Mawloc Conversion #1 - FTGTRon

Hey Guys,

Ron here with a Mawloc conversion . This Mawloc is standard for the most part, with a few subtle modifications.

The standard body pose for the Mawloc is reminiscent of a coiled snake.  He's not in the middle of attacking, but you know at any moment he could be sending Sammuel L Jackson into an expletive filled rant.  The head pose, however, seems to be in the middle of a strike, tongue out spearing it's prey, mouth wide to swallow it whole.  In my opinion it is at odds with the the rest of the body, so for my first Mawloc conversion I went about modifying the head to match the vibe I get from the body. I chopped up and repositioned the mandibles and cut and green stuffed the tongue.

I used green stuff to fill the gaps, recreate the underside of the mouth, and smooth over the transitions.

I then painted up the mini most of the way, and stopped to fill in the 'vents' on the back of the carapace with some green stuff.  I created the holes with embossing tools (which are pretty handy for working with green stuff).  

Then I added one size up scything talons (a compromise between the teeny tiny t-rex arms, and the massive tyrgon talons) and finished up the paint job:

Can't forget that gloss varnish and trusty UHU for some nasty saliva:

The base is one I had done previously on a trygon, who was stripped of his awesome base status due to generally sucking on the board (to be fair he is great at killing light vehicles that stand still for 2-3 turns while he approaches).  I touched up the base with some fresh paint and added some more tentacle bits.  The static grass job isn't my best work, but I am in love with the gory elements, including a ripper nomming on a severed hand, a lake of blood, and a pile of marine/terminator skulls with tentacles growing out of it, engorged on the blood and guts of the fallen.

Nomnomnom, fingerlickin' good y'all

Yum

Sorry guys, I guess Mawlocs don't always scatter off!

Now that I've converted the mawloc's head to match his body pose, my next conversion will attempt to make the body as dynamic as the stock head pose.  Here's a little sneak peak:

I'm also working on my third lictor conversion. I'm going for a full steam running pose, with a Lictor closing in on it's prey quickly:

 Hope you enjoyed this article!  Stay tuned for more Tyranid conversion goodness.

-Ron