Da Ghostz, Draig's Modelling Wotnotz

Draig's Kavalree Waaagh!
O&G Cavalry Project

Hello everyone and welcome to my cavalry project.

I have recently returned to the hobby after about a year and a half traveling (some of the older members might remember me!) Problem is, before I left I gave away most of my gits as presents so I have been forced to start again from scratch >.<

Still, it's not all bad. For a while I've wanted to do a serious army building project where each rank and file trooper gets at least some conversion work, the idea being that no two models look remotely the same. As I used to play an all mounted army this seemed like a perfect opportunity to rebuild my army and try out the modeling project at the same time - the smaller number of models in a cavalry army mean I can spend more time converting on each figure.

One thing I don't really like about GW cavalry is the poses, there just isn't enough variety. They are fine in small groups but when you have a whole army of them they tend too look rather static and similar. So I decided to play around over the weekend and see if I could make a more dynamic model, the goal being to capture some of the motion of a cavalry trooper thundering across the battlefield on his mount.

I figured the best (most Orcy) way to start was not to plan anything but to cut stuff up and have a play around! After a couple of hours and having burned through 3 wolves and 2 spiders I finished my test models.

Wolf Rider




This model came out as well as I could have hoped for. Lots of repositioning of limbs and green stuff to fill the gaps but it looks more like a wolf in motion now.

Spider Rider




Here I didn't so much want to capture speed as the idea of a spider creeping towards you, legs everywhere as it poured over the terrain. So lots of leg repositioning and a rock added to the base to show the spider moving over it.

Anyway thats it for now. I'll be working out a 1000 point list today and then over the next week I'll start work on the army. I plan do build one unit at a time, starting with the fast cavalry, so watch this space!

See you next time!

Draig

This post has been edited by Draig on Dec 7 2009, 03:07 AM

Looking very promising! Yeah I do agree that you need to convert alot to get a good looking cavalry army and I can see that that is what you aim for.

I wish you luck and I'll be lurking in the shadows watching at you... (doing your army that is!)

This post has been edited by Snotstaff on Jan 27 2008, 03:01 PM

Hello Mate,

Looking good! Nice poses on the models, they all look ready for action!!

Bidiot.

Nice looking models draig, I really like how they got repostioned. I see forward to the next conversions.

Greetz
G

Oooh, folks just keep coming back here

Cool to see ya again, Draig.
And I gotta say, mimicing Snottie, looks very promising.
Remember Angrybeaver's army? (Linkage)
A heap of inspiriation for making wolf riders (though from the looks of it, you got some already ).


Also, nice work on the spider.
Did it take a lot of time/fuzz?
'Cause I made some Spider Rides just, well, a month ago and I gotta say I was a bit afraid of cutting into the legs (being fairly thin and hard to glue, or so I would imagine).
Anyways, it looks great. Haven't seen a whole lot of converted Spiders (and they sure can need a bit more dynamic poses - I mean, just look at their riders who are just chillin' on top of them!)

Wow, no I didn't but there is some great stuff in there, thanks for the link.

Short answer is yes, a lot of time. When I pulled the spiders out of the box (first time I had seen them) I was really disappointed they were one piece. Once you get the legs off its a bit messy. I found the best way was to pin them back to the body individually with flexible wire, bending it to the right shape then gluing 'em in place. Fairly bullet proof but very fiddly. Luckily I'm only planning on having 5 of em in the first 1k!

Army List sort of finalised. I have put it up for discussion here so hop on over if you want to throw things at me! I'll summarize briefly.

Orc Big Boss - Akkrit Axe, Light Armour, Shield, Boar

Goblin Big Boss - Martog's Best Basha, Light Armour, Shield, Wolf

Goblin Big Boss - One Hit Wunda, Light Armour, Shield, Gigantic Spider

9 Wolf Riders - Light Armour, Shield, Spear, Std & Mus

5 Wolf Riders - Light Armour, Spear, Mus

5 Wolf Riders - Light Armour, Spear, Mus

5 Spider Riders - Light Armour, Spear, Mus

9 Boar Boyz - Light Armour, Shield, Spear, Std & Mus

Boar Chariot - 3 crew

Wolf Chariot - 3 crew

=====

999 points

Should give me enough to be getting on with! I'm going to start on one of the Fast Cav units this week, probably the wolves. I'll try and post some sketches / ideas later today. Toying with the idea of including a pair of chukkas for viability once I creep towards 2k. My sense of fluff says no, but my sense of competition says yes! Thoughts?

D

This post has been edited by Draig Athar 013 on Jan 29 2008, 09:04 AM

I love how that spider came out, and the wolf looks pretty good too. Can't wait to see how they look painted up.

The converted wolf and spider look excellent, much more dynamic than the normal stuff. In fact they look so good I demand painted photos at the first opportunity!

Army list looks fine, and I think you're right in that although the theme says no to chukkas, I bet you'll find you take them in the end (as every one does). Although I suppose if you max out on chariots you could make up for the lack of any other big hitters. One question though - isn't the goblin big boss with Martog's going to be a bit lonely as the rest of the army race off at M9 or 7 and he's left alone at the back running to keep up?

This post has been edited by Mostyn on Jan 28 2008, 08:47 PM

Argh, forgot to include his mount on the list, well spotted!

Small update, managed another 4 wolves last night - two of them have riders, two do not. I'll try and get pics up tonight.

With a 2k point list, I really like my warlord on wyvern. I find he can handle the things that the spear chukkas are suppose to go for. Also, the boar boyz with a hero can sometimes tackle the big things. Sometimes. If you get the charge off. Suicide goblins work good, as well.

I remember seeing arfa convert some mobile spear chukas pulled by wolfs.

With a 2k point list, I really like my warlord on wyvern. I find he can handle the things that the spear chukkas are suppose to go for. Also, the boar boyz with a hero can sometimes tackle the big things. Sometimes. If you get the charge off. Suicide goblins work good, as well.

How do you find him? Specifically in terms of the amount of points he takes up in an already points intensive list. Also how easy do you find it keeping him alive?

I must admit I have been wanting to do a Wyvern for a while, it would be a lovely project to finish the army off. I never found them that useful in 6th.

First unit of wolfies is done (minus the musician) I just need to add a few green stuff details (reins, saddlebags etc). Pics incoming as soon as I can charge up my camera.

Well no pics of the Wolfies yet - I'm still adding things, but I did manage to make this hut while the glue was drying.



Just your standard paper water cup with some bizzare 'crepe paper and plaster of paris on a roll' thing I had in my toolkit then festooned with bits. Only took about 15 mins but it looks pretty good.

This post has been edited by Draig on Aug 20 2008, 08:40 PM