Making a personalised chess set

So I have made several presents for my my Father in Law over the years. I really struggle to think of new ideas..........

I remember him "trying' to teach me how to play chess (with not much success!)

This was a year in the making on and off!! I really enjoyed making it but I won't be making one again! I should say why is it animal themed, we all have animal nicknames so I incorporated those all into the theme.

Any way here is my process.

I started with the King Piece to create the scale. On my illustration I put HRB (His Royal Bear!) I accidently bought stone clay so I decided to use this to my advantage and make one side all out of stone.

So I then went on to make more of the stones pieces. The Squirrel Queen.

I then made mice as the Pawns and badgers for the Bishop. The mice were challenging because their tails are fragile. so I was a bit worried about their usability. I thought it would be fun to make them hold some cheese.

Now the Castle pieces were very difficult to create because I found that making it look like it's part of the woodland themes still. I made it it like a little tree trunk with a tiny bird perched in the top.

I tidied these up (don't worry!)

Here are my Fox Knight and Badger Bishop. I think the Foxes are my favourite. They helmets, swords and shields.

So I decided to paint the stone coloured pieces with Gold because I knew the Silver would just blend in and So the White pieces with silver. I love how they came out!