When Joel put up his "convert and paint up a cowboy type fig" challenge, I was stuck for a moment. I didn't have any cowboys! I thought about all my unpainted metal and I chose an old GW Necromunda Escher ganger as my victim. I've been working on improving my conversion and sculpting skills, and I'm pretty happy with how this one came out. 2002.

I started by removing some details, like the medallion on her forehead and some of the studs from her gloves. I thought about removing the sword, but I kinda like the skull thingie, so it stayed.

I got rid of the shaved sides of her head, using GW blue-white ribbon epoxy to make the hair on the sides look like it is longer and pulled into the ponytail. I built up the center part of her hat right on her head. When I tried to add the brim with unset putty... let's just say that didn't go well. I took an old hunk of dried greenstuff that I had smoothed into a sheet long ago and cut a rough circle from it. Many cuts and adjustments later, it became the brim of her hat. I still think it is a little too thick, but . I used a little blue-white to make a bit of trim around the base of the hat and to smooth out any gaps. Made a little round detail thingie on the front. I used my files and exacto knife on the brim to make it a little thinner and rounded on the edges.

She needed some chaps. I've never liked the silly garter-boots that are on so many female GW figures. Some blue-white epoxy and they were done. I made the bottoms flare a little, gave it that late 70's touch. These were much easier than the hat.

I did a Google image search on 'cowboy hat' and this came up. I fell in love. Yeah, I know. I've got a few screws loose.

I used a mix of paints: Vallejo, Liquitex, and some Reaper metallics. Everything but the black highlights up to white, and all of the metals except the barrels were highlighted with silver. I've been using ivory/bone lately to highlight black; I like the tones it adds to the gray. The triangle design on the sword sheath and the spot pattern on the hat and one leg were freehand.

I wanted the base to fit in with Necromunda. I put down a little putty and embedded some gravel in part of it, and made a grate with the rest using the end of a tool with a screw end. It is rather sparse, but I think it makes her stand out even more.

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