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Dragonlance: Heroes of the Lance project-a progress diary

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  • MRP
    Persistent Member
    • Jul 19, 2016
    • 2035

    Dragonlance: Heroes of the Lance project-a progress diary

    So it begins. I received my first package of materials for this project (from CVTV/FTC) this afternoon and am awaiting an order from Doc Mego for some parts and pieces. This is my first customizing in 8 inch scale or with "action figures" or "dolls" as all my previous experience has been with miniatures for D&D and other tabletop rpg.

    The project feels a tad ambitious, as there are a lot of characters I want to get to, but my wife is starting her own customizing projects (dolls in the 12 inch scale) and is willing to help me with some of the sewing and craftier aspects until I get my legs under me and am at least competent in some of those areas.

    The characters I hope to get to include:

    Raistlin
    Caramon (his twin brother)
    Kitiara the Dragon Highlord (their half-sister) aka The Dark Lady
    Riverwind
    Goldmoon (his wife)
    Sturm Brightblade
    Laurana the elven princess/general
    Tasslehoff Burrfoot (a kender-think Hobbit-like character)
    Flint (a dwarf)
    Sturm Brightblade
    Tanis half-Elven
    Gilthanas the Elf Lord
    Verminaard the Dragon Highlord (a lot of his armor/helmet will be the same as Kitiara but designed for a male figure rather than female)

    so a baker's dozen to begin with.

    My wife and I have been collecting raw materials (fabrics, fun foam, sculpee, 2 part epoxy, etc.) over the past two weeks (and raiding clearance toy sections and thrift stores for dolls for her to customize). I also dug out the collection of plastic weapons and armor bits, shields, helmets, etc. we collected over the years buying toys from dollar stores & Odd Lots to use as props/material for our rpgs but that was too big for the scale for game, so we have a starting stash of materials to begin with.

    Today though, with the CVTV order, I got the foundation pieces to start with.

    Here's what arrived...



    the yellow body is for Raistlin, whose skin is tinted gold. The two regular female bodies are for Tika and Goldmoon. The teen female body is for Laurana, the elf, whose build is slighter than a human and who is slightly shorter.

    The heads in the order include...

    Solomon Kane/the Puritan head for Raistlin...


    if it had gold skin and white hair it would be a spot on match, as it stands it's the best base I found to work with. I need to tint the skin, repaint the eyes to Raist's hourglass pupils and find a way to either change the hair color or reroot it with white hair. This is going to take some trial and error and some work.

    Next was the Kull/Barbarian king head for Raist's twin brother Caramon...


    I have one of the buff bodies (not the muscle body) coming from Doc Mego to use for Caramon's body.

    I also got the winged knight helm...



    to use in kitbashing a helm for Caramon. I have a Viking/Thor helm coming form Doc Mego I will use with this one to create Caramon's distinctive helmet (or at least I hope I will).

    I got the barbarian (re: Conan) head with brown hair to use as the base for Riverwind's head.


    I will have to touch up the paint job to make it different from the Raist/Caramon look, but it really was the best base head for Riverwind I could find. I have some standard male bodies coming from Doc Mego, one of which will be for Riverwind.

    I picked up one of the redhead heads to use for Tika...



    that will go with one of the standard female bodies I got today.

    The last head I got was this one...


    which will serve as the head for either Goldmoon or Laurana. They both have honey-colored hair. Initially I was leaning towards using it with the teen body for Laurana, but upon seeing it in person, I think I like it more for Goldmoon, so it might go with the other standard female body.

    For Kitiara, I am going to use either Piper or Kelly Garrett from the new Mego as a base. She is a brunette, but has shorter hair. I haven't found quite the right look for her, so I will have to alter the hair on either one a bit, but both are doable.

    I also picked up the Adventure Force Blue Dragon from Wal*Mart to use to create Skie, her blue dragon mount...



    it's slightly undersized for the size of dragons in the book, but big enough to be a dragon mount for an 8 inch figure, so I will work with it. I'll need to craft a saddle for it for her, but that's doable. The hardest thing with Kitiara will be making/finding the Dragon Highlord helmet, which is distinctive.

    I'm still waiting on the Doc Mego order and my schedule for the next week is pretty packed, so I don't think I will get too much done over the next week, and I intend to try my hand at customizing the 7 inch Mego-like skeleton figures we got at Big Lots last week to work out the kinks on the armor and weapon crafting I will need to do for these before I dive in full force on this, but I will document progress on this as I move forward. I am excited and nervous at the same time to see what I can do and how this will turn out.

    -M
    Attached Files
    Last edited by MRP; Sep 6, '18, 8:52 PM.
    "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato
  • TomStrong
    Persistent Member
    • Jul 22, 2011
    • 1635

    #2
    I’m looking forward to seeing these!

    Comment

    • PNGwynne
      Master of Fowl Play
      • Jun 5, 2008
      • 19444

      #3
      I am, too and I like that dragon!
      WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

      Comment

      • MRP
        Persistent Member
        • Jul 19, 2016
        • 2035

        #4
        Originally posted by PNGwynne
        I am, too and I like that dragon!
        I do too. I bought if before I even conceived this project but wasn't sure what to do with it. We have a lot of dragon figures on display, including some McFarlane dragons, Megablox dragons and the oversized dragons Wizards of the Coast did for the D&D minis game, and it was likely headed for the shelf with them before I decided to do this and then I saw the dragon sitting still in its box when I came home from Target after picking up some Megos there and thought you know...it's about the right size for a Mego to ride...and so it got repurposed into this project.

        There's a red/black one that I've seen but not gotten that I might pick up (and repaint to a full red dragon look) for Verminaard's mount, but I have only seen it once at Wallyworld and not since, so it is a matter if I find it in the wild again. If not I might look to see if the colossal red dragon mini from the D&D minis game we have works in scale for a Mego rider



        but I suspect it is a tad too small...

        -M

        -M
        "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

        Comment

        • PNGwynne
          Master of Fowl Play
          • Jun 5, 2008
          • 19444

          #5
          I may pick up one of these for my knights--are there various colors besides blue?
          WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

          Comment

          • sprytel
            Talkative Member
            • Jun 26, 2009
            • 6539

            #6
            On my workbench, I have the Animal Planet Dragon (previously available at Toys R Us) that I am ever so slowly working on converting into Drogon from Game of Thrones. I don't know if they are in other stores but you can still find them easily on eBay. Here for example:

            Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Animal Planet Giant Red Dragon Toysrus 17" Tall at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!


            They are a great scale for Mego.

            Comment

            • drquest
              ~~/\~~\o/~~/\~~Shark!
              • Apr 17, 2012
              • 3741

              #7
              Good luck with this! I have a first issue Dragonlance Chronicles Dragons of Autumn Twilight sitting in arms reach of me as I type. I really liked that series!
              Danny(Drquest)
              Captain Action HQ
              Retro shirts and stuff
              More retro shirts
              Stuff For Sale

              Comment

              • MRP
                Persistent Member
                • Jul 19, 2016
                • 2035

                #8
                Originally posted by PNGwynne
                I may pick up one of these for my knights--are there various colors besides blue?
                This is the other one I saw on the shelves that I mentioned...



                I did a quick google image search on "Adventure Force Dragon" and saw there was what seemed to be a black dragon too, but I have never seen it in stores.

                I also have a bunch of the Megablocks dragons in various colors...



                that I considered. They are the right length, but a bit too narrow and slight for an 8 inch figure. They'd be perfect for a 6 inch figure though.

                -M
                "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

                Comment

                • MRP
                  Persistent Member
                  • Jul 19, 2016
                  • 2035

                  #9
                  Originally posted by sprytel
                  On my workbench, I have the Animal Planet Dragon (previously available at Toys R Us) that I am ever so slowly working on converting into Drogon from Game of Thrones. I don't know if they are in other stores but you can still find them easily on eBay. Here for example:

                  Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Animal Planet Giant Red Dragon Toysrus 17" Tall at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!


                  They are a great scale for Mego.
                  I'll have to keep an eye out for those if I can see them in the wild to check them out (I am pretty adverse to using ebay these days).

                  -M
                  "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

                  Comment

                  • MRP
                    Persistent Member
                    • Jul 19, 2016
                    • 2035

                    #10
                    Originally posted by sprytel
                    On my workbench, I have the Animal Planet Dragon (previously available at Toys R Us) that I am ever so slowly working on converting into Drogon from Game of Thrones. I don't know if they are in other stores but you can still find them easily on eBay. Here for example:

                    Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Animal Planet Giant Red Dragon Toysrus 17" Tall at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!


                    They are a great scale for Mego.
                    Hmm doing a google image search on those, it seems they have a silver dragon...



                    which is something I would like to find to use for Laurana.

                    -M
                    "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

                    Comment

                    • MRP
                      Persistent Member
                      • Jul 19, 2016
                      • 2035

                      #11
                      Originally posted by drquest
                      Good luck with this! I have a first issue Dragonlance Chronicles Dragons of Autumn Twilight sitting in arms reach of me as I type. I really liked that series!
                      I have been re-reading the original novels for the first time in years the past few weeks. I read the first volume before I went on vacation, took the second volume with me on the trip, and am about a third of the way through the third (Spring Dawning) right now.

                      I just watched a panel from this year's Gary Con (the gaming con in honor of Gary Gygax held in Lake Geneva) that featured co-writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and artists Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley about Dragonlance, and they mentioned being under an NDA about a Dragonlance project which is fueling speculation the proposed movie trilogy of D&D movies set to start coming out in 2020 or 2021 will be a Dragonlance adaptation. The animated movie a decade ago was a bit lacking (as Tracy Hickman put it, it would have been a great radio drama as it was a well-written adaptation with a spectacular cast who did a fantastic job, but unfortunately you had to look at that animation and it just ruined the whole thing).

                      I first discovered Dragonlance in high school when a classmate ran us through the first few modules in our AD&D game and told me there were novels I couldn't read because we were playing the game (as if that stopped me) and I devoured the trilogy over the course of a few weeks (it was right around the time the third book was first released). I have revisted it before and it always has a soft spot in my heart. Add to that, Margaret Weis is a sweetheart (my wife and I have met her on several occasions at Gen Con and Origins over the years), and I just adore the property, which is a large part why I am doing this.

                      -M
                      "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

                      Comment

                      • drquest
                        ~~/\~~\o/~~/\~~Shark!
                        • Apr 17, 2012
                        • 3741

                        #12
                        Originally posted by MRP
                        I have been re-reading the original novels for the first time in years the past few weeks. I read the first volume before I went on vacation, took the second volume with me on the trip, and am about a third of the way through the third (Spring Dawning) right now.

                        I just watched a panel from this year's Gary Con (the gaming con in honor of Gary Gygax held in Lake Geneva) that featured co-writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and artists Larry Elmore and Jeff Easley about Dragonlance, and they mentioned being under an NDA about a Dragonlance project which is fueling speculation the proposed movie trilogy of D&D movies set to start coming out in 2020 or 2021 will be a Dragonlance adaptation. The animated movie a decade ago was a bit lacking (as Tracy Hickman put it, it would have been a great radio drama as it was a well-written adaptation with a spectacular cast who did a fantastic job, but unfortunately you had to look at that animation and it just ruined the whole thing).

                        I first discovered Dragonlance in high school when a classmate ran us through the first few modules in our AD&D game and told me there were novels I couldn't read because we were playing the game (as if that stopped me) and I devoured the trilogy over the course of a few weeks (it was right around the time the third book was first released). I have revisted it before and it always has a soft spot in my heart. Add to that, Margaret Weis is a sweetheart (my wife and I have met her on several occasions at Gen Con and Origins over the years), and I just adore the property, which is a large part why I am doing this.

                        -M
                        I had heard there's a possible new move happening, but ideally a series would be awesome. Similar with me, my friends and I were playing D&D in High School and I happened to catch the first book and then had to wait patiently for the next one to come out etc... Fun book series for sure!
                        Danny(Drquest)
                        Captain Action HQ
                        Retro shirts and stuff
                        More retro shirts
                        Stuff For Sale

                        Comment

                        • MRP
                          Persistent Member
                          • Jul 19, 2016
                          • 2035

                          #13
                          Second batch of raw materials arrived for the project, this time form Doc Mego...



                          a brawny body (with swivel biceps) will serve for Caramon's body, the kid body will be for Tasslehoff the Kender, and a 5 pack of bodies to use as I move forward. I also got the Thor helmet to kitbash with the black knight helm to make Caramon's helmet and a pair of knight boots. The purple ape suit was the free gift for an order over $30, and I will use the leather shirt and gauntlets to create a pattern to make leather armor and gauntlets out of the leather-like fabric we got at Joanne's on on of our stock up visits there these past few weeks. I am hoping to start work in earnest this coming weekend, but I have been testing some techniques and making some drawings/plans for some of the characters to get a sense of what materials I need to gather and/or things I need to fabricate to do them.

                          -M
                          "Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding." -Plato

                          Comment

                          • Madcap70
                            Guest
                            • Dec 4, 2017
                            • 55

                            #14
                            Originally posted by MRP
                            Second batch of raw materials arrived for the project, this time form Doc Mego...



                            a brawny body (with swivel biceps) will serve for Caramon's body, the kid body will be for Tasslehoff the Kender, and a 5 pack of bodies to use as I move forward. I also got the Thor helmet to kitbash with the black knight helm to make Caramon's helmet and a pair of knight boots. The purple ape suit was the free gift for an order over $30, and I will use the leather shirt and gauntlets to create a pattern to make leather armor and gauntlets out of the leather-like fabric we got at Joanne's on on of our stock up visits there these past few weeks. I am hoping to start work in earnest this coming weekend, but I have been testing some techniques and making some drawings/plans for some of the characters to get a sense of what materials I need to gather and/or things I need to fabricate to do them.

                            -M
                            Since when does Doc Mego offer free gifts?

                            Comment

                            • TrekStar
                              Trek or Treat
                              • Jan 20, 2011
                              • 8354

                              #15
                              Your project sounds really exciting and looking forward to seeing how it all comes out.

                              I've ordered from Doc a few times in the past and any orders over $30 gets a free gift, I think he states it on his website somewhere, the purple soldier ape suit is a nice free gift pick up.

                              Comment

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