Stumpy the Tree Tortoise is finished

Good lord! I just looked back on the blog to see when I'd started this guy....I originally built the armature in July. I can't believe I've actually taken that long to finish him...though I guess I've had a number of other things competing for my personal sculpting time, including other sculptures. Anyway, at long last he's done, and I will commence painting soon. And I already have a heap of other sculpture designs on the table, just waiting for me to start them...

His design was based mostly on the giant Galapagos tortoise, though the legs are based on the African spur-shinned tortoise, which has these wonderful rough spurs/spikes on the front of its forelegs. The tree stump is based almost completely on an old gnarled stump in the local park, from a huge tree that was knocked down by a freak storm a few years ago.