Nerubian Spider/Cryptlord, a study

Ever since Frighan v2 I've been fascinated by anything multi-legged. A fact that may come as a surprise to some given my shelf is stuffed with humanoid creations. Though, truth be told, when the trend to build humanoids really started to kick in on the BBC forum, and the fight between who could make the best looking one was just about fought, I became bored and started looking for something else. Frighan was an example of what I wanted; keeping to my roots, the humanoid, but then with a twist.

Since then and my BBC #25 entry, I tried at various designs and possibilities - most of which ending on the trash heap and being dismantled for the easier humanoid models. Frighan seemed, to that date, to be the best I could come up with. Of course, there were variations, improvements, but most ended up not looking and feeling like what I wanted and were dismantled before I even got close to finishing them.

When I 'stopped' building after #25, I'd been working on another spider-ish thing. The model was dismantled yet again because I wasn't pleased, and only the upper body remained. That same upper body would remain on my building desk for the next three years, the pile of parts I'd use to create some humanoid legs for it growing steadily. When #49 finally hit then, I decided just to bite through and try again with the Frighan/Nidhiki idea, resulting in Arcane Sentinel; a creation which I, to date, find one of my best.

Having become an avid fan of the Warcraft lore since, the building wheels in my head started churning once more after having finished AS. I wanted to do something different, step further away from the humanoid structure I'd used for so long. Then I started considering these majestic beings;

These ancient, evil behemoths were once the mighty kings of the subterranean spider kingdom of Azjol-Nerub. Though the Nerubians fell before the wrath of the Lich King during the fabled War of the Spider, some of the insidious Spider lords were swayed over to the Lich King's ranks and granted considerable power and the immortality of undeath, becoming crypt lords, in exchange for betraying their subjects. Now the giant, thundering beasts serve as the Lich King's mightiest warriors and the guardians of the Scourge's holdings in Northrend.

Besides being one of my favorite hero units in Warcaft III:tFT (I fell in love with their voice), the semi-Egyptian look attracted me. One thing that bothered me right from the bat, though, was the color. Purple. I believe I need not tell you how an annoying color that is in terms of collection various 'useful' pieces of it. A quick skim across my collection resulted in a grand total of 2 models which contained purple: Mctoran Onepu and the purple Nui Jaga. Further investigation resulted in a toa canister filled about halfway with purple pieces, half of which weren't fit for what I had in mind. Though I knew that armor colors would shift depending on which tone you picked for your base in tFT, I wanted to stick true to the original concept (pictured above). It led to me nearly disregarding the idea until I happened onto this quote a little later;

This enormous, insectile creature resembles a gigantic, fantastically colored beetle. Nerubian spider lords come in many vivid, jeweled shades, everything from emerald green to sapphire blue to ruby red. Some scholars attempt to draw a correlation between a spider lord’s coloring and his approximate power level, but so far have reached no consensus.

Lest to say, it opened up a score of possibilities.

So now that the color options were sorted, I started thinking about a basic design. Having a rough idea in my head of which key pieces to use, I went through what I usually do to get some inspiration. I fired up brickshelf and did a search under 'Crypt Lord' to see if anyone else ever bothered with the idea, and if so, see what they did to solve some of the more complex parts of the model (The head, for example). What I found was a crypt lord built by Romangus.

I believe that, regardless of what you might think, Romangus did a great job at portraying the Crypt lord. The overall shape is there (minus the upper body being a little too far forward), and I love how he executed the Egyptian-eqseu decorations across the CL's head. What I feel it really lacks though, is most of the bulk the beast is meant to posses. CLs are meant to be these massive lumbering powerhouses who's mere sight strikes fear into the hearts of their foes, and I have the feeling that achieving this look and feel would be the hardest part of the entire building process.

Talking of the bulk, I don't really see any other way then to start playing around with system pieces to get it right. So pure technic is out of the question. Not that it matters, some of those snots in the BBC forum need to be taught fusion isn't bad. The only problem with it though is that I would have to start digging around in the system bins for smooth tiles and the like, something I mostly can't be fussed to do. One of those occasions I regret not having my system collection sorted.

Now, with research done, it results into this;

• Frame/flesh structure: Black with some grey highlights on the open areas to signify flesh.
• Shell/armor: Probably red, since my green lacks and I don't like using blue. Golden borders might be an issue, though replacing it with a darker red could solve it.
• Fusion isn't a possibility, it's a must. Since frankly, there's no other way to work the detail into the the creature.
• Bulk is the key.
• Building starts with the key pieces, though alternatives should always been taken into account in case the overall picture doesn't work out.

And that's how it always goes.

;p