Kit-bashing!!
It hasn’t all just been fun and games here in the World of
Spleens, oh no, there is also model building, terrain construction, figure
painting and of course, kit bashing! Research into which head fits whose body
and what axe works best with which shield and what manufacturer has the best
figures for which conversion project continues and when the dice stop rolling
the hobby knife gets cutting, the green stuff gets stuffing and the glue gets
sticking. It’s a positive factory of kit-bash!
It’s compulsive, I can’t help myself, put any two plastic
models down next to each other and I am instantly considering possibilities.
When I was looking for models to create an Orc War Beast I found these two toys and immediately started to consider the options
The expression on his face alone was worth it!
add some green stuff
add some more, some strapping, some large spinal scales and
a tail
Large beast projects are fun! Subtle they are not; a razor
saw is essential kit and a BIG pot of green.
The rubbery plastic is surprisingly detailed and easy to cut,
tricky to glue, I don’t bother, I use large bore copper wire to fix and fill
with green stuff.
What do you call a cross between a dinosaur and a
rhinocerous?
Rhinosaurus is born
He just needs a wobbly wooden structure tied on with rope and chains and lots of kitbashed orcses to hang from them
Face Off! A SBG
ME Ranger stripped of face, arm and some other bits
Face from a Gripping Beast Heavy Arab Cavalry man, use a new
blade!
Fix face to head with tiny smear of super glue
Add a small belt quiver and a blow pipe cut from a spear
shaft , small slots cut along its length with razor saw, end drilled out with
tiny 0.3 mm drill bit and pin vice and a suitably vicious curved knife-ta dah!
Assassin!
The Making of a Hero The leader of my Sothron Empire Battle Company, Khabaal, has had an interesting campaign and has done very well, so I thought it would be a good idea to give him a more distinctive (and better) model. The body is from Victrix Anglo Dane, I want him to have greaves like all my other Easterling axe men, hence the Victrix Carthaginian warrior legs, the axe and arms are Frostgrave Barbarian, the head is
Getting the legs in the right position is crucial for the
animation and pose of the model. I clip the base around the feet and leave a
small piece of base in situ; I can then cut this at an angle if needed to add a
bend to the knee.
I line the model up with its feet on a line on the cutting
mat to get an idea of what stance the model will have. I do this several times
before I cut above the knee at the desired angle and fix in pace with Cyanoacrylate
(super glue)
Top tip score the surfaces with the tip of a knife blade,
use a tiny drop of super glue with or without a thin smear of green-stuff.
I mount most of my figures on pennies, so I have one near to
make sure he does not have too much of a power stance to fit
Cut the arms to fit, affix with superglue, at this stage I am mostly concerned with the correct pose and I look from every angle until I am happy. Any spaces can be filled with green-stuff.
Fill in the gaping hole and shape to resemble a flowing silk
sleeve
I cut the helmet off using a razor saw, truly a great
investment
fix it with a good dollop of green stuff leaving a rim to
sculpt and file into a band when cured
His head did not look very natural originally so I added a
“ruff” of fur to lift it
From the front I am pleased with his pose, his front foot
faces in the right direction, I think he looks convincing.
I will add some more fur detail, a horn for rallying his
men, and his swan head lucky talisman and a shield.
I could not really produce a new Khabaal model and not treat
his right hand man Dhalmud to the same treatment
The body is Victrix Anglo Dane, nice scale armour, very
appropriate for Easterlings I think, these models are also “large for the
scale” very suitable for heroes! The arms/axe are Frostgrave barbarians
I shaved his legs of detail and carved a vertical slit in
his calves to represent the greaves
I didn’t use this head in the end
I used this one, Victrix viking I think
I used similar
techniques to create the head an fix it in place
I like this guy , he has a nice animation
He looks “chunky” like he can really handle that hefty axe
Bothfigures require some fine filing to remove rough bits
Top tips
Use a sharp blade
Wait 10-15 minutes after mixing green stuff before using it
Score every surface that requires adhesive
Be brave! what is there to lose?
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