Continuing on my Wood Elf army figure update, the next unit that required some work were my old first edition GW Wood Elf War Hawk Riders. The kits were replaced by GW some years ago with “surfer” versions of the models. As I already had the older models and did not like the look of the replacements, I kept my old ones. With the inclusion of the unit in the Ninth Age, the time came to finally dust off the models and pimp their ride.
The models actually did not require any changes for the purpose of WYSIWYG, but I did felt the look had “aged” a bit compared with newer models. So, looking at the models, I decided on a path forward.
First I decided to add capes! Most other figures have cloaks or capes, so that seemed to be a good add. In this case, I took some extra plastic wild rider capes and attached them to the existing painted figures. Painted them to match the style of the figures and blended them in.
I then replaced the old kite shields with the newer plastic stylized version. Most of the old shields had fallen off anyway, so the removal step was quite easy! Painted the shields up and attached them to the figures. I then remounted the figures on the new bases with aluminum rods, so they would be more sturdy. The rods are actually aluminum knitting needles. These are very long and have pointed tips. Just cut them down to the length you want and mount them through the plastic base. The pointy end attaches to the figure. This ensures that no matter what size the mounting hole is on the figure, the rod will attach into it and give a strong mount that does not break off.
Now I have two units of Kestrel Knights for my T9A Sylvan Elves that fit well with my existing army. Now, someday I will need to get them on the table top!
- Manteuffel