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Word of warning: Lots of pictures!

As part of a secret santa event I'm involved in, I have to give a gift to a fella who I have discovered is an Eldar player. I'm not big on eldar things - the race has never really interested me all that much, and I can't admit to having much knowledge about their army list. I wanted to give him some sort of Eldar mini, but I couldn't figure out what would be good for the job until I saw the new Wraithlord kits and everything clicked.





I really liked the idea of posing it in motion, and it seemed to make a lot more sense to take a close-combat equipment route with those sort of dynamics in mind. After adding the twin flamers, I started wondering what I could do to make the model more visually interesting. While I don't know much about the Eldar, one of the coolest miniatures they had (prior to the new harlequins, that is) was Maugan Ra. I really liked his aesthetics, and after a bit of reading I thought it might be fun to make an Altansar-themed wraithlord. Just like that, his sword was replaced with a 'Wraithscythe'.™











After a while with a dremel and a frustratingly thick piece of plastic, I was able to cut out a decently eldar-themed crescent blade. I created a proper handle for it shortly after by using the remaining parts of the Brightlance that comes with the lord.



After a bit more work, I'm liking the way this model is shaping up. In the next batch of pictures, I've managed to sculpt one of the knee joints up, and I'm going to slowly be adding gems to the weapon's blade, I think. I added two back streamers onto the model, too, as it made the model look much more dynamic.









I also added the shoulder weapon mounts. I don't really know what the future owner of the model's going to want as far as weapons go, and I'm too lazy to learn the ins and outs of Eldar weapons properly. I figured I would simply set it up so that the remaining weapons I had on the wraithlord sprue could be pinned onto the shoulders. It looks silly, but I didn't really have them in mind for the model anyway, as I pictured a melee oriented walker.







As far as what's left, I need to sculpt the other knee properly. I'm trying to figure out what other Altansar-flavor touches might be a welcome addition, but nothing much is coming to mind. All in all, I think it's shaping up to be a very fun model, and I'm very happy with the aesthetics so far. What do you guys think?

Brilliant as always!

A tabard might look kind of cool whipping around, but it looks pretty good without it. Perhaps a different head? Something skeletal, maybe? It may make it too cartoony.

Great pose. The scythe looks perfect for what you are going for here too. I agree with the shoulder mount looking somewhat out of place, but you've also made it flow with the model just enough to not pull too much from the pose too much. Will you be painting this or letting the future owner do so ^_^?

Posted By grey_death on 10/28/2007 7:14 PM
Great pose. The scythe looks perfect for what you are going for here too. I agree with the shoulder mount looking somewhat out of place, but you've also made it flow with the model just enough to not pull too much from the pose too much. Will you be painting this or letting the future owner do so ^_^?

Painting really isn't my forte, and I've been trying to convince myself that giving it unpainted would be best anyway so that the recipient could match it to his army's scheme. I've only ever seen one Altansar wraithlord, and that thing was painted up really well - I doubt I could match that for quality. I may change my mind if get really into the model, though.

Wicked scythe indeed! The shoulder mount does seem a bit off to me as well, but ultimately that is where the 'lord would have his gun if he had one - it works with how the model is moving, the guns themselves are just so big that it messes things up a bit. Go fig.

Actually, with how similar the end of the scythe is to a bright lance barrel ( ) I wondered if you were thinking about having the scythe double as a bright lance or something ...

But rock solid besides that shoulder cannon!

- Salvage

Very well done, even though I was somewhat repelled by a scythe-wielding wraithlord. I dislike the Brightlance barrel at the end of the scythe however. I would maybe replace the "muzzle" with something more circular (does this make sense? ) so you can't recognize the brightlance at first sight. The weapon mounts should give you some possibilities there.

But other than that very very nice!

Greets
Schepp himself

As you are doing so good with the conversions you can cut the weapon mount from the shoulder and reposition it 90 degrees so the weapon is in an "up" position as though it has been elevated for the ensuing combat.

Orion

I would drop the shoulder mounted weapons and just put the blades on it.

Most people use a brightlance on their lords anyways, so having a dual action brightlance/closecombat weapon is pretty cool.

The posing is fabulous and you can tell where the model was and where it is going. To me it says It is rushing up, just starting to bring the blade up to a position of lethality.

its great.

Okay, maybe I'm a total pedant (Protip: I am a total pedant), but scythes do not have straight shafts. That's not a scythe. It's an impractical... bladed thingy.

Double your post for double the fun!

I agree you should do something with the head.

Nice posing with the plastic Wraithlord. I have two old metal ones standing at attention, you're going to make me want to buy things.

As far as the Scythe is concerned, Eldar can do whatever they want, and it can be used as an overhand chopping axe anyway.

I agree with changing the butt of the scythe. Itrs too recognisable as a bright lance, if the muzzles was removed and the buttrounded over it would look better.