Mawloc WIP days 1 and 2

I figured I would kick off my 40k related posts with a look into what I am currently working on. I'm going to begin with my Mawloc conversion. So I had two goals with this conversion from the get go. First of all I wanted to represent a mawloc that is in the process of emerging from the ground putting the focus on the extended maw. Second I wanted to make this as cost effective as possible. I ended up getting extra mileage out of my two Trygon kits and I will have parts with which to build two trygons and a mawloc if I so choose. Although I am considering using the parts for the second trygon on conversions, perhaps a Tervigon or maybe a harpy. Anyway the first pic...

So what you have here is an above shot of the mawloc after day one of conversion. I have established the basic shape that I am going to build the model around. I've got the plastic mouth components in place although I still have much work left to do.
Here is a side shot of the model at the same point. I used a plastic cap from a bottle of Eyeglass cleaner as the basis of the neck. You can also get a better view of the framework for the ground that will be exploding up around the mawloc in the final product.
Here is the final shot of the model taken on day one. So things I need to work on from here are sculpting on the neck, making the ground from green stuff and hanging it on the frame, and modeling in the head crest.

I would like to take this moment to note some things for your information. First of all this is my first foray into a project this big, before this the extent of my greenstuff experience involved modeling infection on my plague marines. I think I could have chosen my steps better and I jumped into this thing with reckless abandon. I wish I would have set up the ground frame work after fully sculpting the head itself. Also I wish I hadn't attached the head to the base as early as I did, the sculpting on the neck did not turn out as well as I would have hoped and I would have had a much easier time working on it if I didn't have to dodge around the base.

So a week later I picked the mawloc up and put some more work into it, here are some pics from the end of day 2.
Here we are focusing on showing some detail of the neck sculpting. It also shows the assembled head crest. I apologize for the poor lighting, I do most of my modeling in the wee hours of the morning and I have roommates that I attempt to not wake up so good lighting is sometimes hard to come by.
Here is a picture taken from the angle of the lower Jaw. It shows some under neck detail as well as a decent view of the sand coming up around the Mawloc.The final image from day 2 is an upper view of the mawloc showing the inner mouth with some more detail sculpted in. I've filled in the gaps and actually made it look somewhat like a mouth. This image also gives you an idea of the inner workings of the sand. I have never tried anything like this and so I have very little experience making a realistic splash effect, however I like to think that the splash is well textured enough to make it appear to be natural.

So going forward I still have a a fair bit of work ahead of me. My primary concern is making the model fair in Tlos. I have considered a few options but I'm thinking having a marine that is being launched into the air is perhaps my best choice. I can just say if you can draw sight to the marine then you can shoot the mawloc. That way I don't get cries of cheese all around when I play with this model.

Anyway I would love to hear some feedback and suggestions on this model and I look forward to posting more of my conversions at a future date.

Until then, thanks for reading!
-Jenn