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Ogrun Bokur Conversion

Posted by Serpent_Six

Fear the Blight!

Ever since I cracked open the Monsternomicon, I wanted a model that represented a humanoid under that affects of Dragon Blight. In the Iron Kingdoms, entities that spend too much time in the proximity of the great dragons begin to suffer varying physical affects. The most common affects are developing scales, sprouting horns, and going blind. I’ve been eagerly awaiting a Blighted Model from Privateer Press, but have yet to see one hit the shelves. So, I took it upon myself to experiment, and convert my own.

One of the reasons I wrote this article was to, hopefully, inspire people to truly get outside their comfort zone. I, personally, have never sculpted to this extent, or kitbashed, at all. My experience with green stuff has been for gap filling, and that’s the extent of it. Don’t be afraid to bust out the Green Stuff, or the sheet styrene, and start building crazy things. You’ll never get better if you don’t practice.

Needed materials

  • Green Stuff
  • Files
  • Hobby knife
  • Sculpting tool
  • Sheet Styrene
  • Brass Tube, 1/8″
  • Brass Rod, 3/16″
  • Mechanical Pencil

The Concept

When the Ogrun Fighter hit the shelves, I knew I had a great potential model for a Blighted creature. The Ogrun has a decent amount of bare skin showing, but not so much as to be overwhelmed with the task of green stuffing scales. The main weapon is a great candidate for a weapon swap, and he just looks like a Big Badass. With a little Blight, he’ll look even more sinister. Take a peek at the Ogrun Fighter, if you need your memory refreshed:

The Axe

I decided that the Blighted version of the Ogrun would need a huge, chunky axe. For this, I dove into my first scratch built weapon. Here’s how it was done….

 

I took a 1″ x 1″ block of sheet styrene and cut it in half. Initially, I thought I wanted a double headed axe. I cut the piece in half, and lined it up next to the length of brass rod I cut for the shaft.

Next, I had to hack apart the existing weapon. I removed the shaft, and was left with the weapon head, the hand, and the butt of the weapon. Now, we must drill out the remaining weapon shaft from the left hand. To do this, I begin with a 1/32″ drill bit, and drill a pilot hole from the bottom of the hand through the top. After this hole is made, a second, larger, hole is drilled using a 3/64″ drill bit. I will fit a 3/16″ rod through this opening, so you’ll have to carve out room with an Xacto knife. Take care, as you may cut off your own finger, or the thumb of the Ogrun.

 

After looking at this proposed weapon, I thought it’d look a bit ‘off’. I decided on a single axe head, but ‘double’ thickness. So, I took the two halves, and glued them together.

Time to shape the weapon head. Take the glued together block of sheet styrene, and start carving out your basic shape. This takes a bit of practice to get right; expect to throw away a couple pieces of miscut styrene. The best tip I can give it to carve small pieces, and carve slowly. I held my knife at an approximate 30 degree angle, to create a realistic depth for the blade edge.

The next part is quite simple. Test fit the hand onto the brass rod. When you are happy with the position, grab your super glue and glue away! Also, glue the axe head to the shaft. I then cut 3 1/4″ strips of styrene to create the metal strips that affix the axe head to the shaft.

 

 

 

 

                                                                  

Time for some putty work. The axe needs a few rivets, as well as a spiked tip on the end. Green Stuff requires patience, patience, and patience to use. Cut a strip about 1/2″ long, and mix until the blue and yellow is thoroughly blended. I like to keep my piece of green stuff in cold water while working with it. I do this, as it means the Green Stuff is always lubricated. File some other miniatures for about 15 minutes. This will allow the Green Stuff to cure to a more workable state.

Roll out a small strip of Green Stuff, about 1/8″ thick, for the rivets. I used a 1/8″ brass tube to punch out the rivets.

Use a well lubricated Xacto knife or sculpting tool to place the rivets onto your weapon head. Affix with a small drop of super glue.

 

Take a small ball of Green Stuff and form it into a conical shape. Affix it to the tip of the shaft, and shape with a sculpting tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 And there you have it, your axe is done! See, that wasn’t so hard! Time for more experimenting….

The Right Arm

Any Blighted Ogrun worth his salt isn’t going to carry around an ‘ordinary’ pistol. Taking a cue from Irusk’s sword cannon, I receycled the tip of the original weapon, and created a Sword Pistol of sorts. You will need to cut a small portion of styrene, or sculpt with Green Stuff, a ‘missing’ piece between the pistol and blade edge. The pictures will explain it better:

 

   

Plating the Armor

Before we get into the scales, let’s start with an easier Green Stuff task. The Ogrun Fighter has really cool, Asian inspired armor. Our Blighted Ogrun needs plate armor…this bamboo/wicker reinforced stuff just won’t cut it! Take small balls of Green Stuff, and smush (yes, that’s a technical term) them into the appropriate places. Use a scultping tool to smooth them out. After the Green Stuff dries, you can sand it as needed.

Green Stuff Scales

The next task is to scale the skin of the Ogrun. This is a litle daunting, so I’ll reiterate, “Be patient.”

 

Roll out a sheet of Greenstuff, approximately .5mm thick. We are going to cut strips and place these on all of the Ogrun’s skin. You don’t want the Green Stuff too thick, or it will ruin any sense of realistic proportions. Sculpting scales does allow for a certain margin of error though, as the texture that the scales create will help hide any minor problems.

 

 

 

 

Once you place the putty onto the model, you’ll need to take out your special tool! Take a mechanical pencil (I used a .5mm pencil), and start pressing it into the Green Stuff. Make sure the pencil tube is lubricated, or you’ll have major problems. Poke the Green Stuff all around, until you are satisfied with your scale work.

 

 

 

 

Continue this process for the other portions of the visible skin. It is helpful to allow the greenstuff to cure completely before moving on to another section, or you’ll likely smush you’re nicely sculpted scales if you’re not careful.

 

When finished, you should have something that looks similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, assemble the model. I’d encourage you to pin the left hand to the wrist, at the least. After a few hours of work, you’ll have your very own Blighted Ogrun! To complete the look, you could take the next step, and try sculpting some horns, or adding runes or skills to the armor plating.

                                                                    

 

He’s leaning a bit back, due to the tab on the base. I’ll remedy that when I prep him for priming…

Hope you enjoyed this article, and it inspires you to get ‘out of the box’, and try something new! This was my first ‘major’ sculpting project, and I’m pretty pleased with the results!

–S6–