Modding Goblins into Elves?

[mbdeyesParticipant 655xp 0]

Hello all.
I am looking to do my first dramatic mod (not just a weapons’ swap).
I really like the mechanics of the new ‘Rippa’s Snarlfangs’ but I have never liked GW goblins. LotR, yes. Warhammer/Warcraft, not so much.

However, these guys put me in mind of a certain clan of stunted, wolfriding elves I was hooked on in the late 80’s.
In short I’m looking for tips on how to make this:

Into this (likely Cutter, Strongbow, and Pike, though):

[moonunitParticipant 4511xp 0]

Elf Quest deserves its own miniatures range, but I reckon you could take parts from Wargames Atlantic Halflings, or wait for their elves, to make some decent Elf Quest conversions. Let us see when done.

[Anonymous 0xp 0]

I’ve had a look at the sprues of GW’s website.  I really don’t like the way the legs are moulded onto the bodies of the wolves as it is going to be a pain to remove those feet and add elf looking ones.  How good are your sculpting skills?  You might end up having to do quite a bit.

[maledrakhParticipant 11996xp 0]

FYI Ral Partha has (had) a whole range of actual licenced ElfQuest minis.

They are much smaller than todays GW offerings though.

[mbdeyesParticipant 655xp 0]

I’m wondering if I’ll need to file off the feet and try to greenstuff on some leather boots. I’m a little afraid they’ll end up looking like socks, though.

[somegeezer 18434xp 1]

Boots were pretty much leather socks until relatively recently (stiff soles even changed the way we walk) so socks would look ok. I’d give it a go. If you want to practice without risking a mini just bend a bit of wire, greenstuff an approximate foot shape on and once dry, give it a boot. You never know, you could be the next Paul Hicks!

[mbdeyesParticipant 655xp 1]

@moonunit I like what Wargames Atlantic are doing, but the haflings are all very helmeted.

@somegeezer  Yup… pretty much leather socks on these guys:

[puyzen 2467xp 2]

I remember those elves! Lovely project. Good luck. Please make a project and show us how you are getting along.

I saw this posted in the Oldhammer Community yesterday. It is not goblins-to-elves but similar so maybe you can use it as inspiration (pretty cool execution if you ask me).

 

[mbdeyesParticipant 655xp 0]

@puyzen That’s a pretty good use of those goblins.
To a lot of people, the Wolfriders won’t look much like elves. You can see in the last picture I posted that there are some more standard tall thin Tolkien style elves in the World of Two Moons as well, but compared to them (and the humans) these guys are more Hobbit or Dwarf sized. That’s why I figure Rippa’s Snarlfangs are a good size for them.  Also, there’s only three models in the set, so it’s probably a better place for me to start than, say, trying to do this for a full Kings of War army.

[mbdeyesParticipant 655xp 0]

FYI, I haven’t gotten my hands on Rippa’s Snarlfangs yet. I want to see just exactly what the scale will look like before trying to sculpt or cast anything.
My local retailer sold out almost immediately, but promised he’d have more in by the end of the week.

[Author]

Posts