2007, 09. Skarabäus- campaign. The undying (ok, undead...) bodyguards of the Pharaoh of Heshrar.

This page belongs to the subject area “egyptians”. The beginning would be here: Egyptians

A look at the design elements:
Linking elements are colours, fur and egyptian features like nemes- headpiece with horizontal stripes or bands of hieroglyphs (copied original texts from the book of the dead, random combinations somehow don´t look “right”). Also both gentlemen are over 1,9 metres tall and have the same sense of humor.

Differences are the implied mythological elements: The Scarabaeus armour on the left consists of round shapes and emblems. Scarabaeus is a symbol of life (at this point I´m tempted to quote Pratchett, but instead of that a recommendation: “Pyramids”- or better: all he wrote. Try it.).

The model for the armour on the right is the mythological monster Ammut: a mixture of lion, hippopotamus and crocodile (in other words: everything that had a big mouth in egypt). It eats the souls of the dead who fail the test of the scales...
The Ammut armour on the right shows lion´s mane, hippo´s tusks and crocodile´s teeth. It is dominated by spiky forms.

The styles symbolize the Pharaoh´s power over life and death and are also reflected in the shapes of the warlord: as Amuthep (scarabaeus) or Bahat al`ask`r (the wide-open maw)- which can change very rapidly according to his master´s whims...

You don´t have to overload your creatures that way but it enriches the ambiente of the game (scholars can point out particulars to their warriors which will doubtlessly encourage them to no end) but in this case the details are just bycatch of what the figures should look like.

The Scarabaeus- armour. Above left: the substructure that determines the curvature of the 3-dimensional back plate. The green parts were made of cheap camping- mats and are either cut out later or vanish under the surface.
Don´t mind the colours of the collar- it is a recycled piece from a renovation of the jackal- costumes.
Above right: Grounded black (acrylics).

The armours are held in place by webbing straps and clip clasps who later vanish under the artificial furs.
Webbing straps cannot safely be glued with Pattex. The solution is sewing on pieces of cloth; this enlarged contact face will securely hold the straps (see left picture).
Notice also the direction the stress is put on them. They are pulled sideways to the glued surface in the direction of the strap- as with a bullet-proof vest; this is ok. Pull them away from the glued surface in any other direction and they´ll get loose.

Above left: Painted. Black grounding, gold drybrush, black ink, gold highlight. Acrylics.
Above right finished.

Above left: The Ammut armour consists mainly of cheap camping- matresses (I was suffering from a scarcity of adequate material). You´ll get away with this as long as cloth is glued under all stressed parts and no abrasion takes place.
Remember to sand the surface of the mats prior to applying Pattex or paint.
If necessary the surface of such inferior foam can be latexed when painted (put a small amount of paint of the desired colour into the latex and stir well)- this will create an adequately durable surface. Use such cheap mats only as plan B.

Notice the ledges on all plates. They are cut with scissors, then the edges are trimmed (also with scissors) before glueing them. When in the next step the soldering iron is applied they sort of melt to the surface.
One has to expend a certain effort but it´s worth the time. Here they are the main source for generating detail.

And again: Many sorts of closed- pored foams have to be sanded prior to glueing or painting.
Make a test with Pattex and paint.  If you can tear the plates apart easily or the coulour runs, sand them.

Both armours are slightly overbalanced to the rear- which is adjusted now and then by means of a short pull on the collar (we also frequently see this motion with plate- armour- wearers). But the NPCs said they had already been stuffed into much less comfortable outfits than these.

And here again is a good example that there is no “one-size-fits-all”: For these guys the outfits might well have been one or two sizes larger...
last edit oct 2016