Modeling: Blood of Martyrs

Last week I worked on some Protectorate miniatures– specifically the warcaster Thyra and her personal warjack, Blood of Martyrs. 

I've been collecting my Protectorate army since 2003, and so I wanted to the style of Blood of Martyr's chassis to match my classic metal warjacks. I also wanted the 'jack to emulate Thyra's dynamic pose. 

To build this conversion, I used the best parts from the plastic and metal kits. The Vanquisher's hull was chosen due to the arrow embellishments on the shoulder trim.

For the legs, I combined the metal waist and loincloth with the plastic legs to create the model's deep stance.

To accommodate the plastic arms, I needed to remove the metal cuffs on the shoulders.  This wasn't as difficult as I initially thought.  The cuff came off with just a few cuts with my clippers, and then I smoothed out the rough patch with files.

I used the larger furnace from the plastic kit.  A jeweler's saw was used to carefully cut away each furnace from its boiler.

Before gluing the boiler and smokestacks in place, I puttied over the cut-away parts of the stacks and repaired some missing rivets on the back.

The plastic furnace was then glued in place and filled out with putty.

The final step was to add some extra pipes with styrene rod and modeling putty.

To mimic Thyra's pose I reversed the blade in the Blood of Martyr's left hand.  I needed to adjust the arm cuff to keep the sword from touching the ground.  I was able to remove the upper arm pistons fairly cleanly with a few knife cuts.  This allowed me more freedom to play with the pose and reattach the pistons in any position.

The right hand was glued on at a slight angle to tilt the sword forward.

With the torso, arms, and legs built, all that remained was to pin all of the parts together.  A little paint, and Thyra and her 'jack are ready to kick ass for the lord!

Check out some detail shots of the completed model (and some other goodies) in my Protectorate gallery.

'Til next time!