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Thanks a lot, people!

@ Archmagos_Amadeus: Hmm, seeing how flattery will get you everywhere with me, I am almost tempted to undertake some more experimentation in pursuit of the perfect conversion you speak of

@ PDH: Coming from you, Peter, that's really quite a compliment. Plus I'm sure I have stolen so many ideas from you over time that it's nice to be able to repay the favour for once

@ wonkobaggins: Yes, it's really a pretty good update of the Warzone Trencher look, isn't it? I'll probably eventually be using it for an Inquisitorial stormtrooper or two, though: My Traitor Guard elites will be slightly more "conventionally" chaotic and use a colour scheme resembling the rest of my Traitor Guard:



For the elites, though, I am thinking dark grey fatigues (like the rest of the force), but mostly red armour plates and definitely piering blue eye lenses, where applicable.

Those traitor guard need to be purged! With cookies! And cream?
That blog you linked me to is great, and has earned a spot in my bookmarks.
Realy great (hardly surprising) guard you have there, how do you reckon normal guard would react seeing that?
probably run. Or yell "for khorne!" and stab the guy next to them.

That Brettonian/Scion head combo is so cool! Now I may have to get both bretonnian and scion bits. The trenchcoat cultist leg combo also works nicely. You're right, it really is getting close to that Jes Goodwin ash wastes Guardsmen (why they never turned that directly into a kit is a mystery).

Wow, that new head conversion is absolutely perfect. I would love to see a full squad or 2 of those guys across from me on the table. As for the lenses, I would recommend trying out purple. I think it would work really well with the dark cloth and the red plates.

dude, dude. I think, I think i may have just found something you need...

I actually think that the "hatted" stormtrooper would look right at home alongside your traitor guard, even if its not chaotic in the convectional sense.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, guys!

Work on the scions continues on several fronts: For one, I have drawn together several of my earlier ideas and recombined them into a very early mockup for a soldier with a distinct WWI trencher vibe:





The conversion will need quite a bit of tidying up, of course: I believe I'll be getting rid of the sensor array on the model's shoulders in order to be able to pose the head more freely. He'll also be getting a rifle rather than a sword and pistol, because I think holding a rifle would really work well with the running pose and give him the look of an experienced soldier advancing under fire. I am currently looking at doing something similar to Adam Wier's beautifully simple rifle conversion, since the one thing I really want to get rid of are those power cables (the one, element I hate about the kit, if only for how fiddly it can get). Apart from that, I imagine he'll be getting some more kit, a backpack etc.

I am pretty interested in finishing this conversion, though, and have slightly adapted my plans RE: the scions: While I will still be building four scions as traitor elites, I'll hold off on creating an Inquisitor for now and rather sort out that trencher conversion: He could probably he could be an Inquisitorial Stormtrooper, which would make him viable for INQ28.

Anyway, expect to see more of this guy fairly soon!

Focusing on this guy as my fifth scion model also frees up the second set of fairly static legs for now (since it would be needed to build a model using the storm coat, as far as I am aware), which is a nice side effect, because having that pair of legs at my disposal will allow me to build a suitably impressive officer for my traitor elites. I am pretty sure that one will use the Blood Pact like DV cultist head.

Meanwhile, the first test model for my traitor elites is more or less finished:





I'll admit that it's a very straightforward kitbash, but I still like it very much: There's just something about those Marauder Horsemen heads that really works, don't you think?

Here he is with a second WIP model that still lacks the chaos-y extra bitz:



As always, let me know what you think!


@ the shrouded lord: Aww, sorry mate, but I have to admit I am not a big fan of skull bases: The only kind of troops these really work for, in my opinion, are daemonworld armies. And even then, skullbases usually look like someone actually consciously designed them for a model to stand on instead of just the slice of real ground the model happens to be standing on atm. I prefer the second version, because it adds more realism to a model. I also have some very far-reaching thoughts regarding the plausibilities of placing lots and lots of skulls and bones on a base, but I won't get into that in more detail now, for all our sakes

Looking good. As an admirer of the WW1 trench troops, in particular the ANZACS, I very like the first guy. Did you order/buy one kit or two?
Yeah I just thought the skull base looked funny. So, what can we expect to see next? More experimenting with the scion kit?
P.s: the scion kit actuely kind looks like most chaos, what with the massive trim and that.

Indeed, more experimentation with the scion kit: I may only have bought one box for now, but I am not done with these by a long shot

I just had to put in some more work on that Trencher model:







Still missing some details, but I think it's getting there Oh, and what self-respecting trencher would head out into the warzone without his entrenching tool, right? So the choice of backpack was basically a no-brainer...



I also added some leftover armour plates to my traitor with voxcaster to bulk out his somewhat skinny legs a bit



Let me know what you think!

Trench-fighting dude is a great example the multitude of scion kit conversions going around!
The cultist legs make him dynamic, and giving him the rifle, that beautiful helmet and the entrenching tool have really given him character - you can 'see' his story.

A sufficiently 'battle-damaged' paint job should really enhance him.

The las might be too long, but have you tried bayonet?
Either that or he needs a trench-knife situated on his armour somewhere - maybe the cool-looking quick-draw carry, knife hilt down on the left shoulder, or a boot knife?

Very nice, very nice this trencher is a feast for the eyes, maybe you could make a full unit of them and use them as elites/specialists in your traitor guard force....though he might need a few grenades (stikkbombs would suit the look rather nicely i think )

The trencher looks cool. I can't wait to see what awesome stuff you come with from this kit.

Beautiful!

I love the trenchers, and plan to rip them off baltantly! (If you don't mind... )

Legs on this batch are Cultists, yes?

Where did you get the backpack with the entrenching tool?

Thanks a lot, guys!

@ Lamby: As a matter of fact, I tried adding a bayonet, but while it fits the las-barrel well enough, it throws off the model's entire composition, making the rifle look far too long and cumbersome. I'll be giving him a trench knife by way of the daggers that come with the Tempestus Scions.

@ Legio Ultra: The elites for my Traitor Guard will be more classically chaos, similar to the Blood Pact or similar warbands. The trencher will be used in INQ28, I believe. There's also the fact that coming up with a whole squad of these would be pretty complicated, due to the same cultist legs needed over and over.

@ M138: Cheers, mate!

@ Yellowbeard: By all means, steal whatever ideas you can use! The legs are indeed from a plastic DV cultist (the one with the AdMech style head).


So, once again, I am really happy with the Tempestus Scions and the conversion and kitbashing options they provide, and my experimentation continues. But my love for the kit notwithstanding, let me discuss yet another source for possible Stormtroopers. As you will see, this is clearly not a case of favouring one kit (or manufacturer) over the other, but rather an attempt at outlining several, partly interlocking approaches for building just the Stormtroopers and elite soldiers you need:

Quite some time ago, I participated in a Kickstarter to make some of Mark Mondragon’s designs available in glorious plastic. The kits coming out of this Kickstarter, namely the different plastic Titans and the Eisenkern Stormtroopers, were one of my favourite hobby releases in 2013, as some may recall. And it’s the latter of the two I would like to talk about:

The Eisenkern Stromtroopers provide an alternate set of models for your Imperial Guard. Granted, these are not GW models, so you won’t be able to use them in any GW events or GW stores, but the models are still definitely nice enough to showcase them here! As a matter of fact, I was already feeling bad for not making the time to talk about them in more detail earlier, but now it turns out that the opportunity to discuss them back to back with the new Tempestus Scions is just the perfect way of taking a closer look at the kit. So let’s look at both kits, shall we:



On their own, the Eisenkern Stormtroopers provide a kit for making very cool looking elite soldiers with a very distinct WWII vibe. Incidentally, the background of the Eisenkern faction basically has them as “Germans IN SPACE!” (and the name certainly is a dead giveaway…). My personal reason for supporting their creation in plastic was that they really reminded me of the Wolf Brigade in Jin-Roh, but those designs were of course based on historical German uniforms again, so it’s a bit of a circular argument.

Anyway, the kit comes with so many options for customisation that it’s almost ridiculous, and these options are further multiplied if you decide to purchase an additional set of conversion and equipment bitz, giving you lots and lots of different weapons, heads, hands and various gear. Therefore, the humble test model pictured above is really just the tip of the iceberg.

Here’s a scale comparison with the Tempestus Scions:







As you can see, both models are more or less of the same height: The Eisenkern Stormtrooper is ever so slightly taller, yet less bulky than the Tempestus Scion. From a structural perspective, there are quite a few parallels, though, ranging from the body armour and rebreather helmets to the power plant-like section on the model’s back.

The overall look is still ever so slightly different, though: Where the Tempestus Scions are full-out baroque and grimdark, the Eisenkern models are more hi-tech, albeit with a clear retro element.

But let’s look at some more scale pictures, this time with a “regular” IG model, a cultist and an Astartes as additional parts of the comparison:





As you can see, both Stormtrooper models nicely fit into the gap between “regular” humans and Astartes: While both are basically just as tall as a regular Marine, the added bulkiness still nicely separates the Astartes from the unaugmented models.

One obvious problem with the Eisenkern models lies in the slightly more realistic (and less “heroic”) proportions when compared to GW kits. While this certainly isn’t a shortcoming per se, it can become a bit of a problem when trying to combine the Eisenkern models with GW bitz.

For instance, where the Tempestus Scion bodies will happily accept even Marine heads with a bit of cutting, even fairly slender heads like the wolf scout head pictured below will look slightly too clunky on an Eisenkern Trooper:



That said, some heads work better than others: I have collected some cases where the GW heads worked reasonably well below:







In any case, the important thing to keep in mind here is that these parts certainly weren’t designed to be mixed, so the fact that it still works out in some cases should be treated more like a bonus — but more on that in a minute.

The main problem from a design perspective is that the Eisenkern Stormtroopers are far less useful for “classic” chaos than the Tempestus Scions, because the smooth lines are not nearly baroque and archaic enough for your average traitor guard, whereas the extra decoration on the Scions makes them very chaos-y right out of the box. The common Eisenkern Stormtrooper fares less well when combined with chaos bitz.




But, again, this is obviously not really a fault of the kit itself: It wasn’t even designed to allow for shenanigans like that.

The big surprise, then, is that the Eisenkern Stormtroopers work amazingly well with the Tempestus Scion heads:



The beret heads from the Scions are perfect for Eisenkern officers — and actually much better than the somewhat generic bare heads that come with the Eisenkern kit (one of the few failings of an otherwise brilliant kit, I might add).

The same goes for the helmeted Scion heads:



And finally, the beret head with gas mask, one of the coolest heads in the kit anyway, is pretty much the perfect officer head for an Eisenkern Stormtrooper. Take a look:





Quite a nice reward for the adventurous kitbasher, don’t you think? Plus this information might be interesting both for those who are contemplating a purchase of the Eisenkern Stormtroopers as well as those who already own the kit and want to tie it in with their IG army: Just get some Tempestus Scion heads, and you’re golden

Another interesting fact: Female Eisenkern models will eventually be available, filling a gap GW’s catalogue has mostly refused to address so far: Here’s a regular Eisenkern trooper next to Kickstarter exclusive model Ada:



So which one should you choose?

I’ll be honest with you, I couldn’t even tell you which kit is the better one, because a) both are awesome and b) which is better for you depends on what you are looking for: Both kits are great and, in their respective ways, provide great value for the money. The best possible approach would be to ask yourself what kind of Stormtrooper you are looking for and make your decision from there (or, of course, to just buy a box of each):

Do you want your Stormtroopers visually in line with the eclectic, sometimes outlandish and anachronistic 40k universe? Do you love the little medieval and renaissance touches and are looking for colourful models that channel this particular part of the setting? Then the Tempestus Scions are your thing.

Do you want slightly more futuristic, tactical looking troopers without too many baroque design elements but a noticeable retro feel and tons and tons of options (you can actually use the accessory sprue to build models conversing in SWAT-like sign language, for crying out loud!)? Great, the Eisenkern Stormtroopers are the kit for you.

But even if you come down on either side of this argument, the other kit would still be an awesome purchase. And, owning both kits, I am perfecly sure that I am going to have lots of fun with both types of models.

In the end, it’s really all about being aware of all the options, and that’s what this post is about too: Describing more options for you. In any case, you way want to check out the Dreamforge Games website — chances are, you’ll find something to like there. At the same time, I cannot recomment the Tempestus Scions enough: They are an amazing kit and quite reasonably priced for GW’s standards.

Anyway, so much for the latest Stormtrooper conversion related shenanigans: Expect to see more from the Trencher model and traitor elites really soon!
And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

I don't love the storm troopers, they just look far too skinny for my likings.
My first warhound is due in 2-3 weeks so I should be able to finnaly start working on that soon, when I do I'll PM you a link?
I know I am no where near the brilliance of your modelling but I can try...no I can't...

I love the conversion possibilities of the GW Storm troopers but I do prefer the more sleek Neo-German look of the Eisenkern storm troopers.

Price for me means that the Eisenkerns win

Cheers, guys!

@ the shrouded lord: Yeah, whatever you want to share, feel free to PM me a link. I'd never touch a model the scope of a Warhound, btw, so that's at least one area where you are far, far ahead of me

@ M138: I know what you mean. Have you checked out the new heavy Eisenkern troopers coming out, though? Compared to those, the stormtroopers look like mere wip models

@ Llamahead: It's true that the Eisenkern models provide an unbelievable amount of value for the money, with the caveat of looking more "generic" than the scions. The scions are amazing value as well, simply for the amount of bitz you get, but the kit will only give you five models (although you'll have enough leftover stuff to accessorise quite a few more, as we'll be seeing in a minute... ).

So, another rather sizeable update today: Let's take a look at the (mostly) completed models so far, shall we. Before we do that, though...


1. By request...

...some people suggested I show them a couple of additional headswaps, and how could I refuse? I’ll be keeping this short and to the point, though

First up, in case you wondered what the scion heads looked like on bog standard Cadians:





They are actually a perfect fit: You need to shave down the neck portion, though — which I failed to do for the above pictures, hence the slightly hokey proportions. But from a scale perspective, I think you’ll agree that it should work. And while I was at it, I also tried an Eisenkern Stormtrooper head on a Cadian body…



…and it instantly created that wonderful Jin-Roh look. Even more cutting involved in this case, though, because the neck portion on those Eisenkern heads is huge.

Oh, and while we’re at it, here’s the Eisenkern head on a regular Tempestus Scion, for the sake of completeness:



This may actually be one of my favourite combinations so far! Unfortunately, the fact that the Eisenkern heads only come as part of the larger kit and that you only get just enough heads, this kind of conversion is hardly economical. But if you should find yourself in the possession of some leftover Eisenkern heads, it’s definitely a very interesting option!


2. Straight from the trenches…

I applied the finishing touches to my trencher model. So here it is, ready for painting:











Additional bitz are a backpack with an entrenching tool (a bit of a no brainer, really) and a trench knife (one of the daggers from the Tempestus Scions). Like I said earlier, my experiments in creating a bayonet for the rifle fell flat: While it was easy enough to attach a blade to the rifle, the barrel ended up looking way too long, thereby throwing off the model’s whole composition. However, I believe that the dagger, worn to be quickly available during combat, works well enough as a replacement.

To tell you the truth, I am stupidly happy with this guy, since he is both suitably grimdark and reminiscent of actual trenchers as well as those Warzone minis I keep going on about. I hope to be able to paint him sooner rather than later — a suitable base, complete with duckboards and a muddy surface, has already been built.

Once again, let me show you some possible, different heads for the model, in case you’re going for a different, maybe even more medieval feel:

While the head I used on the model was spliced together from a Bretonnian helmet and a Tempestus Scion head, the heads from the Bretonnian Men-at-arms can also be used on their own:





I actually think those work just as well, and would basically be ideal if you were after building, say, a Genswick IG force.

I also tried the head with mask and beret from the scion kit…



…and it looks just as awesome as it did when used on the Eisenkern Stormtrooper I posted earlier. I have a sneaking suspicion that this head will always look awesome, no matter the model you use it on.

And finally, another really cool option would be to use an Eisenkern head:




3. Meanwhile, back ar the Archenemy camp…

During all those head swaps, though, let’s not forget the intended use for my first batch of Tempestus Scions: I want to turn them into a squad of elite soldiers for Urash’s Marauders. So, any progress on that? You bet!

For instance, after finishing my first test model (to be found further up in this thread), I have begun working on a second traitor and have also made a first mockup of the squad’s champion (or should that be Damogaur?):





In this case, the scion chainsword was replaced with a suitably chaotic sabre from the Dark Vengeance cultist champion. The head with the grotesk came from the same model. And while a laspistol may not be the most exciting equipment for a squadleader, I chose the arm for its pose, at least for now. One of the two small shortcomings of the Tempestus Scions, in my opinion, are the sometimes freakishly long arms, so choosing a combination that looks right takes some doing (on a semi-related note, those cables connecting the rifles and backpacks are the other element I don’t like: Getting all those parts lined up just so without gluing the model together outright is very fiddly business…).

Anyway, this guy isn’t finished yet, but I think the model will already give you a pretty good idea of where this is going. Here are the three WIP models for the squad together:



That’s not all, however: Since the scion kit contains so many bitz, there are enough leftovers to use on different models as well. As I told you in my previous post, I will be using some of these bitz to build some more traitor elites, mostly based on some Vraksian Renegade Militia torsos.

You already know the voxcaster guy:



And I also found out that the rifle arms work fairly well on those Vraksian torsos:





By combining these bitz, the model looks a bit like a missing link between a Tempestus Scion and one of my regular traitors, which could signify the encroaching influence of chaos, I suppose?

A third model uses the plasma gunner arms from the scions for now. Here are the three traitors together:



I also built another champion/squadleader model that I am really happy with. Take a look:







The torso came from the Vraksian Enforcers, while the legs are from a WFB chaos charioteer: Both bits were leftovers of earlier conversions, so it was really nice to finally put them to good use! The arms are from the Tempestus Scions, although the weapons and hands were replaced (with a Space Marine Scout pistol and chaos warrior sword, respectively). The head came from a Dark Vengeance plastic cultist. And I also added some additional pouches and gear:



This model takes quite a bit of inspiration from PDH’s traitor soldiers which range among my favourite renegade models. I am really happy with how this model has turned out, because it really fits my idea of Traitor Guard to a t!



And here are all the “Vraksian bases” traitors so far: Keep in mind that these were all basically made from leftovers from my bitzbox:



What I especially like about these models is that they could arguably be used alongside the scion-based traitors in one large squad – granted, there’s a bit of variation, but that’s chaos for you – but they could also be the beginnings of a second squad of traitor elites.


So yeah, after all the headswapping businesss, I hope I’ve managed to convince you that some actual models will be coming out of this in the end! I would love to hear your feedback on any of these!

As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!

Oh god no!
I ment the chaos puppies!
Oh god, if I could ge my hands on a Titan.

Sorry for the mis-speak.

Oh, oh man *wipes a tear from his eye*

Yeah I men when I start working on some were wolf spawn, as you're such an awesome and inspiring Modeller.

@ the shrouded lord: Ah, I see. Actually, that makes me even more interested in the project, though, because I much prefer infantry models to Titans

Hey Krautscientist!

You, Biohazard and the chap who got into White Dwarf with his astounding Iron Warriors army are the 3 people i follow most on the internet for inspiration in my chaos projects!! I Especially love your L&TD! Keep em coming!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I have a L&TD Nurglite army underway with some heavily converted tanks, and for my veteran guardsmen i plan to use Stormvermin bodies with plague priest heads, and the plague priest snouts with be cut and and replaced with piping and cylinders to look like gasmasks, I've done some so far. Hopefully this little rant will keep me sane for the next few weeks

Cheers, mate! That's very nice of you to say!

Your conversion project sounds interesting! Maybe you should take a look at the feral heads from Pig Iron Industries: They should be a pretty great fit for the Stormvermin bodies, and the resulting models would look less like outright rat people and more ambiguous -- and disturbing.

 KrautScientist wrote:
Cheers, mate! That's very nice of you to say!

Your conversion project sounds interesting! Maybe you should take a look at the feral heads from Pig Iron Industries: They should be a pretty great fit for the Stormvermin bodies, and the resulting models would look less like outright rat people and more ambiguous -- and disturbing.

I was looking at those heads the other day, although i avoid metal like the plague, hopefully these heads will be better to work with
Furthermore i'm going to give them oxygen tanks to make them look far less ratty and like nurglite weirdos in robes and chainmail apparatus!
I'm watching you're thread very closely..

Oh, I totally agree: I dislike working with metal too. But seeing how these are just heads, I don't think they'll give you lots of trouble

Like I said earlier, your plan sounds pretty intriguing, so make sure to keep me posted!

I like to think the Militiaman Vox-caster is yelling "CAN YOU HEAR THE VOICES TOO?" down the chunky-looking vox-handset.

It's nice too see how you've played around with different bits and kits just to see how they'd look, very helpful stuff.

I've never seen those Charioteer legs before, they look very suitable on your updated Millitiaman Champion. I approve! .

 Mister Feral wrote:
I like to think the Militiaman Vox-caster is yelling "CAN YOU HEAR THE VOICES TOO?" down the chunky-looking vox-handset.

It's nice too see how you've played around with different bits and kits just to see how they'd look, very helpful stuff.

I've never seen those Charioteer legs before, they look very suitable on your updated Millitiaman Champion. I approve! .

Damn it I lolled.
"THE VOICES ARE TELLING ME TO CALL YOU!"

Thanks a lot, guys!

 Mister Feral wrote:
I like to think the Militiaman Vox-caster is yelling "CAN YOU HEAR THE VOICES TOO?" down the chunky-looking vox-handset.

That thought is actually funny and really creepy at the same time. Great job!

The trencher could double as a sniper

Those traitors are looking good. Keep it up.

Cheers, people!

@ Miss Dee: Hmm, come to think of it, I still have a Cadian sniper rifle in my bitzbox -- maybe I should build a second Trencher after all...?