Steel Legion ... Plastic ?, Found some time to do some modelling Options

[brother argos]

IG Codex, Argghhh <looks at large pile of cadian boxes> , <considers doing some IG> , <Ponders which force> ...

Cadians ? Done to death, who wants to be the same as everyone else!
Vostroyans ? Character, Cossacks, Hmm possible, but too archaic looking for me and METAL, metal is the bane of conversions.
Catachan ? oh please, Rambo, big arms, BIG ARMS, nah.
Death Korps ? got a good few packs of them, with snapped off gun barrels, resin weak and snaps, expensive, like the look though.

Uhhh oh, just ruled out all the plastics, hmm not good.

Praetorians, Character, Metal, hmm no longer sold on the GW site, ebay, possible rarity appeals
Mordians, Praetorians with caps, prefer Praetorians.
Valhallans, Russians, Look ok, great coats, hmm maybe.
Tallarn, Arabic never moved me.

Steel Legion, hmmm WWII German Paratroopers, that might work, Metal.
Hmm based on Armageddon, would work well with my Salamanders.
Nice artwork too, stylish, and the cool laying down and firing Heavy weapons.

Ok this is working for me. But I want plastics and compatability with the Cadian sprues ... oh damn, time to do some work.

So began an Easter weekend of fun converting, with the intention of making a Cadian soldier into a Steel Legion trooper!

I have got about 85% of the way there so far, just gloves, boots and lightning emblem on shoulder left to green stuff.

Take a look, tell me what you think, anything wrong ?








I used this for inspiration ...

[Tyra_Nid]

Looking extremely schmick, but how many are you going to do for an army!?

I certainly wouldnt suggest casting the body, since that would probably violate certain rules, but it WOULD make pumping them out much faster.

[mithrilforge]

it certainly looks the goods but are you going to convert...50 of em
i would say for sgt's up to officers you could leave some of the shoulder guard(as seen in the picture shown)
.are the dagger and water bottle from Forge world?
and the name "Brother argos" im guessing that makes you the B&C Allfather then...huh ?

anyway kudo's on the cool conversion.
Mithril

[Chaplain_Fortis]

Is the head just a steel legion head? Or am I missing something? I'm just thinking if you're going to the bother of obtaining a bunch of steel legion dudes, why not just use the metals instead of converting a million plebs. Sure convert the leaders and special models, but the concept of custom building 100 dudes is enough to drive me insane. Tyra_Nid's been there. I'm sure he wouldn't wish it upon his worst enemy.

The dude looks nice though.

[Dies Irae]

Tyra_Nid's been there. I'm sure he wouldn't wish it upon his worst enemy.

The dude looks nice though.

Ahem.....

God damnit converting every single model in a guard army is a pain in the arse. I wish it specifically upon Fuggorf. And WGoL. And Fortis' Mum.

edit: on topic, the model looks pretty cool bro. You might be interested in this.

This post has been edited by Dies Irae: Apr 16 2009, 02:06 PM

[brother argos]

@ Tyra_Nid : This is a test, once I have sculpted all the parts in GS, rather than just convereting, I will indeed be casting them in resin to save work and time.

@ mithrilforge : I am indeed Brother Argos from the B&C, tempted to use the title AllFather now . I cannot show my Imperial Guard work there so I come here

@ Chaplain_Fortis : Once the head is resculpted I will casting rather than converting, significantly less time involved.

Here is a list of the changes so far: -

Chest: Chest piece was from Vehicle sprue, and was chosen as it did not have any armour on. Channels cut for straps, straps made from plasticard, Ammo Pouches made from plasticard,rebreather made from plasticard with the grooved section being cut from one of the cadian trooper heads, Eagle shaped clasps added finally.

Head : Taken from a Steel Legion trooper (one of the few without a massive mould line), Added gas masking tubing using the "power cabling" from Dragonforge ( http://www.dragonforge.com ). At some point I need to sculpt the head from scratch so I can mould and cast my own copies without legal issues.

Arms : Cadian Rifle arms, Shoulders shaved down and some small creases added, more work needed to make proper folds, also need to add the lighting strike insignia on the left shoulder.

Hands: Detached from the Cadian rifle arms, rotated slightly, the hand that was part of the gun was carefuly cut off without damaging it, and attached to the arm and therefore allowed the use of a different weapon.

Weapon : Because the Steel Legion are an Armoured Fist unit and as such spend a lot of time in vehicles, they generally use Las-Carbines instead of las-rifles. The normal metal models have carbines (with folding stocks), and I used the Las-Carbine with folding stock from the Tank sprue to represent this. I had to change the way the hands worked to make this happen.

Legs : Cadian legs, trimmed down at the top, Three layers of green stuff to build up the bottom of the coat, final layer applied carefully and smoothly, Coat pleats added last.

Feet : Need to trim the boots back, and then sculpt on the changes to a full knee high boot, also add a small skull in the center at the top as per the 4th edition IG codex image of a steel legion trooper.

Canteen : At the moment I am using a Forgeworld Elysian canteen, however it doesn't fit with the style on the metal models, something else to make from plasticard or Greenstuff.

Knife/Bayonet : Currently a Forgeworld Deathkorps knife, I am happy with this and find it matches the metal steel legion nicely, I have a significant amount of these from my Deathkorps, so might stick with it.

Blanket : Currently taken from a metal Steel Legion trooper, however its going to be sculpted in green stuff so it can be reproduced.


The future ...

Do more converted parts to enable me to use the new Cadian command sprues, and all the old Cadian stuff, and the add-on forgeworld cadian parts.

See if I can make transparent resin goggles ... now that would be cool.

[Tyra_Nid]

the concept of custom building 100 dudes is enough to drive me insane. Tyra_Nid's been there. I'm sure he wouldn't wish it upon his worst enemy.

Not quite 100 man, more like 60-70. And probably will need to do more after new IG codex .

That alone did put me right on the cusp of insanity... And as Ian says, I would still wish it upon WGoL or your mum. Only problem is that if WGoL did it all the models would have the same surface detail as lego men.

[brother argos]

I loved the work you did on the Lighthorse

I think with any truly magnificent army there is always a massive amount of effort required.

[brother argos]

Ok was a good night tonight, got one of the gloves done, put the lighting flash emblem on the shoulder, and made a folding carbine stock out of wire that looks the same as the one on the tank kit carbine. Pics tomorrow.

[mithrilforge]

Well what you have proposed sounds great,i look forward to new pics

Mithril

[Drummer]

Have a look at Pig Iron miniatures...

They do awesome guard lookalikes and various head and other packs for conversions

[brother argos]

I had a look at the pig iron heads, sadly they didn't work for what I envisaged.

While looking at the new IG codex, I came to this rough army list .. please bear in mind I am aiming towards an Veteran Armoured Strikeforce.

The following is 1500 pts.

Company Command Squad with Medi Pack & MeltaGun in a Chimera, with Heavy Bolter x 2

Veteran Squad with Meltagun x 2, in a Chimera, with Heavy Bolter x 2
Veteran Squad with Meltagun x 2, in a Chimera, with Heavy Bolter x 2
Veteran Squad In Valkyrie, with Meltagun x 3

3 x Leman Russ, 2 Normal, 1 Punisher
Hydra
Basilisk, Enclosed
Armoured Sentinel with Missile x 3
Valkyrie

[Intergalactic Games]

Oh right... the codex that isn't out yet you mean.

[brother argos]

Thats the one .. yup

There has to be some advantage in owning one of the top four 40k sites on the web.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com



This post has been edited by brother argos: Apr 18 2009, 01:20 AM

[brother argos]

Some Picture Updates ...

Firstly here is an extended version the Folding stock normally found on a Las-Carbine. I hope to model a few of the arms to accept this version.







It took around an hour to make the stock, but I think now I know the "how to" I could do it in about 30 minutes, or possibly cast it in resin?

[Dazza Bo]

Loving the conversions so far. Would resin hold that folding stock? I have no experience in casting whatsoever but it seems kinda thin?

[Drummer]

It took around an hour to make the stock, but I think now I know the "how to" I could do it in about 30 minutes, or possibly cast it in resin?

Top stuff... resin might be a bugga.

Go metal.... if you can...

[damnitsham]

Go metal.... if you can...

+1

I myself hope to get some metal casting done once my Rudd-bucks materialize in the bank.
Have you had any casting experience before?
I think a few casting projects will be happening in the near future on this site, might be able to get some pointers...

Alternatively, maybe you can throw a few pointers

[mithrilforge]

Yep i'd go "metal" as well,
in fact if you have the skills/equipment,get some small square nuts and some half threaded bolts and with a little bit of soldering and cutting you could make a template/frame for the wire to wrap around,thus making wire stocks in less than a minute may help considerably if you were to go that route...

Cheers Mithril

[Drummer]

+1

I myself hope to get some metal casting done once my Rudd-bucks materialize in the bank.
Have you had any casting experience before?
I think a few casting projects will be happening in the near future on this site, might be able to get some pointers...

Alternatively, maybe you can throw a few pointers

well.. we do metal jewellry.. so yeh mate. LOL.
You can also get a range of hand poured silicons that can take temperature for small casting metal jobs now, so they are also accessable to pretty much everyone.