A slightly different project today. As I've been working on my Dark Eldar (which have a Haemonculus Covens theme), I knew I wanted some grotesques. Like many who came before me,it didn't take long for me to realise that the options are limited as GW only makes one model that's both expensive and finecast.
I had a look through the options for conversions, and Crypt Horrors to me seem to be by far the best kit to use as a base. All the mutant spines and stuff work in your favour, and they're half way there from the beginning. I picked up a set of them on eBay, and then combined them with spares from the Talos kit.
In terms of the conversion, I mostly just had to trim their heads down to fit the masks and replace some of their hands with weapons from the Talos. I added tails too, as they looked good with the poses. Handily, as I'd built legs for my Talos I had a lot of tanks left over, so I had plenty of them to add to the spines I'd cut off to look like it had a lot of chemical feed lines stuck in them.
The only other part of the conversion was trimming off and shaving down the hairy bits on them, as it just isn't right on grotesques. I still need to finish adding some more bits and then greenstuff the gaps etc, but they're getting there. I'd like to add a bit more armour to them too - just so they'll blend in well with the rest of the army once they're painted, as the gloss red scheme is quite distinctive.
Nice job with the conversions man. I don't know if they will release a plastic grotesque kit any time soon, but I doubt it will look any better than these.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm happy with them. I forgot to mention in the text that they need some loincloths sculpting on as they kind of have a basic shape there where I trimmed the fur, but it needs finishing.
DeleteThey came out really well. Painted up it will make people think it is a new kit.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I can't take all the credit as I'm not the first person to use these models for the conversion. It helps that they're a decent price on eBay right now thanks to being in one of the start collecting kits.
DeleteOh, man. Those are absolutely fantastic. All slinky and creeping and disturbingly proportioned. Like Ed mentioned, I don't think GW could do much better than match these for plastic Grotesques!
ReplyDeleteThanks. They still have a bit of a ways to go yet. I haven't even finished the "Frankenstein" stage yet (that part of a conversion where you're just gluing bits together and fitting before final sculpting).
DeleteThe tails are a nice touch. Gives them that "ultra-balanced-sinewy-killing-machine" look. Hope I am making sense.
ReplyDelete