Collecting to a budget: Kroxigor

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Foxtale
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Collecting to a budget: Kroxigor

Post by Foxtale »

I know it's not exactly Wood Elves, but I've been experimenting with a "collecting to a budget" workshop of random ideas and someone suggested a cheaper kroxigor after seeing my tree kin.

So here's my beautiful kroxigor frame, made out of the parts of a Saurus Warrior. With this method you can get 16 kroxigor in one package of Saurus. Though it takes a little more work. Didn't take me more than 30 minutes to get to this point.

Image
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010078.png

Basically, trim the crest from a Saurus Warrior head. I chose the one with the open mouth. Leave the spikes on top. Drill into the back of it.

Next, (the hardest part), shape a paperclip to be in the shape of a worm. Make sure half of it is a tail, so should be a curve; the other half should bend gradually and then sharply push forwards to form a neck. Leave some spare to fit into the hole drilled into the Saurus head. Form modelling clay, miliput, white stuff, green stuff, brown stuff, or other epoxies into a basic body shape. Don't worry about spikes, or details yet. Onto this, add a wider section to form shoulders and a high backbone, and a wide area around where the legs connect. And lastly, put two blobs to form extended shoulders.

Use the right leg of a Saurus, then carefully use a saw to cut off the left leg. For me, I've used the left arm holding the drumming baton, and a random right arm. I've trimmed off the TOP of the right arm weapon, and the TOP and BOTTOM of the left's. Then drilled a hole through the left, and through the top of the right (but not all the way through). For me, I then snipped half-way through the left arm, bent it to fit a new shape (straighter) and fixed it in place with plastic glue.

Then I've constructed a weapon from a paperclip and more modelling clay. Then the paperclip should fit through the hands. Now attach it all together, and you'll notice how the blobs on the shoulders act to lengthen the arms, and the cut off crest looks more like a crocodile than saurus.

Next up, I need to green stuff the details on, and make the feet bigger. Then Kroxigor 1/16 is finished. :P

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Post by Highborn Sycath »

picture comparison with real Kroxigor?
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Post by Foxtale »

I don't own a real kroxigor. They're the same size though, if that's what you're wondering.
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Post by MortenLarsen »

hmm, it doesn't look that bad. But how much cheeper is it?
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Post by The Other White Meat »

well, the epoxy-like stuff would be $20 to make the lot, maybe less if you buy it on sale, $50 Aust. for the box of saurus and the paperclips would be petty change so that's around $5 Aust. per kroxigor compared to $30.

Not a bad saving for a decent show off if you ask me.
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Post by Foxtale »

But of course, being realistic (though your cost analysis is perfectly on the dot, White Meat), no one has 16 kroxigor in their army (although that would be AWESOME). So here's a more basic guide to moneys and cost savings:

Four Kroxigor (they seem to come in units of 3-4 in 7th ed) will cost you US$17x4 = US$68 (or in Australia, AU$112). Doing it my way, the clay is about US$15 max (I use some kind of ovenbake clay that I tore the label off, but milliput works), and that covers about 15-20 guys. The single Lizardman sprue is US$10 on the US Online Store Bitz order, with a $5 shipping. And $5 for 16 monster bases (though I have all mine from unused Screamer bases, or you could make them with spare 20x20 bases). Paperclips are like... $2. The Green Stuff is $8, and will easily cover all the models.

So all up, about $45 for 4 kroxigor, and a load of other bits and bobs. Or if you already have the bases, paper clips, and green stuff: $30 for 4. ($15 if you already have the clay).

Now if you go for all 16 kroxigor, it's gonna cost you 15 for clay, 35 for saurus, 5 for bases, 10 for clips and green stuff. That's $65 for 16 (about $4 dollars a model), as opposed to the whopping $272 for the metal models (which aren't as customisable!). Less than a quarter of the price. I think it's worth it.

Makes you wonder... 20 kroxigor = 1160 points. Imagine a unit of krox with four rank bonuses and a unit frontage of 20cm.
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Post by Highborn Sycath »

I dunno, it depends on what the final product looks like. Ill choose looks over price any day.
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Post by channeller »

I think its an awesome idea Foxtale. Its cheap, looks great and allows for as much customisation and modification as you like. Id choose this method over the metal models.
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Post by Foxtale »

The Greenstuffing is done! (Please note that this was my first attempt at scales. The other three krox I have planned will be much better. The trick with scales (I've found) is to make sure the surface the greenstuff is applied to is slashed multiple times with a sharp hobby knife to give it something to cling to. Then you need to wait for the greenstuff to get a hard hold before going through it with a needle.

To those who said it couldn't be done:

Image
Image
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010110.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010111.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010112.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010114.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010115.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010116.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/ ... 010117.jpg

Now to paint that up and do another three. :D
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Post by Beithir Seun »

i've gotta say i'm impressed Foxtale! i always thought that the saurus heads were smaller than krox heads but you've obviously proved me wrong! good work so far :wink:
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Post by Ecalsneerg »

I must say, it looks better IMO than the normal Kroxigor, except the weapons. Less stoned film dino, more elegant.
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Post by Highborn Sycath »

the spikes need alot of work. You should use brown stuff for sharp edges and spikes like that. Also, the scales look a bit iffy..

oh and if your going to put chain on a model, use real chain, or make it like this

clicky

For the scales, either make a mould out of miliput using scales from the actual kroxigors, or make them like this

Clicky


edit: the legs and arms seem a little small too.
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Post by - Human »

That's awesome! I'm sure they'll keep getting better too as you go on. Awesome method of saving some money, and frankly... the 6th edition bulimic kroxigor models kinda suck IMO... These ones, and the 5th edition ones are much better. Kudos. :nod:
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Post by Foxtale »

Cheers. I'm working on the next three, so I'll put up a step-by-step guide soon.
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Post by Lord Khaladin »

Nice effort there... if you are looking for an alternative method of making scales there is a fairly common one I know. Basically you get little balls of green stuff and press them down on the space you want the scales to be. It looks great and isn't very hard. Good luck on the other three.
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Post by Foxtale »

Here's that tutorial I promised. I'm working on these three to finish four for my brother's Christmas present.

Warning: This is a modeling tutorial for Intermediate Modellers. I, being an intermediate modeller, may provide a finished product which you may dismiss. But practice makes perfect of course!

As a green beginner, you may struggle a lot. As an expert I'm sure you could add your own embelishments to the technique to make yours look better.

Okay, here's the thing, a lot of Lizardman players like to play Kroxigor, which isn't a surprising thing considering how kickass these guys are. Problem is, with each of them costing roughly AU$27 (that's 27 Aussie dollars), it's an expensive thing to add to your army. But there is a way to make Kroxigor which cost almost one seventh that! $4 Australian per dinosaur. And all you need is a sprue of Saurus Warriors.

Materials

You will need (makes four):
- One complete sprue of Saurus Warriors (the box of Saurus comes with both halves) which you can get through either the 16 per box, or by ordering the sprues as Bitz on the US or UK websites.
- a pin vice and set of drill heads (from GW stores)
- modeling putty (either Sculpey or Milliput)
- standard paper clips
- green stuff
- 40x40mm square bases (one per kroxigor, so 4 of them)
- hand saw
- vice, clamp, spanner, wire working tool of some variety
- blue tak
- clippers
- plastic and super glue
- parental supervision or help if you're unsure or under 16

Step One - Developing the Structure

Firstly you're going to need a crash course in unbending paperclips. Annoying at first, but once you get the hang of it, quite easy. Try to get them as straight as possible. After about 5 minutes with a wireworking tool I was as good as Bullseye (from Daredevil) at unbending paperclips.

Now use some wirecutters or other such things to clip the paperclip. It should be about 7.5-8.5cm long, but you should decide on how long, and make all your kroxigor that exact length.

Now you get to undo all your hard work and start bending it again. Use a picture of a kroxigor for reference and try and create an armature of some kind. Make sure you leave about 6-8mm straight for the head. Bend the next part almost 90 degrees to it, then make a curve for the chest. At about 2.25cm of chest, I start bending the clip 90 degrees again to form a tail, which I curve to make look tail like.

Image

Clip off a head you like from the Saurus sprue, and trim its crest right back. Then clip off the right leg you want. Get the pin vice and drill a hole just big enough to fit a paperclip, into the back of the Saurus head. Don't go too far in or it'll come out the front of the head!

Now, you need to bulk it up a bit. Use some modeling putty or oven-bake clay (I used Sculpey) and make a wormlike body. Leave the area you set aside for the head free of putty. At this point I like to test fit the head, to get an idea of how big to make the body. Once I'm happy, I add on two small blobs to make the shoulder structures. Then I press the right leg into the krox where I want it to go as a finished product.

If you used ovenbake clay, get your parent's supervision out and bake it. If you used Milliput, just let it sit, but don't let it fall out of shape. You should end up with something like this:

Image

The next step is to prepare the arms and weapon. Get some idea of what kind of weapon you want for your kroxigor (it helps to have different weapons for each of them) and get started. I usually use a straightened paperclip as a core for my weapons, and use putty or clay to flesh them out. Clip off a right and left hand from the sprue, and carefully drill through them to fit a paperclip inside.

You may find that the arms don't fit on the body. That's okay. To lengthen the arms, carefully clip halfway through the elbow joint, bend it into position, then use plastic glue to stiffen it. Green Stuff can then be added later to just finish it off and cover the hole. If the arms still don't fit, don't fret. You can still add onto them when they get attached. For this Kroxigor, I've gone for a huge double-handed axe.

At this point, grab your handsaw, parents, and the body+left-leg from the sprue. (Hopefully your parents weren't on the sprue!) Cut through the body to disengage it from the leg. Basically you are amputating the Saurus.

Image

Now dry fit everything to make sure it looks right to you. This is what I call a 'grey'. It's a bunch of pieces bluetacked together.

Image

The last stage of Developing the Structure is to seal the structure together. I find the strongest bond is to get a small blob of Green Stuff, paint both surfaces you wish to bond with Super Glue, then squish them together like bread around a Green Stuff Sandwich. Trim off the spare Green Stuff, though you shouldn't be using much at all. This is the final stage where you can make changes to the pose. After this all you have left is to detail.

Image Image
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Mal: Well... you... can't.

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