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i have been working on converting various plastic medium and big Tyranids, partially as a challenge to myself, to see if i can pull it off well, and partially to save money.

the first entry is a Lictor, built from a Warrior body, a Genestealer tentacle head, the smaller Carnifex scything talons, and a couple bitz and bobs here and there.





and here's my painting assistant, Jack (aka "Biscuit")



let me know what you think of the model. i can't decide if i want his talons upraised, sticking out in front, or held down, like he's creeping...

Is there anyway that you can raise the torso, it looks a little top heavy if you get me, i love the idea i just needs a little refinment

I'm going to be making a plastic lictor in a similar way soon. It looks good, but i'm not a huge fan of the pose - looks a bit like he's tottering forward. The warrior body is a bit chunkier than a metal lictor's isn't it? I think i'd also give it a longer tail but that's just me

Off topic: I all most didn't see the cat


On topic: they look really nice so far

I'm doing something similar at the moment, actually, although not quite as far along as yours. I like what you've done. I'm shortening the tail and using the Scything Talons from the Warrior set to try and make it look sleek. Haven't decided whether I want to add anything to the feet (I like toes rather than hooves).

Here is my conversion..

Genestealer tentacle head, new Carnifex Scything Talons, Warrior body (carved up to stand upright) and warrior Rending Claws..

Primed white, with Dark Angel Green as the carapace color.. then dipped in Minwax Polyshade Antique Walnut.

i wish there was a scything talon in-between the size of the warrior and the smaller MC ones. the MC ones are too big, the warrior ones too small. going with the MC ones cause i don't have any warrior ones...

also, the torso is hunched over quite by design. i wanted to have a sneaky-looking Lictor, creeping up on his prey. the usual "throw your scything talons in the air, and wave 'em like you just don't care" pose just seems so un-stealthy to me. (though it does make them look nicely dramatic; like the moment it does leap from the bushes)

anyhow, thanks for the feedback folks. once i get another rending claw arm in the mail, and finish some GS touches, i'll post another pic.

I'm half-considering using spare trygon scytals for mine -infiltrating by burrowing seems perfectly fluffy to me

yeah, Clang, i am considering using some Trygon scytals too. i don't have any on-hand at the moment though. but the more i look at this model, the more i think the MC scytals are just too oversized...

Nice work so far. The pose looks great.

Adding a cut-down Carnifex carapace on his back can help give him more of the trademark 'hooded' lictor look:




For smaller talons, this one was done by trimming down a set of the MC talons.


And, of course, if you really want to get away from the 'claws in the air' pose, you can always go for something completely different...

Hmm, these are all good, and very useful reference, but there are a few things i'd want to do differently. I want my Lictor to have toes, not hooves. I also think those clawed arms are too chunky, as are the scything talons. I don't know if there are many other options. Could a nid player tell me, would stealer arms be too small for a warrior body? Are there any alternatives? I think i could sculpt some scythes, but i don't know about arms.

Million, i think that the stealer arms would be a bit small; your Lictor would look a little weedy. that's why i am not using the Warrior scytals. i am still thinking about an alternative to the huge-a$$ MC scytals though...

Hadn't seen that spidery lictor before, Insaniak, I like it, makes sense for an infiltrating creature.

insaniak wrote:Nice work so far. The pose looks great.

Adding a cut-down Carnifex carapace on his back can help give him more of the trademark 'hooded' lictor look:




For smaller talons, this one was done by trimming down a set of the MC talons.


And, of course, if you really want to get away from the 'claws in the air' pose, you can always go for something completely different...

INSANIAK! long time no forum-posting... (on my part)glad folks i still recognize are running around. thanks for the kind words and nod to other similar projects. expect to see much more from me!

-C6

Buscuit

Thanks catharsix, that's good to know. That spider lictor is pretty cool - are those all small MC scytals? And the body is from a warrior yeah?

The body is from a Warrior, and the Scytals on that one are all Warrior Scytals.

Million wrote:Could a nid player tell me, would stealer arms be too small for a warrior body?

Even better than that.
I'll show you.
Take my hand.....................

Ah thanks Alex, fellow bristolian! And apologies OP for the thread-jack. So those rending claws look fine to me, more Lictor like and sneaky to my mind. I think they'd work, the feeder head, the small MC scytals with some reshaping, and a slimmed down warrior body. I think i could sculpt toes!

Captain Shrike wrote:Buscuit

we call him that because he golden-brown-ish, and also soft and fluffy.

and don't worry about the questions, Million. i'm glad to see some discussion generated about converting, especially with the nice pics posted by other folks. good for inspiration and comparison!