Golden Hat XXXVII Entry - Hobgoblin Khan on Giant Wolf-Rat
Warning - Pic heavy (as my posts tend to be)
Below is my entry for Golden Hat XXXVII, in its initial conversion stages. As many of you well know, Hobgobs are probably my least favorite part of CD lore. In part because they typically lack the steam-mech-armor-stone-fire elements that draw me to the models and fuel my conversion ideas. I struggled to decide what specifically to build, and while I have a few other ideas that will see the light of day another year, what I ultimately I was finally able to get excited was due to a packing error. Goblinoid models make up a very small part of my collection, but I’ve had a sealed NIB Rackham Confrontation Baron Ozhon 2.0 model sitting in my collection for years (even came very near to selling it). I decided it might be a good place to start, but was initially very disappointed when I opened it. The model should look like this:
However, due to a packing error likely a decade distant, both the sword and gun arms of the model were completely missing, as well as the arm holding the haft of the open umbrella, leaving me the closed umbrella arm, the open umbrella top, and an additional arm not in the picture holding a sort of jousting spear. The missing pieces killed my fervor for the model.
It was only with the addition of the hats of @Fuggit_Khan to the potential prizes that I again decided to make the attempt with roughly a week remaining. Eventually I came back around to this model and while trying to decide what to do with the arms, I realized the missing arms were a great opportunity for conversion and begin scrounging bits. The missing right arm was replaced with a socket to hold the umbrella (essential on the battlefield to keep off the blistering northern sun). I chopped up a Wrath of Kings Shael Han model (this guy):
for the sword, stack, socket, and backpack. The second right steam saw blade arm is from an old Mage Knight Blade Golem, and is actually attached to the backpack behind and lower (abdomen level) than the socket arm. The result is clearer to see in the build and primed pics below than it is in the final painted version (a testament that I always have alot to improve on re painting):
The left arm came from the jousting spear arm (sans hand), and the umbrella haft is the jousting spear customized to allow the open umbrella top to slip on. The last step was the sashimo (bit from?), because every samurai-esque assassin Khan needs a sashimo:
A few PIP shots to show the arm bit clearly:
And finally the painted model, including some additional shots from other angles. I was down to the wire on the last night of the contest, and could easily have spent several more hours on the model. There are many places clearly evident in several of the close in shots that need work:
Hope you enjoy, and thank you very much for the votes! The Rackham models are always quite fun to convert and paint with so much visual interest sculpted into them. Now, I need to acquire some more Rackham “Strohm Knights” to complete a unit of these.