Here we are, ready to knock the final touches into place.
Details, Details
It’s easy to get bogged down in detailing a model. I try not to, but sometimes it’s fun to get a bit carried away. Such is the case with this project. I ended up redoing or undoing a lot of work, simply because I didn’t like the result or it didn’t fit the vision for the model. If you have to go back and do something over, don’t get discouraged. Use it for a learning opportunity and keep going. Even the pros redo sculpts on a regular basis for many reasons. 
One of the main features that my client and I discussed was the possibility of adding a robe. He showed me some samples from CMON that he liked for reference. While it looked appropriate, I wasn’t a fan of the idea of a full robe as it would obscure most of the sculpted details on the model. I happen to like the details, so I chose to compromise. I added just a tabard-like robe in the back, blended into the butt plates on the armor and a ragged sleeve on each arm. Additional detail, without blowing out the existing cool bits. for the butt robe I used a Mordheim plastic cloak with the animal head filed off. I didn’t want the fur detail, but I’ll fix that in a bit. I’m working with brown putty here for additional strength since this is a gaming model. Green tends to be rubbery when cured and I’ve lost more than one sleeve sculpted with green on a gaming fig. Live and learn. A bit of detail on the scythe as well, and the addition of a connecting hose from the elbow to the scythe to help tie it into the model.
Spot a problem? I sure did. While the left sleeve works (with the severed head/spine), the right just interferes with all of the hoses (on the weapon arm.) I couldn’t find a way to logically make a sleeve work with them and I didn’t want to remove them, so I removed the sleeve. Pesky logic. It’s trouble every time. I also didn’t like the sculpted attachment for the connecting arm hose so I cut that off and used a bit of tubing to replace it. (Like I should have done in the first place.)
Next up more detailing. For this round I used 50/50 brown/Apoxie. The Apoxie makes the brown a bit more pliable when sculpting but it still dries rock hard. I bulked up the remaining sleeve with it and smoothed out some of the rough spots on the butt robe while cleaning up the sculpted armor plate. I used straight Apoxie to fill in most of the fur texture. Since Apoxie is water soluble it’s ideal for this kind of application. I filed off any rough spots once it was cured. While it was wet though, I decided that the robe might be pieced together from skins or fabric, so I carved some seams in random patches to give this look. It’s very tough to spot in the pics, but it will be apparent once primed/painted.
Since I had leftover Apoxie/brown mixed up, I kept going with that for the remaining details. I stuck a ball in the end of each velocity stack and put a honeycomb pattern in it with a needle. Then the fun part: Nurgle Rot. Every Nurgle (or undead) figure has to have boils and pox on them. They just look too… clean without them. This is the easiest thing to do once you know how. Take a thin rolled out rope of putty (or sausage for you folks across the pond) and cut off tiny lengths with a knife or tool. (Make sure to keep it well lubricated to avoid sticking.) You’ll end up with little cylinders of putty. Take each one between your fingers and roll it into a ball. It takes practice, and even then you’ll usually end up with an ovoid. If you have that, just cut it in half and apply it to the model where you want to have something nasty going on. Right away you’ll notice that tiny little balls of putty won’t want to stick where you place them, especially on pewter. This is due to two reasons. One, the oils on your fingers just mixed with the putty and reduced the tackiness. Two, the tiny surface area won’t have much sticking power to begin with. Solution? Take a toothpick and apply a small dot of superglue where you want your boil (or rivet, or what have you). Then immediately apply your ball of putty. The superglue will fuse with the putty instantly and keep it in place. Once you have the first in place, others around it are easier to get to stick as they have the additional side surfaces to adhere to as well. Long-winded explanation for a simple process. here’s how they look.
Looks good, but needed one final touch. I snagged a set of dangling skulls (from PP’s Epic Butcher) and attached them to the scythe. Now we have a proper OOT GW weapon!. A few more bits and bobs here & there and Typhus is ready to claim some heads.
And just for a final comparison to see just how far I took this conversion, here’s the original next to my final piece.
I hope you enjoyed reading these installments. I enjoyed this project very much, despite the many setbacks along the way. My client has already expressed his appreciation for the end result and that makes it all worthwhile. Until next time.
–YW7–
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