Koyote's Age of Magic -SAGA

[Ogrob]

The spider conversions are great! The size comparison looks fine to me, when they are mounted you really can't tell the models are smaller.

[Grumpy Gnome]

I can always tell when someone has done well with their spiders because my arachnophobia starts kicking in. Brilliant job, very much looking forward to seeing them painted so I can be filled with proper loathing.

[Munindk]

Turning a silly or downright ugly model like the GW spider into that is inspired 
And you make it look so simple too.

[Koyote]

Thanks everyone.

I'm certainly not the first person to perform this conversion, so the credit for this idea isn't all mine.

Also, by accident or design, the contact points between the outer legs (the front and back legs) and the inner legs on each side of the model are relatively short and in some places quite thin (see red arrows below).  This makes separating the legs much easier than you'd imagine.  Just make sure you use a new blade and a steady hand, or you are apt to slice into your fingers.

I use a method of cutting where I apply just enough pressure to the blade to cut a short distance through the plastic and then relax the pressure.  I repeat this over and over until I cut all the way through a particular section of plastic.  I've found that if I try to power through the cut in one single push, I have less control over the direction of the blade and I am apt to over-cut or lose control of the blade at the end of the cut when the blade breaks free from the plastic.




The contact points between the rear outer legs and the rear inner legs are longer, and in some places, a bit thicker than you find between the forelegs.  To narrow the thickness of the plastic, I used the tip of the blade to cut furrows along the recess between the legs (see dashed red lines below).  I repeated this a couple of times in order to deepen the furrows.




Finally, starting at the rear of the model, I cut slowly forward, as described above, following the track of the furrows.

[DintheDin]

An arduous job, but brings fruits!
Thanks for sharing your W.I.P.!

[Koyote]

I want to have several equipment options for my Warlord, so I purchased Shieldwolf Miniatures Goblin Hero with 2 Handed Weapon to serve as my Warlord on foot.  The axe blade is absurdly large, but for me that's part of this model's ridiculous charm.

To accentuate the massive overhead blow this fellow is about to deliver to some hapless foe, I mounted the Warlord on a stump. 

Equipping a Warlord with a heavy weapon is a gamble, as it reduces its melee armor to 4 and prevents the Warlord from Closing Ranks.   With this in mind, I converted a spear from bits found in the GW Spider Rider kit, so that the Warlord can be equipped with a regular hand weapon (i.e. "no equipment).  The plan is to insert small magnets into the wrists and hands so that I can swap out weapons.

The model still needs some greenstuff work to make him look more like a proper forest goblin.

[Sangennaru]

That's just brilliant!!

The only thing missing now are photo-etched ferns!  <3

[scatterbrains]

Thank you for sharing the how to on the spider! You may not be the first but it's the only one I've seen. Really great of you to take the time to share the process!

[Koyote]

This giant bat, the Bloodhunter Dire Bat, is another resin 3D printed model from an Etsy seller.  The print turned out quite good. 

I'm going to use it as a Monster (Scourge) or, if I play my goblins as Lords of the Wild, as a flying Beast mount.  As with my mounted Hearthguard, my motivation for adding the bat is to give my forest goblin warband a bit more mobility and speed.

For a Monster, it's a tad small, so I used some greenstuff and a resin log to add another half inch to its height.

The first photo is a size comparison pic.  The other three show the Dire Bat from different angles.  I inserted a magnet into its back to hold a rider in place, and covered the magnet  with greenstuff to conceal it.

[Ogrob]

Nice! This will all look great when done, love the basing and the care that you put into everything.

[Bloggard]

looks blooming ace to me.

[Koyote]

Below are some WIP photos of my Dire Bat rider.

I started with a forest goblin from the Shieldwolf kit.  I removed the models legs at the upper thighs and used my hobby knife to carve out the model's groin area.  I used bent pieces of metal rod (leftovers from metal spears) to serve as the skeleton for the model's new legs and to reposition the angle of the feet. I glued a magnet to its butt to keep the model on the bat.



Next, I used greenstuff to sculpt the calves and the outer part of the thigh.  Once the GS had been given a little bit of time to set up, I applied water to the inside of the legs and then sat the model on the bat's back.  This shaped the inside of legs to match the contours of the bat's back.  The combination of letting the GS set up and the water kept the GS from sticking to the bat's back. 



Once the legs were dry, I realized that there was still a big gap between the inner thighs and crotch of the goblin and the bat's back, so I used greenstuff to bulk out the thighs, extend the rectangular belly plate, and add a skirt. The extended belly plate and skirt also hid the magnet.   

Lastly, I gave the little fella a bit of gear by adding a sheathed knife and a small satchel.  Both bits are from the Frostgrave Barbarian plastic kit.  Eventually, the model will be equipped with a shield from the Shielfwolf forest goblin kit.







The last bit of work I need to do is to use greenstuff to fill in the cracks where the shoulders meets the torso, extend the foot wrappings to the bottom of the feet, and to sculpt the bottom of the feet and toes.

[Koyote]

Lords of the Wild Warlord on flying Beast

[Maddoc]

Bloody love it  

[scatterbrains]

Fantastic mounted lord conversion. A unique center piece for a unique army!