Gorilla Daemon Prince: Flying Monkey Monster!

TJ here continuing with the Daemon Prince/ Greater Daemon model we discussed recently. I have done a considerable amount of green stuff work to smooth everything into place and I am now ready to show it off to you before it gets some paint on it. Let's take a look:
First off, the pose above is exactly what I wanted out of this model. Every project has some aspect that is my favorite little part and in this case it is that tilted, knuckle-crash before the wings beat and carry it away with a victim - look (that's a mouthful). To get him there, I had to screw him into the base, but how to do it and make it look natural?

I ran a 1/4" screw up through the bottom of the base (which is why I needed to add the GW base to the bottom of this Ironheart Artisans base). In order to get the tilt I needed for the pose, the model would have no contact with the base, minus the screw, so I used a power drill to drill up through the base and into the Daemon's arm, as deep as I could through the thickest part of the arm (luckily this guy is HUGE).

With the screw in place, I knew it would be a distraction, so I covered it up with some green stuff and sculpted it as a part of the base. I then disguised it by adding more green stuff rocky parts into the area around the small stanchion the DP is crashing though (and technically hold himself up by). It looks funny now, but since I took these photos, I have added some paint to it and it looks natural.

So, after going through the wings I had in the bits box, the plastic DP wings had the size and pose I would need for the model. I also have four pairs of them. I was worried about them at first, but once I looked at just how much of the Helbrute is made of flesh (most of the model), it was obvious that I could pull this off and most folks wouldn't even see the old Dreadnought aesthetics once it was done.

In terms of models to use as a base for a bio/mechanical daemon, the Helbrute from Dark Vengeance is pretty much where it is at. It as this sweet spinal column exposed from it's back, banks of flesh around the exhaust stacks, hoses, pistons and tons of extra details worked into the model that are going to bring the finished look together better than I really expect (or so I think now, we will see). Also, this model is the first I have ever worked with where I had to sculpt the BOTTOM of the feet ... which is an odd thing to highlight, but there are some nuances to sculpting them and I spent a lot of time online looking at the bottoms of animal feet (like elephants) and even some human feet. Hopefully it translates in the final product.

In order to buff the model up to its full, steroid-induced potential, I worked some green stuff into the gaps between the arms and the shoulders of the model. I also sculpted some decent musculature into the winds to match the existing wings and to add some detail to the unimpressive back of the original Helbrute. I also filled some gaps and took the opportunity to make little bulged veins and strained flesh to help capture the mutant and monstrous aspects of a giant, flying, ape-daemon in armor with mechanical parts.

I also gave it a tongue.

That is it for today, if you are interested in the base, please check out Ironheart Artisans. Otherwise, feedback is always welcome! I look forward to finishing this guy and posting him up soon!