Last year, as you may remember if you read the daily accounts of the Iron Dream Tournament IV on TMP (days 1, 2, 3), the competition was concluded by a six-player scenario involving a big critter, the semi-Demon God Totzupaqatl (a cyberclaw alien by Olley's Armies); a final confrontation in the tradition of silly action movies and videogames.
The scenario went very smoothly, and was so fun that it was clear that such a conclusion would become an obligation for the future.
This year, the theme of the Iron Dream Tournament V is Hell on Negromundheim; as you may have guessed, it is a reference to Doom, the original computer game. We've been wanting to play techno-demons against Doom space marines (and just anything, as usual) for a while, and it was the occasion to do something along these lines. The first thing that therefore sprang to our mind was, "What are we going to use as the 'final stage boss'?".
What we needed was something that looked infernal, science-fictionesque, original, and big. The usual, everyday demon wouldn't do – it wasn't petty Hell we were talking about, after all: it was Gothic Hell (the one where it's real hot).
After long searches and vain attempts to find a way to convert this or that, we finally came across the Warzone Dark Legion monsters Prince August is now selling again. As they were rather cheap for creatures of that bulk, I ordered all that could look big enough to be a final-stage boss from Gothic Hell. The Mercurian Maculator seemed decently tall and had suitable weaponry – the problem was that it somewhat looked like an interdimensional mutant ape in loincloth with a gun.
That wouldn't do!
After considering all the other possibilities again, I eventually decided (and this is the subject of the article) to convert it into something that would fit the bill. Something that would look Demonic, techno-cyber-futuristic, and suitably silly.
Now, don't get me wrong: the original figure, just like the rest of the Warzone range (which we're all very fond of at Negromundheim), does look amazingly silly – it just isn't the right type of silliness we wanted.
Here's what the Mercurian Maculator looks like, once the 5 resin parts (legs, torso, right arm, left arm, gun barrel) are assembled and mounted on a CD (the figure is just over 12 cm high!):
Note that the original model requires some cleaning/filling.
First, I cut his ears off, and replaced them with horns. I used the larger spikes from another Warzone monster (the Praetorian Behemoth), which I stuck in place with greenstuff. I added another layer of greenstuff around them to strengthen them, and make the transition between the head and horns more natural.
I sculpted him fingerless mitts, and added the outside of a sole around his feet.
His face needed some more silly details. A bionic eye was necessary, so I began preparing it by filling the left eye's cavity, on which I would then add the optic. To balance things, I added three studs above his right eye. I also lengthened his nose a bit, to be able to add a small bone across his nostrils. You can't go wrong with a bone in the nose!