Help wanted: Converting DE Cold Ones

Ok so here is a pic of some trimming I did on one of the dark elf cold ones I'm using for my lizardmen. I was wondering if I could get some help on how much else I should trim off and when I'm done trimming, how to apply the putty properly to ensure the rider will fit nicely. Any pointers/advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

It will be difficult for anyone to give specific answers unless someone who has done the same conversion happens across this..
A few general tips I can give you, constantly hold the two bits together to see how they might fit and what might need trimming/filling, every time you cut do this. Its better to not cut enough than cut too much, you can always cut more later but you can't stick bits back on.
Modelling puty is the same, add small amounts at a time. It is easier to build it up then cut it back.

 

You figure it out let us know, eh? Keep a picture log, lots of people are interested in this conversion.

 

I personally removed the entire saddle, and made a new one out of greenstuff. To make certain it fit, I pressed the lizardman model into it while it was still malleable to give it the right shape. After things had tried, glue the lizardman to the saddle.

They're not exactly the world's best looking saddles that way, but it ensures that the rider fits.

 

Well, you get rid of the entire saddle so that the rider fits well and then you can either make a saddle out of green stuff (I did this for five mounts) and it will make your Riders look just a little big for the mounts and the saddle looks awkward but in all essence, it works! The other thing I did you can look at my conversion thread here:

http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/converted-cold-ones-painting-blogg-updated-august-22nd.4174/

In this conversion I took green stuff and made the bodies all-together larger so that the saddle wouldn't look awkward and the size would scale a little better. It was a little more time consuming but it works great! And the best part is it takes almost no skill, just lots of patience. You would just put the green stuff on his back, flatten it down till the top is almost just a millimeter thick and then spread the excess green stuff into the front arm down to his bicep, a little bit down to his belly, and then spread the rest into the FRONT part of the back leg. You can tell where I spread the green stuff in this picture:




Then with your modeling tools you just copy a Cold One without green stuff and make the shape of the muscles. Just lay a regular Cold One flat and its almost like copying a picture, you just follow the lines with your tool and on the biceps you just cut the muscle in half and round the two halves. Be sure to pay attention to which Cold One you are copying though! There are two styles of left bodies and two style of right side bodies. After thats done you just start poking at the green stuff making indents in the form of circles all over to make the scales. Now its important to notice that you need to extend the neck a little otherwise the body will be too large for the head. You just make a little tiny cube of green stuff connect the head to the body and shape the green stuff almost into a trapezoid so that it goes from larger (where the body is) to smaller (where the head is). In the picture above you can kind of see what I mean about the neck. AND the best part is, after you fit them together, make them the right size, and toss some scales in, you can move the head around a little, maybe twist it, and make the head sit how you want it! Maybe turn it so he's looking to the side or anything that comes to mind!

Now, like I said, it takes time. But you CAN do it! But the saddle looks fine as well, its just a lot more noticeable that the mounts weren't meant for the riders

 

Do you think you can make a step by step tutorial with pics for every step? I haven't really done alot with green stuff before, so it would be great to see some pics of how to do it

 

Wow! You guys are awesome! I greatly appreciate your advice and interest in this conversion. I, like you, am greatly excited but nervous at the same time as I have never done something like this before :-/. Thanks especially to you elmquasmash for your extensive advice and tips. I think I'm going to fully convert one model to see how it comes and then do the other 4 in an assembly line style. I will certainly post pics of my progress and also add some detail of how each step was executed. Again, thanks for your guys help and interest. Stay tuned! ;-)