Poor Man’s Kit Bash Ideas: Dread Saurian

Dreaming of the Dread Saurian!

So I’m working on a clients Lizardmen Army at the moment, hard at work, and it got me thinking about the Dread Saurian.  And specificially, how to build one! 

This guy, while awesome, is 130 GBP or basically $220 USD.  That’s not a small order.

While I love a cool model, I also love to save a buck, so it got me considering good base figures to convert into the Saurian.  

These are a few of my ideas that I am opting to share with the community. 

Here is a base model on EBAY I am considering.  A 1/13 scale Revell Sailback.  Not bad, it’s got the right overall shape and scale.  Kinda reminds me more of a giant salamander.,  And it’s not very dynamic.  But for $40 bucks, not a bad base figure to start playing with. 

Here‘s my current favorite idea. A Pegasus Hobbies 1/12 Scale Kothoga from the ‘Relic’ movie.   I bought one of these years ago on a whim, and never put it together.  Hey, it was a good deal.  The scale is right and it just need a good Saurian head.  Also, that spine has got to go.  I dug through my bits box and found a dozen or so horns for his back ridge and put them in the same box, now labelled aptly ‘Saurian Kit Bash’

For the head, I was thinking of using a spare T-Rex head from some Dominatrix kit bashes I did a few years ago.  I have a dozen or so of these in a box and just didn’t know what to do with them.  I was thinking about some sort of lizardman temple board with sort of large stone t-rex heads, like the stone heads on Easter Island, but I can spare one for this project.

Interesting enough, the howdah presents one of the hardest problems on this particular model.  For those, I turn to bits vendors for some of their spares, that I can hack up and paint golden to give the illusion of a Howdah.

What this all means is with materials running around $60 buck and another $50 for assembly, I can comfortably charge a would be client about $110 bucks to build this model.  If I were to charge another $100 to paint and base the model, and then $10 to ship, that means the entire kit bash would run the same price as the base FW model!

So . . my next question is . . . IS THERE A WOULD BE CLIENT OUT THERE interested in commissioning this model through WMG?

I am eager to build this model, but need a client to book the studio time between commissions!

Turnaround on this figure would be about 4 weeks once initial payment is received, and overseas shipping will be slightly higher.

If YOU are that would be client, email me at [email protected]

I look forward to speaking with you!

Until next time, PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!!!

Caleb, WMG