Okey Dokey, Sarge: A Quick Look at some Serious and Silly Sergeant Conversions

The guy in charge of any given squad of marines, the sergeant probably represents the most numerous example of an officer in any space marine army. As such it makes sense for him to be the mini that gets that little bit more attention than the other chaps lugging around bolters whether that takes the form of a more interesting paintjob, individual wargear or even a minor conversion.

The usual method that GW use to differentiate a sergeant is to model the character with a bare head, and while some people object to this on the grounds that it would be suicide to do this in the real world it does help to remember that this is a fictional subject!

This sergeant to the right is the bog standard plastic model that was prevalent for most of the 90's. Pretty boring in terms of stance and wargear, but this mini does present a good starting point for a number of possible conversions. In addition the mini is both numerous and cheap to get hold of making it also a great choice for experimentation for the less experienced modeller.

All that was done here was to simply change the standard right arm for one intended for a multi-part tactical marine and add a bolt pistol. Rather than the original, I always thought rather static pose, this adds a measure of depth to the mini. I had to note as well that I was very impressed with the amount of facial detail that a few applications of Ogryn Flesh showed up.

On the other hand, you can just opt to do something silly for the sake of seeing the effect and using parts from your bits box.

I had used components from the WHFB Bretonnian range to great effect to convert a squad of scouts and then to cobble together a collection of minis intended to represent chapter serfs equipped as support combatants and this sergeant was a result of the last of the spares being thrown together with a mini that had just been sitting around in the bits box gathering dust.

I really have no idea why this chap has a helmet like this or why he needed a bolt pistol with such elaborate sights. I also have no idea as to whether he'll ever see the light of day as part of an army. To be honest he reminds me of something out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail...perhaps he'd make a good minion for those Spanish Inquisition themed minis I saw an independent website selling the other day? Or maybe I was just unconsciously bashing the Black Templars?

I think this is how you officially go crazy with Green Stuff when you first start out learning how to use it! Had I done this today I would have started well before the mini was assembled and sculpted the robes over the entire torso of the marine. As it is the guy's back is totally devoid of any sculpting whatsoever, but I was banking on the fact that no one would be looking under his backpack.

I'm not showing this as an example of the wonders that can be achieved with Green Stuff (god knows it's a crappy first attempt with the stuff!), but more as an example of what this kind of mini can be great for.

You'd have to be pretty well off and blase about the idea of converting and making the inevitable mistakes that you will always make to begin with on something new and rather expensive from GW.

This is where making a savvy purchase on Ebay, getting stuff second hand from a local independent games store or even trading stuff with a friend who shares your addiction to the hobby really comes into its own. The skills that can be gained from this sort of experimentation are endlessly useful and you may end up with some great and unique minis as a result as well.

While the most common place that most people visit for alternate marine parts is the chaos marines range (of which I am as repeatedly guilty as anyone), another priceless source of bits is the plastic chaos warrior kits from WHFB. Chaos warriors tend to be modelled larger than life in a similar manner to marines and a Space Wolves or Black Templars collector ignores them to his or her own detriment.

This sergeant has the head and torso of a chaos warrior atop the legs of a standard tactical marine. I sculpted his belt and the purity seal on his powerfist from Green Stuff to disguise the join and filed off the horns on his head.

I've seen an example of Sternguard veterans converted using the back half of the chaos warrior torso with a great deal of Green Stuff used to disguise the joins. The minis looked great, but I have to state for the record that I saw them months after I had completed this guy, so there is the vague chance that someone over there in Nottingham saw and copied me...but then it's far more likely he just came up with the idea on his own. Damn it, one day I will have proof that someone, somewhere has been inspired by something that I've done!

I suppose that this last sergeant is really more of a kitbash than a conversion, one that came about from the remnants of a marine commander kit. His legs are from a chaos marine, leather skirt, head and augmetic arm from the commander kit and the rest from standard tactical marine parts.

For me this is what the commander kit is really all about: using the majority of the bits for a commander mini and then milking every last bit that's left over for effect on other models afterwards.

The chaos terminator lord was the same and I would urge anyone who has the ear of GW to do more stuff like that. In an age where the back catalogue is unavailable and the ability to order specific components has been taken away, kits like that are the most common way to obtain interesting and useful parts.

Defenders of the Faith: Chaplains Part 3 - Contempory, Terminators & Conversions

This is a last round-up of the chaplains that I've managed to paint in the space of the past twelve months and have yet to allow onto the blog. This lot represents the odds and ends that don't really fit into a catagory of their own and as such are dealt with here in one final post of space marine zealotry.

I've often been very hard on the current range of characters available for the space marines, but the chaplains for the most part seem to have escaped the crazy levels of mad poses and two tons of wargear. I had a blast painting this mini, the detail and pose are fantastic. But I still think that he's asking to be shot in the chest.

This guy is pretty much the epitome of what a terminator character looked like back before the introduction of the new wider bases. He also has a far more conservative pose than the later terminator chaplain and his wildly flailing chain of ammunition! I like the new bases and the emphasis that they lend to a terminator, but I still admire the fact that almost as much miniture was once packed onto a 25mm slotta base.

Converted from the Dark Angels Chaplain Asmodai, this model represents a chaplain of the Bladesworn company. I simply removed the crozius from his left hand and attached a shield from the Chaos Warriors box with the symbols removed by filing. Rather than keep to the bone colouring on the helmet, in this case I was sure it would be lost in the tones of the robes, I instead used it on the outer face of the shield and the blade of he powersword. All in all, I was very pleased with the way this one turned out.

This started out as Xavier of the Salamanders, a mini that I have no idea why I bought in the first place and spent a long time in the "to do" pile. Loosing the crazy lizardskin cloak and removing a few Salamander icons left a fairly generic chaplain, but not a bad one. I coloured the kneepads bone in order to draw attention away from the more subtle flame motifs on the legs and concentrate attention on the overall scheme.

This Blood Angels Death Company chaplain lost his rather over the top headdress and the more crazy elements of the chapter iconography. I replaced his all too Blood Angels crozius with a chainsword and linked it to his bolter with the bone colourscheme. I covered the mad chestplate with greenstuff and mounted a terminator honour in the centre as well.

This is a true bits box chaplain if ever there was one, with legs and arms, head and chainsword from a chaos marine, torso from a plague marine, backpack from a legion of the damned mini and a groincloth to cover his shame at such a mixed heritage. Not the best chaplain in my collection, but I don't think it's bad for a mini put together from random parts.

This is another chaplain conversion that is more about experimenting than anything else, but does have the honour of being the first marine in my collection to be equipped with a jump-pack. The elements of the body are standard for an assault marine, but the head was a leftover from an old Chaos Warrior box with a hood sculpted from greenstuff.