"Possible Draco-Lich 2.0" Topic

I visited Michaels Craft Store a few days ago. I checked out their Halloween Decorations, to see if there was anything of interest…

New Draco Lich figure: different sculpt; different pose; movable wings and lower jaw; legs might be movable.

They had a 20%(?) off, sale going on: $16.99 USD x 0.8 = $13.59 USD, for a very large Draco-Lich model: raw Photo1, raw Photo2, raw Photo3.

I passed, as I have my first one (different style, but similar size -- see links below). Still, the new model is very tempting.

The screw holes, and the divisions between the body halves, can easily be filled in with White E6000 Glue. Cut out, and glue on, paper wings, painted with Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain -- Royal Walnut, to create aged leather bits of wings, then paint the same Minwax on the whole, and you would have a nice, unique gaming model, unavailable anywhere in your version of it.

For more details on how to convert this new model, check out my previous post on a 14 inch Skeletal Dragon Halloween Decoration. A photo of my original, raw, unconverted, and a photo of the finished, converted, and based model ready of the tabletop. Here is a link to an album showing all of the previous project's photos.

Note also, that the white paper wings can first be painted/dyed any color you wish (use colored construction paper if you like), before turning them into aged leather, with a heavy application of Minwax Polyshades urethane stain… Cheers!

Nice addition with those wings! hope you used a durable paper so they never rip! Construction paper seems fairly flimsy, but there are some real strong papers that could be used

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the reply. I hope someone else will give this a try. It is loads of fun to make these Halloween decorations into tabletop gaming figures.

My middle son worked for a couple of years in a print shop. When the big rolls of paper get to the last 30 feet, or so, they can no longer use them. He brought home a couple of rolls of heavy paper, more than 110# cardstock. I used a piece off of that.

Once glued in place, with E6000 Glue, they've been pretty resilient, but I handle it typically by grabbing the body of the Draco-Lich, or its base. Not worried about tearing up the wings.

I picked up the new Draco-Lich model, last night. I am hoping to apply some Minwax Polyshades urethane stain to some green and red Construction Paper, tonight? I can also use the same cardstock paper from my first Draco-Lich project, as I have plenty of that left over on the roll: I can dye it with Food Coloring, Koo-Aid mix (used by hobbyists to dye textile fibers such as wool), or I can paint it with the watercolor set of paints I purchased for my d20 Globe project, years ago. I need to see how it will look when it dries. I have this new Draco-Lich pegged as either a Green or a Red Dragon, for AD&D and 2e BattleSystem games (2e AD&D mass battles rules system).

I've decided to skip putting any skin on the body, as that will be a nightmare to achieve something that looks acceptable. I'll just 'clothe' the wings.

I am plotting and planning how I can put them into my RPG and 2e BS games, without making them unbalanced, munchkin games…

My Undead army is the largest army I have, larger even than my Human Armies. Running Draco-Liches as the Army Commanders, with Human Necromancers and Vampires, as Captains, is a plausible concept. It would give me a chance to play with pretty much my entire Undead Army. For Living opponents, I have quite a variety to choose from: Dwarves (Hill and Mountain), Gnomes, Elves, Centaurs, and quite a variety of Humans. I can throw in Humanoids joining forces with their usual enemies, to battle the Undead: Orcs, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, Ogres, Giants, etc.

I've got plenty of armies, plenty of players, plenty of tablespace. What I don't have is plenty of free time for gaming. <Sigh!> Cheers!

Some shots of the new, Draco-Lich 2.0.

Internal Ribs, showing more screws holding it together than the 1.0 version, due to its movable wings -- these will all be covered with White E6000 Glue, to mask them;
Facial shot, showing its serious underbite (LOL);
Side-by-side comparison of 1.0 and 2.0, atop a 1"-grid;
Size comparison with a Schleich Red Dragon on its left, and a Mage Knight Red Dragon on its right, on a 1"-grid;
Family portrait with everyone together -- right before things got out of hand/claw…

As the facial shot shows, this Draco-lich has nice sinus structure. It is well sculpted. The ear wings, prominently displayed in the facial shot, will be painted Red, and aged, to represent what's left of its skin and ears.

I could not locate my construction paper, but I did find our AstroBrights paper of varying colors. I took a sample of each of five colors to test. I applied the three colors of Polyurethane Stains that I have on hand, to see how each worked, and how they affected the paper, when dried.

Here are the samples, with oil-based Minwax Royal Walnut, lightest color on the left, water/ether-based Rustoleum Kona in the middle, and water/ether-based Minwax Antique Walnut, darker on the right.

Dk. Blue, backlit;
Lt. Blue, backlit, and lighted from the front, on a dark tabletop;
Dk. Green, backlit;
Lt. Green, backlit;
Dk. Red, backlit.

The oil-based, Royal Walnut is the most transparent of the three urethane stains, when applied to the papers. It also creates the least texture in the finished paper, making it the most bland. The Kona is more dark brown, while the Antique Walnut is medium brown to the point of covering up most of the paper's color.

I like the Kona the best on the Red paper, which is what I will finish the Draco-Lich with, so Kona and Red paper it is. The Kona is what I used on Draco-Lich #1, and I like how the wing textures came out on that cardstock paper, so that answers that question.

Having that settled, I can progress with tightening, and sealing all of the screw holes with White E6000 Glue. After that cures, I can paint the ear wings, Red. Then I will begin clothing its wings with Red Paper, followed by Kona Urethane Stain application to the wings, and to the whole of the body. Cheers!

Making progress: screw holes, and skeletal gaps filled in with E6000 White Glue, head wings painted, whole thing Dip'ed with the first coat.

Front

side 1

side 2

rear

3/4 view.

The leathery wings will be next. I will apply the second coat of Royal Walnut urethane stain after the wings are applied, with an application of white E6000 Glue to the top surface of the wings to model the underlying bones. After that cures fully, a matte clear coat, with model being glued to an MDF base. Cheers!

UPDATE

I decided to go with black talons, spikes on the back, and for bone protrusions from the wings. I like the color scheme found on the Mage Knight Red Dragon, which is what I based my color scheme off of, along with the 1e Monster Manual's cover showing a Red Dragon in flight.

Here are some images of the latest painting work done on this Draco-Lich model: Frontal View, Left 3/4 View, and a Right 3/4 View.

The next step will be to attach the leathery flesh (red colored paper) to the wings, trim to size, and the add E6000 Glue to create bone ridges on the tops of the wing skins. Once that is dry, I will brush on another layer of The Dip Technique. This will be followed by a matte clear coat, and mounting it to a base. Cheers!

I think I liked it better before the black tips!