A Champion Arises!

OK,
As anyone knows from reading my last post, I was disappointed in the wow factor of the plague monk champion. (Not to mention the entire unit, out of the box)
I had a few choices. To just use the champion that I had painted up over the Christmas holidays. I didn't like that option much. A second option was to put together a champion that used the Ghoul parts that I have been combining into the unit. The addition of these parts always makes me think of feral creatures. And I know that the Skaven Monks are meant to be wild and crazy, but I can't help but enjoy the look of a scattering of the Ghoulish monks in with the more normal ones. Maybe only a few of them have gone feral enough to look like these abnormal monks.
This leads me to my third option. Last post I asked for ideas on a new unit champion...and didn't receive much in the way of inspiration (grrr come on readership!). So I started to comb the intraweb and the skaven resources I have, and decided on a Champion that is literally on the verge of bursting from some kind of growth. I imagine his robes as having become torn and barely holding together as they strain to cover the growth on his back. Wow, great idea Bard, maybe not very original, but should look good. And so I have started. Between cutting and pinning and green-stuffing I was painting...and house cleaning. I managed to get the chores done, 3 more plague monks, AND the following progress on the new Champion. I will post him as he progresses, and hopefully people give me their honest opinion of him.

 The Champion. At this point he is nothing more than a plague monk body, my favorite Skaven monk head, a large ball of green stuff and a single horn from a beastman. This is not the base he will be on in the end, but until all the green-stuff is dry and the model finished he will stay here.

 And assembly of parts. You can see the base I put together along with all the weapons I debated using. The shield will be one of the other remarkable parts of this model and will help him stand out.

The shield, with a trimmed nurgle icon.

 The base that will host the finished champion. The skaven horned rat symbol will be painted up in green, or maybe oxidized bronze. I want it to look like its stuck into the rock and is slowly being revealed by the weather.

 This is a rough idea of the weapon the champion will be using. I cut a blade off the original weapon arm. I then pinned the haft into the hand. Green stuff was added and will be cleaned up as soon as it dries. The mace will have room to hang downward because of the hight of the base.

You can start to see the cloth that will be across the bulge of the champ. It will need more chipping and less of the sharp edges. These same kind of strips of cloth will weave across the models back. I want the ones I put on to dry before I continue though.

Let me know what you think.
Cheers, Bard