54mm Apocalators: Simple fighter

The helmet and sword cause this fighter to stand out from the other sword-and-board fighters I have. The helmet came about as I was pushing green stuff around in a free-form manner. The shape emerged, I went with it, and then I poked some holes in it so the fighter could breath and see.

The "sword" actually started off as a nasty looking pole-ax. I decided to shorten the pole to a simple hilt (I don't know why I shortened it- this figure was mostly free-form, so I was just going with it until it was finished) and got this short and heavy blade that looks like it could either be a heavy sword or a hand ax.

I made the shield by taking a small ball of green stuff and gently pressing and forming it over the top of an older Games Workshop paint bottle. Leaving the green stuff on the lid, I used a needle to engrave the panel lines and bolt holes. I only removed the shield after the green stuff had fully cured. Shields are quite easy to make using this method- I think it could easily be adapted to making simple hoplite shields.