Thorisian's Conversion Corner

Delayed Infernal Devices

2007-10-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

What have ol' Thorisian been up to...what devious and sinister projects have been in the works?
Well here you go...only took TWO weeks longer then I had thought it'd take...yet its still WIP

Hmm what horrid beast could possibly be crafted from these sinister collection of parts

The beast takes shape

Its...its...alive...well maybe not... Its certainly not pretty. More of its ugly mug can be found here. I cant help but keep thinking "There's a wild fandango loose in the theater." I ended up not using some of the bits in the initial photo, and a lot more stuff that wasn't in that photo.

Oh wasn't quite done with it? How deep does this devious development run?

No, its not a mecha chocobo...
C'mon, have you seen deathrippers from Warmachine? The cute cuddly wuddly little things that'd rip your face off, they're just begging to be ridden on!
Closer details of the rider

No, I wasn't inspired by the Gungan cavalry...

There it is, it wasn't easy but I had a blast converting this model. More detailed pics. The hardest part was getting the right bits and fitting them in, must have spent half the time sifting through the various bits box for just the right bit. The most difficult parts to do were the lengthening of the legs, the head/helmet and the back pack, but I despite or maybe because of that they happen to be my favorite pride and joy, especially those eldaresque back banners.
Might vary the helmet designs for each model, individualize them.

They're the Udeshi Sky Lords, the long lost human colony that Irasmus rediscovered and befriended - pacified - in his journey rim-ward. Their planet, Udesh, is a rough barren world with atmospheric pressure much higher then earth's with very little in terms of vegetation but high in precious minerals. There scattered amongst the craggy arid world lived the few tribes of Udeshi techno barbarians, scanty in numbers, but hardy and well adapted to the harsh landscape of their homeworld. Each tribe has at its core a proud noble house with ancient martial traditions, ingrained with a sense of an indomitable fighting spirit and a need for glory and honor in battle.

These tribes and their noble houses occupy the few habitable pockets around the equatorial regions where food can be grown and where their ore processing forges operate. They ardently defend their lands, having raised up impregnable fortresses on the craggy and sheer mountain sides. Their warriors clad in archaic pressurized suits patrol tops of the cliffs and ridge lines on their mechano-beasts. Relics of the bygone Dark Age of Technology, these beasts of metal and bone are the only things well suited for a harsh atmosphere that no living beast could survive.

Guarding vigilant and watchful against encroachment from neighbors and rivals, the warriors train intensely for the inevitable clashes that occur in a world where resources are scarce and it is perfectly acceptable, expected even, to raid a rival's stronghold. The mountainous terrain does not lend itself to great open conflicts between large formations, nor to foot borne troops. Almost all engagements are skirmishes between mounted squadrons, the fights usually boil down to individual warriors facing off. Close ranged, personal, and deadly, where warriors can earn glory, death, or both.

To the low born who toiled in the forges and the hydroponic farms beneath these peaks, their masters accoutered in all enclosing armor, riding fell beasts bounding up above the peaks living in foreboding high fortresses appear as Lords of the Sky.

This belief easily lent itself for Irasmus to capitalize upon, some might say exploit. As tough and courageous as the Sky Lords were, they had little to counter the aircraft from the rogue trader's fleet that descended from the sky and devastated all who opposed them. After a creative interpretation and integration of the Imperial Cult into their system of beliefs where the Emperor is presented as the empyreal Sky Lord of Lords, as demonstrated by his far more superior sky 'warriors', the Udeshi were easily pacified. Each House, as honor and tradition demanded, presented the best of their warriors to Irasmus as a token of their reverence and devotion to the Emperor. The Udeshi cadre joined the rogue trader's host carrying their martial traditions to the stars.

The Last and Only

2007-10-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

Meet Regni Baliksson, who would have just been a mere trooper belonging to the 2nd section, 1st tactical platoon, F Company of the 357th regiment of Khazad-Dum, the Iron Breakers...if the circumstances has not changed so drastically.

The Iron Breakers, like many other regiments before them (356 to be exact), were part of the 'Brotherhood' forces of Khazad Dum - their Stronghold, their world, their home - tithed to the Imperium. The Iron Breakers were given one of the rarer posts, that of being assigned to an Imperial Rogue Trader, Irasmus Jotun. A proud regiment, fulfilling the oath of friendship their ancestors swore to the Emperor, they served with great distinction, earning a reputation for their dedication and tenacity in the countless battles that naturally accompanied their Rogue Trader's expedition towards the outer rim. They were instrumental in the pacification and affecting compliance on the myriad worlds with lost human colonies that Jotun rediscovered on his expedition, and liberation of many others where xeno held sway. So it was that the Iron Breakers fought on, and despite their distinguished service and countless battle honors, they would have eventually joined, as just another unit, the long list of other Brotherhood regiments that served in the Imperial Guard, and most likely forgotten save perhaps in the memory of some Administratum archive servitor.

However, it was not to be. The Devourer came to the Homeworlds. Relentless, numberless...hungry. When The Iron Breakers learned of the coming of the Devourer. They asked Jotun permission to return to their beloved Kahzad Dum, to defend their home, or die there. The esteem with which Jotun held for them was such that not only did he allow them to return home, but he himself accompanied them with a part of his fleet, putting his expedition on hold.

News in the vast expanse of the galaxy had traveled slow. While the Iron Breakers were fighting for Jotun and the Imperium, Khazad Dum like all the other strongholds, had fallen, despite the skills and courage of the Brotherhoods, the Homeworlds were no more. As the troopers made planet fall they saw their home had been utterly destroyed. A large dark chasm was all that was left of their Stronghold. It would seem that the last defenders had detonated an apocalyptic device that destroyed themselves and the attackers.

Despair and lamentation took the legion. For four days and nights, they smeared themselves with the ash from around the lip of the chasm, wailing as they pulled on their beards, and mourned their friends, their families and their world. They knew they could not revive their Stronghold, they were the last of their kind, the only path left to them dying out, and they chose to go in the most honorable way possible, that of seeking a glorious death in battle.

After their grim bereavement was over the Iron Breakers removed their unit insignias, burned their regimental colors, and rid themselves of any last vestiges of their home. Each and every trooper thought himself already dead. Dead with his kin, his friends, his home. They rededicated themselves to serve with the Rogue Trader, but swearing fell oaths of vengeance against the Devourer.

They reenlisted in Jotun's rolls of battle under a different name. The 357th Khazad Dum, the Iron Breakers were no more. They were the last, they were the only ones left, and their home known to them now as The Black Chasm...or in their tongue...Mohriah. Mohriah Last and Only.

Down Memory Lane

2007-09-25T17:14:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over 9 months since I last posted to this blog? Its amazing how time flies. Although I haven't updated in ages, this project log has not been far from my mind, nor have I been negligent in my conversion work. Finally, as work has settled down to a manageable routine I again hope that I will be able to feed my conversion addiction more and endeavor to regularly post here again.

Since this entry has a nostalgic feel to it, what better way to start off my return then to take a trip down memory lane of 40K.
We all have memories of how we each got hooked on 40K, and I'm sure everyone can provide little anecdotes when they first fell in love with 40K and the hobby in general. For me it was of course the Space Marines! I remember winter 1989, walking into the local games store (Games Unlimited!), there inside the glass case that made up the sales counter was a slim box, the cover art depicting a last desperate stand of blue-armored crimson-gloved warriors fighting off these green humanoids who's threatening presence was just hovering at the edge of the picture. It grabbed my attention, and somehow it was so mesmerizing and very very different from the perception of 'sci-fi' that was in my prepubescent mind raised on Star Trek, Star Wars, Robotech. I had no idea what Space Marines were, what Warhammer 40K was, and knew next to nothing about power armor, but somehow I've been snared by this strange allure. They came 30 to a box, with enough parts to equip out your marines with bolt guns (yeah guns not 'bolters'), bolt pistols, several missile launchers and flamers! They were 'tiny', runty, resin-yellow things, with very limited poses and beaked helmeted heads that looked more fitting on a sturgeon then a 'futuristic sci-fi warrior', but as the fragile bits were twisted off the sprue and the first of the marines was assembled I was hooked. Now, 18 years later, many things have changed, many 'editions' of 40K have come out, and even the space marine miniatures have evolved from these runty detail less things to probably the best looking iconic war game miniatures out there, and yet, there is something about the look of the 'beakies' that stir up those wonderful nostalgic feelings.

These of course are a work in progress. Since the time the photos were taken the bolt gun and bolt pistol barrels have been drilled. Working on making their back packs look like the Mk VI backpacks.
More detailed photos of each individual trooper can be found here. You may notice the 'shark-fin' thing, that's what we in the old days called a missile launcher (conversion progress: early, late,and final).

Lances Couched

2006-12-13T22:33:00.000-08:00

Finally, the squad of Black Lancers are pretty much done. I should ask people to 'name that bit', but eh. Anyway, the wings are from Kislevite Gryphon Legion, Kislevites are pretty much an amalgamation of Russian/Poles and other Eastern European image styles blended into one people for Warhammer fantasy, and they have a heavy cavalry unit 'inspired' by the Polish Winged Lancers. So it is only appropriate that the Black Lancers use those wings. The plumes for the regular marines are from the overflowing collection of left over Dark Eldar from all those 3rd ed boxes. I'll let my dear readers take a guess as to the bits that make up the lances.

As it is apparent, I ditched the idea of using ultra thin plasticard rods (0.010") as hair strands, and bundling them to give the helmets their plumes. The most work, problems, mishaps and headaches I received from this project was from making these thin rods into bundles of 'hair', and after wrestling with this method for six hours on just one model I just had to find an easier alternative. I should have opted for the easier choice when I started it, but oh well that's what I get for becoming too fixated on a method.

I admit, I almost don't want to give up this sergeant to the Rosen Ritter ;)
In my mind, the black lancers incorporate and bolster the imagery of Astartes as the Angels of Death. I wanted to emphasize this commanding and angelic presence especially in the Sergeant.

To give him that beatific look he was given a 'halo', made from the iron halo bit found on the commander sprue. This also allowed me to avoid having to put another plume together. I gave him a pointing finger, nothing like the devastator sergeant's hand to give that air of authority...not to mention the Rosen Ritter seem to have this penchant for pointing at stuff ;)

Two of the black lancers, one has a lance couched, and despite not being mounted, the jump packs they would normally have is more then enough to give them that momentum to fatally plant that sharpened plasteel tip into an enemy of the Emperor.
The marine holding the lance with two hand has to be my favorite of the regular marines, his pose is somewhat inspired by a pic of a samurai setting a lance.
I gave them bolt-mausers, because the regular snub nosed short barreled bolt pistols just looked rather ridiculous in contrast to the long lances, they needed a longer elegant pistol.

These are the other two marines in the squad, and they have the almost completed pinioned jump packs. The angle may seem somewhat different from the typical depiction of Polish Lancers and Hussars who have the wings vertical, pointing up, running parallel to each other. However, arranging them in that vertical manner made the wings look very detached from the main 'focus' of the model which is the body and the head. It just looked like winged lancer bits tacked on the back of the jump pack almost as an afterthought.

As far back as the initial conceptions and images I had about the Black Lancers, I had wanted to use these wings, but the problem of exactly where and how to place these wings have always plagued my ideas. Even when I thought of making bike squads with these wings, the Marines' bulky backpacks were always an obstacle to the smooth blending of wing and marine, so the even bulkier jump packs almost seemed out of the question. Fortunately for me, as I was scouring the webway...err internet for ideas on what the lances should look like when I inadvertently came upon this! An actual armor of a Polish Lancer with the attached wings that showed them as angled! It's enough to say that the picture was quite inspirational and lead me to really starting this project. This angled arrangement brought the wing tips forward into the same plane as the head and the body, and thus bringing them into focus while not detracting from the rest of the marine.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way the squad turned out, the most tedious parts were the hair and making the lances (I'll let you have fun trying to see what components are used to make the lances). The unit just need a few touch ups in gaps with green stuff, and maybe banners to hide the bottom of the wings and it'll be ready to take up the Rosen Ritter colors.

All Quiet on the Conversion Front...

2006-12-10T19:17:00.000-08:00

Well what can I say, blame Neverwinter Nights II...and then Medieval II: Total War, both wonderfully addictive games. Although I did continue work on fleshing out Inquisitor's Nei's entourage off and on between defending Neverwinter and putting the Medeival world under British heels, I delved deep into something I had secretly wanted to make all these years, the Rosen Ritter Black Lancers:

You can read about the Rosen Ritter on my friend's page. He came up with the concept ages ago about an elite corp of assault marines in the Rosen Ritter chapter armed with long lances. Ever since he told me about the unit I've always been inspired by the idea, and wandered what they would look like. In the back of my mind, I had always wanted to give form to our imaginations.

Over the years I never really got to trying my hand at them due to various reasons, but with the free time I have of late I finally have some time to realize this inspirational squad.

Presented here is the prototype Black Lancer, still a work in progress.

What comes around...

2006-11-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

...goes around. Inspiration I mean.

I'm very glad to have my friend start his own miniatures blog, which can be seen here. Hopefully he'll post more of his great work on his Chapter, which served as the inspiration for me to return to the hobby in the first place!

Steb by Step...

2006-11-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

When I started working on this project, I knew it was going to be more involved then the previous two projects which were pretty much splice jobs, and only required superficial use of green stuff. The way I had envisioned how I wanted this model to look, there were no readily available bits I can splice together, so it was going to involve quite a bit of sculpting with green stuff. The thought occurred to me to take intermediate pics during the process as the work progress. The main reason behind this was not to do a step wise pictorial blog, but rather it's to have reference images to go back on in case I mess up in the consecutive step of sculpting.

The model was started with the basic pose in mind, that of one leg up, sort of like Captain Morgan (tm), 'there's a little Captain in everyone'.
The legs were contributed by two different OOP witch elves from the dark elf line. Now I have two witch elves with each missing a leg, perhaps peg-legs are in order...hmm Witch Elf Pirates...."Arrrr".
For the torso I used the female chest from the ever convenient Eldar Guardians box. It gave it the basic female shape I wanted, and has the added bonus of a 'shelf' for the shoulder.
I also selected a head...or the face to build the head from. It was hard finding one, I just realized how little female models GW made compared to other companies, and a feminine looking face was even rarer. I almost opted to use a female face from Reaper or Iron Kingdoms, but finally found a suitable GW female face on a Wood Elf Spellsinger. The reason for sticking to a GW figures has more to do with scale then any royalty to them.

Just added a bit more green to complete the bust.

I layered on the great coat with green stuff. It was easier then I had expected. The reason why I wanted a 'shelf' area on the shoulder is made apparent in the pic below, providing a good area to put the epaulettes and shoulder bars.

Both arms and hands were from Mordheim humans plastic sprue, which IMHO is one of the most dynamic and characterful plastic sets GW ever put out. There are soo many posibilities and combinations to put together I could go on all day making different models and...sorry...

If the Great coat didn't already tip you off, you can probably guess by now what this model is all about.
I built on the wood elf face, and although the face was feminine and of appropriate size, it had the angular narrowness typical in an elf. So I added a bit more 'meat' to the face with green stuff to give it a bit more roundness and fullness of a human face.

If you didn't know already, you can click on the image to see the larger size. The visor was added to the head, and epaulettes to the shoulders. The lapels were also beefed up and given the distinctive lining.

Finishing touches on the model were begun. The cuffs on the sleeves were finished, the shoulders were filled up, and the gun was added. The hardest part was getting the gun right, must have gone through half a dozen bolt pistols. It was fun though, and the more successful results of this experimentation can be seen here. I could have probably just slapped on a regular old bolter, but that's rather boring. I wanted her to have an elegant and distinctive weapon that's more befitting her regal nature. The peak on her head was made more prominent, but I didn't want to make it ridiculously peaked like most of the commissar models out there.

Here we finally have the finished head added to the body. The hat was given the characteristic skull device of commissars as well as a stylized laurel wreath. Rank chevrons were placed on the shoulders…they ended up looking like bits from the laurel wreath anyway.

At last we have the finished commissar, although I may add a few bits here and there later on. The gun was modified a bit more to make it look more like the gun I was inspired by. The barrel now is a couple millimeters shorter then it appears here. This was by far the most time consuming project to date, but it was quite enjoyable, and the result for me was worth it.

A Pair of...

2006-11-04T20:25:00.000-08:00

...Combat Boom-...err Servitors

The necron Pariahs caught my eye with their anime-esque look ever since they were released by GW. Although I've never been tempted to play a necron army, I've always wanted to use these models, and in fact have had these two sitting in my bits box for sometime now. As I was looking through the list of 'henchmen' available for an inquisitor I came upon the entry for warrior henchmen, and when I saw that there are combat versions, the thought occurred about giving Nei a pair of combat boomers...err servitors in the form of converted Pariahs. It was just perfect in my jumbled mind, because not only could I use the Paraihs, but also have combat servitors that actually look like they can bring the pain to the enemy, AND fits the narrative of Nei as a radical using modified vanquished foes.

It was fun converting these two, and giving them a distinctive feel of combat mecha one might find in an anime, I'm sure you can guess which one in particular I have in mind.
The 'back units' are made from eldar guardian back packs with gas mask canisters from 1:35 scale Tamiya WW2 German Infantry pinned into their fin grooves.
For the 'power fist' it would have been easy to just slap on a marine power fist, I have enough of those, but the hefty look just didn't fit with these guys. Again the elegance in eldar design provided the answer. The old eldar power fist that came in the eldar weapons plastic sprue, now OOP, offered the sleekness that matches these two well. I had intended to give the fist something akin to 'knuckle bombers'. Since the fist was small, the fingers were detached with a sharp xacto and then bridging green stuff was filled in between to lengthen it, and the bridge area provided the perfect place to put the 'knuckle bombers'- made from cut piece of synthetic nail and pin heads.
The codex lists that combat servitors have a close combat weapon in addition to their power fist. I wanted to give them weapons that were a bit more distinctive than slapping on something from the bits box, and something more befitting their brutal nature. I'm quite satisfied with the way these plasticard weapons turned out. The sword might need a bit more extra bits to make it look finished though.

Minimal effort for maximal effect, I really enjoyed making these combat serv...err boomers...err you know what I mean.

Inquisitor Nei

2006-11-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

This is a WIP pic of Inquisitor Nei. More pics here.

I envisioned an Inquisitor in power armor, appropriately imposing, and yet feminine enough. By feminine I don't mean having breasts, but her face should look feminine, not look like Repanse (if any of you remember that Britonian special character). I also wanted to work on the imposing and awe inspiring aspect that one might come to expect from a stalwart servant of the Emperor, standing against the horrors threatening humanity. Conveniently, the St. Celestine model was quite appropriate, has a nice mix of inspiring charismatic, and also a good deal of imposing look to it, but not sinister which might be appropriate for some other kinds of inquisitors, but not Nei. Incidentally, the name 'Nei' I think is taken from Arshes Nei, the Thunder Empress, not Marshal Nei, most valiant (read - charges into things without thinking) of Napoleon's marshals.

Since she's supposed to be on the edge of the Imperium traveling with a rogue trader, we settled on the idea that she's Ordo Xenos, traveling the fringe to ward against threats from without, bringing the authority of the Emperor to distant outposts of humanity, scrutinizing those imperial servants of alien influence, and perhaps something else brings her out to the distant border of the God Emperor's domain. Another reason is, since GW hasn't put out an Ordo Xenos codex, it allows for a lot more creativity and freedom when trying to come up with conversions and units. If the army is ever fielded, we could always institute the 'counts as' rule.

This brings us to Anastasia's weapons which are made from eldar and elven bits, there's a reason behind that choice, but it'll have to wait until later. Suffice it to say that they are weapons captured from Xenos, and also hints at a possible 'radical' slant to our Inquisitor.

The sword blade was taken from High Elven Maiden Guard Champion. The hilt and the gauntlets are from an Adepta Sororita Canoness. While the shape of the blade gives her sword a more eldar/xenos feel, I wanted to emphasize that connection even more, so soul gems from plastic guardians were added.
The pistol, probably a plasma pistol, is a combination of old eldar plastic weapons, mainly the flamer and the melta gun, spliced together after judicious filing and cutting. Besides feeding my hunger to convert, I didn't want to just slap on an already made plasma pistol. GW's weapons have always been disproportionately huge, and the regular plasma pistol was just too big and reached all the way down to her feet when tacked on to her hand. Also, I wanted an elegant and perhaps a bit more appropriately archaic looking weapon.

The whole Inspiration thing...

2006-11-02T20:19:00.000-08:00

...was about this female Inquisitor, whom we've agreed to call Anastasia Nei. If you're familiar with Warhammer 40k and/or read Dan Abnett's books about Inquisitors (Eisenhorn Trilogy & Ravenor series), you'll know that most Inquisitors have an entourage of various characters with whom they go gallivanting around the galaxy. In the context of the 40k tabletop game there's about 7-8 types of henchmen that you can add to an Inquisitor's retinue. So my whole idea was to create an Inquisitor with a retinue and maybe start an 'Inquisitorial army', basically patchwork of units from the innumerable branches of the Imperium pressed into the Inquisitor's service. A convenient way to work on something other then just Astartes. I think this 'army' will also be more about form then function...yes, yes...I'm going for what looks cool and fits into the fluffy background even if the unit sucks completely!

Inspiration...

2006-11-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

I've been inspired lately to go back to converting stuff for Warhammer 40k, which I haven't played or touched for more then a year now. Although I don't really want to play the game, the friends with whom I enjoy playing 40k have moved to distant shores (you guys are on shores even if you're still in the US), but I think the itch for converting and getting my hands on the 'green stuff' has been building up! So after a certain friend kept showing me the great work he's been doing with his Marines (you know who you are!), it isn't surprising that I'd fall back into this addiction to White Metal!

However, when I opened up the box containing my Emperor's Finest, I wasn't really inspired. While I still love the Darkened Suns, I just realize that they just weren't offering any interesting venues for my creative conversion mania at the time. It didn't help that I've been suffering from a guilty conscience that I still have the veteran and scout squads to paint, which I've been dodging for close to 18 months now. As I was contemplating on whether to do a devastator squad, or terminators, this sudden inspiration came from a totally unexpected source. The ideas just exploded in my head while chatting with a friend about the strange and vivid dream she had about a female inquisitor on a rogue trader ship out in the fringes, made weirder by the fact that she's hardly a gamer (not an insult). While I diagnosed her addiction as 'too many Abnett books', the steam powered cogs that made up the machinery of my brain box started to whirl with a fury, grinding out a maddening array of possibilities and delightful lunacy that could naturally be expected from someone who had ran an Escher gang named Calendar Girls (way before that horrid geriatric porn movie)!

It so inspired me that I even started this blog, as much as I hate blogs...

Welcome

2006-11-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Thorisian's Conversion Corner. This is a blog for my miniatures conversion and modeling work, as well as a place to share what I find interesting in the miniatures and tabletop wargaming world. Happy Reading!