Curious as to to how I build some of my Age of Sigmar terrain pieces, convert models, or how I plan armies and paint schemes? Then welcome to the Space Dinosaur Tutorials, where I teach you how I do what I do. For the first post of 2022, I finished up a unit of 10 Chameleon Skinks that I converted from your average, everyday skink.
When I looked back at 2021 and noticed a distinct lack of dinosaurs, I knew that I had to rectify the situation. I couldn't be a blog with dinosaur in the name and only have 1 dinosaur model painted. That would be a travesty. So I started this year with 10 of these diminutive little fellows. First I want to address the models themselves. These are obviously not the official models. I actually really like the official GW models, but at $25 for 5, I don't think it's a great deal for what you get. That's $5 per skink! So instead, I took some skinks from the pile of skinks I know every Seraphon player has and I did a little bit of converting and presto!
The conversion is actually fairly easy, and takes three steps. You don't have to be an expert to pull this off. What you'll need is green stuff, clippers, and a sharp hobby knife. Some water will help with the sculpting. And obviously some skinks. Build them as normal with the blowpipes.
First, cut the tail short so that it's a nub. Take some green stuff and roll it into a rod, then attach that rod to the end of the tail. Blend it into the tail until smooth, then roll the other end like a cinnamon roll. That gives you the distinct chameleon tail. You can roll up or down to give you some variety between models.
Second, scrape off the crest of the skinks. I like to use the clippers to get most of the plastic off, then use the knife to get it smooth. If you want, you can use left over green stuff to add back a little crest like I did on the guy below.
Thirdly, take a little bit more green stuff then roll it into two, small balls for the eyes. Stick them on, and with the tip of the hobby knife make a little indent for the pupil. And that's it!
If you have left over green stuff, you can make extra little details. I made some cowls and little jungle creatures to sit on the models, similar to the originals. For painting I went with a pale green to blend in, but for some slight contrast I went with a brass pipe. Yes, I know the metallic would pop out if they were actually sneaking around, but hey, it looks good.
Well there you have it, a really easy way to make some chameleon skinks out of all those extra skinks you have lying around!
-The Space Dinosaur
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