"Converting a toy Dragon into an AD&D Green Dragon" Topic

So I bought a toy Dragon from Wal-Mart to convert into an AD&D Green Dragon. However, the Green Dragon has a comb, similar to a chicken's head comb, running down the length of its back. I used my Pin Vise drill to make holes in the spine of the toy Dragon figure. I applied E6000 Premium Adhesive (red tube, only comes in clear color) to the top of the holes, spinning some previously cut-to-length steel rods into them. Note that this version of E6000 glue is quite strong, and it will adhere to nearly all plastics, including HDPE and LDPE; it has very good sheer strength, so it is both strong, and works on more surfaces than any other glue I've worked with. Be sure to follow directions applying some petroleum jelly to the cap, before putting it on the tubes, or else the caps will be glued into place… After that glue set fully (72 hours recommended), I cut strips of white paper harvested from a business letter I received in the mail; I made sure the cut strips were free from any writing, as this would likely bleed through the paint, later on.

I used a decoupage technique, applying white School Glue to both sides, to saturate the paper.  I folded the strips in half, lengthwise, applying them over the tops of the steel wire ribs sticking out of the back of the toy Dragon (painted and based previous to the idea of adding the body-length comb). Now I need to wait for these first strips of paper to fully dry and harden.

I did this same technique on my toy Dragon conversion for my A&D Black Dragon. This is a repeat of that process.  Once the School Glue is dry, I will use a Q-tip to apply more E6000 Premium glue across the paper-plastic body gap, to fill it in, and to smooth the transition, sculpting a more solid, more realistic, junction between the comb and the body. That will likely be this weekend.

For now, here are some photos of the comb creation: side view #1; side view #2, from above; side view #3. After these first two paper strips have dried a bit, I will finish by adding more paper strips to complete the comb down to the tail. As stated already, the gaps between the paper comb and the body, will be filled in, and smoothed over, by applying E6000 Premium glue. The paper comb will be trimmed to form concave scallops dipping towards the body, in between the steel rod ribs. Here is the folder of photos for all three toy Dragon conversion projects. These toy Dragons are from Wal-Mart, costing around $1.67 USD each.

Once everything is cured, trimmed, and painted, I will hit the whole of the model with matte clear coat.  This will be a fun project to finish. Cheers!

Finishing the spinal comb. I added some needed paper strips to the comb on the back of the Green Dragon -- there were sizable gaps that needed to be covered with paper before I coated the whole with strong E6000 Premium Glue. I will move forward with that step, tomorrow.

Here are some new photos after the paper strips were applied: side 1; side 2; a 3/4 view. The E6k Glue will cover the paper, strengthening it, but it will also bond it more securely to the surface of the Dragon's back, preventing it from randomly sliding off! I will taper E6k Glue over the edge of the paper strips, onto the back of the Dragon toy, just a little bit. The paper comb, once properly trimmed to form scallops, will be painted to match the wing membranes.

The other thing the E6k Glue will do, it so create some texture covering the paper strip seams, for painting. This, too, is a critical necessity: applying a dark wash will bring out any seams in the paper, making it pretty obvious, and pretty ugly… More to come in the next few days. Cheers!