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Ok, so sorting through some old boxes of misc. junk in the basement last night I discovered a few Genesteals that I have had since 1995 or so...60 of them to be exact! But I have no desire to build a Tyranid/Genestealer army in addition to the CSM and Ork armies I'm currently woring on. So, I am thinking of turing the bugs into lesser Khorne daemons. Here is a picture of one of the little guys, any ideas Dakka? I could use your help. Also, remember I have 60 of the little buggers, so nothing TOO complicated!
The whole mess...

Just one for details...

If I can't figure out how to convert them, I'll try selling them on eBay, and just buy some Bloodletters...

Anyways, thanks in advance for any suggestions!

HORNS and swords.

hey presto, some bloodletters.

Yeah, well, OBVIOUSLY, right? What I am leaning towoards, is to try to get the bug to stand a bit more upright, (does anyone know if dipping a plastic figure in boiling water will make them bendy enough to change thier pose?) then taking off the claw arms, and moving the hand arms up, shaving down the bulbous head a bit, and greenstuffing a longer head, some horns, some muscles on the arms and legs, and cutting out a sword from styrene. I figure maybe about 3 to 4 hours per model. I might have a 10 strong squad in like 3 months!

The old plastic 'stealers are hard plastic, so I'd be very surprised if you got good results from boiling water.

Fifty wrote:The old plastic 'stealers are hard plastic, so I'd be very surprised if you got good results from boiling water.

Thanks, it's not mandatory anyway, I think they'll look fine hunched over. I'll try to get started on one tonight, and maybe post progress tomorrow!

Ok, so after 3 hours of work last night, I have some progress to show!

First, I took one of the 'Stealers that only had a base coat. Funny thing, 10 years ago when I first got these guys, I didn't trim the mould lines, so that was the first order of business...


Then I removed the front arms, and moved the hand arms forward, cut off the fingers so I could make one hand hold a sword, re-possition that hand so the sword pointed up, and trimmed down the back some so it wasn't so hunch-backed.


Then I carved out a sword from styrene. (this probably took the longest.)


Then added some GS to enongate the head a bit, and make the hand look better, and added a tounge. Also added a spinal column, it's sticking up a bit, but once I put some meat on him, it should look fine.


Hopefully tonight I can start adding more GS for the muscles on the back, arms and legs. Let me know what you think.

Awesome! I'm glad someone else is doing daemon conversions with tyranids. Now I know what exactly I'm going to do with the genestealers I've got left over from the battle force.

I'm in the process of converting both kinds of 'gaunts into lesser daemons/pink horrors, and I'm also converting a bunch (30!) of gargoyle bodies into screamers.

This is pretty cool and looks very promising. I can't wait for more pics.

Thanks for the comments!
@UselesswizarD: I'd love to see some pics of your Gaunt conversions!

So, I didn't have a whole lot of time last night, and what I got done was a bit hurried, so not my best work,
but I don't have sculpting tools yet either, just have toothpicks and an old exacto knife I've been working with.
Looking into getting some tools soon, but untill then, this is what I have done, and I hope my next 59 of these
buggers look better and better. So without further talk, I have for you, the right hand side of my first Bloodletter just about done:

I'm not sure if he looks too muscular or not...


And here is a good shot of what it started out as, and what it looks like now. (and it wouldn't be complete without a gratuitous butt shot anyway!

Let me know what you think, and whenter or not it needs horns, or is ok as-is. (I'm leaning towards horns, but I kind of think they look more evil without them.)

Steroids

Very cool! They look good without horns IMO

Not much to add today, didn't have much time last night, but I did do a little sanding of the previous day's Green Stuff to smooth out the skin a bit.

Also I didn't like how the left arm was possitioned, so I moved it a bit.


Probably won't have any more posts until Monday. Have a good weekend all!

I finally got some time to work on this guy again. I think I'm done green stuffing for now. Just have to sand a few bits down. I noticed some fingerprints after I was done, so those need to go.
I was going to go without horns, and it looked pretty good, but I really like the horns, so I think they'll stay.

I also really like the way the muscles turned out, but it took forever! I don't think I'll be bulking up the rest of them as much...I'll just say this guy is the MAIN Lesser Daemon.



So, what do you all think? Anything I could change to make it better? I'll see about getting it painted soon, and see how that works.
And just 59 more Genestealers to convert! Wish me luck!

I think it looks really good.

Maybe just a tad to big arms muscles, but not sure.
Since it might look really nice when painted as they are now.

As impressive and origonal as it is to sculpt your own 'letters, the cost of all that putty would surely surpass the price of buying the 'letters in the first place...

Regardless, lovely mini !

Damn son....
you have skills, i wish i could GS like you :_)
what did you do for they tuby stuff on his back ?
The toung is a little nurgely for me, but it looks A-MA-ZINGG

Ok i am very impressed but you stated earlier that you wanted to do a "simple" conversion and that amount of green stuff is a pain. I would say do like ten or 20 of them for a nice side project (for you army of csm) then sell the other 40k and but something else. Looks great but a lot of work!

Thanks for the comments!
@ blambi: Yeah I think the muscles are a bit big, going for thinner ones for the rest of the horde.

@ghosty: I actually got the GS really cheap on ebay, so it's not too bad, and it really didn't take a whole lot of GS, just alot of time! Besides, I won't be using as much on the rest. And really, I would rather pay more for an original model than the same old thing that everyone has. (just not a WHOLE lot more! )

@Papaskittels: Thanks! I only just got GS a few weeks ago, before that I was modeling with Paperclips, toothpicks and toilet paper soaked in Elmers Glue...GS is alot easier! And the tube thing on his back is thin wire (not sure what guage) wraped around a paperclip. It ends up being just a tad bigger than the hoses on Space Marine Armour and helmets. (which is what I originally used it for.) As for the tounge, I wanted it to look evil, and it got a bit out of hand, I'll probably try to go for shorter ones on the rest.

Thanks again for your comments and suggestions, I hope the rest come out ok.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Icelord wrote:Ok i am very impressed but you stated earlier that you wanted to do a "simple" conversion and that amount of green stuff is a pain. I would say do like ten or 20 of them for a nice side project (for you army of csm) then sell the other 40k and but something else. Looks great but a lot of work!

LOL, yeah it turned out to not be very simple, but I like the outcome. And it was a good first draft. The rest will be simple-er, and lest time-comsuming (I hope). And yeah, for a CSM army, I probably won't need all of them, so I might try to sell a bunch off. Unless I want to start a Chaos Daemon Army, who knows! Anyway, thanks!

Finally! I got some time this last weekend to work on my second Bloodletter! I still haven't gotten around to painting the first one, so it still looks the same. I went for a more radical pose on this one, so I cut it apart at several of the joints, and the waist, so I could get him more upright, and position his arms how I wanted them. I switched him to a lefty, and I am still toying with the idea of making him my Icon Bearer (so I will have to reposition his right hand to hold the Icon), just in case I want to start a Chaos Daemons army, which I am really starting to like the idea of! And if I do that, my "bulky" first draft Bloodletter will be the one with Fury! So, anyway, here are some pics of #2 after I trimmed off all of the "Nid" looking parts, and pinned his arms and head in the pose I wanted.




and a pic next to #1 for comparisson...

So, C&C welcome as always. I will post pics soon of him with some GreenStuff work done on him. I know I had said I was going to make his tounge shorter, but I kind of like the big slobbery Daemon look. And if it looks a bit Nurgly...you should see what I have planned for the Plaguebearers I want to make! (Still not sure what I want to make them out of though as I am not a fan of the models available, and I don't think Genesteelers would make a good base for them. Now I think the 'Steelers would work very well for Pink Horrors though...)

Here are some pics of #2 with some muscles (not too much I hope). Let me know what you think. I did get around to re-positioning his right hand to hold a banner pole last night, but I didn't take any pics yet, I'll do that tonight.




And here he is again with #1 for comparison.

I'm on the fence about making his hooves bigger like I did with #1, and thoughts?
C&C welcome!

Thanks!

Wow, amazing what you can do with greenstuff and a file, but why dont you buy some ordinary daemons, those 5 hours spent on them could be spent at a job or whatever instead so its not like ur saving money.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
one thing do, make the tongues a bit thinnner, they are too thick, and if you continue to do this make sure you make some of those great fiends with tyranid undderbodies (u know the snake ones, i think their called lictors)

Wow... to start with I thought no chance... may aswell ebay your 60 Genestealers and get some daemons with the profits.

But they are looking really nice! cant see you doing 60 of them mind!

I like the look of them. I would say only have a few with horns and some should have ram horns. Good luck!

Thanks for the comments! Yes, I see now that it would be easier to just buy some "off the sprue" Bloodletters. And I think about doing just that while I am working on these little buggers! But if I do that, the terrorists win! J/K. But seriously, I really like how they are coming along, and I know for a fact no-one else will have the same models on the table!

I will work on making the tounges a bit thinner...in RL, they look ok, but in the pics you can really see how large they are!

I don't think I'll be doing 60 of these either, I am also thinking of making some Pink Horrors!

I don't even know if I will have enough left to do 60 in any case! My 2 year old daughter has recently found the Genestealers, and loves to play with them! She calls them her "buggies"! They are all accounted for at the moment, but I'm sure she will lose some at some point. No big loss, I have enough to spare.

I really appreciate all of your comments! I know this started out as a way to not shell out the initial $$$ for the Boxed set(s), but it has turned into a challenge, and I want to see it throught to the end. On a side note, I plan on taking a few of these guys, and putting them on the backs of some scratch-made Juggernaughts to make Bloodcrushers!

Oh, and Ram horns are a cool idea! I'll see if I can pull that off! I might use that as a way of marking different squads!

I saw the first few pics and was thinking oh jeez this is going to be ballz, prob some kid mucking about...

Then kept scrolling down, continuing to expect nothing but a 2 armed stealer with a sword....

Then BOOM! Pure awesomeness! Really great job creating a bulky, powerful looking Bloodletter! I always found the current version too lanky for the most physically powerful Chaos power, I think you have done a great job capturing the feel I always felt they should have.

Congrats!

@ MajorTom11: Thank you for the kind words! I thought they might end up just being a stealer with a sword at first too! I was really nervous about jumping into Greenstuffing with both feet, but posting this blog has also kept me interested, and motivated.

New Pics! I have added the sword, and the Icon. I need some help though! Is the chain too long? Should I just remove the chain and attach the Icon directly to the pole? I need some advice. Thanks!


I haven't had a chance to work on the tounge yet, and the horns are shaped and cured, I just need to attach them.
Thanks again in adance for your input.

Cheers!

I'm liking the Chain, dont even bother with a sword, I can see him using that badboy as a Flail!

It moving about on the chain would annoy me though for some reason, hrm how to secure it?

Well, if I keep the chain I'll just run a line of super glue along it and it will firm up quite well. Plus, as soon as the skulls I ordered get here, I'll be adding several skulls on chains and super gluing them too, so it should be fairly solid...and heavy, I'll have to add some wieght to the base.

OR! I could glue the Icon to the pole in a way to make it look like the Icon is just swaying towards the pole, and give the chain some slack to give the illusion of movement.

Ok, I didn't have much time to work last night, but I did make some progress. I shortened the chain, mostly to make some room for the hanging skulls when they get here (according to the shipping information, they are coming from China, so about 2 more weeks! ). I super glued the chain and supported the Icon at an angle as it dried, so it somewhat looks like it is swinging, added horns to the head, and Green Stuff to the sword to (hopefully) look like fire, I guess we'll see for sure when I paint it. I also trimmed up the tounge a bit to slim it down, but the very tip broke off, and now shows the paperclip underneath, so I'll have to work on the tip of the tounge at some point.



So, what do you think? Anything I should change? Any improvements I should make?
I am planning on doing 6 more of these guys for a squad of 8 before I paint them, which might take a while. So, C&C is welcome, and suggestions do usually help me plan my next model(s).
My next model will be one holding or maybe even blowing on a Horn. I already have the Horn, it's from the WHFB Chaos Warriors box. The horn looks like the picture at the bottom of this post.

So, any suggestions for that build?

Thanks.