Monday 16 April 2018

Ctrl Alt Repeat

I noticed a funny thing the other day - that there are some models that I've used a number of times. And not simply the same basic troopers that you paint because there are only 3 sculpts to go into a 10-man unit. I keep using these models for different purposes and conversions. I wonder whether familiarity means I am better able to visualise adaptation? I've managed to inadvertently do this with figures from the Rogue Trooper range, Blood Bowl and Rogue Trader.

Here are some examples:

The Eldar Trader

I think I have painted the Eldar Trader five times in total. I've still got three in my collection one I use as an Eldar Trader, one as a Dark Elf Blood Bowl coach, and one as the more exotic Bonesinger. On the face of it, the trader and coach are identical, but I did actually replace the holstered pistol for a pouch on the coach!



The figure is really unusual, both as an Eldar and Elf - he has a great expression and a really interesting pose - haughty and as far away from combat as you can get. I suspect that's why I've painted him so many times!



The Grot

This particular Grot is a great base for a variety of conversions - the sparse detail and relatively naked frame makes him very flexible and much more easily adapted than other grots.


He works brilliantly painted up as a weedy greenskin, but he also looks the part as a semi-feral ratling, or even skinny torso for a pin-headed mutie.

Brains

I love everything about Brains, the Last Chancers technical specialist. Like the Eldar trader, his pose is unusual, and he lacks the typical armour of many Imperial Guard troopers.


Brains appears in two of my Confrontation gangs - complete with hat and coat in my Ash Waste Nomads, and more recently as a champion in the Skallytong Boys of House Morlaque.

Venus Bluegenes

Hailing from Citadel's 2000AD range, Venus is unusual amongst many of her old school counterparts by being both female and relatively sensibly clad.


I've co-opted Venus into my Tech gang and also as a spunky pilot / adventurer, part of the (slightly stalled) 40kthulhu project.

The Maniak

The Confrontation range of figures are relatively uncommon, which is why I took the opportunity to convert a headless Maniak ganger into my Rogue Quest fighter from a few years back.


I quite like picking up damaged figures as they can spark conversion ideas, and often result in interesting figures.

The Tech

When I was looking to make some additional Imperial Guard veterans for my Shadow War Kill Team, I happened to find a headless tech ganger just asking for a new life (the original head was donated to Henig Drosk, one of my Inquisimunda characters).


Even though both the Tech and the Guardsman are made from the same base figure, I still find it amazing how different they can look.

I'm looking forward to the next time I paint that grot. Or the tech. Or convert yet another Eldar Trader!

18 comments:

  1. Yeah...*cough cough*....only 'slightly' stalled... >_>

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  2. You can recognise some of them (and then admire the conversion work), but some others look so different that they are simply unbelievable. I had seen them all, but having all the minis on a row is tremendously inspiring. Go on for more!

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    1. Theres something very satisfying about lining up very different figures made from the same starting point. I don't plan on stopping any time soon!

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  3. I have to say I wouldn't have been able to identifiy some of them despite knowing them ! It's fun to see a lot of us have this tendency to fall back on some models. Those variants are a testimony to both your great conversion talent and the worth of the originals !

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    1. Taking a figure as far away from the source as possible, whilst retaining the coherency is a constant challenge. I'm not at all adverse to revisiting an old favourite with a new viewpoint though.

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  4. Some minis just strike the right cord. It's nice to see a collection of your converted models assembled in the post, you really knack for making seamless conversions.

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    1. Thanks Mr Saturday! I do occasionally reorganize my shelves to get the variants next to each other :)

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  5. Strange coincidence that I spent the best part of Monday night armed with a razor saw, superglue and green stuff, all in order to breathe new life into a couple of RT era minis that my oldest of old-school friends tossed my way as they were either lacking heads or mangled in some way.

    The Future Warriors savage punk with hair over his face, a headless ratling and a 2000AD riot squad judge with a squished head became Silky Joe, Short Arse and Prospector Pete - all tooled up to defend Pete's archeotec claim in the Shitpile Foothills.

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    1. Those sound like an excellent trio of ne'er do wells! Someone else's cast offs really are a good mine.

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    2. It was a great jumping-off point.

      I was then inspired to give an old Talisman Timescape astronaut an auspex and a Bretonnian sallet helmet to serve as Pete's surveyor.

      It looks like being the start of an entire new gang based on a bunch of frontiersmen...dagnabbit.

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    3. Embrace it! Sounds great to me :)

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  7. I can't believe you have so many eldar traders ... *seething with jealousy*

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    1. There must be some kind of magnetic attraction!

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  8. Fantastic conversions. I fear I lack both the imagination and skill to pull something like that off. +1 for 40Kthulhu.

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    1. I started converting with simple head and weapon swaps. Now I'm always on the lookout for different components to match in, but it's much easier to mix sections of a mini (e.g. head/torso/legs) than to mate leg A with leg B for example. I tend to steer towards figures with clear joins between sections, such as belts with arms up - that's a lot easier to cut apart and put back together!

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  9. Nice spot! Totally unrelated but I couldn't help sharing ... in science pattern recognition is a key trait of human intelligence/consciousness and we are the best in the planet at this, but for how long before AI overtakes us :)

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