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SUMMONING THE MERWYRM

How to Build a Creature from the Briny Deep

With the Storm of Chaos unleashing its full fury across the nation this summer, many

a High Elf player is looking to construct a Merwyrm for his High Elf Sea Patrol army.

The mention of this fearsome creature in the new Storm of Chaos army list has

sparked several conversions. My interpretation revolved around the classic wyrm, a

kind of sea-serpent. In addition, the “Mer” part of the name brought to mind the

mythical mermaids, who have arms but no legs – only a fishy tail. Soon I had a

concept in mind: a sea-serpent with arms…big, muscular arms with clawed hands

(which would also help explain the creature’s 5 S5 Attacks!). Below you'll find a step-

 by-step look at how I took this concept and made it into a conversion.

STEPS 

Step 1 Pin and attach the Black Dragon Belly to the Orc Wyvern Body & Head.

Step 2 Pin and attach the Black Dragon Tail to the Black Dragon Belly (make

sure to get the head and tail on the correct sides). If you want, you can take

this opportunity to use some pliers to carefully bend the Black Dragon Tail

to one side or the other of the body. The Black Dragon Tail looks much

more natural angled slightly to the left or right from the body’s center.

Step 3 Clip off all the spikes on the back and file them down to look as similar as

 possible to the scales on the Wyvern’s back.

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Step 4 Clip off the tip of the old Black Dragon Tail and the tip of the new Black 

Dragon Tail (the fin one), then pin the fin to the end of the old Black 

Dragon Tail.

Step 5 Use some green stuff to help fill in the shoulders of the Wyvern when you

 put in the Dragon Limbs arm and the Black Dragon Right Arm.

Step 6 Attach the Black Dragon Left Hand to the end of the plastic Dragon Limb.

Step 7 Take the Harpy Wings and place them together, with the concave portions

facing each other. Trim the wings down until they match evenly. Glue the

wings together in this pattern and fill the interior space with green stuff.

 Now, you should have two different, shark-like dorsal fins. Place the

tallest of the two fins across the join on the back where the Wyvern body

and Black Dragon Belly meet. Place the shorter of the two fins similarly

across the join where the Black Dragon Belly and Black Dragon Tail meet.

Step 8 Use the additional Harpy Wings as extra fins for the areas on either side of 

the Black Dragon Belly where the legs normally go. Fill the majority of 

the empty space with green stuff until you have reached a thickness

appropriate for the midsection of the Merwyrm. (For fins, you could alsouse the plastic fins from the Dragon Body Sprue (99389999075) instead of 

the second set of Harpy Wings.)

Step 9 Use green stuff to help fill in the gaps between the Wyvern body and the

Black Dragon Belly, as well as the join between the Black Dragon Belly

and Black Dragon Tail.

Step 10 Clip the horns from the Dragon’s head found on the Dragon Limbs Sprue

and place them where the Wyvern’s horns normally go just next to the

eyes. Make sure to aim the horns backwards towards the tail where they

form a slight downward arch.

Step 11  Now comes the tricky part. Clip off the fins from the Chaos Dragon Head.Take these fins and attach them to the horns from the Dragon Limbs

Sprue. Make sure to get the angle just right – remember that with green

stuff, you have a little time to maneuver before it sets. Take your modeling

tool and make sure to sculpt lines in the green stuff connecting the fin to

the face so that the fins seem to be growing out of the sides of the

Wyvern’s head.

Step 12 Clip off the fins from the Chaos Dragon Horns. Take the fins and use

green stuff to place the fins on the Wyvern’s shoulders just above the

arms.

Step 13 Take small pieces of green stuff and mold them into small disks. Thesedisks look very similar to the scales on the Merwyrm’s back, so place

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them around the arms and the side fins in order to make those areas look 

more like the scaly plates on the back. Once the disks are in place, let them

set, and you will soon have some pretty convincing-looking scales! You

can even go a step further and sculpt the disks in the same general shape as

the scales if you like.

Step 14 Mount the Merwyrm on the Chariot Base. Paint and base the model as you

see fit. If you want to get that nifty water look, brush on some Envirotex

Lite furniture polish resin on the base. However, make sure you follow the

directions on this product (especially the ventilation part) for your own

safety!

Step 15 Drink your beverage of choice and celebrate…you’re done converting!

For more great conversion ideas, bitz deals, scenarios, and more, check out Troll, the

monthly mail order magazine that comes free with your US White Dwarf  subscription.