Design Diary: July Brings Burning Idols (Patreon)

July sees the release of the Burning Idols.

The base model and wings are now complete and rigged, allowing me to pose the model in suitably heroic fashion seen here. That means I've reached the fun part of the project... and also the longest part: metal and flame.

What are Burning Idols?

Burning Idols are not flesh-and-blood creatures.

They are creations of the Fellsmiths, serving both as personal steeds and as religious idols dedicated to their dark gods.

Frames of articulated blackened metal are inscribed with runes of binding, hatred, and domination. Into these skeletal constructs, the Fellsmiths bind multiple daemons, forcing them into the shape of both mythical and imagined beasts; there is no one form. The result is a creature possessed of malevolent sentience, wreathed in flame and barely contained within its prison.

The Design Philosophy

The philosophy remains the same as the rest of the Evil Dwarf range:

Modular. Customisable. Unique.

Faces of the Beasts

The version pictured is a winged bull, but that doesn't mean yours has to be.

Swap the head for a monstrous rhinoceros. Perhaps a dragon-eel dragged from the depths of a volcanic sea. Maybe something more dwarf-like. Or perhaps a nightmare of fangs, horns, and tentacles.

It's your Burning Idol.

One of the advantages of this approach is that I can continue creating additional heads and variants long after the initial release. So, keep the ideas coming.

The Throne

One design choice I made early was to use a throne platform rather than sculpting a permanent rider.

This gives you the freedom to create your own heroes and place them atop the beast without permanently attaching them.

More on those heroes soon - I'll provide the parts; you bring them to life.

As someone whose painting time is always limited, I love models that can serve multiple purposes. A character can fight on foot in one game and ride a Burning Idol in the next.

The throne is being designed to accommodate a 28.5mm round base, which should comfortably support most hero models and gaming systems.

Metal and Flame

The body and wings will combine mechanical and metal frameworks that hold the creature's molten form together. Even the wing membranes I tried my best to make them look like rolling molten metal.

Flames will burst from joints, armour plates, and fractures throughout the model, creating the impression that the daemon within is constantly attempting to break free of its containment.

Look closely and you'll occasionally find demonic faces staring out from the flames themselves.

The intention is for the Burning Idol to look less like a creature and more like a prison that is only just succeeding in containing what lurks inside.

Current Specifications

Size

Approximately the size of the Forge World Taurus

Base

60mm x 100mm

Planned Components

Body

Wings

Tail

Head

Throne

Rock base

That's all for now.

I hope you've enjoyed this look behind the curtain as the Burning Idol takes shape for July.

As always, your support, likes, comments, and suggestions mean a great deal to me. One of the most rewarding parts of this project is seeing those conversations gradually work their way into the models themselves.

MM