Warriors Of Chaos get a new army book and a bunch of new models this week on top of the new models released for that range just a few months ago, yet still they do not have a plastic Chaos Dragon kit of their own.So here are some ideas for converting one out of the existing Games Workshop plastic dragon kits for other army ranges.
Games Workshop makes plastic dragon kits for Vampire Counts, Dark Elves and High Elves. With a little work and some creativity any or all of these kits could make a fine Chaos Dragon.
The first example shown here was built using the plastic Dark Elf Dreadlord on Black Dragon kit. I liked the look of the kit a lot to begin with and felt it would be fun to give it a Chaos twist. I scrounged an extra neck for this conversion, alternatively one could try their hand at sculpting. Since the kit comes with two different heads that essential part is already provided. As for the rider, I used the extra Chaos Lord from the Chaos Lord on Manticore since I already owned that model and it comes with two complete riders.
In the photo below you can see the Chaos Star added to the saddle horn. I've also added an old Chaos shield to the front of the Arcane Ruins scenery used on the base.
The Dragon was attached directly to the Arcane Ruins broken column. The saddle on the dragon has been boosted up with Green Stuff ("Kneadatite"). This will keep the rider's long cloak from interfering with the dragon's wings once they are glued on. It also makes the model look a bit bigger and more imposing when done. I used a spare tail from the Manticore to convert the dragon's tail.
This photo shows how I've used Chaos shields from Warriors of Chaos kits new and old to decorate the dragon. The plastic chains that appear to hold the chest shield in place come from yet another Games Workshop kit, the Chaos Space Marine Vehicle Accessory sprue if I recall.
The finished model can be seen in the photo below. Inset photos show off some of the finished details from different angles. Textured paint (Vallejo Black Lava) was used to create the base texture. I covered the topic of lava bases in another recent Spikey Bits article at this link.
I also built a Nurgle Chaos Dragon With Chaos Lord using completely different GW kits than the conversion shown above. Two Vampire Lord on Zombie Dragon kits will provide you with two heads and necks for this conversion and still leave you with a complete Terrogheist kit for your Vampire Counts.
This one is a work in progress and is not yet painted. The rider was built from a Vampire Counts Cairn Wraith with parts from the Warriors of Chaos, Chaos Marauders and Chaos Knights kits to suitably convert him to the deformed Chaos Lord seen here. I used some Apoxie Sculpt to add a necessary extra vertebrae to the dragon. I also used it to sculpt Nurgle themed details to the dragon and the rider. Green Stuff would also have been suitable in place of Apoxie Sculpt. Note the inset photo below showing some of the rear Chaos detail added to the dragon.
Some of you may recall I already did an article here on Spikey Bits recently about converting a Chaos Giant. If you combine a Chaos Dragon conversion and a Chaos Giant with some of the cool new monsters now available for Advance Order for Warriors Of Chaos your army will have more impact both literally and figuratively on display and on the game table. After all, who doesn't love to see epic monsters stomping and flying around in a fantasy game?
Both of the model conversions shown here are currently on display at the Games Workshop Bowie Battle Bunker in Maryland. If you're in the area I hope you'll stop by and have a look. It's a great store with huge hobby and gaming space.
A blister of Warriors Of Chaos was my first purchase from GW more than 20 years ago! I bought them to use with my Dungeons & Dragons campaign at the time. The rest as they say, is history. Since then my collection has grown massively with each new Chaos release. Next month the Realm Of Chaos is calling once again. I'll probably add a few new things to my existing collection. What will you be adding to your forces of Chaos?