Of the three Nurgle projects, this was the one that started it all. The others were included as we were chatting back and forth about what direction to take with this guy. But I’m getting ahead of myself…
Something Ugly This Way Comes
By any standard, the Demon Prince of Nurgle is one ugly model. It’s supposed to be. Come on, Nurgle ain’t pretty. That being said, I’m definitely not a huge fan of the stock model:
I’m sure some of it has to do with the paint job. The huge bug eye just bothers me for some reason. That had to change. The gun arm just feels “tacked” on at a weird angle as well. Oh, here’s the commission parameters:
- Add a set of wings from PP’s Terminus model
- Go nuts.
When this was proposed to me I had to take the job as I could totally see the Terminus wings on the back of this beast. When told to do whatever else I felt like, well that pretty much sealed the deal. I had to remake this ugly model into MY vision of ugly. *insert evil chuckle*
Roll Call
Taking stock of the parts at hand:
Solid Stance
At first, I entertained a notion about modifying the stance in a substantial manner. Once I received the model however, that quickly changed. That was going to take a major amount of cutting, re-pinning and sculpting. Not impossible by a long shot, but the project was big enough already so I chose the subtle route. Since each leg is separate, it was a simple matter to spread the stance out a bit by pinning the legs to the torso at a slight angle. After mounting the feet to the provided resin base and elevating the fore foot on a terrain element it exaggerated the effect as well. Simple, subtle and yet effective.
You’ll notice from the side view that the feet are forward on the base as well. This is planning ahead to help counterbalance the weight of the heavy metal wings that will be on the back. Both feet are pinned through the base using 1/16″ brass rod at slight angles to each other. This also helps with the lateral strength of the joins to the base. These legs aren’t coming back off even if I want them to.
It’s All In The Hips
The next step was to plant the torso firmly on the legs. This was accomplished by planting not one, not two, but three 1/16″ brass rods through the base of the torso into the hips. This torso isn’t going anywhere without some serious force being applied.
Next came the only problem with doing it this way. When I lined up the torso I had the front held on to make sure there was proper clearance. In my aggressive drilling and pinning it slipped backward slightly. Now when the front was attached it left a slight gap towards the bottom of the join. Nothing major though. I was able to grind out the connection on the inside and get it to fit as flush as possible.
Look At Me Son!
Now for the head. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: head position sells a pose! Having a lame or wonky position to a head can flat out ruin a conversion. In this case I decided to go for the old “stepping on something while issuing a challenge” pose. Sounds weird, I know. But it’s dirt common in fantasy minis. No reason not to use it here as it works. In this case I pinned the head on with the chin jutting forward as if he’s roaring at something in front of him. The stock position just doesn’t have an aggressive feel to me. To further a primal feel I added tusks in the lower jaw, similar to ogres or gorillas. The gorilla is pretty much the inspiration for the entire piece. Picture a winged 700 pound mutant gorilla and you’ll get my idea. (I apologize for the blurry pics. My camera was having real difficulty focusing on so much metal.)
It will take some build up work later with putty to fill that in, but the result is worth it to me. I felt the model was kind of split down the middle with an organic side and the other with the remnants of the Space Marine armor he was wearing. To further this theme I added a couple of hoses to the side of the head like many modified Marines might have. (Or at least that’s my excuse. 
)
Stovepipes Anyone?
The last mod to the torso was to add some stacks to the back, similar to the Typhus model, as I wanted them to tie together visually on the table. Not a lot of space so I settled for three down the spine. (It wasn’t until much later with the wings on that I noticed the similarity to the Terminus model with the three stacks. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I suppose, especially when it’s unconscious.)
