An Acrobatic Assassin (Narn Conversion)

Narn, Mage Hunter of Ios, is a quick, deadly, agile assassin.  I've been wanting to build this model for a while now, and finally got around to it.  Quite of bit of sculpting was required to represent the Retribution's second most famous killer.

Look at this guy.  Standing there all boring and static.  What kind of assassin is he supposed to be?  I held off on purchasing Narn based on his sculpt alone.  It's too boring and basic, and doesn't quite match the aesthetic of the rest of the Retribution army.

Luckily, I was browsing through the official Privateer Press forums one day, and stumbled upon several nearly identical conversion of Narn, using a Soulless Escort and Mage Hunter Commander models to convert a nimble, active assassin.

Step one:  Perform a magic trick wherin each model is sawed apart at the waist using a jeweler's saw.  Pin them together, and you can start to see how this is going to shape up.

Time for green stuff.  The waist was a piece of cake, as he's just got a sash.  The shoulder pads were an entirely different matter.  I'm not 100% pleased with them, but they somewhat represent the official sculpt, while a bit lumpy.

The swords are from epic Makeda, pinned through the hand, with a sculpted hilt on the left.

Sculpting cloaks is a tedious process, and prone to complete ruin if one forgets to avoid touching the still pliable green stuff.  Folds are sculpted easily enough by rolling a tool in the right areas.

The finished product.  While white armor would really blend him with the rest of the Retribution, his artwork and official model portray Narn as wearing brassy, metallic armor.  I finally went this route, as he's supposed to have been operating outside of Ios for so long that he's a legend.  Perhaps he had to make do with old armor or some he procured while out killing humans.

If he's going to be on the table, he's got to have his crossbow (not that he should ever really be shooting anything).  From what I've seen, all the crossbows in the Retribution range are identical, but this particular one was lopped off from a random Mage Hunter Strike Force member, stuck into his cloak, and has a sculpted hilt.

I had a blast converting this guy, and he looks great on the table.  It's probably the quickest turnaround time I've had between sculpting a conversion and painting, at just over 2 hours from basecoat to finish.