[GubernatorFan]

About a dozen photos below.

I recently bought up a bunch of sixth scale bits from parted figures, including TBLeague products (many of them apparently from the Red Sonja set). And while sorting them, certain new head sculpts, bodies, and bits and pieces started coming together in a sort of semi-spontaneous kitbash, completed with some leather and paint work on my part. Since this is neither the film nor the comic book Red Sonja, I decided to provisionally call her Brunette Varna (sounded better than Brown or Auburn, and in the film Red Sonja has a sister named Varna), and I wanted to fit her out in a manner that would somewhat turn down the scantilly-clad effect. Of course, in retrospect, this means I shouldn't have used the scale armor (which is nothing more than a fantasy rationalization of a modern swimsuit). I used black leather for better contrast with the silverish metal, and in retrospect this, too, might have been a mistake, as the result is a tad punkish/bikerish/dominatrix-ish. But I did stay away from the fantasy high-heeled boots, at least.

So I took some photos, and arranged them into a mini photo essay below, complete with a little lame basic story to connect them.
Hope you like it. And feel free to suggest alternate names for the figure!

Once upon a time, Brunette Varna was riding through the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, when she heard some suspicious noises...

Rather than gallop off to the relative safety of the open plain, she dismounted her horse and got ready to take on her unseen enemy...

The noise got closer and closer, but, undaunted, she prepared to stand her ground. Bring it on, she thought...

And there he was... An uncouth, fur-clad barbarian, growling in uncivilized gibberish, and advancing on his prey... after all, she was only a woman... so what if she had fancy armor and weapons...

Little did he know that Hell hath no fury like an underestimated educated woman (especially one educated in the arts of war and equipped with superior weaponry), and the preditor became easy prey to Varna's skilled wrath. So there he was... on his ass in the sand, begging for mercy (who dresses like that on a first date anyway?)...

Varna did show mercy, but also decided to be practical and arrest her dastardly opponent (why not make some money while you can?). After all, did not wise master Bindusara always say, "Seize the opportunity presented!" So she tossed him a long chain and made him entangle himself in it, until securely bound...

He still grunted and growled in disagreement, but a few choice words of practical reason (and some stern looks and gestures with the battle axe) kept her prisoner on the leash, as it were...

Never letting her captive out of her sight, Varna began to secure the chain around her horse's saddle...

So off they went, Varna riding proudly on her stallion, the dumbfounded and bound barbarian dragging along on his chain. She had reached into the darkness and come out with treasure, or at least a few pieces of silver, the price for her would-be conqueror...

Ever the pious one, Varna took some time on her journey to thank the gods. While her captive was snoring, she drank a toast to the Lord of the Heavens from her handy drinking horn, and she ritually dedicated her longsword to Him in thanksgiving. A blessed sword would, after all, be all the more effective against any enemy...

 

[DeltaForceChung]

1:6 female empowerment in action!

 

[ReverendSpooky]

Eh, as far as 1st dates go, I've had worse. Then again, any time you end up here can't be all bad.

Really fun photo story, and she looks great! All the additional leather work really adds some great detail, especially that patterned piece around her waist, and tones down the cheesecakiness of the Red Sonja armor. And I dig her drinking horn!

 

[GubernatorFan]

1:6 female empowerment in action!

Thanks, DFC. Most of it came naturally, but a little bit was kinda tongue-in-cheek.

Eh, as far as 1st dates go, I've had worse. ... Really fun photo story, and she looks great! All the additional leather work really adds some great detail, especially that patterned piece around her waist, and tones down the cheesecakiness of the Red Sonja armor. And I dig her drinking horn!

Thank you, ReverendSpooky! I am glad you survived your "worse" first dates! You have an excellent eye for detail, and now I am very glad I thought to put in the patterned leather piece. I had more of it, but thought I shouldn't got overboard with the detail. And I was really trying to tone down the cheesiness of this type of figure, so I am very happy you concur.

The drinking horn is actually a thing I am quite proud of, and reused from my Thor scenes (you can see it a little better HERE); the barbarian's fur outfit was also reused, from HERE. Otherwise all new or newly kitbashed pieces.

 

[Ephiane]

Great Story and figures ! The first Picture with the horse is really exellent. There are so many Things You have to do in the right way for a really good Picture. Ankle, Light, Perspective.... in this picture all is Great.

Please allow me this here :lol

 

[laurensz]

Wow! I love the background set u have for the photo shoot. How did you take such great pictures?

 

[GubernatorFan]

Thank you, Ephiane and laurensz! I just thought of a new tribal designation: Nomaams (as opposed to Nomads).
The background is a poster, and the foreground in this case was some sack cloth with randomly spread out cotton balls underneath it to simulate sand (I was too lazy to scatter some stones or pebbles on top). I use up to three spot/task lights, depending on the shot. My biggest enemy is the glare off the invariably smooth background -- even if I have removed the cellophane protective wrapping and avoided any glass or plastic cover for the poster. That, besides keeping down the photo size, is why most of the pictures are cropped so closely around the figures.

 

[brassco]

you using cellphone to take pictures?

 

[apotheosis]

great leather work !!
The horse is a great accompaniment too !

 

[GubernatorFan]

you using cellphone to take pictures?

Yes, why? I am usually a little too lazy to dig out and use my digital camera, and my new cell phone's camera is much better than the old one, I think. It even seems to recognize 1/6 action figure faces as human faces (and on occasion even stormtrooper helmet faces too!).

great leather work !! The horse is a great accompaniment too !

Thank you! I can claim no accomplishment with the horse, however. It is an ACI horse for a Templar (?), with the cloth covering removed. I hate that it is not articulated, but it comes in handy (and stable) for photo shoots. I also used it for my Wonder Woman kitbash HERE.

 

[Texastoyz]

Lovely looking kit bash you have there. Quite effective.

 

[GubernatorFan]

Lovely looking kit bash you have there. Quite effective.

Thank you very much!

 

[shazzdan]

Love the photos. Great use of lighting and the background poster. The leatherwork is cleverly done too. Where did the barbarian helmet come from? Looks like it has been modelled from the Celtic helmet found in the Thames River near Waterloo Bridge.

Waterloo Helmet - Wikipedia

 

[Coyote]

I really love the leather you used for her stomach/skirt. It changes the whole look and makes it a lot more believable to me that she is a female warrior.

 

[GubernatorFan]

Love the photos. Great use of lighting and the background poster. The leatherwork is cleverly done too. Where did the barbarian helmet come from? Looks like it has been modelled from the Celtic helmet found in the Thames River near Waterloo Bridge.

Thank you! The Waterloo-type barbarian helmet is cast metal (so pretty heavy) and came from Kaustic Plastik's Valerius Roman Legionary (AD 49, Legio XIV Gemina), which came with two extra helmets, as you can see here --

I really love the leather you used for her stomach/skirt. It changes the whole look and makes it a lot more believable to me that she is a female warrior.

Thank you very much. That is exactly what I was going for!