Kitbashed Archon

Well, while I do have a nice Raging Heroes mini on the way for my Archon, I found myself taking a break from painting my Ravager and decided to create a makeshift Archon using bits from the slowly growing pile of spares. It's great how many bits we get in our boxes, isn't it?



Okay, so, the torso and legs are obviously a Raider passenger, the splinter pistol was generic Kabalite Warrior pinned in at the elbow with a blade added to the barrel of the pistol and the Sybarite helm-crest added to the grip to act as a Shadowfield Generator.

((NB: I was going to add that crest to the forearm to act like the Eldar Shimmershield, but a Deldar version, but couldn't make it and all the other gubbins fit properly.))

The left forearm is from a Hekatrix with Venom Blade but the blade itself is from the Finecast Succubus. I think it looks better here - almost like a cutlass! Maybe I should call her the YARRRRchon.

Lessee, the left (her left) pauldron spike is a Wych knife, the back banner is a Kabalite banner pinned onto the back of the torso with a Kabalite bayonet sliced in half and stuck on the end for stabbier...ness... the little skull danglies are from some kind of Forgeworld resin kit.

The Helm is a standard Kabalite warrior helm with the top chopped off and a Sybarite topknot glued in place, with another Kabalite bayonet cut in half and glued to the eyebrows of the helm.

And obviously the absolutely rubbish cape is made of Greenstuff. Rest assured, I will be attempting to twist and cut it to look more interesting.

Comments and critiques welcome!

Raucir

That's pretty good conversion. I really like kabuto-style helmet.

[edit]

Advice about cape - You may try to experiment with thick alluminium foil covered in epoxy glue (who know, maybe from alluminium can?). Or two-three layers glued with light layer of epoxy glue, bend it when it start to be rubber-like. I've made trench coat for My Ork Warboss before I've decided that "Pimp Mek" would look "better".

That is nice. I, too, like the helmet very much.

Luv it, lots of nice little touches that add up to great effect overall. Well done!

Very cool! I aslo really like the helmet, I may steal the idea if it's okay with you.

Thanks for the encouragement, guys!

The cape should be fully cured by tomorrow so I'll undercoat the blighter then and work on a fitting colour scheme.

Incubi Death wrote:

Very cool! I aslo really like the helmet, I may steal the idea if it's okay with you.

No problem! I was quite pleased with how much the helm reminded me of Dark Elf helms - there are some lovely helms in that range but I needed something that was instantly recognisable as Dark Eldar. I did come up with some alternate helm ideas using Kabalite bayonets - perhaps I'll build more characters that way.

Thanks for your time!

Raucir

I like your model but have a few suggestions.

The pose doesn't seem right to me, I feel that the flow of the model should go with the direction the legs are pointing.

For me the model doesn't scream 'Archon', looks more apt to be a Dracon. I like what you have done to the helmet and the additions to the armour but she needs more to truly stand out. For that I'd suggest a bigger cape, perhaps some fur on the shoulders, maybe a flayed face on the torso? Take your cue from some of the artwork in the Codex.

I'm not a fan of the splinter pistol and all the gubbins on it. I like what you did with the addition to the grip, it's a clever idea, I think the pistol would look better without the spike. I'd also swap round the weapons: have the sword raised in the air as if she is raising a challenge and the pistol outstretched so as to keep her balance.

Thanks for the suggestions, Sky!

I am pleased with the effort I put in (I hardly ever bother with all this cutting and shaving and pinning and greenstuffing), but she doesn't quite pop as much as I would have liked, either. Admittedly this is a sideproject rather than a full-on Archon attempt (Ohoho, the pieces I'll be needing for that are still being listed...), but I'll postpone the undercoating until I've had a bit of a fiddle.

Quote :

...I'd suggest a bigger cape, perhaps some fur on the shoulders, maybe a flayed face on the torso? Take your cue from some of the artwork in the Codex.

Hahahahahah! Have you seen the amateur cape on this thing? My greenstuffing abilities are way too underdeveloped for things like fur and faces - believe me, the tutorials just don't seem to help. I think I'd rather settle with a decent if mediocre job rather than a terrible Top Gear effort*.

Either way, I'll have a rethink tomorrow. Maybe later, if I get tired of painting this Ravager.

Thanks for your advice again,

Raucir






*"Ambitious, but rubbish!"

A flayed face is probably the easiest thing to sculpt. It can be any shape seeing as it is being stretched and you simply poke eyes and a mouth in and its done. Fur ir really simple too, just start with a blob of green stuff and simply stipple it and pull away through the putty so often, then go back and do it again when's cured.

I make fur by making "waves" with needle/sharp pencil, just exactly like reading the book, line by line, from left to right, from top to bottom, if I can use that analogy to explain whole process. Then few random strokes just to break "elegant", "brushed" look

I like this a lot.

My critiques are

Cape should be going in the opposite direction.

I don't like the extra bitz on the splinter pistol.

I do like the sword and the helmet and the pose is really well done I think, but the cape detracts from it.

Looking forward to seeing it painted.