Dreameaters - modelling otherworldy shadow creatures.

About 2-3 years ago, me and one of my gaming friends started meddling with a couple of small skirmish games, one of the more fun and easy to pick up, as well as create your own units for was/is 'A Song of Blades and Heroes' I made lists for several groups of miniatures I owned but couldnt find gaming use of anywhere else. As is the case I never finished painting/converting/scratchbuilding everything I was desiring to use.
In addition to that still unfinished number of models (though I keep getting through a few more every now and again) I also had the idea of attempting to sculpt/kitbash some creatures from a setting idea I was working on for roleplaying with the world of darkness chronicle I had been working on (which I also am finally running recently)

Dreameater - old original digital scribble

to show concept of scary needle toothed quadrupedal nasty

They live in a realm outside of ours, but connected somehow? I'll type up the notes I have on them after random showy offy photos of start to now, though a couple of stages are missing due to the time they were started (I built the legs about 2 years ago, greenstuff molded around a paperclip skeleton)

This is the beginning of their being finished.

The black being the already undercoated legs, the fresh green stuff being the start of the mouth/head.

From the images I knew it would be hard for me to try and sculpt the crazy thin long teeth of the creatures, so like with my nurgle greater daemon sculpt (I will finish painting it... hopefully get to it again soon) how I used the pin bit of push pins for its teeth, I was going to use sewing needles to make the teeth for these cuties =)... but although I easily owned enough needles it seemed a waste and would be a lot of hassle.
So having looked at molds and other things a good while ago, I had the idea to try out making a pressmold for the first time, then I could also re-use it on incase I need pointy teeth for any other future meddlings.

I grabbed a bunch of different needle sizes and rolled out some greenstuff, laying the sewing needles in slightly random lengths in relation to each other and rolling them flush to the surface of the mold to create the relief... also using a skeleton model I made an impression of the skull to possibly use for basing decoration in the future.
I left the items pressed into the greenstuff overnight as shown below.

I appear to have skipped taking photos of the resultant 'casts' ? I made.
But basically after removing the originals, needles and skelly from the mold.
I did a light brushing of vaseline into the impression left by the items, and pressed a small amount of freshly mixed greenstuff into the different sides of the teeth (needle) imprints, left it a couple of minutes before peeling it off, flattening the cast a little as it curled when I peeled it out/off.
then leaving to oneside to cure whilst using up the greenstuff I'd mixed.
(I ended up with 9 pairs of teeth and seven skulls)

Once dry, I then cut the teeth to fit the jaw shapes of the creatures.
and glued them in place using superglue, filling in any gaps and adding in a gumline using some liquid greenstuff.

... It is also after putting this one together I remembered an issue I had with my nurgle daemon and didnt want to have to deal with again... so allthough using several washes of watered down acrylic managed to undercoat the inside of this ones mouth, without me having to take the teeth off, I decided to undercoat the inside of the mouth of the other two, before attaching their teeth and sculpting gums. It was much easier.

So, they then went from this,

(featuring my rather fetching, yellow flowery duvet cover)

To this...

I am very happy to have them finished even if they are only simply painted a shiny black (used reeves artistic paint) with simply layered up white for the teeth with a smudgy vaugely checkerboard base.

will post pics of the other creatures and cretins soon.

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My setting and creature notes for these beasties so far.

Dreameaters…
Made of darkness given form, in appearance they are a huge maw filled with needle thin teeth, suspended on four long spider-like, spindly legs.
They seem to favour twisting young innocents dreams into corrupt visions and feeding off their fear, distress and confusion while they sleep.

Realm - Nightmist

A Realm of restricted vision, dark fog making it so hard to see anything beyond an arms reach. typically only the occasional dark mass passing by or moving towards you, unidentifiable in the gloom as to if it’s friend or foe until its too late.

This realm appears to have some kind of day and night, the fog being illuminated for different periods of time by a bluish moonlight, or a dim mustard yellow light. Some of the realms larger inhabitants are only active during the ‘night’

During the day Nightmist is stone cold silent, footsteps crunch through the dry grass, or squelch into the mud, their noise swallowed by the blanket of mist. A person can hear their own pulse if they stand still. typically the only noise occasionally heard is the sound of insects wings as they fly between small pools of water, distanced far apart.
At night the various denizens awaken and go about their territorial clashes, mating rites and feeding. The skittering, heavy footfalls, roaring and other sounds, greatly at contrast to the daytime calm.
 
Dreameaters are born and live here, they nest in pairs and over the years raise many young between them, dream eaters are sexless but between them take turns laying and fertilising black spherical eggs the size of golf balls from which several offspring emerge after a time, starting out the size of small spiders within about 1-2 human years they reach adult size and maturity wandering off to create their own nests or find partners.
Dreameaters enter the realm of 'the world' where we live at night, taking sustenance from dreams and nightmares of unknowing mortal victims.