Introduction

Many of you may have seen my previous Slayer conversion, affectionately dubbed the "Kruegerjack", or "Krueger" for short. An obvious reference to the Freddy Krueger character from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies with his long blades.

At the time I created this piece there weren't very many models available in the Privateer line for WARMACHINE™. In fact, this was the very first Slayer I purchased almost two years ago in the preview sale. I had to use bitz from "other" game companies to try and achieve my vision. I never really was quite happy with Krueger, despite the praise and acclaim he garnered. The pose is a bit static, and my sculpting very rough. When the Seether model was released, I knew I had found the source of parts I needed to finally realize my vision of a "Slayer gone bad." (If that's even possible.) I'm determined that K2 will be 100% Privateer Press parts.

A Theme Emerges

Those familiar with the Iron Kingdoms™ RPG setting will be familiar with the concept of dragonblight. It's a mutation that occurs to living creatures in the presence of a dragon. Ever since I read about this effect in the Monsternomicon™, I've wondered about how it would affect a warjack. Most likely it wouldn't, but the Cryxian warjacks do have a biological element to them. It's part of why the models appeal to me so much. They are twisted monstrosities of bone and metal, gears and hoses. I like to name them and give each one a bit of personality.

Project K2

I've decided to code name this Slayer K2 for the moment, short for "Krueger II." While it might seem silly to some, I find naming my warjacks actually helps me stay motivated on the project. (Having people observe my progress via the web will help too.)

Inspiration

This truly eye-popping painting of a Seether by Brian Snoddy has inspired many modellers to convert their Seethers to match its dynamic pose. There is a sense of fluid motion and animal grace that belies a 12 foot, 6.5 ton warjack. Brian's artwork is truly amazing. Trying to do it justice in pewter will be very difficult.

Why a Slayer?

Looking at the Seether artwork, you might be asking, "Why a Slayer? Why not do the Seether?" A fair question. The truth is, I rarely field a Seether, yet I almost always field a Slayer. Since 100% of my WARMACHINE™ models are for playing the game, it comes down to practicality. What gets used the most is what gets worked on. Pretty simple.

A Firm Foundation

Every model needs a good base to stand on, and K2 will be no exception. I rummaged about in my bin full of bases and came upon a 50mm Basic Terrain base from Epicast. The large rock formation is usually a bit much for my taste, but in this case it will make a great substitute for the fallen log in the artwork. It will also save me tons of time when it comes time to finish the base. Problem solved.

I had already primed this base white for another project which is why it looks the way it does in the photo. I prepped the base by placing a 1/16" brass rod pin in the base behind the rock to anchor K2's left foot. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please see my article on Epicast Bases.

Fancy Footwork

One of the keys to a dynamic pose is leg and foot position. The Slayer's stock legs are walking forward, which is more active than some of the other warjacks. This will help make things easier to change.

Curses! Foiled Again!

I've run into my first problem. By using the Slayer's legs I have the wrong foot forward. The feet are reversed on the Reaper's legs, and I could get around this problem by swapping them out, but I have no spare Reaper legs. Oh well. I'll make the best of it. Since I can't have the right leg forward in a leaping pose without a lot of modification work, I'll position it back in a running pose. With this decided, I set about cutting up the legs.

Off With His Legs!

I cut the legs in these places for speed and simplicity. I cut the right leg off and the right foot. I left the left leg attached and removed the left foot. By leaving the left leg attached, I retain some of the original strength of the solid piece. This is important, since this leg will be bearing all of the weight of the model.

Putting It Back Together

Anything I cut apart I pin back together for strength. My models are for play and not really for show, so they need to be durable and able to be transported without difficulty. With this in mind, I used 1/16" brass rod to pin the legs back together. This is the thickest diameter rod that I use, and it's very tough. It should do the job quite adequately.

I'm not going to worry about the large gaps right now. I'll be filling them in with putty in the next part of this article. All I'm concerned with right now is getting the pose looking right.

This will do nicely. By changing the hip position to lean forward it will imply speed and forward momentum. Key things in a running pose. Now to add the torso and make sure he doesn't look like he's falling over.

I'm going to use poster putty to tack things together while I play with the pose from here on out. This is very useful stuff for this kind of work.

How To Get A Head

The second key to a dynamic pose is head position. While you can run looking straight ahead, looking a bit off center will imply intended direction. You will usually look at what you're attacking, not to the side of it. Turning a warjacks head is simple, and gives it personality. Here is K2 with the head just straight on:

(Yes, that is a Reaper cowl on there. I really like the looks of it so I'll be using it for this project.) So far, K2 looks pretty menacing, like a freight train on a collision course. Now let's turn his head a bit.

By using a long 3/64" brass pin, I can bend the head into different positions and still keep it firmly attached to the torso. When I'm satisfied with the position, I just glue it in place. The neck area can be filled in with putty later. When doing this, make sure to have the cowl on as well. I found a couple of cool positions that interfered with the cowl.

Now he looks like he's barreling into a fight and a new target caught his attention on the right. It's a small detail, but it gives so much character that it is really important to keep in mind. I've also filed the back edge of the cowl and bent it upwards a bit. I think it gives K2 a much better visual flow.

The Arms Race

Right now, K2 looks like he's had columns 1,2,5 & 6 taken out. Let's fix that, shall we? I still want to have the left hand planted on the rock like in Brian's painting, so I need to check and see how the arms can be positioned to achieve this. Out comes the poster putty again.

Looking at the stock arms in place, I can see that both forearms need to rotate inward to keep the pose. I cut both arms on the angle for the forearm and pinned them in their new positions. Then I pinned the arm assemblies into the shoulders after checking the position and fit.

Give 'Em The Fingers

Having tried to sculpt my own claws before and failing miserably, I wanted something really cool and different than just blades like I used on Krueger. This is where the Seether comes in, or more importantly, the Seether's spiky bitz.

I needed 2 of the cowl spike sprue (on the left) and fortunately I had 2 Seethers, (I was able to get replacement parts during my trip to Privateer HQ.) Each of the cowl spikes had a specific role for K2. From the left: index finger, middle finger, pinkie finger, thumb, elbow spur. The normal shoulder spikes on the Slayer work nicely as middle knuckle spikes and the Seether knuckles spikes went on the outside knuckles. The large shoulder spikes from the Seether replaced the standard ones. The only bit I didn't use was the small spur from the shoulder. I was tempted to add them to the cowl, but it looked a bit funny so I left them off.

I got a bit carried away during the construction and forgot to take in process pics. Hopefully you will get the idea. Here the hands have been pinned and are ready to add the fingers.

The finished arms. I elected to keep these as separate units from the main body in order to ease the sculpting process. The left arm will be pinned to the rock on the base to add some strength and stability to the overall pose.

Once again, these are puttied in place to check the fit & overall pose.

I left the cowl off as it blocks out a lot of the view of the arms.

Ready To Rumble!

Here's K2 ready for the next round: Sculpting!