Brother Valerius Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 So, I admit it. I like, in theory, the idea of personalizing my army with conversions, but the prospect is extremely intimidating to me. I would almost say "frightening", if it weren't silly to be afraid of handling plastic miniatures. Still, I am not a very creative person, so while I am dazzled by the ingenuity many people show with their own work, I doubt my own ability to ever make a conversion look good. Nevertheless, I have to buck up and do it sometime, unless I want to restrict myself to only what comes in the kits for a given model. Is there any advice experienced kitbashers can offer me? How do I make something my own, in spite of the fact that I have almost zero creativity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andurin Marvak Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 First, watch a great deal of fantasy and science fiction combat scenes. Now imagine your marines being that awesome. Now see what bits you have, and what you can kitbash or hack apart to give them the coolest weapons to do the coolest stuff possible. It's how I roll, and it's given me a great deal of success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Bjoern Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 At first don´t be too afraid to try it. Even if your first conversion looks like crap, you will become better and better. we all have learned our lessen that way. If you have a basic idea what you wanna do with your marines post it. I´m sure you will get a lot of tips what to use, hot to do it, where to get the bits and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanhausen Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 When converting, unless you have a very defined picture you want to copy or an idea which is crystal clear... just go with what you feel is cool and appealing. Things done with gusto turn out quite better than those planned. Kitbashing is probably the simplest way to convert: just get those bits and pieces you don't use and save "for further on"... the moment has come to use them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingsOfTheFalcon Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I think firstly you need to have a think about what you would like to change to personalise the minis. Firstly, what chapter are you working on? That will help to give us some idea of whether your marines would suit certain types of style/pose. Next, what tools do you have available to do the work? With this in mind we can offer you suggestions & advice on the 'how'. Finally, don't be afraid of failure. Only through trial and error will you improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostLegion Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 to the comments above I would also add: keep your knife sharp and have blue-tack handy" A sharp knife is your best friend for ensuring you get the part you want from the sprue...even if you only want a piece of a part...say that plasma gun muzzle or melta barrel. side cutters are nice and all, but a sharp knife cant be beat. Blue-tack is highly useful to assemble a model without glueing it and finalizing. it is so much easier to alter appearances when using blue tack then when using glue. I would also add my one rule of conversions: "finish what you start" again, this is why blue-tack is important. I always recommend that no matter how bad you think the piece is coming out, you should at least complete the assembly and see the whole model. this goes doubly when working with greenstuff or trying sculpting in any way. by completing what you start you begin to see and define your view of perfect (or at least good) models. the best teacher is the last mistake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagicMan Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Start with something simple. I think some of the best conversions are subtle, you don't need to glue on 4 extra arms for the conversion to be cool, some of the best conversions look like they're ''Out of the box.'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maverike_prime Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Check out stuff. The Work in progress section of the B&C forums is a great place to look. Look at Warhammer blogs where the author does conversions. I've run a couple conversion challenges that got some truely stunning results. Check those out: Challenge 1 : In this challenge, the participants were required to use Cronus' torso in the conversion. You can see some really inventive uses for it. Challenge 2: This challenge people had to use Lysander's body. Challenge 3: This one the requirement was to build a model that would represent Mephiston As you can see we came up with interisting ideas. None of the conversions are particularly difficult, they just took some planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Valerius Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Thanks for the pointers, guys. I'm definitely going to try what Sasha mentioned, as that is one of my biggest deterrents right now: I don't want to ruin something which would, without my meddling, be a usable piece for my army. I guess that ultimately, it's going to be just like painting was, where I will have to jump in feet-first and learn as I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puck Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Don't know if this is an option for you but if you have a particularly artsy friend or maybe know someone who has taken art classes they are a great asset. First they won't poke fun at your hobby as I'm sure they've met people with stranger art mediums. And second their ideas on maintaining scale and which poses are most natural is very helpful. Also I'd like to reiterate buying a squad specifically to butcher your way through your first conversions. That said there are simple ones you can do like cutting the left hand off a bolter marine and turning it over so it looks like he's bracing against recoil that look very good and don't require practice to perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingsOfTheFalcon Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I guess that ultimately, it's going to be just like painting was, where I will have to jump in feet-first and learn as I go. Make sure you start with simple projects, something like a weapon swap or using GS to fill a gap on a model. Once you feel more confident about your ability then you can move onto more complex conversions. I'd also suggest you invest in a pin drill, if you are adding parts to a model which weren't built to fit, then you will need to pin to keep everything well held. Here's a good article on pinning from the Librarium, though if you have any questions feel free to PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Valerius Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 I just thought I would post to show off my first converted mini, which I was brave enough to attempt thanks to your help. It's not complex, but I like it. I'm going to use him in my Sternguard squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son Of Khaine Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I'd suggest maybe dropping the bolter down a tad given as a normal human couldn't hold it out straight,but we aren't talking about normal humans are we. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kizzap88 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 looks good. nice and simple :) my advice would be to get comfortable using greenstuff. then start using it as much as you can in simple things, then build up your experience levels from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagicMan Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Very nice. He'll make a good sternguard sergeant. Simple stuff is always the best way to start out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master of Asgard Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 My advice, especially when using a sharp modelling knife, as suggested above, would be to keep some plasters (bandaids) handy. A sharp knife is of course essential, but if it slips it can very easily open your thumb up. I've actually started wearing a plaster on my thumb as a precautionary measure when doing any serious converting/modelling, because otherwise the blood flow is inevitable for me. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingsOfTheFalcon Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Great start mate, simple conversion but very effective. I'd suggest having a think about what your Chapter looks like as a theme, then think about simple things you can do to apply that across the army. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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