Modelling: Assembling/Converting a Soul Grinder

[Master Chaplain Astador]

Creations of the Forge

Part 1

Merry Christmas to all, since so many people have been asking for tutorials on how I converted my biped Soul Grinder and did the bases for my army, among other things, I decided what’s a better present for the masses than publishing this tutorial!

Hopefully it is easy enough to understand, I didn’t tweak these photos and didn’t take many, I think 17 in all. But it’ll get you to a biped Soul Grinder. So lets begin.

 

First off, gather all of your supplies; don’t be like me and go to start the project just to realize you left your hobby knife and pliers in the other room.

 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0002.jpg

 

Supplies needed are:

-Clippers or Hobby Knife (I use a Hobby Knife at home.)

-One Soul Grinder box

-One spare Defiler Claw arm like the two in the photo

-Glue, I prefer Super Glue to Plastic Glue but it is a personal choice

-Water

-Green Stuff

-Sculpting Tools

-Pliers

-A hard surface to work on

 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0004.jpg

These Claws were found in my Bitz box, so I decided to use them on the new Soul Grinders.

 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0005.jpg

The inside of my Soul Grinder box is stuffed full of sprues from the first one and this one. Scattered in the bottom are clippings and pieces from the first one that can be used for basing later on.

 

 

The Upper Body

 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0006.jpg

The photo above shows all of the pieces used in the stage of creation. This is the basic beginning of the upper body.

 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0007.jpg

Up until this point we’re just building him straight from the box. It is at this point that you must decide if you want to use this head or create a new one. I may go back to sculpt details to the head, but for now this head will do.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0008.jpg

Add the first arm, following the Assembly directions included. I use the sword as I prefer it to the claw, but it’s your Soul Grinder.

 

Now comes the tricky part: The other arm. Since we want the arm to look like it is molded into the flesh, we’re going to have a lot of sculpting to do in this area, but we’re not to that stage yet.

Start with the assembled power claw.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0009.jpg

 

Clip off the ball-joint at the end.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0010.jpg

 

Continue removing parts of the upper arm, be sure to save the gears, as we’re going to use them later on the base.

 

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0011.jpg

 

Attach the arm so it fits to your liking and is posed how you feel, many mistakes at this point can be fixed with Green Stuff in later stages, but I suggest being as careful as possible.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0012.jpg

 

 

The Legs

 

Now that the upper body is assembled we can begin the legs. The photo below shows all the bitz for the legs before assembly.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0013.jpg

 

 

The codpiece here is very important, as it is where the legs will be attached and also provides a covering for the groin area, which we need later when we sculpt the fleshy parts.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0014.jpg

 

That piece gets glued into the underside of the torso, I forgot to get a picture of that part, but you should see where it fits snuggly, with one prong sticking out of the gap above the little metallic box.

 

Now we start building the legs.

First figure out which piece is the inside thigh.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0015.jpg

 

And again we’re going to remove the ball-joint, but only on the inside piece this time, it is needed on the outside.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0016.jpg

 

Now assemble the rest of the legs as normal, and let them dry in a pose you like, make sure though that you can balance the Grinder for when he is attached to the base.

 

Once the legs dry, attach them to the groin pieces sides. The final result should look like this.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0017.jpg

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0018.jpg

 

Yes this one is slight Chicken-legged. But the flexibility of the legs allows for a realistic run look, so when he is on his base unlike the original, he will be moving at high rates of speed.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2, which will be creating a base for him and other large creatures.

 

 

[Captain Malachi]

Well it's about time :devil: Thanks Astador, be putting this to good use when I get my 'grinder.

[Master Chaplain Astador]

Haha no problem, I promised I'd write it. So tonight I'll have the base building one up. Just got home from work. I'll also start the sculpting one! ^_^

[empty choke]

http://s410.photobucket.com/albums/pp189/s...ion=tageditmany

well my version of it not the greatest of it still a wip but hey cac welcome thx

thx ffor the tips man badass converting

[Master Chaplain Astador]

I'm sorry? haha It may just be the fact that I'm tired, but I barely understood what you said empty choke.

The link went back to my Photobucket.

[Shortsonfire79]

Link went back to my photobuycket too.

[Master Chaplain Astador]

Strange.

Basing tutorial is almost done! :blush:

[empty choke]

<DELETED BY THE INQUISITION> guys sorry lol im still figuring my new laptop out ill have a pic up soon i cant wait so ill have somthing to do on my hobby day at my local store lol

[Master Chaplain Astador]

Haha, I understand now! I had to reread your original post! :P

 

Well I look forward to seeing it! :blush:

 

I know bi-ped Grinders turn heads at GW's and on the table top, so it'll wow people no matter what!

[empty choke]

thats what i am hoping for man i am using one of the GWs blast template for its base=)

[Master Chaplain Astador]

That one may work better than a cd base, it's thicker, well that is the green ones are. The grey plastic ones are the same thickness.

Anyway, enough talk, here's the tutorial.

Creations of the Forge

Part 2

Well I figure the other most important part to any modeling project is cool bases, so since people have asked me about how I make the bases for my Daemons, I figure why not? Let’s give you the good folks of the Warhammer community the secret!

Honestly, it’s not hard to do, and I can’t wait to see other peoples take on these bases.

So lets begin!

 

First off, get your stuff together. For this tutorial, we’re making a 120mm base for the Soul Grinder in part 1.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0019.jpg

Supplies needed:

-Cutting board

-Rolling Pin

-A knife

-Sculpey

-A cd

-An oven

 

First off, while you roll out the Sculpey, preheat your oven, especially if it’s like mine and takes a long time to warm up. It needs to be heated to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0020.jpg

 

Here’s the pre-cut Sculpey, this is all I had left after the rest of the bases, but as you can see from the first picture, there is much more in the box itself.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0021.jpg

 

For this base, I cut three slices off of the block and stacked them on top of each other.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0022.jpg

 

Return the remaining Sculpey to the box and lay out the cut pieces like so.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0023.jpg

 

With the rolling pin begin rolling the Sculpey out to a thickness that you like. You’ll notice that there are round edges, ignore them for now, if you make it to thin it won’t work when it’s baked.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0024.jpg

 

Now, we’re going to take care of the round edges. Tear them off and set them off to the side, we’re going to make them another layer in the next step.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0025.jpg

 

Repeat the earlier steps and roll out the scraps from the first layer, this time there shouldn’t be the rounded edges and you should have two even layers.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0026.jpg

 

Now, place the second layer on top of the first one and flatten the Sculpey slightly with the rolling pin.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0027.jpg

 

Bake the clay for 15 minutes, when removed from the oven it will still be slightly soft, it has to completely cool to harden to the brittleness we need for the clean breaks. Here we have two layers baked at the same time. You can see the one on the left was to thin compared to the one on the right.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0030.jpg

 

This picture shows many of the broken shards from this batch. I start breaking up the clay once it is completely cooled and hardened. This allows me to build up large stacks of rocks and bulk up the bases.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0031.jpg

 

And here is the base we just created. I’ll add more details when I attach the model to the base, such as the cog we removed from the arm and many other Grinder and armour pieces.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0034.jpg

 

Final Result

And the model attached with the details added to the base.

http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo161/WarForgeStudios/Personal%20Armies/Khorne%20Daemons/Soul%20Grinder%20Tutorial/DSCN0036.jpg

 

That concludes part 2 of the Creations of the Forge. Stay tuned for part 3, which will either be sculpting, or metallic paints, haven’t decided which yet.

Well I’m looking forward to seeing some of the creations you guys come up with based on these first tutorials!

[Master Chaplain Astador]

Well after discussing with some other members and a few close friends, the subject for part 3 has been decided.

Since people seem to like my metallics and I love painting a random model for my enjoyment, I guess you figured out by now the next part is on metallics.

For this next part I will paint captain stern of the grey knights. I'll start tonight.