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For my CSM army, I want to arm my small unit of Chosen with some cool-looking scythes. I've tried making my own, but they just don't look quite as good as masterfully scultped bitz from real modelers. Does anyone know how I could pick up some scythe-blades for not much money? Or have any ideas on how to model my own? I don't care which miniature range they're from, which company makes them, etc, just that they'd be big enough to work with my marines.

I did a unit of Thousand Sons Chosen with Sythes. Best thing to buy is a box of Warhammer Zombies. They will have a few sprues with sythes on them.

TheSecretSquig wrote:I did a unit of Thousand Sons Chosen with Sythes. Best thing to buy is a box of Warhammer Zombies. They will have a few sprues with sythes on them.

About how many scythes are there per box, and how big are they? I found on the GW website one of the new Bitz I can buy, which is a sprue containing a pair of Tyranid Scything Talons. With a tiny spot of Green Stuff to fill in the grooves at the base of the blade, I thought they might work well, but perhaps the zombies' weapons would be better. Either option is cheaper than buying 5 Wraiths, which is my last resort (and a real waste, since I'll have absolutely no use for the models--at least the zombies could count as Plague Zombies).

Thanks for the tip.

just clip the sything talons off of a gaunt weapon sprue and attach it to some plasti-card poles (or banner poles if you have some to spare)

Clthomps wrote:just clip the sything talons off of a gaunt weapon sprue and attach it to some plasti-card poles (or banner poles if you have some to spare)

The gaunt scythes are too small for my taste, which is why, if I went for Tyranid weapons at all, I'd take Warrior Scything Talons.

When I need parts, I will buy the box / blister I want and take the parts I need. If I don't keep the rest for bitz, I sell the remainder on Ebay with the described parts as missing. Normally, the difference between what you paid, and what you sell at, is less, than going to a bitz store and buying the parts. I think you get 2 Sythes per sprue, and there are 3 sprues in the Zombies box, but don't quote me on that. Phone up GW Mail Order and they'll tell you straight away. Here's one I made earlier.......

That's a sweet-ass Thousand Son. If you're looking for some constructive criticism, though, the lava could use some real work, and the rock looks a little...flat (in terms of paint, not shape ). Other than the base, though, simply superb conversion and paint work. I like how you've conveniently covered the point where the rod meets the marine's body with the tabard. Smart choice. For the lava, you might benefit from rolling a couple little balls of Green Stuff and cutting them in half--great lava bubbles, right there. Then for the rock, some lighter color drybrushing and then a bit of Object Source Lighting above where the lava meets it will go a long, long way. It looks like there already is a bit of OSL there, but it's really faint (if it's there at all and not a trick of the camera) and could use a bit of a bolstering.

Thanks for posting the pic, because I was thinking of getting those wings for my Ushabti-to-Daemon Prince conversion--now I can see that they're too small for him.

Wings are from the Warmaster Wood Elves Hawks.

Oh, so they're not the same size as the wings from the Warhammer FB hawks?

You Could Use the OOP Vampire Counts Wraiths Models. Each Blister was for 6 US dollars.

That's still 30 dollars, granted I can even find 5 of them. Besides, they'd probably cost more now that they're OOP. And then, I've still got the problem of the models that I can't use. So wraiths are still just my fallback if everything else fails.

Ever try plasticard?

It can work wonders.

Though I do have to say that something curved, like a scythe blade, requires some work to be done. But hey, you'll have all of the scythes you need for somewhere around five USD. I'd suggest using scissors (or something similar) to cut rounded shapes in plasticard, as razors tend to only work well for straight cuts. Make yourself a template so they all come out similar. Gluing two thinner plasticard pieces together will probably be easier than cutting one thicker piece. Once they're glued, make them flush with some kind of file (I personally just use sandpaper). You could probably give them a better edge with a little bit of GS work. Note that Styrene also comes in tube-shapes, which would make for good scythe handles (if you have something to drill a hole in a closed fist, then hey, even easier for you).

All in all, it takes a bit more time, but it saves you a ton of money. And hey, you might even have something you can be proud of.

Also, it's worth mentioning that scything talons would make for some very awkward scythe blades. The blunt edge gets really fat; not natural-looking for a scythe blade.

Just my two cents.

Thanks for the tip Chrysaor. None of the few hobby shops in my area carry sheet styrene. I wish GW would make their own. The heavily increased price just for the Citadel name stuck to it would be about the same as ordering some GF9 stuff or something and paying for shipping. I'm going to Home Depot later today to pick up a few bitz, and I'll look for it there. However, I did begin carving some blades out of the clear plastic that jewel cases are made of. It's a son of a b**** to cut, taking more than an hour per scythe blade, but the material is as durable as can be.
As for the hafts, I may use brass rod, or I may try to find styrene tubing.
By the way, what is plasticard like? I've never worked with it before, so I'm curious. Is it like a sheet of the stuff GW uses for their sprues?

Plasticard is the British name for Sheet Styrene, which caught on because, well, look where GW is located. So if you've worked with sheet styrene, you've worked with plasticard.

Kind of confusing, I know.

the 'nid scything talons would be better than you think- If you cut them off at the wrist as shown, then used GS to attatch it to a pole it would look very chaossy.

zombie sprue comes with 5 there reeaaaally good

Chrysaor686 wrote:Plasticard is the British name for Sheet Styrene, which caught on because, well, look where GW is located. So if you've worked with sheet styrene, you've worked with plasticard.

Kind of confusing, I know.

Oh yes, I know. I just use the names interchangeably. When searching for it in online stores, the engines often know where to find sheet styrene, but have no idea what plasticard is, and vice-versa in the warhammer world. So I suppose I still haven't a clue what it's like to work with

But did you know, that to make rounded shapes with a sharp razor blade, all you need to do is first use the blade to draw out the shape you want, then repeatedly score the surface, cutting a bit little deeper every time. It takes about 10 times as long, but you can achieve whatever shape you want. That's how I got my blades from the jewel case covers. But that stuff is just so hard, I decided to only go half way then break the pieces out and sand them after. They aren't quite as nice as they could have been. I do hope that plasticard is easier than that, as it would save me and my fingers from having to make three more blades out of that infernal material.

typhus wrote:zombie sprue comes with 5 there reeaaaally good

If you're sure the box comes with five, then that's probably my best option, because they look really good, if a little small. I get 20 Plague Zombies to boot, so it's not a bad deal.

bottbott wrote:the 'nid scything talons would be better than you think- If you cut them off at the wrist as shown, then used GS to attatch it to a pole it would look very chaossy.

I've decided against using tyranid blades, mostly for the reason Chrysaor shared. If the tiny gaunt scythes get as fat as they do, then the warrior scythes are not going to look great. However, I think I am going to use one of the gargantuan Carnifex scything talons for the blade of my Daemon Prince's weapon, if I ever get around to building him. Converting a giant metal model like that isn't easy, so I'm afraid to even get started