ellaria starfarer

Ellaria Starfarer is a Miruanian Pathfinder; she's based on the model for Amallyn Shadowblade (currently exclusive to the Blackstone Fortress boxed game). Whilst it was pleasing to see a new, plastic Ranger model, I had reservations about a number of the design choices and aimed to fix these with some repositioning and sculpting.

date: 2018-present (work-in-progress)
components: 1x Amallyn Shadowblade, 1x Dire Avenger shuriken catapult, Green Stuff, brass rod, brass wire

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1. I created this animated GIF concept to compare the original model with my planned conversion.

Eldar Pathfinder Amallyn Shadowblade conversion Ellaria Starfarer

2. The completed conversion.

The right leg was repositioned and a new foot was sculpted in Green Stuff. The original model has a bizarre pose with the heel of the right foot lifted off the ground in an unnatural, awkward position.

I repositioned the left arm at the elbow. Eldar Pathfinder Amallyn Shadowblade conversion Ellaria Starfarern

3. Side view of the conversion.

I replaced the extremely wide Long Rifle targeter with a slimmer one from a Dire Avenger shuriken catapult. Eldar Pathfinder conversion

4. Rear view. A tree was modelled using twisted brass wire and Green Stuff. All of my Rangers and Pathfinders have trees incorporated into their scenic bases.

5. View of the left side of the model.

I filed away some extraneous detailing from around the spirit stone.

The abdominal armour plates on the original model are rounded and disjointed; I filed these down and re-sculpted them in Green Stuff to look more regular.

I used Green Stuff to blend the kneepads into the boots, as I didn't like them appearing separate. Eldar Pathfinder Amallyn Shadowblade conversion Ellaria Starfarer

6. Close-up of the body. Some of the more subtle changes include removing the dangling gemstone from the belt buckle and filing down the exaggerated eyebrows and creasing of the forehead to soften the model's features.

7. Close-up of the re-sculpted feet. The feet were the single most obviously "wrong" aspect of the sculpt for me. Since the model was clearly designed using CAD, it should have been an easy thing to fix by the designers, so I can only assume it looked OK to them.

I cut away the tail of the extremely long hood and used Green Stuff to fill in the resulting gaps.

I removed some minor detailing from the gloves. Eldar Pathfinder Amallyn Shadowblade conversion Ellaria Starfarer

8. This over-the-shoulder shot highlights some of the more subtle changes.

9. The model has now been undercoated and is ready to be painted in my Miruaun colours.