Converting Plague Censer Bearers, Part 2

Time to build the handles for the two-handed censer flails:

 

For this conversion, I'm still only using parts from the plastic Plague Monk kit. I selected some of the staves that bracelets or wrappings that would make it easy to cut the wrists. I cleaned all the mold lines, and trimmed off the red portion at the tops of each staff Arm 3 has a nice ring that makes a perfect cut-off point, leaving ring as a metal cap on the end. (All the others need to have a the bit of cap cut off the top and glued back on to the shortened staff.) 

 

For the right arms, I used the following parts, chosen because the arm is mostly outstretched. You'll notice that arms 3 and 4 are made up of two different parts; this was done to use the outstretched arms and get more variety in the sleeves. The mold lines were cleaned, and the red portions trimmed away. 

 

 

I used a pin vise with a bit sized for a paperclip, and drilled out each of the right hands. I did this before clipping the sleeves so I had more to hold onto.

 

 

Here's where things got a little tricky. I selected a right hand and left hand for the model, and cut each at the wrist.

 

 

Then, I drilled the arm and wrist, and inserted paperclip "pins" into each hand, and through the right hand. These pins made it easier to rotate the hands and position the staff between the them.

 

 

When attaching the right arm, I used a hobby knife to shave some plastic off each surface so the arm would angle inward a little when attached at the shoulder.

 

 

I pinned the hand in place and made sure the pin in its hand was properly angled toward the left hand before gluing the right arm at the shoulder. I repeated the process for the left arm, gluing only the shoulder. Then, with the sleeves in place, I reconfirmed the position of the hands, and trimmed the central section of the staff so it matched up with the right hand.

 

 

I drilled the center section of staff, and fit it over the pin in the right hand, and secured both hands with extra thin super glue so it could run into the recesses and pin holes without having to remove any parts. I used one of the cut-off bits of staff to make the bottom of the handle.

 

 

Because of the custom fit of the hands, I couldn't really use an assembly line process, and had to go through each model one-by-one. (Fortunately, I only have to build 15!)

 

 

I glued the model on its base and added a head. For the censer itself, I bent the wire rope to give it a nice "swing," drilled out the top of the staff and trimmed the pin on the rope so it could plug in. The flails are being kept separate so I can prime them white and paint them separately.

 

 

 

'Til next time!