it to her face temporarily. The detail at the browband is just thread.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

Her saddle is a lot closer to the original game tack, though I added a few touches of my own.

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

The bedroll is made of thick felt and I made the saddlebags from scratch out of fine glove leather. The fur covering should have been a little longer but I only realised this by the time I'd glued it together!

Skara - 1:6 scale Skytrim bash

I took them out for a couple of photoshoots this week so stay tuned for a big picture filled post!

Here's a sneak preview of what's to come...

Off on an adventure...


12 comments:

  1. Whoohoo!! Greeat work! I sat with my jaw dropped from first to last image and I duly winced at the knee-shot, LOL!!
    My favourites are the saddle and the arrows.
    (And I am very thankful that I have not unboxed the Icefalcon yet, because he would totally insist on getting a bow and arrows, too. Like with the axe he has...)

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  2. Hahaha, it's in reference to the now infamous 'arrow to the knee' meme. XD


    Oooh, he looks brilliant! I don't know the books but the bones in the hair is a wonderfully macabre touch!

    'Also his "spine" does the realistic "S"form of the human spinal column. Like this I never had the problem that other dollmakers complained of- that the heavy head would misbalance the lighter body and tip it over so that they had to work something equally heavy into their figure in the hip area to counter weight that'

    OMG I never even considered that for a figure! I'll need to remember that the next time I make riders for my Julips!

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  3. Ah cool, yeah I know that, too!

    The bones are the fingerbones of his enemies. I think you'd like him, did you read the books by Barbara Hambly? *big grin*

    Yes, the S-shaped wire spinal column has become a big favourite of mine after trying it successfully in his creation process. It is definitely worth a try!

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    1. Nope, I'd not heard of it til now! I'll add them to my list! :P

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  5. Love your attention to detail! The bow and arrows are COOL and really well made. ;)

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    1. Thank you! They took a ridiculously long time to make so they may end up being the only ones! lol

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  6. Brillaint stuff! As always, I adore all the weathering effects and your attention to detail - makes me want to be a Skyrim figure and have all that cool stuff to roam around in XD

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    1. Haha, me too - I'd get a nice cob out of it! :P

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  7. HOLY WOWZA! She is great. Amazing work. That last picture is just stunning.

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    1. :D
      I can't wait to post all the shiny photos but I'm doing it as a kind of mini photostory and I haven't finished that bit yet. XD

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  8. Thanks for giving such a graet information. these models are so amazing
    I'm very crazy about horses
    keep doing well
    custom tack supplier

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