Dark Valkyrie Conversion

By Michael Kan

Components

• 1 Rackham Alahan Valkyrie
• 1 set of wings from Ral Partha Wraith Lord
• 1 bottle of wine (cabernet recommended)
• 1 large chain link (available from any store that sells models ships)
• Short length of chain (available from any store that sells models ships)

Preparation and Assembly

1. Slightly bend the wings back to give an impression of movement
2. Use a pin vice with a 1mm bit to drill a hole in the back of the Valkyrie and in the center of the wings
3. Cut a short pin from a section of 1mm brass wire; try out pin for size and file down as needed
4. Cut off the small tab on the Valkyrie's left hand onto which her shield was going to be glued; file down as needed
5. Drink bottle of wine, saving the lead foil from the neck of the bottle. If you accidentally threw this out, drink another bottle of wine and remember to keep the foil
6. Cut out 3 small triangles of lead foil and glue over top of wings. This will represent armor over the top of the wings
7. Pin wings to the back of the Valkyrie and glue
8. Prime the miniature white
9. Superglue the figure into the base and use some spackling compound to seal the gaps between the tabs and the slot

Painting

1. Skin and face
   • Paint all of the exposed flesh with Pallid Flesh
   • Wash the flesh parts with a mix of 25% Flesh Wash, 25% Chestnut Wash, and 50% water
   • Using thinned Pallid Flesh, begin adding layers onto the washed flesh. I put a drop of water on my newspaper and run my brush over it periodically to keep it wet and my paint slightly diluted.
   • Once you've layered up to the original base color, add a little Skull White, and again, using thinned layers, add some highlights
   • Paint the eye sockets Dark Angel Green
   • Use a very fine brush to paint a horizontal line of white in the middle of the green, then paint a thin vertical line of Dark Angel Green down the middle of the white bar.
   • Use Centaur Brown and paint a thin line over her eyes for the eyebrows
   • Paint a thin line on her lips with Red Gore
2. Hair
   • Basecoat the hair Centaur Brown
   • Wash the hair with Chestnut Ink
   • Blend a little bit of Firey Orange with the Centaur Brown and drybrush the highlights. Keep adding a little more Firey Orange until you have reached a nice red-headed look. I actually used more orange at the end to make her hair brighter than a normal red-head
3. Basecoat armor Blood Red; sword and wings Chaos Black
4. Wash the armor, wings, and sword with diluted Paynes Grey
5. Armor
   • Blend a little bit of Blood Red and Firely Orange, thin, and add some highlights to the armor. Concentrate on the areas under the breasts and on the forearms, and legs.
   • Using a fine brush, pick out the enameling on her armor in Burnished Gold. If you overpaint, you can cover up with Scab Red
6. Wings
   • Basecoat the claws on the wings with Bleached Bone
   • Wash with Flesh wash and then highlight back up with Bleached Bone and Skull White
   • Select a dark brown and Bestial Brown and gradually drybrush the raised ridges on the wings. Continue to add Bestial Brown until you are drybrushing almost pure Bestial Brown on the very tips.
7. Sword
   • Use a fine brush to paint runes in Blood Red
   • Use a Firey Orange and a finer brush and within your first set of runes
   • Basecoat the hilt in Burnished Gold and then wash with Flesh Wash
   • Paint the gems red as shown in Piggy Hippo's Gems article
   • Drybrush a little bit of Scab Red and Red Gore along the edges and tip of the sword to provide a little bit of definition
8. Base
   • Cover the base with a little bit of Elmers Glue slightly thinned with water
   • Dip figure into a box of fine sand and let dry
   • Wash dried sand with a diluted mix of Raw Umber and water
   • Dab a little bit of glue in patches and then dip the base in a box of static grass. This will give you the little grassy patches
   • Steal a rock or two from your cat's litter box and glue onto base
   • Pull of a small chunk of lichen and glue to the base
9. Finishing Touches
   • Line parts of the figure requiring more definition using a fine brush and some dark brown
   • Touch up with Red Gore and Burnished Gold where necessary; Elf Flesh can be used to touch up exposed flesh that has been accidentally painted over
   • Open up the large chain link and thread the length of small chain links through it
   • Using a pair of needlenose pliers, close the link on the Valkyrie's hand so that it looks like she's holding onto a ring
   • Complete the ring by painting a thin band of dark brown on the inside of her hand and then paint a band of Burnished Gold on top of it
   • Spray with a gloss coat followed by a matte coat