Back in the day I was a sucker for an interesting wager. One evening in 2001 I was out at the Purple Turtle Bar in Reading when one of the GW gang (Dave Palmer I think) bet me that I couldn’t win a Golden Demon award using a component from a non-Games Workshop model. Use of non-GW components would result in disqualification… so I would have to be subtle. The result was this 40K Chaos Space Marine Lord of Nurgle.
It was only when I had a good look at the model today to write this blog entry that I realised how much converting went into this mini. It was based on a metal 40K Chaos Space Marine Lord but I don’t think there is a millimetre that has not been modified, added to or converted in some way. I had really got to grips with Green Stuff at the time, so went crazy with that and bitz from my bitz box.
In addition to the metal model and lots of Green Stuff, this model was made up of plastic bitz, slate, wire, paper, metal rod and ubiquitous Nurglings.
It was painted mostly with GW paints with some Tamiya Clear colours – red, green and yellow, sometimes mixed – still a staple of any decent painting kit.
I have always been more of a fan of Warhammer than 40K, and wanted this fella to have some archaic style weapons. An axe and shield seemed right, but it took me a long time to figure out how to make them look interesting. The axe is actually a small piece of the same slate I used for the base, embedded in a piece of flesh stuck to a long bone – pretty Nurgly I reckon. The shield is wooden with stretched skin and three buboes in the Nurgle symbol, one of which has burst just in case there was any doubt as to which deity this Lord follows!
The armour might not be all that functional any more, only serving to hold the Champion together! It’s failed in areas; the stomach has burst out and split, with some tasty Green stuff entrails. It’s covered with cuts, gaps and zits, and I carved one foot into exposed toes. There are no pipes – all have been painted as guts. One shoulder pad has spines sticking out, the other has… well… a dirty old sphincter.
The backpack. Oh that backpack. I hope it’s not a reflection of my state of mind at the time, but creating backpack out of body parts just seemed to suit the character… There are a few themes in this model that have carried through to many of my later creations, which hopefully you’ll be able to spot as I share more. The standard is based upon the first ever Nurgle banner I painted (sadly long gone) and the tongue has continued to feature, as has the burst bubo shield.
I’ve not had a good look at this model for so long, and it’s a joy picking out all the little conversions, from the bone handle of the sidearm to the wiring feeding the flayed face this model is wearing. The painting is quite messy and a bit retro (like the Champion himself!), certainly not nearly good enough by today’s competition standards, but I think it’s the modelling and detail that make this one stand out.
This ghastly creation picked up Gold in the 40K Single Miniature category in 2001. That same year I won the Slayer Sword with my Slaanesh Warband. Interestingly when I went up to Lenton to have photos taken of the models, GW had no idea which was the Slayer Winner… apparently the judges couldn’t really decide between whether the Chaos Lord or the Warband should win, but both were mine! I chose the Warband in the end, simply because it took longer, so that’s what went in the publications. To be honest I’d be happy for this to have won.
And for the non-GW component? I’m not telling… but if you can pick it out and identify please comment below. You might win a prize. Which reminds me, I’m still owed a tenner from that bet…
Thanks for reading... thoughts, tips, questions and comments are welcomed :)
