Iron Fang Pikeman IKRPG character conversion

I was digging through my bits box today when I picked out the one random Iron Fang Pikeman I got in a big trade a long time ago. Inspiration hit and I decided to make an Iron Kingdome RPG character or NPC.

I added a lot of battle damage to his shield and armour. A lot of this will show up a lot better once I've painted it.

I don't know why, but I wanted to give him a sword so I glued this sheathed one which I believe is a Nyss hunter sword for the ones who are holding their bows.

I also added a bulge in the cloak to allow for the length of the sword, this adds a touch of realism in the conversion which I like to try to do.

I also gave him a backpack, as most adventurers would not get far without the various things you need to carry somehow.

I couldn't decide which type of backpack to give him so I asked the community!

I find that sometimes when making a conversion I can get decision paralysis, so asking others can help me move on with a project.

Thanks to everyone who answered with their preference, even if I didn't end up picking what you suggested. (I did go with the most popular though)

I found these really small leather pouches and got the urge to add some behind his shield. I don't know what he keeps in them but it's sure to be something important!

I decided he needed some ranged option, so gave him a small hand crossbow with an attached quiver.

I added a thin strip of green stuff to serve as a leather strap to hold them in place.

I am really happy with how he turned out and am ready to call him done and ready for painting. If you have any suggestions on anything you would change or add before I paint I'm happy to hear it and take it in mind. 

I will be painting him to match a friend of mines Black Dragon Pikeman, as I like to tie all our local armies into the same Iron Kingdoms world when I run the IKPRG.

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. I don't put any finished content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article as well as posting wip projects.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!

Model Review: The Living Covenant

Today we take a look at The Living Covenant, a Specialist class hero in Riot Quest and a Protectorate of Menoth Solo in Warmachine. He comes in a single metal piece.

This is an impressive sculpt with the person projecting up out of the pages of the book through the fire. It will certainly be a challenge to paint the flames right next to other details, I might actually finally have to learn how to do object source lighting...

It's really hard to see in these pictures (I would love a camera upgrade one day...) but there are actually pages sculpted onto the upper view of the book. This is a really nice touch which will add a lot of realism when painting as a wash or dry brush will pick them out nicely.

There are more flames holding up the cover of the book, presumably, this is how it travels about via flames.

And here it is "fully assembled"... 

Here is the scale shot with Professor Pendrake. The living Covenant scales well and is a decently imposing figure. It had barely any clean up at all and obviously, assembly was simple...

Overall this is likely a must buy for Protectorate players, but it's also a nice easy Riot Quest model to add to your collection. 

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. I don't put any content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article as well as some wip content.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!

Scratch built Primal Archon Painted

Here is my scratch built primal archon. My aim was to make it fit in with my Gators by having it made of Orgoth ruins like the Sacral vault but risen up out of the swamp by dark magics in a similar manner to Boneswarms.

I know some people don't like scratch builds or conversions, but I love them. I could have simply bought a primal archon but I wanted it to match my vision for what a primal archon in my Gator army would look like.

I actually finished painting this back in 2021, but I had originally promised to make a blog post about how I made it combined with the finished model post you are reading now. 
I struggled for a long time writing the article which felt unwieldy and ultimately I wasn't happy with, so I decided to just make the finished project article you are reading. 
I might get around to making the "how I made it" post if there is enough interest though, but no promises this time.

I tried to make the pose similar to the original model to make identification of the model as simple as possible. Though like with a lot of conversions communication is key to having a smooth gaming experience!

It was important to me that this look like a bunch of stone animated rose up out of the swamps, so adding a variety of plantlife was always part of my plan when making this. 
I didn't know how it would end up looking part way though making it however and was worried wether or not I would be able to sell the conscept.  

The face is press moulded from a Reaper bones models shield. It fit perfectly with my Orgoth stone theme for the model. I did have to hide the areas around what would have been the edge of the shield. I did this with vines, plants and Orgoth runes.

I press moulded the Orgoth runes from my sacral vault and placed them in various places on the model, such as here on the arm. I gave them a purple glow effect, in my painting version of the Iron Kingdoms each "type" of magic gets a different colour. Orgoth get purple.

This open hand was tricky to make but well worth the extra time it took. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Its hard to get decent pictures of the swampy base, but there is a spine of some beast in among the water and plants.

I even added a spider to the side of its "head", it was a fun little addition which makes me smile at least.

This was a very fun, although long project to work on. I started making this a very long time ago and ended up with a policy of - if I was using greenstuff on a different project and I finished up and had left over green stuff - I would use it up making vines or sculpting more to this model. 
It wasn't until late 2021 when I decided to push through and finish the model once and for all.

I plan to make a second primal archon, but the next one will be a bit different visually. I'm planning to base it around the skull of a Dracodile as well as Orgoth ruins. But thats a different project for a different article...
(though if you would like to see it happen let me know as people's interest in my projects does affect my motivation and drive to actually bother to complete them)

Using money from my generous supporters over at Patreon I purchased a rotating display stand. I like to put the money from supporters back into improving the content I make.
I'm hoping to get better at making these over time, one thing I know I want to save for is a better camera (I currently use my phone).
Please let me know what you think of this addition to my painted model articles.
If you like it please like, comment, and subscribe on Youtube it really does help with letting Youtube know it's a video worth suggesting to other hobbyists. (And it upsets Mike...)

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. I don't put any finished content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article as well as posting wip projects.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!

Model Review: Widget Mathlete Archeologist

Today we take a look at Widget Mathlete Archeologist who is a Gunner class hero in Riot Quest and a Mecenary and Convergence (partisan) Solo in Warmachine. She comes in three metal pieces.

The main body is nicely detailed with crisp fur detailing befitting the winter theme of this wave of Riot Quest models.

The attachment point for the base is quite small and this makes it tricky to attach. I found using some bluetack to hold it in place while the glue dried helped.

On her back is the attachment point for the gun arm and wings.

The left arm and wing are connected with the main attachment which plugs into the hole on the back. This should be glued in place before attempting to glue on the right wing.
It was a little tricky to get the second wing to stay in place in a way that was lined up to look nice, I found I had to just be really patient with it while the glue dried. (Our you could use super glue activator... but I don't own any)

I do find the gun to be disappointing looking. It looks more like a spud gun than a fantastical drone launcher. 

The wings look really nice, they look like a great progression from the one her first incarnation mixed with Convergence winged models.

And here she is fully assembled.

And here is the scale shot with Professor Pendrake. Widget scales nicely within the model range.

Overall she is a nicely made model with good posing somewhat let down by the less than great connection points and a disappointing looking gun.

I do like how the face has been sculpted to be less goofy looking this time round. 

This model looks like it will be a lot of fun to paint though, so keep an eye out - I'll be sure to post her painted up here one day...

If you want to support my content consider taking a look at my Patreon which you can find here. I don't put any content behind a paywall but I do offer rewards to people who support me in ways like getting to vote on what content I work on in the future or outright just picking the next subject of an article as well as some wip content.

Even if it's just $1 it really helps me out!

See you all next time!