Model Of The Month: Daishi's Frost Dragon by DanBKing
By: DanBKing
February 8th, 2013
1:43 pm
When I first saw Daishi's Model of the Month design and build of the Frost Dragon from the Skyrim episode of the Elder Scrolls game, I nearly badly injured myself, when my jaw hit the floor so hard, in stunned awe! I nearly fell in the bathroom too, as I ran to get tissues because,.... well..... never mind!
Anyway, I would like to present my attempt at building this beauty.
I would like to point out at the start, that I am no gamer. I have never played the Elder Scrolls V game, or any of the others for that matter. I have always loved dragons, and in my younger days, I used to collect all the white metal dragon minatures from The Games Workshop. I had a large collection then, but they unfortuantly have all been lost in the past.
Even though I have only been paper modelling for just under a year, and am not very experienced, when I saw Daishis stunning model, I just HAD to give it a go. 
As I have been building only technical 'hard' model designs, so far, I thought I would like to try my hand at biological/figurine type model for a change. And the Frost Dragon is my subject.
I decided to print the model in two weights of paper: 120gsm for the small intricate assemblies like the head, and 160gsm for the rest. I made an error at the printers, as the pages were printed on glossy photo paper, 
, not exactly the correct texture for a dragon. But, I intend overcoming the shiny problem by spraying the whole model in various coats of matt acrylic varnish.
After reading various comments about the stability of the completed model, I decided to design an internal bracing armature for the legs and wings. To add to this, I also wanted to be able to remove the tail and wing assemblies, in case I ever need to move house, (or transport it to a paper model exhibition. 
)
I spent a week or so studying the sub-assemblies in Pepakura, deciding how the heck I was gonna achieve all this, as well as building the very difficult model itself!! (What did I get myself into .....?
)
I decided to move the joints of the wings to the body, to the elbow joint, instead of at the shoulder. The reason for this was to utilize gravity at the joint, so that I could attach the wings without glue, or any other form of bond, keeping in mind the wire armature holding the wings up, that attaches inside the body.
A bit difficult to explain, but it will hopefully come clear to you all (and me) as the build goes on.
I want to use a strong magnet and plate to hold the tail on, and I don't forsee too many problems with that. I am undecided as to whether I am going to make the head/neck assembly detachable aswell, if so I'll use the same system as the tail.
Most of the armature design is in my head, and I have planned how I am going to build it, sort of...
(A lot of the design will involve making it up as I go along.) I am going to have to build the model assemblies AROUND the armature I think, as there are too many bend angles to insert the armature after the model is built.
This model is a tab-haters worst nightmare!!!!!!! But, I stuck to the original design, because there was no way I was gonna attempt this by edge glueing everything. Some say I am a crazy Englishman, but I am definately not insane 
I started with the head and neck, which is the most difficult part according to Daishi. I started with the back of the throat and built outwards, almost as if the head is regurgitating itself into existance!!
There are 690 parts to the model in total, so let's start with the first 4, that make up the tongue...
Attachment 114372
I edge coloured all the parts using markers and water colour pencils before assembly. The throat and inside of the mouth were made up and the tongue attached.
Attachment 114373
Next the front parts of the inside of the mouth were attached. The one piece that makes up the lower jaw, cheeks and a small strip along the top of the mouth was attached. That top strip is only about 1-2 mm wide in places....
Attachment 114374
The next pieces were attached which included the first of the many horns on the model. The horns were pre assembled and glued on when the holding pieces were already attached to the head.
Attachment 114375
Next up the ridge under the eyes. (Tab-haters, please look away now....)
Attachment 114376
The two smaller horns were then made up and attached.
Attachment 114377
Back in a bit.......
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177 comments on "Model Of The Month: Daishi's Frost Dragon by DanBKing"
February 8, 2013 at 2:02 pm
The bottom of the jaw was closed up and the the two horns under the chin were attached.
So, back to standard paper parts.... Well, it was an idea.....
Attachment 114383
Next the eye sockets and part of the nose piece was folded and attached.
Attachment 114378
The two large horns on the back of the head were made up and attached.
Attachment 114382
Next the eyes.....
Attachment 114379
I tried an experiment at this stage, and made up a set of eyeballs from the heads of coloured map pins (in this case, white!) I cut a thin line in the plastic and filled it with black colour and then used a blue dry wipe marker for the blue. Once this was all dry I coated the eyeball with acrylic floor wax to give it a 'wet shine'.
Attachment 114380
I thought they looked quite realistic, but unfortuantly, when I glued them into the paper socket with CA glue, the glue reacted with the acrylic wax and caused it to peel off the plastic ball. The ball fell out and left a filmy, horrible looking mess in the socket.
So, (still without eyeballs,) this is where we are now.
Attachment 114381
See you all soon.
February 9, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Managed to get a bit more done with the head today. Basically the head is complete. I am going to fit the teeth after I get the neck done, just in case I break the teeth off with my clumsy fingers while building the neck.
I first made up the nose horn and nostrils....
Attachment 114412
I made up the paper eyes and fitted them. The last piece to close in the head is folded and edge coloured.
Attachment 114413
So, apart from the teeth, this is the completed head.....
Attachment 114414
Attachment 114415
Tomorrow, on to the neck.....
February 10, 2013 at 12:58 am
Looks VERY nice!
on a side note Im seriously thinking on building a 2nd dragon using one of the enhanced dragon textures, from a mod. If I do so Ill most likely try to do an internal brace for the legs too, if nothing else. And Im also thinking of putting the dragon on a Word Wall which should give it more stability against tipping over. Not sure yet, just giving a heads up.
February 10, 2013 at 5:29 am
Looks VERY nice!
on a side note Im seriously thinking on building a 2nd dragon using one of the enhanced dragon textures, from a mod. If I do so Ill most likely try to do an internal brace for the legs too, if nothing else. And Im also thinking of putting the dragon on a Word Wall which should give it more stability against tipping over. Not sure yet, just giving a heads up.
Thank you for the compliment Daishi. Coming from you, that means a lot to me.
As with the internal bracing, I am making it up as I go along, but hopefully you might get some ideas that will help in your new design. I am thinking of using expanding foam in some parts of the model to hold the internal frame correctly and add strength to the whole model.
Will the new dragon be based on this one, or are you designing a completely different one ????
Two different dragons would look great as sentinals looking over and protecting my other paper models ....
February 10, 2013 at 6:29 am
Looks great!!! Thats A LOT of tabs!
THanks for sharing
Chris
February 10, 2013 at 8:17 am
Will the new dragon be based on this one, or are you designing a completely different one ????
Two different dragons would look great as sentinals looking over and protecting my other paper models ....
February 10, 2013 at 8:52 am
Nah Id use the same template witm maybe the different stone stand, and a white purplish white color scheme on the dragon (the one the frost dragons in Skyrim actually have)
I think I'll wait before I decide to build another one, and see what this one turns out like!
If it is a disaster, then I have a good excuse to build another one. Learn by one, improve on the new.
But, if it turns out ok, I'll build another one anyway!
I am working on the back of the neck at the moment, man that is more fiddly than the head was!!! I'll post a few pics later!
February 10, 2013 at 9:08 am
Looks great. I admire this model too
February 10, 2013 at 1:17 pm
Thank you all for the kind comments everybody...
)
How the *-*-* do you roll the tips of the teeth??? They are sooo tiny. I tried with 160gsm 3 times, and at 120gsm 3 times, but failed miserably. 
I started on the plating and spikes on the back of the neck today. The head was difficult and required delicate finger and tweezer use to build, but the back of the neck, I have found as fiddly as hell at the moment. Maybe I am just having a brain/hand/sight co-ordination problem today......
Anyway, some pics..
I made up each plate section and attached them in turn. The spikes are nice and sharp, and to keep them that way I soaked the tips in ca glue up to about 1/4 the way down.
Attachment 114460
This is where I am at... (Which took me over 8 hours....!
Attachment 114461
Attachment 114462
I got bored making neck plates, so I decided to have a go at a few teeth ......
AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
So, I decided to make my own teeth with toothpicks......
I whittled the tips of the toothpicks to the approximate shape required. The lower paper part of each tooth I used for size reference once rolled. I used a blunt toothpick and the back of a mouse mat to shape these.
Attachment 114463
Once the fit and shape was good, I glued the paper part in position directly to the toothpick without using a tab. Once this was dry, I dipped the tip of each toothpick briefly in water, and then gently bent the tooth to the required form and angle. Once this was dry, I coloured each tooth black, ready for dry brushing highlights later.
Attachment 114464
I got the top set of teeth done ready for highlighting.
Attachment 114465
That's it for today. Depending on how busy my week ahead is, I hope to get some more done on the dragon.
See you all soon.
February 10, 2013 at 3:24 pm
Great idea! I'll keep that in mind when I am tackling it someday.