Aella13

Throne of Everblight Conversion: Planning

Original upload date: September 24 2013

It was at this point that I started planning my most ambitious project to date.

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I heard other Legion players talking about how good The Throne is with my (at the time) favourite Warlock, Thagrosh, but I really didn’t like the original model. So during my design stage I made a tally of all the things that I like about the model and the things I hate while keeping in mind Privateer Press’s converting restrictions (must retain weapons, no other manufacturers, etc) and came up with this:

Tentacles: They have to stay as they are the beast’s main weapons.
Sorceress: She’s fine.
Toothy Maw: Gross, but it suits the monster.
Metal Platform: Looks wicked cool.
Weird Tower Shape: Why is it so tall? I don’t like his tubular look.
Icky Brain Matter: Blargh. I don’t like the fleshy folds.

So I wanted a way to get rid of the tall shape and fleshy folds while retaining the tentacles, maw, platform and sorceress. I then realised that one of the reasons that I love the sorceress on the platform is that it reminds me of this:

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It’s a Magus from the Warhammer Online game that I tried out years ago, modelled after GW’s Disc of Tzeentch. I love the Spellcaster on hovering disc look, so that’s the direction I decided to take. Now as for the beastie itself, the maw surrounded by tentacles reminds me of this:

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It’s the Watcher in the Water from the Lord of the Rings. I like the idea of the maw emerging from a pool surrounded by the tentacles. But how will I put these two together? I could have the beast coming out of a pool in the ground while the sorceress floats overhead, but it may look like it’s reaching up to attack her. Then I had another idea:

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This is from another game, RIFT, that I tried out when it went free-to-play. I love the idea of a portal opening up overhead and tentacles of an eldritch abomination reaching down…

So my first draft was: “The sorceress will be standing on the top of the Throne platform hovering above the base. Over her head will be a portal from which the tentacles and maw will be emerging downward. There are a couple of issues: the main one is that it will be top heavy so I will have to secure it very strongly to its base. Another is that I’m not sure yet what to make the portal out of. But anyway, that’s what I’m going to try, and no doubt the draft will be revised as I have further ideas.”

Thanks for reading, likes/shares/comments are appreciated!

Aella13

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Original upload date: September 7 2013 – September 30 2013

I converted up a mounted version of the plastic Lylyth to use as my Raptor unit leader and wrote a little guide in case anyone wanted to copy the idea:

Aella’s Guide to Converting Lylyth4: Raptor Leader of Everblight

Step 1: Assemble your bits. For this conversion you will need:

  • One Raptor (you will not need the rider’s torso)
  • One Plastic Lylyth (you will not need her legs)
  • Optional: One Raptor Bow

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Step 2: Remove mould lines from all the pieces and glue the two halves of the elk mount together onto its base.

Step 3: Lylyth’s cloak has a raised socket moulded into it for her legs to fit. Gently and carefully use a modelling knife to remove this bulk. You will want her cloak to be approximately uniform in thickness. Do not worry about making it smooth as this part of the cloak will be obscured in the final assembly.

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Step 4: Lylyth’s cloak initially hangs below her torso. We need to change the angle so that it flows out behind her over the mount. This is why it’s handy to use the plastic version of Lylyth. Heat the plastic and slowly bend the cloak backwards. You will need to continually dry-fit Lylyth against your assembled elk mount to see how she fits. I found my hair-dryer to be too slow for this, so I popped her into a pot of boiling water. Be aware that you will only have a few seconds to bend the plastic before it hardens again. Take your time, bend, test and reheat until you are satisfied with the fit. If she isn’t bending well, you may need to go back to Step 3 and cut the cloak a little thinner.
Note: You could use the metal Lylyth model for this conversion, but the P.P. metal is brittle and not suited for bending. You may need to resculpt the cloak instead. Additionally the metal version of this sculpt is not conveniently separated at the waist.

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Step 5: (Optional) You may use the original Lylyth’s weapon, but I thought it was too recognisable, and I wanted to tie her more closely into the Raptors unit. Use a sharp hobby knife to remove Lylyth’s hand from the bow and trim the excess. I chose to separate her wrist as well so that I could rotate the bow’s angle to one I preferred. Pin the new weapon to Lylyth’s hand, taking care that the bow is straight.

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Step 6: Assemble the rest of Lylyth as normal, adding the Raptor’s sword to her back.

Step 7: Fill up any gaps with your product of choice, and admire your handiwork!

Here is the finished Lylyth Raptor Leader. She was a relatively easy conversion, and very quick too.

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Nyss Raptor Conversion

And here are the painted Raptors:

Nyss Raptor

Nyss Raptor

Nyss Raptor Conversion

Thanks for reading, likes/shares/comments are appreciated!

Aella13

Feralgeist

Original upload date: August 5 2013

This was my first Minions model. At first I thought this would be a quick and easy one-colour model, but then I looked up some pics for inspiration and found the monotone to be a little boring. So, I started having this crazy idea of his colour changing from neutral colours matching my beasts at the bottom to an ethereal blue up top.

Feralgeist

The white blending was hard and I think I might have gotten a little RSI on my wrist (Ouch!) but I really enjoyed watching him transform.

Feralgeist

Thanks for reading, likes/shares/comments are appreciated!

Aella13

Spawning Vessel Conversion

Original upload date: July 15 2013 – August 25 2013

Perhaps I should clarify that it is the Spawning Vessel Acolyths that are converted, and not the pot itself.

As usual I didn’t want duplicates, and unfortunately the six Acolyths only come in two poses. Luckily they were easy enough to tweak. The one on the left is stock-standard haft-you-in-the-face pose. The middle one I slightly lowered the weapon into a more relaxed stance. I then had to sculpt a new upper arm for her as well as the feathers on her cloak which I damaged as I tried to repose her. The last one involved snipping the hand off the weapon and pinning it back together. I then sculpted back in the missing weapon haft, her upper arm and a rudimentary dagger.

Spawning Vessel Conversion

I had trouble fitting her arm into a natural position and I wasn’t happy with the dagger, so I changed the angle and replaced her dagger with a shard of bone, which I think suits the unit better.

Spawning Vessel Conversion

Here’s the finished Spawning Vessel unit:

Spawning Vessel

In my mind, I imagine that the blight affects the Nyss in different ways. Sometimes it’s only a cosmetic change, like the little spikes jutting out of Saeryn’s face. Sometimes it’s a useful change like the legs of the Striders. Sometimes I imagine that the blight is a bad change, like horrible weeping protrusions that cause the bearer discomfort or pain. If the blight is particularly bad, the affected individual may have no choice but the wrap themselves in bandages and march behind the Everblight army, picking the field clear of corpses. Like lepers, they would be shunned for their affliction and their fellow Acolytes of the Vessel would be their only company.

Spawning Vessel Conversion

With that in mind I stained their bandages and painted their robes black to emphasise their cultist look, and their separation from the rest of the army. I had fun painting this unit, but I might have gone a little overboard with the blood splatter!

Spawning Vessel

Thanks for reading, likes/shares/comments are appreciated!

Aella13

Thagrosh Conversion

Original upload date: April 16 2013 – July 28 2013

I disliked Thagrosh’s pointy head, so I tried something quite ambitious for my skill-level at the time. Up until this point, my greenstuffing skills consisted mostly of gap-filling and head/weapon swaps. I think this project, and the positive feedback I received for it, really helped inspire me to try even more ambitious projects, like my Deathstalker and later my Throne of Everblight Horror.

First, I cut away parts of his head and sculpted armour plates and filigree over the top. This is a WIP after I’d finished the edges and begun working the spirals inward.

Thagrosh Conversion

I decided that I disliked his long loincloth so I cut it off and tried sculpting a new one. It was my first time sculpting cloth, so there’s room for improvement.

Thagrosh Conversion

Here’s the finished conversion. In summary, after chopping off his pointy head, I added a helmet and filigree. I then chopped off his long cloth and resculpted a shorter one. I added a leather executioner-style hood with a couple of stitches and finally a fur trim to his cloth.

Thagrosh Conversion

I think the folds in his leather could be better and the fur would have been better if it were a little shaggier. I put this down to my complete inexperience sculpting these textures, so it’s a point I can improve upon next time.

Thagrosh Conversion

My favourite bits would have to be the way I managed to get his hood to swoop around, adding a little movement to an otherwise static model.

Thagrosh Conversion

And here he is painted up:

Thagrosh Conversion

Thagrosh Conversion

Thagrosh ConversionThagrosh Conversion

When I started painting him, I became worried that all those browns and neutral colours would look a little dull. So I took advantage of his large chest area to incorporate a tattoo. I found it very tricky to blackline and highlight because it is so small, but I am pleased with the end result.

Thanks for reading, likes/shares/comments are appreciated!