ARTICLE

Written by: Brog Ironfang
6th Edition

It is time for another constructive article of mine. Today I will write a guide for the     conversion i made about a month ago. I need to say i really like the effect so maybe you will find this article interesting.

Materials you will need: Orc Boar Chariot Model Orc Left Arm (from Orc Regiment Box) 3 Shields (I took the rectangular shields from the Goblin Wolf Riders because I like them a lot) Fanatic (the one flying head down with a ball on the base) 2 mushrooms (from the Night Goblin Regiment Box sprue) or whatever else boars eat :) 3 Goblins and to be more specific: 2 sets of Goblin legs (from the Goblin Wolf Riders Regiment Box - the "standing" ones {there are 3 kinds of legs- 4 are the same and one is completely different - we need those different ones because otherwise it won't be possible to fit the guy between the boars}); One set of Night Goblin legs, 3 Night Goblin torsos, 3 Night Goblin Heads and 3 Night Goblin bow arms (the bent bow arm will be converted to hold a shield, straight arm with bow will be for a Gobbo standing between boars); One arrow arm and 2 spear arms (including the one which is on the extreme right of the sprue and looks like it is in the other hand) Paper Clips String Hand Drill with 1mm Drill Bit 4 Cavalry Bases (or 2 Monster Bases) Some thick paper

START

Well first of all I want to say that I convert things first and then glue the converted parts.  After that I paint and lastly glue the model together (I can't imagine gluing the entire model together and then start to paint it!).  First paint the boars, wheels, scythes (I used a spear top for one of them) and the chariot chassis. Then paint the thing that lies on boars backs and keep them with the chariot and those 2 wires that are on the outside of boars (on the picture above you can see where to cut them - almost in the half just behind the metal ring - this is necessary because if you don't the Orc wont fit in there {of course you can skip him and then it is all right}).  Then start to convert the fanatic:

This is a simple conversion.  All you need to do is cut the chain near his arms (before you glue them!!) and then drill a hole in them.  

MAKING A HAND DRILL: If you don't have a hand drill make one as I did. Go to the store and buy a 1mm drill bit and then make a hole with one in an old crayon or pencil.  Pour glue in the hole you made in the crayon or pencil and insert the base of the drill bit into the hole. The crayon or pencil will be the base/handle for your hand drill.  This is the best way to make a hand drill and it is cheap and accurate.

Now you must make a rope.  To do this take a paper clip, straighten it up and then take another one and wind it up around the first one tightly.  When the one you are wrapping ends (and it will before you finish) take another one and start from that place. When you have enough "rope" wind it up around the banner pole a few times and out to the place where you want the first hand to be. Make sure not to wind up the entire "core" paper clip. Only wind up the "core" paper clip up to where you want the Fanatic to hold on.  Next put the "core" paper clip through the hole you made in the fanatic's hands with a little length of paper clip trailing behind the second hand.  Using smaller lengths of paper clip wind up the length of "core" paper clip between the fanatic's hands and the length that trails. 

This is how i wind up the rope around a banner pole.

After that you can paint every part described above and glue the whole thing together.  Don't worry if the fanatic makes the model unbalanced with the boars being lifted into the air. This will be fixed later. 

SECOND MOVE: THE CREW 

This is most funny part :)

ORC: Take the Orc's legs (one from a chariot sprue) - you will see that one of them will fit in front of the "main deck" in sitting position. Then take an Orc torso and cut it a little bit on the bottom so that you can glue it into a sitting position.  Use Green Stuff to fill in holes if any.  Paint the Orc and glue him at the end - his left hand with shield... (don't glue the wrist with the whip.  Wait for the rest of the crew coz it can get in the way of a shield and it is easier to change whip position)

GOBBO 1:

This is tricky one. As i wrote before you need standing legs from Goblins or Wolf Riders sprue (the one that are completely different most right in the upper row on the sprue - near the arm with head in hand).  Fit the legs between the boars (the rear foot should be close to the wooden thing and the front one will stand on a metal part).  Then, in that position, glue the trunk to the legs (mind that you need to glue 2 hands too so make a space for them).  Then make a rear hand.  To do this take a goblin bow arm which is out-stretched in a straight position and cut the bow and the wrist off.  Also cut it near the robe sleeve and shorten it a bit to fit and  then cut the place where you normally would glue the arm to the body and make it fit into the new position.  After that cut the hand so that the fingers are straight instead of a fist (you will need to cut off finger nails to achieve that . Don't worry.  You can glue them later.  

The hand should look like this.

Now glue the whole arm  but not to the torso (I  drill a hole in all parts and place a paper clip in it to make it stronger. I don't know if you would like to use this method as well but i think it is worth the effort.  Glue on a spear arm (you probably will have to cut it a little near gluing place to fit better) then paint the mushrooms and tie them to the spear with a string like this:

When you are done  paint the model (head, both hands and legs glued to the torso separately) and then glue the legs and torso into place and then glue both arms (gluing a rear one is difficult as you need to move the model a bit so it is good to use a glue that dries in around 20 seconds at least (I use 3 minutes glue) and you make it :)

THE REST OF THE CREW

What can I say here?  On the pictures above you can see how I fit the crew in there.  It is a bit hard so you need to work with the positioning before you glue them into place.  The army holding a shield in the picture above is a bow arm simply with the bow removed and a shield added.

FINAL TOUCHES

I drilled a hole in a third shield and in one of the wooden sides of the chariot and tied the shield to it.  This way it can easily move and create a feeling that this chariot is falling apart. Goblins aren't the best builders in the world!

Last this is a base.  I used 4 horse bases but 2 monster bases or a chariot base would work as well.   I cut a hole on the "wall" (the space between ground and base level) of each base and glue them together using metal cleat (the round thing with a hole inside that you use with screws) and then fill the spaces between each base with putty (actually I use a glue with filler but putty is equally good).  If you use a cavalry base you will not need to do this of course. 

After that I made some terrain levels with thick card (remembering that boars need to be higher - because chariot is prepared for "only boars on bases" set) then glue them together. Paint the base with a PVA glue and texture with sand ( I use Semolina or Cream of Wheat), stones and some wood too.  I then  let it dry  and there were my mistake.  I didn't know that the glue tends to shorten while drying and my base bent - all you need to do to avoid that ti to put something heavy on each corner of the base while glue drying and left it till COMPLETELY dy. Then paint it brown - dry-brush 3-4 times,  paint the stones and wood (broken branches and all) and then glue the model.  Add static grass and you are finished. 

Thanks for reading - I will gladly hear what  you think about it (and is it worth it to write such articles in future) in the Orc and Goblin Warpath Forums. I will answer all your questions (if i can).

Brog Ironfang