Converting a Colossus

Not content to ever build a "stock" model (even under a time crunch), I converted a unique Bone Giant. Here's how it all came together:

I've had the parts for a metal Bone Giant in my backstock for a while, and decided to assemble and paint him so I could check the box for painting a monster on my Wargame Hobby Bingo card. I figured I could knock him out pretty quickly, but nothing is ever as easy at it seems. First off, I had used the giant's head for Nagash, so I would have to come up with an alternative. (The model had come with TWO heads, but I couldn't find the other one.)

 

 

The next problem arose while fitting the parts together– I felt that the model was a little short. To add some extra height, I extended his legs and his spine with metal floral rod.

 

 

To cover the extensions, I used Aves Apoxie Sculpt putty to fill in the bones...

 

...and then sculpted more bandages in a few places. I also sculpted the vertebrae on his spine, and did a little repair work on one of the arms that had cracked.

 

The next step was to attach the torso and legs to finalize the giant's pose.

 

To solve the issue of the missing head, I turned to my Warsphinx kit. When I eventually build the model, it will be the Necrosphinx version, so I pulled the monster skull from the Warsphinx to use on the Bone Giant.

 

 

I removed the spike from its mouth and smoothed over some of the detail on its skull. I also filled in the cavity underneath so it could attach to the giant's neck.

 

This worked out pretty well, because I could make this new giant an homage to my old Warmaster Bone Giant– 

 

The little guy has a similarly feline monster skull. As a further tribute, I decided to add the skeleton hanging from his belt. For this, I used some classic skeleton parts, rearranged into a hanging pose. I wrapped thin wire around his wrists and ankles for the ties.

 

 

To attach him, I drilled a couple of holes by the giant's belt, and fed thicker floral wire into them, wrapped around and through the skeleton's hands. I applied some thin superglue to set everything, and he's quite secure.

 

The Warmaster Bone Giant has a club made from a stick and a jawbone. I considered replicating this with one of the clubs from the Aleguzzler Gargant kit, but it just didn't fit the aesthetic of the model, and I decided to keep him armed with two swords instead.

 

While working, I was inspired to add some extra shoulder guards, made from spare rib cages from my Morghasts. They fit perfectly around the collar, and the only work I did was to remove the suprasternal notch between the clavicles, and smooth over the attachment with a little putty.

 

 

I didn't care for the giant's khopesh-style swords. They seemed a little small and flimsy for such a large fighter. Instead, I swapped them for two halberd blades from the Morghast kit. The tip of each blade was trimmed a little to remove the flat edge, leaving the broad hook. They were pinned in place over the remaining grip in the giant's hand. Here's a look at the big guy with his swords and a few other trophy details on his belt:

 

Now he just needs some paint.

'Til next time!