I've also stripped the paint off of an ancient eBay purchase; namely a battered Leman Russ. It's gonna need quite a lot of refurbishment, but it'll be unrecognisable when I'm done with it. I've just started converting the turret into an Exterminator Autocannon - not just for the anti-tank, but also for the retro appeal. Needless to say it need s a heavy stubber too!
These are actually all Hybrids from the Deathwatch Overkill box in this picture. I have to say that the quality is excellent, you really can't tell the difference with the proper kit, other than the lack of choice in pose, but as they are quite well posed anyway it doesn't matter.
I know it looks absolutely horrible now, but so would you if you were soaked in Dettol for a week. On the upside it's ready for a new coat of paint, but it'll be a bit of a project getting it back in working order. One of the sponsons came off when I was cleaning it, but it'll probably make it easier to switch the weapons. This tank has had 3 lives that I know of. When I got it, it had been covered with a fresh layer of undercoat, but you could tell some Orks had been looting it. I did my best with it at the time, but it was always a bit grimy and I didn't have the skills to overhaul it from the start. This time I'm doing it right and rebuilding it from the ground up.
There's something particularly satisfying isn't there about rescuing an old 'less loved' mini and putting the care and attention in to make it look good once more. I'm currently in the process of giving an old starter box dreadnought a new sarcophagus and lots of extra bells and whistles to make it look like a venerable dread with all the weapon options swappable.
ReplyDeleteHow did you find the overkill stuff? I was writing my gsc list the other night and the problem I've got is I want to give them all shotguns, so figured the overkill box wouldn't really work. Love the squad leader though, he's awesome and I may just have to pinch that idea!
I have to admit that I was tempted by the shotguns - with the ambush rules or an open topped transport they could be surprisingly effective. They're also really nice parts. The Overkill stuff is good, the Neophytes are built with one fixed arm with no hand (the one that would support the gun underneath) and one missing arm, so you might actually be able to do a straight swap if you could get some spare shotgun arms, although I think it would still take a bit of conversion and greenstuff fill to make it work. Realistically, it's probably not worth the hassle! (unless you can get them really cheap!)
DeleteI love "saving" minis that are all mashed up and grimy. I think it's really satisfying too, but you can also save some money buying odd things on eBay and refurbishing them.
Spare shotguns you say?? http://anvilindustry.co.uk/Regiments/Weapons/Combat-Shotgun-Regiments
DeleteSo far, everything is looking good. I can't wait to see what you do with the tank.
ReplyDeleteI am loving those cultists!
Thanks. That tank is gonna take quite a lot of work, but I thought having a few pictures as it is now would be fun when it's all finished and painted!
DeleteLooking great! I'm def going to have to use one of those Chaos Cult Champions as a Stealer Cultie as well. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI had him in my bits box anyway as I'd bought a second lot of autogun cultists for my Chaos, but I didn't want to have the same leader model as he is quite recognise able. I just did a head swap, added a backpack and switched the shotgun out for an autogun (I want to use him in a ranged unit so it made more sense). The conversion probably only took 15 minutes - well worth the effort.
DeleteOh man. I've got one of those chaos squad leaders, but never thought he'd look that good with a head swap. Now I'm wondering if the coat would look better on a Magus type character...?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think he'd make a great Primus with a little more work. The only difficult part was scraping the 8 pointed star off of his chest.
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