Gary's Greenwork: The Crystal Lord (WIP)

The Crystal Lord (WIP)

It's been a while since I posted something, and it will be a while before I post something finished as I try to finish up my professional work this year. So I decided to post some WIPs for a bunch of projects I am working on and here is the first.

The Concept

Recently I tried to come up with several cults, each with their own personality and gimmicks. Inspired by Greg and Andy Wier's Crystal World work, I thought an interesting concept would be for a cult where the leader controlled their followers by infecting them purposely with a crystal disease.

In my version of the crystal disease, the crystal would have some kind of mutagenic properties, leading to benefits and penalties worsening as the infection proceeded. Perhaps greatly enhanced strength, but reducing willpower and mobility.

The leader would have to represent the epitome of what could be obtained by surviving the infection in order to persuade others to follow his example, and here we get The Crystal Lord. He appears not to have a single patch of uninfected skin, but most of it is unusually fine, apart from the larger crystals on his shoulders, apparently not affecting his mobility. I have played with the idea that he may not actually be infected at all, but all of it is makeup or an illusion, allowing him to gain an army without the risk to himself.

The cultists would range in the severity of the infection, usually indicating rank. Except the Monstrosities, brothers that have succumbed to the maddening crystal disease ravaging their bodies. Huge and misshapen, they function as berserkers for the cult. They could use crystal weapons, cut from the fossilized bodies of the dead infected, so that players run a risk of getting infected themselves during fights.

I probably should have made some of the minions first so I could test making crystals but I got too excited and went headlong into the leader.

The build

Multiple bits here came from random bits off eBay. The is probably the most distinctive as from Games Workshop's Stormcast eternals. The chest and arms are GW's Tzaangor's. The legs are a copy made from Frostgrave Cultsists body with the torso mostly removed, which served as a base for sculpting the torso.

Sculpting the abs, shoulders and back was quite a challenge and I definitely need to work on my anatomy! I think I passable job which I hope I can cover up a little with the paint job. Laslty, I used some twisted wire and GW Eldar accessories to make the belt. I might make one of them an item that allows the guy to survive the infection or something when I get around to fleshing out the encounter.

The most fun was the crystals on the shoulder. First I started off with the Exacto-knife sculpted plasticard rods and pressed them into the still-soft greenstuff, allowing me to press together the greenstuff to make the crystals look like they are coming out of the skin.

Then, I plastered the shoulder area with superglue and sprinkled on crushed glass. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH CRUSHED GLASS, that stuff can go everywhere! Do this in a container or something and keep away from kids. Anyway, enough of the PSA, after the superglue dried, I used a brush to remove any glass that wasn't glued down securely.