Burrows & Badgers - getting back to sculpting!

When people ask me what my job is, I tell them I’m a sculptor. But to be honest, other stuff keeps getting in the way… there’s only myself and my wife Jo running Oathsworn, so everything from games design to order packing needs to be covered by one of us. And we’ve been busy lately, which means that I haven’t sculpted anything since the end of January.

So, after a six month break from sculpting, I wasn’t even sure I’d still remember how to do it…

But we’re a miniatures company, so we need new miniatures. Time to dig out the putty!

The plan was to do another Kickstarter to fund a set of new models; generally we do ten to fifteen at a time. I started by making a list of potential ideas:

1. Squirrel archer, male. Rogue-ish, Robin of Sherwood type.

2. Mage, female. Either fox or otter, either will work for the pose I have planned.

3. Badger mage, male. Old, wizened, scrawny, robes.

4. Beaver, male. It’s been suggested that the beaver should be a mage, but I’m leaning towards a ruffian / brigand leader type.

5. Massive Raptor – either Osprey, Red Kite or Buzzard.

6. Massive Hound, male – Staffordshire Bull Terrier probably, or maybe a Border Collie instead. I’m picturing armour and a tabard / surcoat.

7. Weasel, male, with a blunderbuss. Similar to the pic on p.38 of the Burrows & Badgers rulebook.

8. Cat, male. Landsknecht style. Maybe a two handed sword, maybe a halberd?

9. Wildcat, female, in Highland Clan gear.

10. Shrew or Squirrel, female, in Highland Clan gear.

11. Mouse, male, helmet, armour, surcoat and crossbow.

12. Kestrel – Not certain on this one; I have a pose in my head, and if I can make it work, it’ll be great. If not, I’ll pretend it never happened, and sculpt a different bird instead…

13. Frog of some kind – probably a soldier/fighter type.

14. Bat assassin.

15. Shrew-zerker, similar to the pic on the last page of the rulebook.

I thought I’d start with the male Badger mage; he’d be a big (45mm+) sculpt, and I guessed the large size would make it good way to ease myself back into sculpting.

I drew out a very rough sketch of the badger mage idea; I don’t usually do this, and given how little the finished sculpt looks like the concept sketch, that’s probably a good thing!