Conversion potential

[GeoWolf]

So I have been wondering for a bit what everyone deems a good place to start for conversions. I have seen some very good pieces over my time in the hobby and everyone does something a little different from everyone else. I was hoping that in posting this topic to get a bit of inspiration flowing for all the Frater regardless of saving or burning the galaxy.

 

I know that for myself I tend to do a lot of minor kitbashing for my armies. Swap an arm here or a weapon there, really just for the aesthetics so I have something that is "mine". Using the old mutations sprue to swap close combat weapons on berzerkers, making a champion for a fallen dark angels squad out of DA and CSM bits with a vox caster on top. All of this comes from wanting something to look the part I'm going for. I'm going to convert a Slaughterbute into a maulerfiend eventually due to wanting a more daemonic version.

 

How do you start a conversion? Is it spur of the moment inspiration? Do you prowl online until you see potential? Playing another game gives you an idea?

 

Or do you sit and plan, pooling your bits and resources trying to achieve a certain result?

 

Are there any sites that you consider a "must" when you begin thinking of converting something?

 

Is your army made from a converted fantasy base? (Druthu is calling to be a Keeper of Secrets...)

 

Lets start adding some ideas here and see if we can't inspire just one more person to build something to their own plan 

[UltraRich]

For me its a 3 year collection of bits that helps. 

Ive accumulated all sorts of parts over the last few years and this has meant Ive not really had to buy any more in the last year.

Also the new GW kits are really good. Ive just got both Veteran sets and they have loads of spare parts that can be used elsewhere. 

 

I find bluetac is great to test fit and post minis prior to sticking. What I end up doing is building, test fitting and ultimately gluing once its painted.  A mini rarely ends up as it started (just take a look at my thread and see how the raw minis end up painted)

 

For me its also the rule of cool as I dont play any more so I dont have any constraints. I suppose if you are playing you will need to take the rules into account. 

[deathspectersgt7]

Did not do very much kitbashing till I started looking around here. Now I put aside funds for buying bits and such.Now I make sure my Marines are kitted out . Use alot of helmet variants, ebay purchases now I want to use the different bolter variants also.

[Grotsmasha]

For me, I'll see a bit or two in a new kit and an image of a completed model will pop into my head. Then I'll sift through my bitz box or sit on eBay til the rest of the pieces are accounted for, then without too much effort a model appears on my desk, awaiting the next LPC or ETL.

As for conversions in general, I'm a huge fan, and have run several Challenges here on the B&C, found HERE.

 

Cheers,

Jono 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

The madness takes many forms in my case. Sometimes an idea will pop into my head and I become consumed trying to make it real, digging through bits boxes and uncut sprues for what will get me the closest to the idea before I have to start sawing and busting out the green stuff. Other times I'll be working on a figure, digging through a bits box for some part I KNOW I saw just a few days ago, and come across some other bit I hadn't even thought of that will look awesome if I just cut off this thing over here and glue it in its place...

 

And still others, I don't necessarily have a clear idea in my head of what I want, but I have set some sort of rules for myself. The Vostroyan command squad I'm working on currently is a good example of this. When I vowed the squad for ETL, I only knew that I wanted each figure to be unique in some way, even if it was something small. I also wanted to limit the amount of exposed flesh which meant the normal standard bearer figure had to go.

 

So this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/pffmuLq.jpg

 

Became this:

 

http://i.imgur.com/OhuBqvx.jpg

 

I also didn't care for the medicae the way he was, so I sawed him half and chopped off the arms, then pinned him to a pair of Cadian legs.

 

http://i.imgur.com/J7tEleI.jpg

 

And then green stuff.

 

http://i.imgur.com/PN07TGP.jpg?1

 

On the flip side of those conversion monstrosities is the vox trooper. I took a normal Vostroyan lasgunner and slapped a Cadian vox on his back:

 

http://i.imgur.com/xtT0cLU.jpg

 

And then gave him a little fur mantle around his shoulders to tweak the figure just a bit more:

 

http://i.imgur.com/j4b2edi.jpg

 

 

I've seen some simple kit-bashing or even head swaps that made an incredible new model, as well as some things that were so heavily converted you can't tell what the base parts are anymore.

 

The important things are if it looks cool and it works for you, then it's a successful conversion regardless of how it got there.

[marine7312000]

All of my conversions to date have been kit bashes. I want to try and get into working with GS but haven't taken the leap yet.

[Lord Commander Scrymgeour]

Personally for me there is a few blogs i use for inspiration.

http://eternalhunt.wordpress.com/

 

http://gardensofhecate.blogspot.de/

 

http://spikyratpack.blogspot.co.uk/

 

http://convertorum.blogspot.de/

 

http://www.beneaththemirehobby.blogspot.com.au/

 

http://www.exprofundis.com/blog

 

 

All of these are amazing..

 

 

Now finding the time to get some stuff done... well

[NovemberIX]

I'm also a mainly kitbash kinda guy. As my bitz box grew larger and I began to get comfortable with using parts and pieces out of there my sergeant and other character models have slowly become an amalgamation of different kits and pieces. Honestly the plastic veterans boxes are my new favorite kits given the sheer amount of stuff, crossed with the death company kits and a new tac kit and you have the recipe for a fairly unique standing force. I think my favorite kitbashes have been my Land Raider Ares and my jump pack command staff (Captain, Chaplain, Librarian, Champion, Standard Bearer, and Apothecary)

 

I do very minor conversions, like cutting up special weapons pistols from the death company kit to make combi-weapons, or remounting the assault cannons on Storm Talons so they don't hang down as far. My latest one is related to ETL III, in that I made a counts as Chronus for a Deimos Predator, but to be complete I also painted legs and made a backpack for him with a servo arm for the Techmarine with servitors box set, along with other random bits and cut down pieces to make his pack look kinda "techy"

[ChromeZephyr]

It appears down, but Insaniak's Under The Couch site was full of really great conversions.  I've got a few of those in my inspiration folder.

 

For me, I'll see a bit or two in a Jew kit....

 

Cheers,

Jono 

 

Errrm, can you please explain what you meant here?  Anytime I hear something like that IRL it's not a pleasant connotation.

[Bryan Blaire]

My guess, knowing Grotsmasha, is that he was trying to say "new kit", and accidentally hit the J key (which is right above the N key) and his phone/browser auto-corrected it to a capital word...

[Grotsmasha]

My guess, knowing Grotsmasha, is that he was trying to say "new kit", and accidentally hit the J key (which is right above the N key) and his phone/browser auto-corrected it to a capital word...

 

:wallbash:  stupid fat fingers and small touchpad.....

[GeoWolf]

This is great! I know its just the tip of the iceberg but this is a great start. 

 

@ultrarich: I've been exploring my bits box of late and planning the same types of things. Bluetac is a godsend. Do you think that painting before assembly is that big of a choice to the finished model?

 

@grotsmasha: I knew a guy who did that with models but in out of the box ways. Back when Librarians still had access to familiars he modeled one floating off the base with a couple candles floating around him. The candles counted as the familiar and it was such a great and unique model. If I recall correctly the candles are what started the idea.

 

@kage: I rarely like Guardsmen, its probably my least liked army. But I really like the standard bearer, that's a great job!

 

@LCS: Thank you very much for that list, there's some truly great stuff there!

 

@November: What did you do for your land raider if I may ask? I mainly do minor conversions too. My favorite is my Arjac, a simple job done with just the wolf pack box and a switch of the storm shield.

 

 

Ok, so now I'd like to ask the general consensus. What kits do you think get the most mileage out of them as far as conversions of just acquiring bits?

[JeffTibbetts]

This is a great topic. In my opinion, EVERYTHING deserves a good look over and think. The first thing when I get any kit is I have a look around the sprues and the instructions and just sort of take it all in. I like to leave the form of just about everything intact, but I mess with poses and whatnot relentlessly. 

 

To my mind, it doesn't matter if it's a lowly foot troop or a character model. Everything could be made better. My obsession with magnets scratches my conversion itch a lot, and I mostly do that just for the challenge of it. It's fun to see how to use the bits I have for effect.

 

Like some others have mentioned, a deep bits box is nigh-on essential if you want to really get down with this. I haven't gotten bits off ebay or other sites for absolute ages. I keep everything from every kit, and I've got a box of heads, one of bodies and backpacks, guns, etc. A lot of times I'll sort of dump everything in there. 

 

The new Tactical and Veteran kits have been phenomenal. I was able to make a heavily magnetized squad of 10 Vanguards from one box mixed with a regular Assault Marines box. I like a little less bling, personally, so it worked out. The weapon options are freaking staggering, though. Same story for my Sternguard, but I kept them at five and just magnetized the heck out of their options. With the Sterns, I dumped all the heads, bodies, legs, etc. into my existing collection and then simply pulled various bits back out to assemble. Some are the new, some old. I've done the same with most of my stuff over the years, using vehicle accessories, decorations, grenades and all that basically interchangeably.

 

Now, that's mostly kit bashing. For actual conversion, that usually takes the form of cutting and reposing stuff for me. A good chisel blade will keep as much of both sides intact as possible and then you can start to put things back together. Of course, you WILL have to break out GS sooner or later, but this is part of the fun. I have gotten way more into sculpting in the last year than in my entire time in the hobby combined and I'm loving it. Once you stop being scared and start experimenting, you'll find all kinds of things that seemed crazy are easier and easier. That's why I felt fine cutting up my $140 Knight right away. Yeah, I was going out on a limb, but it was fun and I knew that I couldn't mess it up TOO bad. ;) 

 

Like I said, I like to keep things looking as much like the sculptors intended in terms of overall aesthetic and design. For example, I've never made up my own combi-weapons. Nothing wrong with it, and I've seen some really cool ones, but for me it's more interesting to work on maybe magnetizing the options in the Tactical box or whatever. But, I do like unique models and if I'm not getting the range of movement I'm looking for, I'll try to make it. Sometimes I just get a crazy idea that I can't shake. I think that's probably where most of my conversions come from, actually. Once I see a model in my mind's eye, I feel compelled to try and make it that way. 

[ChromeZephyr]

Thanks for the clarification, mods.  That was just a touch...jarring.  :)

 

OP: I think it depends on what side of the PA fence you're sitting on.  I love the Fantasy Maurader Horsemen for Chaos, so many useful bits to use for so many different units.  For the various Imperial-centric armies, I would imagine the new Veteran kits are the most consistently stock-piled for all the bits.

[NovemberIX]

GeoWolf, The Land Raider Ares (if you hadn't heard of it before now) is/was a semi official kit bash of the vindicator and a land raider with some Leman Russ heavy flamers for good measure. All I essentially did was cut down the vindicator front plate to replace the assault ramp. Since I didn't have a Leman Russ to steal heavy flamers from I used the flame storm cannons from a pair of redeemers cut them down a little bit, filled down some fittings to connect them together for movement and then installed a widened siege shield on cut down supports, the model was finished out with the FW extra armor kit.

 

There are of course many more steps to actually building one (like cutting and shaping the front plate just so, so you can install/uninstall the twin linked heavy bolters) but that's the long and short of it. I know Honda has built a great one, and I'm sure a few other members have as well, so if you do a forum search I'm sure you'll find many pictures and a few instructions.