Monday 7 October 2019

Dreadtober - Dark Eldar Talos with Legs Conversion

I'm quite proud of this conversion. My Talos with legs is complete and ready for paint!
I looked at different options for kitbashing, but in the end I decided to sculpt the legs myself. It was a bold move for me as I'm not that great at sculpting, and normally I'd intentionally avoid a project like this. That said, I really wanted the legs to match the style of the model as well as the rest of the force and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the conversion. With that in mind, I set to sculpting the legs I wanted.

In the end, it wasn't that difficult. I built an armature out of some large paperclips. I bent them to the correct shape for the legs, and then set them into a spare block of wood to work on. After that, I built the basic structure of the legs with some white milliput. I actually just shaped it with my fingers and then smoothed it out to get a basic design. It didn't take that long to get a decent look (maybe half an hour?).
I let the basic leg shape dry and then I used an engraving tool to smooth out and reshape what I had. After that, I etched in the lines for the muscle fibres (designed to sort of match the look of the Wracks). Once that was done, I stuck it all together and then it was just a case of adding spare armour from the Talos kit and using greenstuff to make the straps and add details to the feet etc.

That pretty much sums up the work. I'm quite happy with how it looks, but I think it'll be a challenge to paint! So far I've added an undercoat and a little extra white to the mask and skin areas, but there's still a long way to go.


10 comments:

  1. Great conversion man! I'm looking forward to seeing this alongside your wracks.

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  2. Replies
    1. The Talos is a great kit anyway, but I never liked the fact that it floated, so personally I think legs are a big improvement.

      Speaking of an improvement, does anyone remember the old Talos? Talk about an abomination!

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  3. Eh, should have stuck closer to your original concept sketch ;)

    In all seriousness, tho, that looks awesome! Should be absolutely fantastic with some paint on it.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. I was tempted to sculpt on some curly elf booties!

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  4. And there goes Blazmo, making us all look bad again, as usual...lol!

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    Replies
    1. Well, what are community events for if not being obnoxiously great and rubbing it in other people's faces?

      That said, I've been responsible for some almost tragically bad models in my time. Luckily we didn't have the internet back then!

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  5. Good work, great sculpting. Not sure how I feel about a Talos with legs but the execution is wonderfully done.

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  6. That's excellent work! Looks fantastic. I can't help wanting to see spurs at both its feet for balance issues but that's just the science-trained part of my brain talking. The artist-part really digs the off-balance look it portrays as it gives the creature an added menace. All in all, thumbs up!!! :)

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