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I have had two Rogue trader Era dreadnoughts since 1995. I hardly use them because I think they are ugly as crap. I tried converting one of them a number of years ago and it came out pretty horribly. My friends say it seems like an ork built it LOL. So, with the new badass Forgeworld Contemptor Pattern Dreadnoughts coming out, I thought I would use the dreadnoughts I already have to make a two contemptors. So far I've spent $3.00 for some cork and some wood blocks. I bought some venerable dreadnought parts off eBay for $12.00. Hopefully the rest of the parts needed will come from my bits box. I'm going to work on one at a time, first thing is first, disassembly.

This can become something cool.
If it doesnt get out nicely, uyse it as Ork Killa Kans.

Looking good. I look forward to more progress.

Yeah, that's probably what I'll do! That's the good thing about ork conversions, the armor plating can be sloppy as hell but still look good as an ork contraption.

Man i love/hate those old Dreads!
Good luck! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

I had to file the dread's face down and the back of the plastic venerable dreadnought head so the sarcophagus would fit flush with the body. I filled the rest of the gaps with thin cardboard. I'm going to fill the rest of the gaps with greenstuff. Hopefully I can feather the gaps good enough so theat you can barely tell. I filled the hole where the old legs used to go with cork and the put a piece of cardboard over it.

Looking good so far!

Will be watching for more!

Off to a good start, very interested to see how this one turns out.

I got the body primed and sanded the greenstuff seams. Still a little rough in some areas but I'll just paint the rough areas as "battle damage". Going to arm him with a Kheres Assault Cannon and power fist with a flamer or storm bolter, I'll have to see if the flamer looks too bulky as this dreadnought seems to have a more streamlined look. I think the shoulder pad is a little small, I will build it up to make it bigger. Any comments/critics are welcome!

what a fantastic idea! I was wondering if there was a way to update those as I have almost a dozen of the damn things.

Following with intense interest, because I *will* be shamelessly stealing this idea

Charax wrote:what a fantastic idea! I was wondering if there was a way to update those as I have almost a dozen of the damn things.

Following with intense interest, because I *will* be shamelessly stealing this idea

If you want to get rid, I think those old dreads are really cool - I'll happily take a couple off you for cash or trade.

Good luck!

Charax wrote:what a fantastic idea! I was wondering if there was a way to update those as I have almost a dozen of the damn things.

Following with intense interest, because I *will* be shamelessly stealing this idea

Please do, maybe I'll steal some of your ideas The time it has been taking me so far, it would have probably been better to give in an buy a Forgeworld one.

I'm a Nurgle player, doubt my ideas will be of much use to you although if you're looking for streamlined flamers I find the Cadian ones look nice

Any plans for the legs? the old ones don't really fit with the new style

I am planning on using the old legs, just going to make them longer and add some plating and bits. Hopefully, I'll have them done by next week.

That dreadnought is starting to look really great. One recommendation I would put in would be to widen the shoulder. The height looks fine but it could do with some bulking out with the arm.

Shadow Nugz wrote:That dreadnought is starting to look really great. One recommendation I would put in would be to widen the shoulder. The height looks fine but it could do with some bulking out with the arm.

You might be right, after I mount the arms if it looks too thin I will bulk them up. Thanks

if you're elongating the legs then the arms will definitely look out of proportion. I've found you can counteract this slightly by rotating the socket mounts so the holes are directly up - they're on a slant so the arm will stick out a little and make them seem bulkier.

Space Marine turret Rings also go quite well as spacers instead of those mounts, but that might ruin the aesthetic (in any case, you're too far along in the project to do that now)

I've only just noticed the sentinel foot on the dread in your first post, that's a good look! it updates the design nicely. Can't wait to see how you proceed.

Shame every bits retailer I visit is out of Ven dread parts & sentinel feet

This is so positively awesome.
I need to get my hands on a RT Dread...

I widened the shoulder pad. I cut the wood blocks in half and made a trapezius shape to make the legs longer. I like how the legs look from the side profile but from the front the stance looks a little wide. I'll see how it looks after I mount the arms. Still going to add some plastic card plating to the legs to blk them up.

I think the stance from the front is fine. you might want to use some putty to make the join between wood and the legs less obvious though, right now the wood literally looks perched atop the leg. Good job cleaning up the legs though - that hip part is a mess and you cut it off smoothly on them both.

Not sure about the feet, they look too narrow to carry the body, but that could just be me.

It's really coming along nicely!

Yeah, I will definitely be doing more work to the legs. I just wanted to see how the stance looked.

This is an impressive undertaking, and I think its a great start. Good luck to ya!

I think you might have earned enough cash to buy new contem whatever dreads if you'd ebay'd them?

Yeah, the time I've spent so far on this sucker, just buying a contemptor would have been easier. With arms and shipping it probably costs around $80-90 USD.

Here's the finished product. Sorry I didn't keep up with the forum. Came out ok, the forgeworld model would have saved me more time. Either way, I fielded him last month in an apocalypse battle and he kicked butt!

Looks so much better than I imagined it would, the finished article looks really good.
Nice one

Thanks!

Gorgeous! It really looks like a dying marine is controlling it, instead of the gw one. Amazing job with the conversion and the painting!