Monday 25 August 2014

(Flogging) A dead Horse

Recently a question turned up...someone was looking for 20mm dead nags. There are a few sets with one or two dead nags in them and Ykreol make sets, covering all eras  of dead and dying bods and nags but it´s easy enough to create dead nags using spares.

First select the nag...a running one is better than a stationary or Walking pose. Remove the base.
I´m also going to add a couple of dead bods.
Slice off the bumps (rump and shoulder) on the underside (the side it will end up lying on) of the nag.
This enables it to lay flat. You could make some thick basing and press it into that but I´ve found the head and neck end up "unaturally" embedded in the surface, almost as if the horse was made of lead and fell onto some sandy earth.
Put into boiling water for a minute or two to soften   the plastic before twisting and turning the legs and arms etc. The new Position has to be Held until the plastic cools. If it isn´t,  the old Position (or very near to it) will be taken up again. The reason? Plastic has a "Memory" Heating plastic up makes it maleable but the "Memory" isn´t taken away. Parts altered by heating up the plastic can be returned to their original (or very near) simply by putting the bod into hot water again.

The raised hand of the Knight was holding a sword but this has been removed and a glove effect made by squeezing the empty hand  with fine toothed pliers. One Thing...don´t Forget to add a stirrup to the "topside" of the  fallen nag.
They now get painted. The base gets a thin smear of woodglue/fine sand mix and the bods and nags get pressed onto the mix. Any small gaps between the nag/bods and the "ground" can be filled with small amounts of PVA-Sand mix or camouflaged with static grass. Let dry,  paint and decorate.
 
The stirrup is made from a thin Piece of paper

7 comments:

  1. Very effective conversion and some very helpful tips there, Paul. Many thanks for this post.
    Cheers,
    Michael

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  2. Excellent tutorial Paul! Thanks for sharing!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  3. Nice little vignette Paul! :) This is the game...to show every aspect of the battle. Not only the guys with the shining armour. That's what makes your work unique. :)

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  4. A great tutorial Paul, although you have to feel for the poor nag!

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  5. Excellent like always ! the result of the simple conversion is stunning !

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  6. Heck of a good way of generating a "damage/rout counter"
    Superb diorama as ever :)

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