To add to our recent Insiders that take a peek at the creative process of some of our models, I thought I’d share a bit on the newest warcaster for the Retribution of Scyrah. Magister Helynna made her debut just a short time back in the new editions battlebox for Retribution.

I try to work on a few factions as often as possible, including Retribution, so when this new wave of warcasters was being concepted, I was excited to work on another brand-new face to add to my list of ’casters from the Retribution (I also recently sculpted both Issyria and Thyron).

One of my initial concerns was the bulky House Shyeel armor she would be wearing. I did not want this to detract that she was a female ’caster, but I also did not want to deviate from the concept that had captured this house armor so well. I even consulted Art Director Mike Vaillancourt to verify this was absolutely the look we wanted! As always, he assured me he knew what he was doing—and he was right.

In sculpting Magister Helynna, I realized a lot of her details were familiar to me: the soft curves of the armor, the leather bands on her legs and arms, the etching. My only real worry was that I wanted her to stand out as a warcaster. Her pose was going to be a fun one, like a “Shaolin monk,” as Mike told me. What was significant here was to really overemphasize the details so they would jump out in the material used in the new battlebox.

The end result, despite my worries, was a really nice addition to the Retribution forces. Magister Helynna stands out on the battlefield and, from the early reports, seems to really hold her own! Below you are some work-in-progress shots and then a final version. Bear in mind, sometimes it takes awhile for it to start looking nice!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying this sculpt and my work on Retribution; I hear there may be another new Retribution ’caster coming to Gen Con!