Monday, June 24, 2013

Maelee Set Update 2



BOOM BABY! FUNDED!

Thanks everyone! The change to the shipping charges where postage doubled at the beginning of the year really tanked a huge chunk of our budget we had set aside for this project. Thanks to you, our loyal backers, we are now able to produce our special set for Maelee and take her to the show. We are hoping that many of you will be attending GenCon so we will get a chance to meet you to thank you in person for supporting Bombshell Miniatures!



UNLOCKED STRETCH GOAL #1 - $12,500 MAELEE Solo
We have reached $12,500 which unlocked the individual Maelee piece as an Add-on for an additional pledge amount of $10 to any backer level. This is not limited. Maelee will come with one plastic 25mm base.




STRETCH GOAL #2 - $15,000 BASE Solo
If we reach $15,000 we will unlock the individual resin Wrecked Robot Display Base piece as an Add-on for an additional pledge amount of $10 to any backer level. This is not limited and does NOT include the 50mm plastic display base.

PROGRESS



Valiant has received the pieces and will be getting us a quote on molding and casting this week. I have also ordered the packaging materials for the set boxes and shipping supplies to get them assembled as soon as we start to receive castings!

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Thank you for your support!
Patrick
~The Sculptdude


Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Concept



Designing our first game - COUNTERBLAST™

Peril. It is the conflict that exists in any story that doesn't even require a villain or adversary to your hero. Peril can come in the form of environmental hazards, natural forces or threats of disaster. Peril is essential to any good pulp adventure story and pulp adventure is at the heart of the COUNTERBLAST setting.

The epic science fiction and adventure movies I enjoyed when growing up during the '70s and '80s owed its inspiration to a prior age. Adventure serials, both in print and in cinema, established a lot of storytelling conventions that have been instrumental in the legacy of post-modern pop culture we enjoy today. At the time I was of age to really discover the heritage of many of these sources I didn't really appreciate the relevance. It wasn't until I began to research the original material several years ago that I began to truly appreciate the rich details and the extent to which this material has provided inspiration.



I discovered that weapons like the Electrostaff used by the Magna Guard on the Clone Wars cartoon appeared in an episode of one of the Flash Gordon serials. In the episode mechanical men attack Flash and his crew with halberds that give off sparks provided by well-placed scratches on the original film.



Transporters like on the starship Enterprise make an appearance in the Buck Rogers serial from 1934.  Through a clever use of cinematic editing. the cast fades into the teleport chamber and is enhanced with animated glowing effects superimposed over the image.

The term Blasters and epic space battles appear in the fantastic Lensman books by E.E. Smith published in the 1930s. I could cite many more and you have probably heard of more than I have.

The setting is inspired by pulp sci-fi in as much as films like Alien and Prometheus are upgraded versions of It! The Terror from Beyond Space. We decided to go back to the original material and revisit it for COUNTERBLAST and upgrade it. If you are looking for battles in the grim darkness of the far future where there is only war, there is another sector of space for that. If you want full metal battles with steam powered behemoths, there is another setting for that already. What we wanted to build was a future past that never was but was always hoped for. COUNTERBLAST is a setting of classic pulp sci-fi adventure, fast paced action with cinematic thrills, evocative of the serials that captivated the imaginations of the generation before.

So, grab your particle beam cannons, set your puslar rays on disintegrate, and blast off to the ether in your ultonium-powered rocketship. Battle strange creatures with ancient and wicked artifacts bent on destroying all peace-loving species of the galaxy. Explore far flung worlds with undiscovered alien ruins containing hidden secrets of lost civilizations. The COUNTERBLAST Adventure Battle Game takes you there!

- Patrick Keith
The Sculptdude

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Friday, June 7, 2013

Supplemental Update


KICKSTARTER BOMBSHELL BABES™ - DONE!



Our shipment of resin restocks arrived Wednesday! All of the remaining backer rewards packages have been delivered to the post office today. All of the backers who pledged for a painted studio model or an original sculpt have also shipped. All of the backers who pledged through the PayPal Donate system have also been shipped out. Thank you for your patience! We are releived to finally get the remaining shipments out to you. This has been a harrowing ride to get everyone their items! We have learned a great deal about getting the entire production pipeline in place to bring you . . .

NEW KICKSTARTER PROJECT -  MAELEE SPECIAL EDITION


The Concept - Maelee sits atop a wrecked robot with her wrench nearby. Maelee will be cast in metal along with her companion BdE Bot. The wrecked robot base will be cast in resin and is sized to fit inside a 50mm plastic premium style base.



Progress

The BdE Bot is a special preview piece from our upcoming sci-fi line that will not be released until next year. As an incentive for the new Kickstarter project we will be offering the BdE Bot as a companion and he will be included with every Kickstarter Maelee Special Edition Set. The parts for the BdE Bot have already been printed and are awaiting molding. These parts will be assembled and re-molded to allow for future variations in the pose.





The set is designed and the 3D parts have already been printed. I will be picking up the wrecked robot base piece on Monday to have as reference for sculpting the Maelee figure. She will be getting an all new tool set which has also been printed and sent to mold.




The goal is to have all of the pieces ready for production before the new Kickstarter project launches. Funds raised from the new Kickstarter project will go directly to production costs for manufacturing all of the Maelee Special Edition pieces as well as taking her to GenCon. The intent is to ship the sets as soon as the surveys are returned. We will continue to post more updates on our blog about this new project over the next couple of weeks.


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Thank you for your support!
Patrick
~The Sculptdude

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Previews for June

KICKSTARTER

I have been notified from Valiant that our resin casting order has shipped. According to UPS we will be receiving our shipment early next week, so the remaining rewards packages will be going out as soon as we can pack them and get them in the mail.

NEW RELEASES

The new Babes™ have gone to mold and have been mastered. We should have castings available sometime next in the next week or two.



Oh yeah! You know what's coming next. Throughout June I will be posting pics of the new models as I am working on them. Here is a sneak peek.



MAELEE SPECIAL EDITION

Originally I was not planning to return to Kickstarter with another miniatures-based project. But as circumstances have prevailed we find it necessary to tap the resources of the community again to bring you our Maelee the Mechanic Special Edition Set. As conceptualized, Maelee is to be seated atop a large robot wreck. In addition to that she will have a special companion robot which will be released next year as part of our new sci-fi game line. This special preview robot will be available now to the new Kickstarter backers.

The parts are almost finished in ZBrush and will go to print next week along with Maelee's new wrench and tools. As soon as the prints come back I will be able to pose her armature and start sculpting. All of the parts will be finished before the new project launches.





Funds raised from the new Kickstarter project will go directly to production costs for manufacturing all of the Maelee Special Edition pieces as well as taking her to GenCon. We will be posting more updates about this new project over the next couple of weeks.


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Patrick
~The Sculptdude