6th ed Chaos cultists conversions

I've been chopping up models again.

It's common knowledge that the Dark Vengeance cultists contain a lot of duplicates, which is sad for a troop type that is supposed to be so numerous.

Spot the twins.

I remembered all the sets of 3 models you can get where, upon closer inspection, you see that they've just used the same model but swapped a head or limb for variety, so I did the same.

I also converted all of the pistol and ccw cultists to wielding autoguns.

The heavy gunner on the left has a head from a DV terminator's base, and his arms are from Mantic's orx. It'll probably be another flamer.

Painted Chaos Cultist / Rogue Trader mercenaries kitbash unit

Mixed feelings with these ones. After spending hours converting and painting the mercenaries, the Games Workshop Purity Seal varnish has done a horrible frosting effect on the models, obscuring some of the detail. 

If anyone can recommend a fix I’d love to hear it.

Anyway, here they are, at least they’re done.

Chaos Cultist / Rogue Trader mercenaries kitbash unit

 In anticipation of the new Chaos Cultists due to be released with the 6^th edition starter set, I have been scratch building some pirate types to accompany the Space Marines.

I don’t have a clear vision for fluffing the force, so I’m concentrating on making the models as versatile as possible. So these ‘cultists’ don’t have imperial markings, but also aren’t slavering chaos-star waving fanatics either. I imagine them to be ganger scum, or opportunists under the employ of a rogue trader. They could fit a number of roles because of the deliberate lack of markings.

They are a combination of Warhammer fantasy empire militia, catachans, and some mantic orc bits and fantasy chaos warriors. There’s also a couple of Toy Story soldier heads.

I have concentrated on trying to build them with believable poses, making sure the face and the leading foot are pointing in the same direction. In the past I’ve been quite slapdash when putting models together, and ended up looking like mental disco dancers.

I've had to have a bit of a guess at their equipment. I don't think lasguns counting as autoguns is much of a stretch, and those wielding hand weapons and pistols will probably join the rest of the lasgunners, as I've heard assault is quite weak in 6th ed (not that I've played enough 40k to make any real judgment).

I've also put together a heavy bolter for the marines squad, which I will increase to 10 models so as to warrant a rhino.

Ramshackle's 'Iron Grumbler' is of comparable size to Games Workshop's rhino, so I have ordered 3. They take a little while to process orders as everything is done by one man, but I am looking forward to getting my hands on them as I think they'd suit the slightly weird looking marines.

Pre-Imperium Techno barbarians

A unit of 5 techno-barbarians, painted without faction markings so they can be used as either chaos marines or loyalists.

From Lexicanum:

Techno-barbarians is the name given to the warriors who battled over the ruins of Terra during the Age of Strife. They formed the troops of the warlords who dominated Terra during the period, and were equipped with a primitive form of powered armor which would become the basis for the developments of Space Marine armor.

The Emperor arose in the later part of the Age of Strife to reunify Terra. Under his leadership his army conquered the other warring techno-barbarian factions.

and this segment gave the archaic looking and odd designs a thumbs up;

 This early armour was produced on a completely local basis and as such individual suits varied heavily and their exact designs were often a matter of personal taste.

 White Dwarf 129 (UK), Space Marine Armour by Rick Priestley, reprinted in Warhammer 40,000: Compilation

All backpacks are from the Chaos marine spru, to make them look as old fashioned as possible.

The old plastic fantasy chaos warrior helmet made me think of thunder armour, because most of the pictures of it show a topknot;

I have been meaning to see how the chaos marine and old chaos warrior plastic kits fit together for some time now, and I found the proportions to be similar. With the leader and the marine below I attempted to sculpt the legs myself with milliput, but in the end I just opted for the easier way; cutting the marine and warrior legs at the calf and sticking them together.

The biggest issue with fitting the kits together was cutting and repositioning the arms. Most fantasy figures have outstretched arms for brandishing hand weapons, whereas a lot of 40k ones require arms that 'hug' a gun closer to the body.

After this miniature came out a little short looking I tried bulking out the joins with plasticard to add height and width.

  Finally, here's a shot of a couple of WIP cultists / renegade guard, in anticipation of the new unit for Chaos in 40k. They're mostly fantasy empire militia, but I'll be hunting for any scraps to make them suit the 40k universe.

Evil Dead 2: Ash Williams / Oakley from Hasslefree

Just finished Hasslefree's groovy 'Oakley' miniature as a present for a friend. I still love the old Evil Dead films and enjoyed painting him up so much that I am considering getting another one to keep to myself.

The kit comes with the option of a hand axe or a chainsaw attached to stump. 

The quality of of detail on the miniature is, as always with Hasslefree's miniatures, very impressive. The chainsaw requires pinning, but it is easy because it's a big piece.

Easter Egg Space Marine

A bit of fun :)

Bits and pieces

I've been out in the sunshine taking lots of photographs, hence three updates in one day.Some are models I've posted before, but with the pictures taken properly.

Old style terminator from years ago. Fun fact; no official marine chapters have an orange paint scheme. I to call him the tangemarine.

Experimenting with foil as a backdrop instead of paper.

Assault on Black Reach Space Marine captain, with power sword. Last picture was terribad, so redid it. 

Still playing with Oyumaru to cast bits and bobs. I'm in need of more old fashioned backpacks for my chaos marine kitbashing;

Dr Who (Hugh McCrimmon Heresy miniature) with Daleks

Finished this chap for a game of Supersystem we will be starting soon. I enjoyed painting an apparently mundane miniature for a change. The Heresy miniatures are very detailed and I'm looking forward to doing some more.

Teenage Mutant Hero Turtle miniatures (tmnt)

Not really a post about painting, but these teenage mutant hero turtle miniatures are great for our games of Heroscape. I bought them as key rings and based them. They are a little large - the bases are the 40mm bases (Terminator bases), but we just think of them as looking like they did in the movies!

Turtley awesome! 

Give 'em shell!

Time to apply some turtle whacks!

Chaos marine / oop plastic warhammer Chaos warrior kitbash

I've been thinking about combining these two kits for years, and when I received a pack of the old out of production 'hunchbacked' warhammer fantasy chaos warriors I decided to give it a go.

From the WIPs you will see that the legs were bulked out with milliput. Regular Chaos marine legs looked spindly, despite the fact that the CSM torsos are actually a little larger than the chaos warrior's. 

 I also broadened the shoulders by inserting two circles of thin plasticard where the arms meet the body. I made these with a regular hole puncher. Also, the chaos warrior shoulder pads had a large lip that had to be carved off so that the backpack would fit. Even with this taken off, it was a tight squeeze as you can see below;

I then added borders to the legs and shoulders with thin strips of plasticard. This is my first time using milliput and plasticard, and it was a challenge to get it to do what I wanted.

 

I was trying for something along the lines of a marine in Pre-Heresy Mk 1 Thunder Armour; archaic. I gave him a nondescript paint scheme and, of course, removed all aquilas, skulls and chaos symbols as they would be inaccurate. Then again, I might stick some on any way.