Now like any other army, I would buy the minis first and then make the whole shenanigans. So where else to start but not my Archon?
The idea for my Archon came from a GW catalogue 2006 back where in the catalogue, there is a female archon leading her army in a cool manner with her rather luscious hair flowing with the wind. This is a time where I was just starting my army and I was learning the ropes of my first army (Tau) and I said, if I ever start a Dark Eldar army I would like for it to be led by a chick just like the one in the pic. Of course at the time, I am just a new guy who can't paint for nuts and can't convert too much for nuts and thus the dream came to a standstill in the deepest recesses of my mind, and it hides in the shadows.
The said pic of the female Archon is shown below.
In the end, I decided to use a few parts to make my Archon;
Lelith Hesperax
Kabalite Warriors
Wyches
Copious amounts of Greenstuff
Beastmen Horns
Chaos Knight Horns
Skull from various model kits
Plasticard.
Now these parts are chosen for their particular value, and essentially they are classified as the following;
Lelith Hesperax: The reason why I used her is because of her hair, and in more ways than one it is perfect. Upon closer examination, if I filed off the toes the lower body is also a good basis for making my archon's armour more unique.
Kabalite Warriors: I got them actually because I needed troops in my army. But when I examine the parts, I noticed that some parts can be used for my Archon as well. The parts are;
1) SPlinter pistol arm
2) Female Kabalite body
I wanted to use the Kabalite agoniser, but then i realized that the kabalite agoniser did not suit the mood of the archon.
Wyches: I actually got this box because of the availability of female bodies, but then I discovered something interesting. The Agoniser here is more relaxed and more commanding, and thus I decided that this must be on my archon.
The Horns: In order to replicate the horns that are found on the art, I have to scrounge up my collection of beastmen models (I do not recall why I have them, but I assume that they are part of my Fantasy Chaos Mortals army) and my Chaos Mortals army to find the right parts. I managed to find two horns that I liked.
The Skulsl: I do not know why, but I just know that somehow I am going to use it.
Greenstuff and plasticard: These are standard materials for converters so I put them on standby.
With the ingredients needed to create the perfect little Archon, I decided to go to work. I do not have the pictures, but I can tell you what I did in steps;
Day One
I chopped off Lelith's body, leaving me with three parts of her legs, her head and her body. While then, I made some modifications on the Kabalite body and decided to put some 2mm magnets into the body and thus this allows me to switch the weapons and also to ease storing of the model.
For the head, I decided to play around with some putty to try and replicate the helmet, but the green stuff is only making the head bigger and stupid. So I decided that I will use plasticard to represent the faceless helmet and I cut and put two pieces of finely cut plasticard to the head and glued it until it has a very angular shape. I then do the finishing touches of filing the eye holes, glueing the horns and making it more Dark Eldar in nature.
After these elements are done, I piece together the head and the body and glued it with super glue to a pose I find decent and leave it alone. Once the glue is dry, I went ahead and glued on the torso to the legs and the base body shape of the model is complete.
Day Two
It is form here that I started to deviate from the original design and decided to put in my own elements to this particular Archon. I figured that a leader needs to be majestic and charismatic, and what better way to do that than to put on a cloak on my Archon? And while I am at it, why not a Tabard?
I make the base layer for the cloak and I also make the tabard, trying my best to make its dynamic realistic. For that purpose I used the hair as a guide and I make everything flow properly.
But then I came to realize that the cloak needs a little more pimping and I am not sure what I want to do to pimp it up. Due to the fact that I can't do much but to wait until the base layer of the putty to dry up, I stopped for the day.
Day 3
It was on the third day that I finally got my inspiration on how to bling up the cloak. While I was browsing all my codices and rulebooks to find for some inspiration, I managed to find this pic;
But of course, fur!
With that I decided to sculpt some fur on one side of the shoulder and decide to make it thick enough to show that it is something of a status thing. While I am sculpting the fur, I also decided to layer the base cloak with more and more Greenstuff to create the cloth folds.
Day 4
With the model almost done, I decided to put in some skulls to make it look a little more sinister.
It takes me a few more days after the massive undertaking to even pain the Archon (while then I assemble and paint my Kabalites and Trueborns one by one).
The final result?
Ze Front
Ze Back
As of this moment, I am essentially done painting the Archon and all I need to do now is to paint the evil coruscating evil powers in the agoniser and painting the base with the flagpole.
As of this moment, I am essentially done painting the Archon and all I need to do now is to paint the evil coruscating evil powers in the agoniser and painting the base with the flagpole.
In the end I am very satisfied with this conversion, for this is actually the smallest scale major conversion I ever done on a model and it turned out very well, and conveyed the feeling that I wanted my opponents to feel when they see my Archon.
More to come.
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