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I thought the new Howling Banshee Exarch model was very nice, but the "Darth Maul" power weapon kept bugging me, so I decided to go for a dynamic two sword pose. The left arm is just an arm from a normal Banshee pinned into the elbow of the Exarch, but to maintain a matched pair of swords, I had to get a little more creative with the right arm. I cut the hilt and blade portions from another Banshee arm took a Striking Scorpion arm and removed the pistol. I then drilled through the hand, into the blade, and into the hilt, and ran a single inch-long brass pin through all three pieces to give it strength. I cut off the Scorpion arm at the elbow, but scale-wise, the Scorpion forearm is shorter than the Banshee forearm, so I pinned and glued the Scorpion forearm onto the Exarch, leaving a small gap to make up the difference in length. Then I sculpted some green stuff into the gap to look like an extra armor plate, and I was done. The rock base was sculpted out of Green Stuff.

The bone armor was all painted using the Vallejo paint line, and the increase in quality I saw on this figure is what has sold me on the line. The green undersuit was painted with GW paints and inked with Coat d'Arms Dark Green Wash. The red was painted with Vallejo paints and inked with GW Red Ink. The smallest brush I used while painting this figure was a #1 Round.

Year painted: 2002

Winner:

  • BEST SINGLE MINIATURE - 2002 WARYAMMER ONLINE PAINTING CONTEST

Parts used:

  • Howling Banshee Exarch Body (GW# 010407002)
  • (2) Howling Banshee Sword Arms (GW# 010406704)
  • Scorpion Chainsword Arm (GW# 010407604)
  • Brass Rod
  • "Green Stuff"

Building the Howling Banshee Exarch
Here is the figure just after being converted before the base work was done and before priming.
Here you can see the banshee set into the freshly sculpted base. The base was made from some old, barely usable Milliput that I happened to have laying around. You can see the removable part of the Banshee base in this photo, since the display base has not been primered.

These are the parts I am preparing to assemble into the Banshee's latest victim. Some things to note:

  • I have a brass pin that goes all the way through the Marine torso so that I can more securely attach the arms. In addition to the stronger bond, this will also help me hold the figure together some before I glue so I can make more last minutes adjustments to the pose. Having that length of wire also makes the tiny torso easier to hold.
  • The left knee has been cut so that I can create a natural bend there as the Marine begins to fall to his knees. The new joint will be pinned as well for extra strength. As I am sure you have noticed by now, most of my work is pinned for added durability.
  • The bottom of the other foot has a large pin hold in it so that I can securely fasten the figure to the display base.
  • The bolt pistol barrel and muzzle venting have been drilled out
Here is the torso with one arm attached and a gash cut into the front armor. Note that I still have a length of brass pin to hold on to. When I add the second arm was added, I drilled a hole all the way through the shoulder, so that again, I cold play with the positioning and still have something to hold onto. When I was finally happy with it and glued it in place, I cut the pin where it exited the shoulder, filed it down, and glued the shoulder pad on.
Here you can see the Marine that has just been cut down by the Banshee. His falling sword is pinned at the tip and attached to the display base.
Here you can see the Banshee removed from the display base and the circular depression that it normally sits in. Many thanks to Anne Forester for inspiring this kind of display base.