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I created a unique lava base from cork and textured paint. A simple paint job with ‘slapchop’ and Contrast paints. Hope he likes it.
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No, he’s not some avian cannibal creature, but he does have a cool Salamanders army. He’s converted Captains with Heavy Flamers, bikers riding Cold Ones (those fantasy dragons that Dark Elves used to ride), and put them all on bespoke resin bases depicting the magma and lava of Nocturne. Paragraph 3:
The Kroot Lone-Spear, if you haven’t seen it already, is riding an axolotl.
It’s a cool model with some funky rules, but as someone who doesn’t play the game and wants to show some appreciation to their brother, it stood out to me as perfect conversion fodder. Paragraph 4:
It has to fit in with my brother’s army – that means firstborn armor, lava base, and helmeted head (he didn’t want to highlight the jet black faces of Salamanders). Also, he can have the model when he reads this article.
He doesn’t check out much of my work because he’s a pretty casual gamer (complimentary) and unsupportive moron (derogatory) (sorry, Pete). Paragraph 5:
My bet is my dad will send it to him. I’ll keep you updated.
This is starting to get a bit like one of those recipes that you have to scroll past 2,000 words of someone’s life story to get to their ‘Perfect Grilled Cheese’, but I needed to explain why I’ve not used a Primaris model, why I’ve opted for this unique basing, etc. otherwise I would have woken up on Monday morning to 1,200 emails critiquing my decisions. Paragraph 6:
It’s been a while since I freehand sculpted anything, but they’ll look alright once there’s some paint on them.
The Ravenwing legs also provided an awkward flapping cloak. This would be impossible to remove, so I instead filled the gap with various packs, pockets, and gear. Paragraph 7:
This is a Salamander hunter, someone who will go it alone for months at a time in search of his prey, he needs his bits and bobs.
The gap at the front of his legs was covered with a Green Stuff loincloth, which will be painted to match his robes. I thought he needed a spear as a nod to the original Kroot model, and it works perfectly, giving the model some much-needed height. Paragraph 8:
His legs may be a little wide, his head may be bowed a little too much, but he’s a Salamander riding an axolotl.
All he needs now is a suitable base. Luckily, making the base myself was relatively simple. Paragraph 9:
I started by laying pieces of cork on the Lone-Spear’s base.
I painted four layers of varnish over the uncorked areas of the base to cover up the rough texture of the base. This was to be my lava, smooth and hot. Et voila.
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Mayhaps he’s Vulkan He’Stan’s right-hand marine, continuing the search for the Song of Entropy when his boss is called away on business. I don’t know my brother’s exact recipe for Salamanders armor, but he follows the box art pretty closely. Paragraph 11:
On a deadline, I opted for a ‘slap chop’ method, priming the Lone-Spear black before drybrushing white.
Then, I used Contrast paints and regular paints to create a simple paint job. I didn’t have time to freehand a Salamanders Chapter symbol on his shoulder pad, but my brother’s army has custom resin shoulder pads anyway, so I suspect he’ll want to replace it anyway. Paragraph 12:
I’m pretty happy with the result, and I hope my brother is, too.
Enjoy it, Pete. If you ever read this.
