40K HOBBY: Adopting An Unwanted Pet (Model)
This article is about finding a sad, lonely abandoned, pet (model), taking it home and giving it the real hobby attention it deserves.
The Giant Spined Chaos Beast is one of those models that I liked a bit, but I was never previously fond enough of it to buy one from Forge World. Then one day a few months ago at a local store “Bizarre Bazaar” customer flea market event I spotted this one sitting in someone’s pile of unwanted game items. It was terrible seeing a Forge World model, any Forge World model, in such a hapless state. It had some broken spines and tusks, was really badly based and had a partial paint job with a lot of green in it. As it happens, the friendly acquaintance who owned it had gotten it that way free from someone else who didn’t want it so he had no attachment to it and he wasn’t looking for much for it. I was able to trade just a few old blisters for it and this twice rejected animal was now mine. Looking at its sorry condition at the time I thought, “what have I taken in?” Like a lot of neglected animals, it looked hopeless, but through that I could see potential for something great.
Once I got it home the first task was to remove it from its woefully inadequate base. It had been stuck onto a Games Workshop chariot base, which large as it is was only about half the size needed for this animal. Most of the model was hanging off of the base and the base was warped besides. I carefully cut through the green stuff (Kneadatite) and super glue between the feet and the base with a sharp modeling knife and was able to separate the two without damaging the model. I then remounted the Beast on a GW large oval base.
The next order of business was to repair the damaged tusks and spines. The Giant Spined Chaos Beast may be a terrifying monster on the battlefield, but it was clearly no match for the careless storage it had suffered over the previous few years. It was a sad and battered looking thing with several broken protrusions. Using Apoxie Sculpt I carefully restored the broken spines and tusks as best I could. Apoxie Sculpt dries harder than green stuff and I wanted the small protrusions to be as sturdy as possible without having to use pins or armatures to reinforce them.
After the Apoxie Sculpt was dry the next day I simply sprayed some flat black right over the existing half-finished sickly green paint job the model had already been given. I then started anew with an entirely different paint scheme. The color scheme I used on the Beast is one I created earlier this year for some other Chaos projects like some Nurgle mutated Chaos Marines and my Chaos Trolls. This scheme deliberately eschews the usual green tones so often used for Nurgle yet still maintains a somewhat sickly overall look. It’s also a relatively naturalistic color scheme, adding a bit of pseudo-realism to what are some fairly fantastic looking models.
I feel pretty good about rescuing this once broken and neglected model and turning it into something to be enjoyed. There’s something satisfying about taking someone else’s unloved junk and turning it into a worthwhile hobby project, especially when they are Forge World models. Soon he’ll be chasing down and devouring the servants of the Imperium, and that’s all the love a Giant Spined Chaos Beast could want!
This isn’t the first time I rescued something really cool from the bottom of someone else’s flea market bin. Last year I saved a Forge World Thousand Sons Dreadnought from the bottom of a giant tub of models. I ordered some arms for him, added a decorative bit, repositioned his head and gave him a decent base and paint job. Like the Giant Spined Chaos Beast, he’s now a proud member of my Chaos Space Marines Renegade Legion, The Star Reavers.
I can’t be the only one with a soft spot for cool but neglected miniatures. What great-but-abandoned models have you happened upon and on impulse adopted and turned into a serious modeling project?
