Look out! He's Got an Axe!

As a holiday treat, I thought I'd post a little blurb showing a WIP snapshot (sorry for the pic quality, bare lead doesn't photograph all that easily) of an axe-wielding loony I've started working on.

The figure is an old Alternative Armies Celtic warrior that's been rattling around my bits box for some time. The original figure is naked except for a strange band around his waist. I'm not sure what the belt is as it has no buckle or anything. The figure originally sported a spiky, crazy, fantasy Celtic hair style and a pretty ordinary beard. the axe had a little knot work on it.

I decided that this pose and stringy appearance of the figure was perfect for a mad axeman. I shaved off the crazy Celt hair and the knot work from the axe. Once this was done, the axe looked much more ordinary and I could start working on redoing the hair.

For the hair, I went with a matted, wild, almost dreadlocked effects. I started by laying on little "worms" of grey stuff in the general arrangement of where I wanted the main mattes to go and then used a hobby knife to poke and cut at them, moving it about so it looked less clean and organized. I think the overall effect was a nice one and it gave him that wild look I was looking for.

I decided that though the nakedness was creepy and crazy the belt bothered me and to disguise it I added a bit of tattered cloth around the legs and backside of the mini - not enough to cover him up but to make the weird belt look more like the waistband to a former pair of pants. The front of the belt is obscured enough by his hands and the axe that one can imagine there is a a draw up there someplace.

I hope to get him painted and based up soon and will post pics of the finished model when I am done.

-Eli