The Flying Lion of Doooom! Manticore conversion blog

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Xizor
Chris Tomlin
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The Flying Lion of Doooom! Manticore conversion blog

Post by Xizor »

Hey,

Some of you may remember my Dark Elf army, The Heartless. I've planned to add some more stuff to them this year, even if I dont really intend to play with them all that much.

I've been talking about a Manticore since the middle of last year and with my new found love for getting battered at this game (something to do with using Beasts!?) currently I thought it seemed a prime time to knock one out!

So I have spent a bit of time over the last couple of days starting on my Manticore conversion...its pretty heavy duty, the most indepth conversion I have ever attempted for sure. I have been busting out my Dremel big time for this, for all manner of tasks. I will also have a good deal of greenstuffing to try my hand at.

Anyway, whilst its very WiP at the moment, heres what Ive done...

Image
Image

The Manticore will have a big pin in his chest that will go all the way down through the rock (which is full of coins and blutack already!). All the weight is in the front of the beast, and this will be held fairly centrally over the base so whilst it was/is a concern, I actually dont envisage any problems with balance (storage is another matter, though this should be solved when I get my Battlefoam case). After the extensive GS work I need to do on him, there is also the matter of adding a tail. I want to go more old school and give him a proper Scorpion style tail. I have my finger in a few pies on this matter.

The rider will have my favourite Dark Elf head, the Beastmaster from the Manticore box set. He will be armed in his left arm with one of the Dark Eldar Wych flails (if it fits with the wing...may have to rethink!) and will be pointing angrily with his right arm. I will also try and get a shield and empty helmet around his waist. I suppose I should make an option for a Lance or something so I may opt for magnetized arms.

I really want this to be a nice looking peice, and one of the things I'll be doing to improve things will be to do the snow differently to the rest of my army (shouldnt stand out too badly on the table).

So expect some semi-regular updates whilst I work on this inbetween other things.

Cheers,
Chris
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Kurl-soulrender
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Post by Kurl-soulrender »

It looks pretty nice so far mate. The hindlegs and back is from the griffin - right?

All in all a nice model, the magnetized arms would be cool and give you a nice variating model. :D

Keep it up, and get that mf finished and painted! ; D
-JK.
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Lord_azoth
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Post by Lord_azoth »

really nice conversion..maybe the GS looks a bit rough.
Once it dries try to sand it off a bit
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Xizor
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Post by Xizor »

Lord_Azoth wrote:really nice conversion..maybe the GS looks a bit rough.
Once it dries try to sand it off a bit


Thats only the first layer, to hold the shape together...this is very work in progress. A lot more to be done :)

The back is indeed from the IoB Griffon.

Thanks for the replies,

Chris
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Diablo
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Post by Diablo »

Like your idea, much better than the other conversion posted here somewhere. I have though some ideas what to do diferently but i dont want to criticise too much :D
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Xizor
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Post by Xizor »

I'd be more than interested in hearing your ideas :)
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Diablo
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Post by Diablo »

Well, when i convert im trying to do things as "real" as it could be (i mean, try to do things proportional, according to weight distribution,....), not throw it off the table with "its mythical/fantasy, i dont have to care for such things". So how "real" are you trying to get?
Second, are you trying to get manticore swooping down to crush some puny human/elf/goblin under its claw?
And one fluff-thing, DE use chainmails, not splint mails. ;)
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Saori_nightstar
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Post by Saori_nightstar »

wow nice idea!
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Xizor
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Post by Xizor »

Cheers guys :)

Keep forgetting to update this...

I have done a bit more work on the Manticore. This is my first go at proper greenstuffing (Ive done the odd cloak, bit of fur, but it was all basic) and bugger me its difficult! I have so much admiration for all those who just knock entire models up from scratch!

In the photos below I have applied some basic shapes, I need to wait a little while for it to harden a bit before trying to improve it, so thought it was a good time to put up the photos.

So as you'll see Im in the progress on putting a hood on the Sea Dragon Cloak, mostly so that it joins to the body better. I'm also having a crack at a saddle, including the bit that ties around under the Manticore. I'm also extending the mane, and also giving him what I suppose are essentially pubes!! :P

Oh, you'll have of course noticed the Scorpion tail. I am really happy with this, once again I got a bit lucky with a random part (off a toy I hadnt even seen in the flesh) fitting just how I wanted. It stands out a bit right now, but Im pretty sure thats down to the colour difference of the materials.

I have also magnetized the flail arm.

Anyway, enjoy the new photos. They were quickly taken on my phone so excuse quality. Also please remember that it is all WiP, so I know there is rough greenstuff etc kicking about all over the figure.

Image
Image
Image
Image

*Here are some older photos that I forgot to post on this forum*

Image
Image

The head and flail arm are just blutacked on at the moment as I still have much greenstuffing to do on the body of the beast. Im pretty sure I will magnetize the arms, so I can do him a Lance and some other bits at a later date, but for now, I really like how the weighted flail sits with the movement of the figure, and with the pointing arm it should look quite dramatic (I hope).



Cheers,
Chris
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Noble korhedron
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Post by Noble korhedron »

A good job - a damn, damn good job! And just an F.Y.I, "the bit that goes around under the manticore" is known as a 'girth' or 'girth strap'. :)
Regards,

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Post by xFallenx »

Looking pretty damn amazing so far!
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Post by Dark Alliance »

Finish him for Summer Incursion Chris?
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Eolelfslayer
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Post by Eolelfslayer »

I like it so far, really really like it!
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Post by L1qw1d »

this is awesome!

I think the odd thing i discovered with the model was that you NEED that basing!
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