Easterling War Statues, phase 1...

... is still going strong, but phase 2 is closing in.
    I started with one Khemrian Warsphynx and was happy to see that it would be possible to make two models out of it!

Keeping this in mind, I always remind me that I am not trying to make something like the model below... (which is why I am excusing myself for totally destroying the original model in all its grandeur).

... but rather a more "realistic" model suited for the fluff I have written (inspired by the M.E.R.P-module about Andraug and his controller) and also, more suitable for the overall less shiny world of Middle-Earth, rather than the Warhammer world.

But that doesn't mean it should be done in a shaky and overly amateurish way - most of us in this bloggosphere are amateurs, there's nothing wrong with that, on the contrary... but why leave thumbprints or cut-marks everywhere, or simply make the models look shitty because I am too lazy to make a serious plan? Why not instead take this opportunity to make something really suiting my ideas about the Easterling War Priest controlling these two [hopefully] beautiful war statues?

... some dry-fitting later, I settled on not using a mûmak-howdah and instead trying my best to make something suitably Rhûnish-looking...

I still wanted to have something from Harad, so I "borrowed" tusks from the same mûmak and have now been tinkering with them... either to use as decorations or as structural/supportive parts.

The tusks looks a bit like engine exhaust. Is that good or bad? The war priest will be made specifically for this project and look older and slightly more bent and experienced than the fully armoured official version. He will, naturally, be placed on the little balcony furthest back on the howdah.

Here we can see that there are a lot of skulls left to remove. In the M.E.R.P. rulebooks (my LotR-bible) I read that Easterlings are infatuated with golden animals and totems, so it seems like a decent thing to replace the skulls with such things. Raiding the bitsbox in five, four, three...

The basic structure can be seen here from above.
     I have a few variations on this howdah, but it looks I am going with the wooden structure above... Suggestions on decorations (besides totems) are appreciated, as well as ideas on the design of the howdah itself (I should add that I have not decided on fabric or metal between the rods on the howdah - I have read somewhere that the Easterlings used a lot of heavy wood... ?).