Hello! Firstly, I don't profess to be a very good user of green stuff and there are clearly some amazingly talented sculptors who visit this site all of whom I'm convinced could do a better job than I've done here. My rationale for writing this post was that while a lot of GW products are pretty expensive Chameleon Skinks seem outrageously priced when a) you can get 24 normal Skinks for £20 b) they aren't huge models or a particularly powerful unit and c) the models just aren't that good. With that in mind and inspired by the following thread … http://www.lustria-online.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2511&start=20 I decided to give converting my normal Skinks into Chameleons! These 6 Skink took less than 2.5 hour to convert and once painted should look fairly decent. Step 1 - Mutilate those Skinks: Select your victims and cut their tails off at about the 2/3 mark and remove the crests. To remove the crests I just crudely chopped them off with clippers and then used a modelling knife to shave the remains off the head - trying not to cut my fingers. Step 2 - I rolled a small piece of green stuff into a long sausage shape. The greenstuff in the photo is all of what I used (I even had a little bit left over to make some little snakes for base decoration). The sausage is roughly skink tail in thinkness. Step 3 – Cut a piece off the ‘greenstuff sausage’ to use for the tail. The photo showed how little I used. Step 4 – I took my piece of greenstuff and rolled it between my forefinger and a hard (non sticky) surface placing additional pressure on one end to create a tail/cone shape. Step 5 – I attached my ‘new tail’ to the skink. I found the greenstuff sticky enough that glue wasn’t required. Step 6 – Roll the tail up on itself to create the ‘trademark’ chameleon tail. You can make the tail densely curled or looser. I chose a mix of both. At this point it’s probably worth stopping and letting the greenstuff set. I didn’t stop but as I moved onto the eyes I found I kept squashing the tail accidentally. Step 7 - The following picture shows how little greenstuff is required for the eyes. I would actually cut this ball in half to create to new eyes for one skink. I just pressed each hemisphere over the existing eyes. Step - Using a pencil I poked a pupil into each new eye. If you wanted some texture you could probably us the end of a cocktail stick to make some dots are the eye. Step 9 – The one cool thing about the GW models is the dead frogs that adorn them. My attempts at the frogs where half-hearted failures so I decided to create a hat of sorts from the greenstuff. I rolled flat the remaining greenstuff and cut out a diamond shape. I would place this on the head of the skink and position it how I liked. Sometimes I turned up the ‘earflaps’ and sometimes I stretched out the back the diamond to cover the neck. I used a modeling knife to add some leaf-like texture. Step 10 – Add the arms, blowpipes and hand-weapons. Step 11 – Paint. I hope someone finds this useful. If anything I hope it shows how simple it is to make some passable chameleons out of greenstuff. Lets face it for the £30 pounds you could spend on 6 GW chameleons you could spend on 24 skinks and a pack of greenstuff. Good luck, DWS
One of my Chameleon Skinks has a feather in it's cap. In showing that figure to my girlfriend she exclaimed 'Why has it got a feather?! Is it a showgirl?'. So forever this skink will be known as Lola ... Lola the Showgirl Skink. Only my second skink to have a name. The other being 'beetroot head' on account of his face being painted the colour of a beetroot - very original.
Good stuff! This is easily one of the best conversions to do. It is way more economical to do chameleons like this than to buy the metal ones (or finecast). Great work and great post.
Love the guy carrying the blowgun with his tail. I may have to try something like this soon. My GS skills are rusty, but this seems nice and simple. --DF2K
is there a green stuff guide out there? where do you get it? I think it'd be fun to really customize some models
There may be a guide or two on our forum. Where to get it varies. You can purchase it in many of the same places that you get miniatures. I order mine from a company that makes it in Pennsylvania. I get a 35 inch roll of it for just around $20 bucks after shipping. Generally, that will last me about 4-6 months for the little odds and ends that need it for.
Green stuff is a bit like play-doh/clay in consistency although i'd say it's not quite as malleable as the former. It comes in too strips one yellow and blue both of which when separate stay semi-solid/softish. You mix equal parts yellow and blue turning the combined piece green. Once it's green it will start to set into a solid structure but this over hours rather than minutes i'd say in the mean time you can sculpt with it (or roll it in your fingers which is mostly what i did). I've only used it in small quantities but overnight or a day seems to be enough time for it to set. It also seems easier to work with in a warm room. There will be people on here with much more experience of using it then I have. I would say it's pretty easy to use but very difficult to master. I suppose mastery means your sculpting your own models which of course some people on this forum seem to do. I hope that helps!
The consistency of greenstuff is far more like chewing gum than playdough. And that includes it being sticky. Lubricate your tools with petroleum jelly or spit.