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I was asked to upload some pics and a brief "how to" of some Wrack, Haemonculi, and Venom conversions I made. I don't pretend these are ultra cost-efficient; I just happened to have a lot of the spare parts from other projects and/or cheap bits access from friends.

Wracks






Basic formula for the Wracks was:
-Helmet head from wyches and/or Reaver sets
-Torso and arms from Vampire Counts Crypt Ghouls (body trimmed around navel level, neck mostly removed to accommodate head)
-Lower body from Empire Flagellants (body split in half, just above hips)
-Liquifier Gun from Splinter Rifle in Holster bit from Raider/Ravager kit, with plasticard tubing for "flamer" end
-Green stuff to fill whatever minor gaps emerge

For the Acothyst (center, front), I kept the Flagellant upper body to differentiate him, added a few bits, such as a hydra gauntlet arm from wyches, just to distinguish, since I usually don't buy him any gear.

I've made 24 of these so far, they go pretty quickly if you do them in batches. You can get 10 flagellants and 10 ghouls for ~$45 USD retail, or $36 from a discounter. You can probably do better if you look just for bits (Crypt Ghoul torsos, flagellant bodies), but that might take some searching.

Note, I did not want to give them weapons; I like the claws of the ghouls more. If you want weapons, just clip off the ghoul hands and substitute hands from something like Chaos Marauders.

Haemonculi




Basically, the same formula as the Wracks, with some tweaks.

-Flagellant legs
-Male wych torso
-Warrior/wych arms
-Various bits for hooks, spikes, etc.
-Crypt Ghoul heads and open hands
-Greenstuff as needed to fill gaps (and help mount head to shoulders)
-Hexrifles from modified splinter rifles


Venoms









As you can see, I've made six. The basic formula:

-Vyper (lower shuriken catapults converted to two splinter cannons using splinter rifle bits and plastic tubing)
-Half of a Raider (both front and rear halves used on separate conversions, so you get two Venom halves per Raider)
-Miscellaneous spikes and blades
-Warrior/wych torso and head for pilot (lower body and arms I used vyper crew)
-Greenstuff to patch underbody

I put together the Raider hulls and then sawed in half with a craft saw. Clean up the edges and join to the vyper (minus the gunner). Both ends will have to be adjusted to "fit" and greenstuff added to close gaps and seal under hull. The rest is decoration.

This one you need to do in shifts, allowing the hull halves to be fully glued (I use Testor's Model Master Liquid Cement for a really strong bond and the ability to "melt" some joins) before proceeding to next step and later to detail work. I intend on putting the clear canopy glass on the vypers after painting.

Thanks for looking. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Very very nice. I might have to steal some of your ideas, cheers

Thanks for posting this. I appreciate it.
You and I have very similar ideas for the wracks.
Sadly, I'm injuring my wallet even further by introducing Tzeench Horrors (for some of the arms).
We also had the same idea for heads. I'm trying to pick some up, already (bits reseller prices are STUPID-crazy on these).

Nothing personal, but your haemons don't *grab* me. Too... normal, I guess.

LOVE those venoms. Not certain I could bring myself to invest so much in them for myself, but I think your idea is inspired!

Eric

Very very cool!

Great looking venom but it is rather expensive.

MagickalMemories wrote:Thanks for posting this. I appreciate it.
You and I have very similar ideas for the wracks.
Sadly, I'm injuring my wallet even further by introducing Tzeench Horrors (for some of the arms).
We also had the same idea for heads. I'm trying to pick some up, already (bits reseller prices are STUPID-crazy on these).

Nothing personal, but your haemons don't *grab* me. Too... normal, I guess.

LOVE those venoms. Not certain I could bring myself to invest so much in them for myself, but I think your idea is inspired!

Eric

Yeah, no kidding on the bit gouging. I've seen a couple eBay auctions for the helmeted heads, so they're out there. Plus, you might try the Dakka swap, see if any other DE players don't need theirs.

No worries on the Haemonculi. I prefer the old models, actually, and the whole "cenobite" style, rather than Urien's monstrous appearance. I just want them looking like rough-looking torturers, more "normal" as you say, than monstrosities.

The Venom costs aren't quite as bad as it looks. Raiders are $33, Vypers $30 retail, so you're looking at about $46.50 off the shelf. I got my Vypers for just over $20 each, Raiders for $26ish via online retailers. That works out to about $33-35ish each, or the cost of a Raider. Not bad at that price, I expect the real ones to be about the same.

Awesome... simply perfect. The nail has been suficiantly hit on the head.

FTL

Those venoms look really cool

Like 'em all. Should really post my haemonculis conversion it is still wip but i am pretty proud of it so far. Think the venom cockpit need a bit of work, maybe some form of fairing.

Ooh. That is incredible - I especially like the wracks. Any ideas of grotescues?

Impressive...

Your Vemons are awesome. Great job.

great looking stuff, also gotta give props to GW on the release schedule for new items....simple system...give army awesome new choices...delay release of awesome new models...people make awesome models using piles and piles of other GW product

The wrack models look insanely awesome,

All models nicely converted. Thumbs up!

Good conversions they all look awesome

Wow, simply great. I was looking for a way to use the plastic ghouls in a wrack conversion and yours are perfect. The wych helmeted heads are so overpriced I'll probably find a different way but they look great! Also love the Haemonculli and the Venoms, though I'll probably just wait for the official model on the Venoms.

Ozymandias wrote:Wow, simply great. I was looking for a way to use the plastic ghouls in a wrack conversion and yours are perfect. The wych helmeted heads are so overpriced I'll probably find a different way but they look great! Also love the Haemonculli and the Venoms, though I'll probably just wait for the official model on the Venoms.

A good alternative to the Wych/Reaver heads (btw, you get 4 heads per Reaver box, for those that are interested) I found are Chaos Warriors:



Trim off the horns and voila, you have a nice sinister-looking enclosed helmet. Plus, waaaaaaay cheaper per head.

Very glad Ii visited this site. A lot of great ideas at work here.

Are Wracks still slated for release? If not I'm totally stealing your idea for my next conversion projects! >:3

Also, I personally love some of the Haemonculus you made. They look new, but visually resemble the current GW models. The use of the same parts as the Wracks also really tie them together, but their more humanoid and less monstrous appearance really shows who's the boss.

I think wracks are in 3rd wave :( next up is the aircraft, venoms and scourges + a load of blisters IIRC


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oh, and awesome work btw

Those venoms are proably just as good as the GW one will be.

Rumor mill has it that Wracks will be metal.
If that's the case, I'll stick with making plastic conversions.


Eric

Thanks for all the kind words all. I started to paint these this weekend (the wracks, at least) and will try to remember to post some painted versions to illustrate how they turn out.

MagickalMemories wrote:Rumor mill has it that Wracks will be metal.

I read that. While I'm ok with metal wracks somewhat (they don't have many options), I would have hoped for plastics for what can be a troop choice. These conversions are easy enough for me to make, I doubt I would get any new metal ones to supplement unless they at least as cool as Mandrakes and Incubi from an aesthetic perspective. Metal Scourges, on the other hand, will probably force my hand into new conversions that I don't want to have to make, such as Warriors with Gargoyle wings.


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Saintspirit wrote:Ooh. That is incredible - I especially like the wracks. Any ideas of grotescues?

I haven't really thought about them much; I don't really use them. That being said, I would assume rat ogres, ogryns, minotaurs, ogres, plastic trolls, etc. would be a decent spot to start. Someone else made some quality conversions out of the new plastic Rat Ogres from Island of Blood.

Rumor is that Scourges are plastic. If it's valied, then you're safe.

IMO, Chaos Spawn have the perfect body shape for Grotesques. I've got a half-finished one on my work bench at home right now.


Eric

So, I have a bunch of painted DE stuff coming in the mail, but -obviously- no haemonculi, wracks, etc.
Right now, haemons are my priority.

So, I used 3 of the Wrack models I was building, and I'm making them stand-in haemons. As of now, I've got 3 ghoul torsos glued to the hacked-off legs of 3 Empira flagellants, and they all 3 have heads.
I used helmeted heads from Reaver jetbikes (I notice a couple in the OP, now that I look).
It's amazing how utterly cool they look. FAR better than the wych heads will, I think.
Each Reaver box comes with 4 helmeted heads (a veritable goldmine!). Three are plain helmets & one has a ponytail (looks easily removed).

I also have a ghoul upper arm on the left side (will have an Agonizer) and a Tzeentch Horror "double" arm on the right. It took quite a bit of filing and shaping to get the horror arm just how I want. It's not perfect yet. it'll need some GS work.

Bits from 5 different kits to get the first one done. Geez.
These things are gonna have an expensive final price tag! LOL

Don't have the camera with me right now but, once I get them done, I'll share some images.

Eric

Great conversions.

- Blackbone

Hope you don't mind.
Since this threads already here, and I use much of the same ideas as you, I decided to piggyback.

Here are 3 wrack conversions I'm putting together to "count as" Haemonculi with a bunch of painted stuff I have coming. Since I intend on having 3 Wrack units, these will be my Acothysts, when the units are ready & I have other Haemonculi.

This one is almost complete. It just needs a last look for flash clean up and a little greenstuff work in the right armpit (not visible in the images):





The above wrack is a mixture of 5 kits.
Empire Flagellants for the legs (had to hack off the torsos - good times!)
Vampire Count Ghouls for the torso (had to hack off the lower section. Sliced into my thumb nicely on one of the ones not shown!).
Left UPPER arm is from the ghouls, too (lower arm removed).
Left LOWER arm is a Warrior Agonizer lower arm.
Right arm(s) is/are from Tzeentch Horrors
Head is from Reaver Jetbike kit.
I think the Reaver heads are my favorite part.

Note that all joins are fastened with Testors "Liquid Cement" plastic glue. I love the stuff!

This image shows a few of my changes:


The circled gauntles on the upper right arm shows where the tzeentch symbol was filed off. Looks incomplete, but is smooth.
the circled area right behind the helmet shows the bicep area on the upper right arm. As this section is normally glued to the side of a Horror, I actually had to file it down and carve some muscular definition into it.
Still needs a bit of work, but looks beter than the image portrays.

The circled area on the left arm shows where the ghoul upper arm was plactic glued to the Warrior lower arm.

The next models have no arms, but will be completed similarly (one with a power weapon from the same kit - don't like to waste) and I haven't decided on the weapon for the other.
I'm also contemplating adding another weapon or metal claw hand to these models to represent the second CCW (for when they're wracks again).

Model #2.
Note that the head looks lopsided from the front. this is just due to the unulual way I have him "gazing" off to his right:



Pic from the right side:



Pic from the left side:




As the pictures show, the waist lines from the legs and torso don't match up perfectly. A bit of filing is in order.

Model #3.




On this one, I used a relatively "non-standard" torso, in that it has a SKELETON STRAPPED TO IT! LOL
I'm contemplating a bit of greenstuff on the torso to represent flayed skin, and a warrior helmet. I mean, he's got to get his spare aprts SOMEWHERE! Right?

Note: the skeletal torso hasn't been cleaned yet, as it may be unnecessary. LOL Mold line cleaning will follow if requited.

This one has my favorite head to torso fit.
I had to hack off some of the hairs (will be more spike-like, when I'm done) so the helmet would fit, but I love that the angle of the helmet follows perfectly in line with the "hairs."

*Note to self* I just noticed some flash on the belly of the ghoul torso that needs handling

So, folks. What do you think?

Eric


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Oh. In case it matters... the bases are temporary. I have some BEAUTIFUL Dragon Forge bases for the whole army!