Dr. Ruminahui's assorted conversions

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks @The Pounder and @BadgersinHills.  And BadgerinHills, your protestations seem quite suspect, as they are exactly what one would expect a hill dwelling badger hive mind to say. 

 

I had originally meant to finish these last month (they've sat with the capes does since at least the new year), but got distracted by my knight kitbash.

 

Here's my second squad of tormentors - squad leader has the whip not because I thinks it the best choice (though it was when I built the squad, which was pre-eratta bumping the S on the power sword) but because I don't like to build cookie cutter squads.

 

 

And with my other tormentor squad:

 

 

Seeing the two side by side, I'm really happy with the how the cloaks turned out.  The main purpose of the symbols on the back of the cloaks being different colours is squad differentiation, and I wasn't sure that would be distinct enough with the slannpat.  So I'm really happy that it seems to the 4 colour camo pattern, with 1 colour as base common across both squads, 2 for the slanneshi "blotches" and the 4th for the symbol (which for the other squad would be a blotch colour) seems to have worked well.  Does mean that I can only do one more squad this way before I need to come up with a different slaanpat pattern, but it seems unlikely I would want more than 3 squads, so I'm fine with that.

 

I have also mostly built 2 5-man squads of infractors - I just need to do the greenstuffing for the cloaks.  As that's quite the chore, I think that will wait until I need a break from painting.

Edited February 25 by Dr_Ruminahui

[W.A.Rorie]

They look great!

[Heraclite]

Nice freehand on the symbols. They're well integrated into the camo pattern

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks, @W.A.Rorie and @Heraclite. 

 

Miniature camo is always a bit weird as the point of camo is to break up the lines and details, where for a mini you want it to look like camo without actually doing that.  Here, I'm happy that it looks like camo without actually acting like it, as it in no way would help hide the wearers - I guess its emotional support camo.  

 

Within the camo, I also was struggling with 2 contradictory goals of wanting the pattern with symbol still look like a camouflage pattern but to still have the symbol stand out as a squad identifier.  I think I've largely pulled that off, with the two symbols kind of straddling that line - the darker one on the "more identifiable" side, the light one on the "more camo side". 

Edited February 26 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Brother Christopher]

The beige, brown and purple make for a striking combination! 

 

Your work aside, which is great as always, these guys look like really fun models. I mean, I'm still looking for something heretical to buy (i.e. other than loyalist Space Marines) and the EC combat patrol seems very appealing (though it's still power armour). It's a real shame the set doesn't include a bunch of Tormentors, though.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks, @Brother Christopher.

 

They are pretty fun models, though visually I prefer the greater trim of the mainline chaos space marines... though not necessarily painting it.  For those who dislike painting trim, these are likely an improvement over the CSM models - but for those who hate painting trim, its probably best to still stay clear.

 

Esthetically, its an interesting choice by GW, because unlike the new raider CSM models, its not clear why they have less trim.  Arguably, EC should have more trim, given excess being their thing - but that way leads to the heldrake, which is merely busy on a model that scale but would be hell on something infantry sized, so I think we can all be glad they didn't go that way.  Going less trim does give them room for more spikes and such, but they don't have a lot of that either.  That said, I can't say that the EC models do a bad job representing EC, just that they feel slightly off for me - but on my models, my capes pretty much fill that gap.

 

Yeah, its strange that the combat patrol doesn't have any tormentors/infractors, but maybe less so if its intended to be acquired in conjunction with one of their other boxes (either release or christmas).  If you can pick up the X-mas battlebox, that would be the way to go - it has/had 20x tormentors/infractors, 6x noise marines and a demon prince, which are all great models (its essentially the release box with the lord exultant swapped for a demon prince (and maybe fewer noise marines, I can't remember exactly where my 18 all come from) and no codex/cards).  Its the only EC box I didn't pick up, but that's because, with picking up the previous 3, the only thing I really wanted out of it was the demon prince.

Edited February 27 by Dr_Ruminahui

[BadgersinHills]

@Brother Christopher @Dr_Ruminahui The Emperor's Children Combat Patrol does come with 10 Tormentors/Infractors :) 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks for the correction, @BadgersinHills - at this point, my memory of what came in what box is a bit hazy.  

 

Anyway, I'm greenstuffing the capes on 10 more infractors and painting up some more noise marines.  I've also started on a conversion project I've had sitting on my desk for about a year.

 

 

As weird as it sounds, I'm kitbashing a vindicator with a rhino - a 2nd ed vindicator with the current rhino.  I hope to use as many of the metal pieces as possible, then will have to work out how I do the front shield/bulldozer and if I do a rear grabber claw like the current vindicator model.  Oh, and its going to be for my chaos army, so it will get trim and such.

Edited March 9 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Tallarn Commander]

This looks like a fun project. With your plasticard skills I'm sure you will assemble a nifty dozer blade with Chaos trim.

 

In my first game of 40K way back in 2000 my opponent/coach had this old Vindicator. It sure was intimidating. We played a 1,000 point army, swapped armies, and then played again, 1 win and 1 loss. I much preferred using the Vindicator to facing it.

[Brother Christopher]

On 2/26/2026 at 6:00 PM, Dr_Ruminahui said:

Esthetically, its an interesting choice by GW, because unlike the new raider CSM models, its not clear why they have less trim.  Arguably, EC should have more trim, given excess being their thing - but that way leads to the heldrake, which is merely busy on a model that scale but would be hell on something infantry sized, so I think we can all be glad they didn't go that way.  Going less trim does give them room for more spikes and such, but they don't have a lot of that either.  That said, I can't say that the EC models do a bad job representing EC, just that they feel slightly off for me - but on my models, my capes pretty much fill that gap.

 

I agree with your view on GW's take being interesting. Their EC redo definitely has a distinct ethos behind it. Personally, I don't mind them having less trim and overall I like the design of the armour. The only thing that I don't like are the faces. I get it why they are the way they are but they're chaosified/deformed in a strange way. I can't really put my finger on why I don't like them but somehow they don't feel like made by GW. There's a third party/Etsy feel to them.

 

On 2/26/2026 at 6:00 PM, Dr_Ruminahui said:

Yeah, its strange that the combat patrol doesn't have any tormentors/infractors, but maybe less so if its intended to be acquired in conjunction with one of their other boxes (either release or christmas).  If you can pick up the X-mas battlebox, that would be the way to go - it has/had 20x tormentors/infractors, 6x noise marines and a demon prince, which are all great models (its essentially the release box with the lord exultant swapped for a demon prince (and maybe fewer noise marines, I can't remember exactly where my 18 all come from) and no codex/cards).  Its the only EC box I didn't pick up, but that's because, with picking up the previous 3, the only thing I really wanted out of it was the demon prince.

 

I think that a combat-patrol-sized box is more than enough for a side project. But I definitely agree that the battleforce looks like a good deal (were it not for the generally exuberant pricing, I'd even call it a great deal), especially from a non-gaming perspective. A nice mix of minis from the entire range.

 

Oh, and good luck with the Vindicator. It seems that you got the old Vindi bits in mint conditions - that's an absolutely rad find. I think I've never gotten around to buying pewter vehicles because their weight always freaked me out (not that I can't carry a bit of metal in my bag; I've always been concerned about gluing these together; the old Venerable Dreadnought or a set of hurricane bolters for a LRC seemed like a chore to put together without extra drilling). But you shouldn’t’ve have problems with the Vindi, given that you have some plasticard to make it work.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks, @Tallarn Commander.  I'm apprehensive but looking forward to the plasticard work - other than big flat slabs (both the defiler legs and the knight gun shields) I haven't really built something "structural" before, so I'll be doing something new.  I was thinking of modifying/extending an IG tank bulldozer, but I think that will be more effort than its worth and I'm better off starting from scracth - that said, I think I'll use the IG bulldozer's hydraulic pistons.

 

@Brother Christopher, I think part of the EC's new look is they are borrowing some of the design cues from AoS slannesh - bare skin, flowing cloth and lots of curved, flowy surfaces.  And while I don't know how it lines up with the 40K slanneshi/EC fluff, it is a neat visual identity different from the other marine based models.  Some day I'm looking forward to converting the Slanneshi Hedonite AoS Combat Patrol (I think its called Spearpoint in that system) into some chaos cultists, spawn and demonette seakers.

 

I'm not huge on the bare heads either, so I'm only generally only using them for the characters, and I'm only using any given bare head once (with a few exceptions - I've used the infractors/tormentors speaker head a couple of times for my noise marines).  Part of the problem for me is their scale - they are the same size as the helmeted heads.  As replacements, I bought one the FW space marine heads sets, and they work great - I'm really liking the smaller size, as it makes their armour look really big, which I like (the middle guy in this photo has one - compare with the the EC GW head on the other squad in this photo).  I'll have a couple more of them to show when I post picture of the 2 infractor squads I'm working on - they obviously aren't as S&M as the EC heads, but for me that's fine.

 

As for the vindicator bits, I've actually owned the kit from the early 2000s - a friend gave it to me when I was playing exclusively sisters, and it sat largely forgotten on my shelf of unfinished models until I decided to try kitbashing it with a modern rhino (I'm keeping the old rhino it came with in case I ever want to expand my sisters army, as they are all in the old rhinos as the army predates the current rhino kit).  So, its "new in box", its just sat around for a couple of decades.  Some of the bigger pieces are a bit warped, but nothing some careful work with some pliers couldn't mostly fix, and that's just the nature of the medium.  Really, unless you want to cut it, its not much different from working with plastic other than if you drop it the whole piece may pop off (which is arguably better than smaller pieces of plastic breaking off).  And, as with all metal models. the paint is more prone to chipping and wear than on plastic models.  That said, I think it will help that I'm working with large slabs of pieces and not finicky little bits like groupings of bolters.

Edited March 10 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Bonehead]

What they said. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one, Doctor

[W.A.Rorie]

Excited to see how the Vindicator hybrid comes out. 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks, @Bonehead & @W.A.Rorie - you didn't have to wait long.

 

First, I've finally finished building my 2 5-man infractor squads.

 

 

I'm pretty happy with them, especially the forgeworld heads on the squad leaders (and their poses - I like how the one on the right kind of looks like the old metal ultramarines (or was it dark angels?) space marine scout character).  These are the heads that I was talking about previously, @Brother Christopher.

 

Greenstuffing their capes was a bit more challenging than usual, as my greenstuff is rather old and some of the yellow half refuses to mix and just forms chunks, plus it has a much shorter period where it is workable.  Not such a problem with bigger builds without much sculpting, but a real headache for the thin capes to get them to look smooth... so that's part of why this portion of the build took so long.  Anyway, they are done now and will be primed and sprayed in the next month or 2 once the snow is gone and the ground dried.

 

As for the vindicator build, got a bunch done over the past week.  This is probably has way more pictures than is strictly necessary, but I do like to over explain my kitbashes, so here goes.

 

 

Back plate glued on fine - I didn't bother gluing on the original ramp, but just glued it directly over the hole,

 

 

Top plate was slightly too wide, but fortunately the notches for the hinges on the rhino kit were just the right size, so it was just a matter of widening the rest of the hole to the same width as the hinge portion.  This also made a nice lip for the plate to rest on.

 

 

Here's the top plate - fits perfectly now, asides from it being a bit shorter than the rhino top hatch.

 

 

I then plasticarded over all the larger holes and depressions I didn't want.  I also built back the front raised area to accommodate the metal top section, which extends back further than the raised hatch structure on the current kit.

I then glued on the front gun plate, which I had bent slightly with some pliers so it better conformed to the geometry of the newer rhino kit.

 

 

After gluing the gun hydraulics in place, I found I needed to raise the top portion to make it work, so I cut out a plasticard riser.  The photo also shows a gap in created by the shape of the metal original.

 

 

I glued on tracks that I had ordered a few years ago from a third party, but kind of botched it for one of them, which I repaired by filling in the resulting gap with greenstuff - as its on the bottom of the model, that's all that's warranted.

 

 

The current rhino is wider than the original, leaving a gap on either side between the gun plate and the track portions (which you can see on the left).  On the right is how I filled that gap - plasticard on top, greenstuff on bottom (well, the greenstuff isn't in this picture, but is in the one below).

 

 

Here is it is from the front with both gaps filled, as well as other gaps between the various components.

 

 

And here it is from the side.

 

Okay - decision time.  Basically, I have to decide how best to mount the side plates, and would appreciate your opinions.

 

Option 1(a) - Sticking off the side, both plates together

Option 1(b) - sticking off the side, plates apart.  I would then need to fill the gap between the plates.  I don't have a picture of this - but like below, but seperated with the space between filled with plasticard/greenstuff.

 

 

Option 2(a) - resting on the top, plates together.  Don't have a picture of this, but like below but together.

Option 2(b) - resting on the top, plates apart.   As per the above, I would then fill the space between the plates.

Incidentally, resting on top like this is how they are on the original vindicator model.

 

 

Whatever option I go with, I'll need to use plasticard to extend the plates downwards and to cover gaps on the sides (or behind the top portion if top mounted).

 

That above photos also show how I put plasticard on the sides of the top portions.  Please ignore the top hatch in  - its just a place holder from another model I have there to make sure I attach the magnet in the right place (to hold the eventual hatch).

 

So let me know which side plate option you like best.  Once that is done, its on to doing the trim and detailing, including bolts on some of the now flat plasticard pieces shown above.

 

 

Edited March 16 by Dr_Ruminahui

[Bonehead]

I'm going for secret option 1c; cut them down so they have a flat back, and put them on so they line up with the top as per the option 1 picture.

[W.A.Rorie]

1a or 1 b. Something about them resting on the top I don't like the asthetic. But I do agree with @Bonehead that they should be flush but that pewter is thick and cutting it will be a nightmare. 

[Rusted Boltgun]

I like the sitting flush and vertical so in the absence of option 1c, I would go for 2b.

[Brother Christopher]

I vote for 2b, but this is something that you can't go wrong with any way. All options will look cool.

 

2b adds more shapes to the vehicle which is very much in-line with recent GW designs. It brings to my mind the HH Vindicator variants. If I were you, I'd definitely add a thick ribbed pipe, like on the Deimos Vindis, as well as add plasticard bits and bobs reinforcing the armour around the pewter pieces:

Spoiler

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Thanks @Bonehead, @W.A.Rorie, @Rusted Boltgun and @Brother Christopher for your input and suggestions.

 

Ultimately, Brother Christopher's providing the picture of the 30K vindicator made up my mind on this - I'm going with 2(b), as that looks most like the original 2nd edition vindicator.  That way if I ever want to field 3, I can field one 30K version, one 40K version + the "updated 2nd ed" version I'm building here.  So, while I've had my quibbles with the edges being raised over the hull of the tank (like what purpose that could possibly serve), I'm going to keep that look as it makes the tank look more distinctive and more like the 2nd version.  That's also why I don't think I'll "gubbinize" it like Brother Christopher suggested, which while a decent idea, would blur the visual distinction between the two.

 

That doesn't mean I won't be adding other details.  One thing I've decided to do is rather than glue the plates apart and fill in the middle, I'm going to glue them together and expand on the outside to have the same overall width, as that will better allow me to put some chaos trim along the outside edges.  That's work for future me, though - I'll need to check if what plasticard I have fits that purpose, or if I need to try to pick some up.

[BadgersinHills]

Looks good! No particular preference on any of the options, they all look nice.