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Statistical:
Used models and raw materials:
The Project, step by step:
Not being content with the way the Nagash figure by Games Workshop looked, and wanting a truly eye-catching centrepiece for my Undead army, I had been planning this conversion for a long time before actually getting to work on it. Mostly since I had no idea what it was I actually wanted to do.
And a very important part of converting a model is: knowing what you, since you don't get second chances once you start cutting up a model....
One thing I knew for sure: The Dracolich had to stay like it was. I had absolutely no desire to ruin a limited edition model (only 6000 made) because the sawblade slipped. So after a long time of making plans and comming up with ideas, the whole thing went like this...
Step One, Changing the position of the sword-arm.
Since moving the sword to an upright position would make the folds in the robe all wrong, the entire arm had to be re-sculpted, so I decided to cut away the hand (with sword), cut this hand in two and reposition the rear end of the gauntlet. This was done to give the impression of a bent wrist (a natural occuring position if you hold something aloft). The interior of the arm was made out of copper-wire, bent into the right angles to simuled the elbow. The hand was pinned onto this wire and the space created by cutting the hand in two was filled with putty. Upon glueing this contraption in the right angle, I noticed that the shoulder-pad from the armour would interfere with the upper part of the arm if I left it in place, so I cut out a wedge shaped form and repositioned this shoulder-pad top a more upright position. Then the entire sleeved arm was sculpted from putty, sanded down with a very fine sanding-paper and covered with some epoxy to give it strength and to fill out some of the smaller gaps, inaccessible with sanding-paper.
Since the pommel of the sword was halfway embedded in the original sleeve, it had to be replaced. For this I used the scull on top of Nagash's helmet, which was comming off anyway (see step two)
Step Two, Remodeling the head.
Being totally disgusted with the helm the original Nagash model wears, this was one of the first steps that I was sure of doing: Cutting away the helmet with one horizontal cut, just above the rim of the helmet and one just behind the triangle on the front of the helmet resulted in a crown-shaped headband. By filling up the cut slightly oval-shaped (with putty of course), the impression of a skull circled by a crown is complete. To created a more "lively" effect, I also made a cut in the neck and in the middle of the teeth. This made it possible to "bend open" the head, creating an open mouth for Nagash. The rear end was of course cleaned up with putty, filed down and sanded down to remove all traces of the rear-end cut.
Step Three, Modeling the saddle and legs.
Not much to tell about this one. Using the plastic casing as a base to work form the entire saddle was made of putty, and again, filed and sanded down like the other parts. As soon as the saddle was done, I inserted copper wire into the saddle, as a basis to model the legs around. And again, here we go with the putty...
(Although this is told really short, this was actually the longest part of the project)
Step Four, Modeling the Left arm.
First of all, the staff had to be removed, since the reigns would have to start from this hand.. I carefully sawed away both parts, right where they connected to the hand, since I would still need the leftovers. After this was done, I cut off the hand, and replaced it after rotating it 90°. Placing the arm back and filling out the gaps was a sinch compared to modeling an entire arm and two legs...
Step Five, Painting the soon to be inaccessible areas.
Just what it says: Painting...
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Step Six, Putting the staff together again.
Restoring the staff was a simple matter of drilling a hole right into both pieces, connecting them with copper-wire, and filling the newly created handle with my trusted ... putty. Again, sanding down and putting epoxy on it.
Step Seven, Putting the pieces together
Now it was time to put the upper and lower body together. Since pinning was not an option (the putty based saddle would not support the weight of the upper body if a wire was drilled into the centre), I used "accessories" to support the upper body. To the left, the book I recovered from the original lower body, to the right, the top of a High Elf spear (nicely fullfilling the role of sword) and to the rear, the recently restored staff.
Step Eight, Painting
Relieved to see all the sculpting done, I could now proceed to paint the entire model.... The end is in sight.
Step Nine, Making the reigns
Very easy: Just glue the necklace to the hands (one piece on either side), measure the distance needed to reach the horns, clip off excess length and slide the rings over the horns.
The Final Step, Varnishing
Just like it says, to keep the paint on the model for a long, long time, since I'm not planning such a big job anytime soon...
