The Night King - Prep 4a: The Armour--Intro

In Prep #2, I mentioned that the most serious shortcoming of this piece is the design of the ar- mour. Those that I have discussed it with have argued quite vehemently that given the scale and the design of the actual armour, I am making much ado about nothing. . . a tempest in a teacup! And that the return to be gained is nowhere near commensurate with the effort required. . . 

I have been modeling figures since I was 5. And it has been my primary past-time-cum-vocation for the last 42 years! While my days at the benches might be drawing to a close quicker than I might like, that does not mean that I am going to turn-out substandard work that I would be a- shamed to display simply to finish as many pieces as possible before "the day" comes. I believe that we should be assiduously working our way to this "last lap", and once we get the white flag, we should be putting out the best work of our tenure! If not, then why bother?!

Walker armour is interesting. They--the ones seen on the show--only began to wear armour as of S4, after Sam killed a White Walker with a dragonglass dagger in S3ep8. Each Walker's armour is somewhat unique/personalized--similar, but unique. And the Night King (NK), Lord-Commander of the White Walkers and CiC of the Army of the Dead, wears two versions of his harness: "light" and "full". As I noted in the introductory posting, the NK is only shown armed when wearing his full harness: since the kit provides the "light" armour, the ice sword is superfluous.

[NOTE: The appearance of the Walkers, in particular the Night King, is dependent on the season in question, as well as the actor portraying him/them. The Walker was portrayed by Ross Mullan through S4. Richard Brake portrayed the NK in S4 and 5: he wore the "light" harness. Vladimír Furdik portrays a Walker in S5, and the NK in S6-8: he wears the "full" harness as the latter.]

This is a visual hobby-cum-art, so I will not waste time attempting to convince you of the need to rework the armour. If the armour as provided is acceptable, then it is good enough. Having said that, allow me to point out the areas where research was less than it should have been. . .

• The cuirass is essentially a metal linothorax: the shoulder plates are connected en suite to the back, and drape over the respective shoulders, being secured to each other and the top of the breast. The kit provides the shoulder plates as a separate piece. 
• The shape of the shoulder plates is wrong.
• The arrangement of the perforated "vents" is wrong.

All the references one might need--and then some!--are available on line.

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003