Screaming Skull Catapult Kitbash, Part 4

With a final bit of sculpting, I finish up the catapult this week:

 

 

After settling on using the Bone Tithe Nexus skulls...

 

 

...and cutting off the bar at the top of the catapult...

 

 

...it's time to make it all work together. I cut the angled backs of the skulls flat and glue them to the ends of the bar. Next, I drill holes in the top of the catapult where the pins will fit in, and make corresponding holes in the bar so I can hold the parts together while working on them. I also make some holes in the sides of the bar support where the horns will attach.

 

 

The horns need to have some material removed, which shortens them up a bit (They were much too long) and everything looks like it will be situated properly.

 

 

Since the plastic skull is basically just a face, I need to fill out the rest of it. I start by sculpting more teeth to fill in the gaps on either side of the front teeth.

 

 

Then, I sculpt the back of the cranium with Aves Apoxie Sculpt. Once it cures, I use Brown Stuff putty (which is a little easier to control) to sculpt the zygomatic arch on each side.

 

 

After all the putty has hardened, I add a collar around the bar with some styrene tube and thin rod to make the rivets.

 

 

The newly sculpted skulls have obscured the attachment points for the horns a bit, so I re-drill the holes and trim a little more material from the horns to get them to fit. I glue them in place, and fill in the gaps with putty.

 

 

The final touch is to add some wrappings to "hold" everything in place. I start with the wrappings around the horns and below the skull.

 

 

While that putty is firming up, I sculpt more wrappings on the top of the catapult.

 

 

While the lower set of putty is still soft, I press the skulls into position, and allow everything to finish curing. By adding some Chapstick to the top half, I prevent the parts from sticking together so I will be able to pull the skulls off and disassemble the war machine for painting.

 

 

The last step is attaching the vulture from the Screaming Skull kit. He fits pretty well on top of the skull, only requiring a bit of putty under his feet, and a pin for a solid connection.

 

 

At last! My converted Screaming Skull catapult is ready for painting!

 

 

I finished the assembly on Wednesday night this past week, which left only Thursday and Friday to paint it for the tournament I attended on Saturday. As a bit of extra motivation, I submitted my army list with the catapult included, so I couldn't back out and change it at the last minute. But two days were enough– I finished it in record time, and it saw some serious action on the battlefield.

 
I didn't have time to take any proper photos of the painted catapult before the tournament, but here's a sneak peek of it in action:

 

 

The catapult performed brilliantly on its first outing. It inflicted some serious damage to a Great Unclean One and a Chaos Dwarf Bale Taurus, allowing the Ushabti Archers to finish off the behemoths. And it only exploded once over the three games.

 
'Til next time!