XLI. The Headless Horse-man

Wyrd's Rotten Harvest online competition has finally resolved. When the results came in I was happy to find that one of my entries, The Headless Horse-man, came second in the category reseved for the undead. I would just like to say thanks all who entered and voted, and see you next year. : )

And now, when all is over, I am allowed at last to discuss my entry here.

The competition was a great motivation to get one of the three remaining Horse-men of Hades done. I'll start from the very beginning:

I took out all the Scavengers of Acheron parts to decide which one it would be, and in the end went with the Headless one. Mainly because he would be by far the easiest to convert, and I had limited time.

Before starting I made a sketch, where I put down all the details I wished to add.

This is an early test-fitting of the parts. The sword comes from one of the plastic Empire kits, and I wasn't sure which side of the horse it should stand on. Here its position is different than in the finished version.

I really wanted him to have a round shield like that, where I would paint a design that matches the design on the shield of the Reaper Horse-man. I picked a Ghoul hand from my bits box to hold it.

Then I went on to actual converting. I added some extra detail: the rope reins and trophy heads he collects.

I had to be careful with the reins. It takes some effort to make them look believable. I used quite rigid wire for the rope, but by properly curving it still managed to achieve the sense of weight and flexibility real rope should have.

First I dealt with the mount, saving the rider for later. When they were both done I would simply put them together.

When the horse was painted, I transplanted it on the simple base I'd made in the meantime.

It seems my painting process is such that I never remember to take any pictures while I work. I'm just too concentrated on finishing the paintjob. Unfortunately, that means no WIP pics of that part.

And this is it, the finished Horse-man: