Nacho's Lizardmen

[Nacho]

Hello everyone

I'm Nacho, and what I love the most about Lizardmen/Seraphon (and fantasy figures in general, especially those from Games Workshop), is that they give so much room for conversions, kitbashing and scratch build, in my opinion, much more than miniatures from warhammer 40k or futuristic settings (though my 40k army is Tau, so not many things to try in that faction XD). I really love the unique look so many of you are able to give to your army by converting models, and i really have no words to express how much i like some of the scratch builds i've seen on this site, and though i know i can't do things as good as some of you (i can't sculpt a face for my life), i want to try and make my army look different from others.

By the way, i suck at painting; I'm really bad at it, probably due to lack of experience and time to improve (i have to study A LOT for an upcoming exam, and if i do well, i'll be able to be a surgeon in my city), but i usually get a little time here and there to work on my miniatures. I've tried some painting, but 20 minutes one day and then not be able (or be willing to) have another half hour for a week doesn't help to improve, but with "sculpting" and kitbashing, i can leave the unfinished model in the shelves and not care about it for a week without losing quality. So, to summarize, i probably won't be posting pics of painted models, at least for now (actually, i don't have any painted lizardmen models ye), but i will be posting pics of some of my conversions and creations, although not very often.

Anyway, any comment, criticism, opinion on how to do something, or about how to improve, is really welcome. Comments and criticism is how we improve. See you around!

 

[Nacho]

Saurus Astrolith Bearer (WIP)

So, the reason to make this conversion is simple: I hate the GW astrolith bearer figure. Really. Look at his face. Such a blank expression, like he doesn't know what he is doing, wheter he is holding a club or a sausage. And that, coming from a figure which, alongside the general, is the most important one in the army (specially with Lizardmen, as the Slann and the astrolith bearer seem to be a must in every list i've seen), is not very appealing. And i wanted the figure to be bulkier, more menacing.

I really like the banner itself, but it looks like too overloaded for a banner, and looking through google, i came across Lorrec's Astrolith bearer conversion (you can find it here: http://www.lustria-online.com/threads/astrolith-bearer-conversion.21613/ ), and i really liked the idea. So simple yet so elegant. So I tried something similar, but with a twist in mind: i wanted the banner to have some "energy", like electricity. I'm still working on this part, but the rest is kind of finished (i need to borrow a welding gun for my idea), but i'll show you some sort of rendering for it.

By, the way, sorry for the poor quality of the photos, but i do them with the phone's camera.

So here it is. I will post pictures in order, so you know how it progressed:

 

[Nacho]

Okay, I don't know how to add more pictures to the previous post once i posted it, so I'll have to use this one

 

[Nacho]

This is the flagpole for the banner. At the moment it's pinned so I can take it out for storage and, in the future, for painting it separately (as is the head of the figure). The skul it sits on is one from a giant kit a friend bought (I think it was the one that came attached to the giant's club).



This is the original idea for the banner. The red stripes are "lightning arcs" that converge in the centre, but i actually gonna use 3 stripes (like x, y and z) instead of 4. They are simple pins. The wire in the centre is like a "ball of energy":



At the moment, the wor on the banner is this:



And this is the model with all it's parts assembled. Still Wip (i need the welding gun):



So, what do you think? Should I add something more to the banner? Or is it better to keep it simple?

 

[Aginor]

I think it looks promising!

 

[ravagekitteh]

Looks amazing so far! Definitely befitting the model’s role!

 

[Cageyblood]

Nice work on the green stuff scales bridging all those gaps, and that astrolith is definitely going to turn some heads! Watching this thread with great interest indeed.

My two cents is that you don’t need anything else to the banner when the centrepiece of it is so impressive, but seeing the rest of your work here I’m sure you could pull it off regardless.

Also, I’m going to google around for the kit that skull came from based on the info you’ve said, but if anyone knows for sure where I could get it (or something like it) that’d be excellent.

 

[Warden]

Looks great so far, maybe some sort of lizardy knick-knack over top of the plasticard on the bottom? Glyphs or skull-thing to cover up that piece of white plasticard-looking stuff might help a bit!

 

[Nacho]

It won't stay in plasticard, I'll greenstuff something there, but I was thinking to keep it simple and plain, no glyphs, but maybe i'll give it a try, depends on the space left, but i'll sure give it a try.

Cageyblood, I've checked, and the skull is from the (now named) Aleguzzler Gargant kit, you just have to separate it from the club.

This is the idea of how it will be when it's finished:



The black things the rays come from, i want them to look like the cilinders from the bottom of tettoeko's (now skink starseer) palanquin, but i don't know if i will be able to do the same pattern. This ones:

 

[Irish Lizarman]

very fancy

 

[Nacho]

Yesterday I was able to do some work on the banner itself. It still has some work left to do, but not much.



By the way, I hate the look of the super glue when it dries on the metal.

 

[Nacho]

So, It's now finished (apart from painting; that will take A LOT more time). I am really happy with the result, but I still ask myself if it's enough, or if i should add a little more details, like some feathers, or some haging skulls. I really can't tell if the figure needs something more or if i should stop here.

Any comments, criticism and ideas are welcomed.

Parts used:
- Body of a Saurus Warrior
- Torso, arms, legs and head from the Oldblood on foot from the Carnosaur kit (the spare ones)
- Left hand with a weapon from the Carnosaur kit
- Right arm of a Saurus Warrior standard bearer
- Standard from the Saurus Guard
- Engine of the Gods colums
- Dinosaur skull from the Aleguzzler Gargant kit, the one in the giant's club

That and wire, greenstuff, plasticard, and some wire ball i found around the house (don't really know where it came from).

P.S.: By the way, sorry about the poor quality of the photos.

 

[Cageyblood]

I don't think it needs any further adornment, but maybe some runes in the parts of the ring you made from greenstuff? It looks a bit odd that there are glyphs all around the outside and they just stop when it reaches the sections that were added on.

Otherwise, very VERY impressed and can't wait to see it painted.

 

[Aginor]

Agree, it looks very cool!

 

[tom ndege]

That is one impressive astrolith bearer!
Good job!

 

[Luke Argotti-Thomson]

Wow scrolling through the conversion post stumbled across this, that's some serious skill! Please post your next conversion!

 

[Warden]

Looks great, and I like the basing

 

[Nacho]

Hello everybody again. I've been thinking about the ideas you gave me about the Saurus astrolithBearer, and I've made a couploe changes to the banner. I've made some feathers so the banner doesn't look so simple, and as I bought a box of terradon riders, i've added a couple things from that box. Still some work to do, so it's not finished yet.






I've done some more things, bought a bastiladon and assembled it (just the regular build, no conversions there), but i've made the base for it a bit more fancy, using the Aztec Rolling Pin from greenstuffworld.com




And lastly, I've finally started the changes on my old slann (one of the 2 models i didn't sell years ago), as I have to adapt him to the new round bases (from 5 cm square, to a 5 cm diameter... basically the base for the AoS slann is smaller than the old warhammer fantasy one).

Before (you can find the thread i used years ago here: http://lustria-online.com/threads/my-lore-of-life-slann-throne-of-vines.7687/ ; I changed my username because i forgot my old password account and deleted the email attached to that account, that's why the username is different):


After:



As you can see, I have to remake all the base, but at least I can use him now. I was a little worried i couldn't change the base without damaging the model, but it has come out quite right (some minor things to redo, but at least it didn't break).

And here is the slann itself. It's an old 5th edition slann, and i've removed the crown and the staff, but i think i will have to reposition the arm, as i want him to look as if he is throwing the fireball, and now he just seems to be holding it instead of throwing it.



And here is a question. In order to use the kroak mask on the slann I have to literally cut his eyes out, because if i don't the mask doesn't fit. I think the mask would look great on him, but i don't want to cut the eyes out. What would you do? I'm more inclined to leave him as it is, but different opinions are always welcome if you think it would make a better model.

(The fireball is from a wizkids miniature for Dungeons and Dragons)

 

[Crowsfoot]

That is some mighty fine greenstuff work, very nice I love it

 

[Aginor]

Great work!