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Hey guys,

So, I went into GW the other day to get some washes for my smurfs....and I came out with Dark Vengeance, naturally.

I love the chaos minis so there we go

But i'm hoping to salvage some marines from this splurge and was wondering if there were any tips/ tricks about removing the moulded icons from the tac marines and bikes, or is it just a case of patience and a sharp blade?

Below is my first attempt with the ever handy craft knife.


Thanks for any light you may be able to shed on this matter.

Dremel or something along those lines.

Well at first you should be much more carefull cutting details away. Only cut or better scrap small parts off and do the last bit with files if you can reach without damaging other stuff or use fine grade sanding paper.

The importen thing is not to try to cut too much in one go. Only minor force and control the blade with your fingers. If you actually cut your fingers doing that then you are probably useing to much force. If you controll it right you can stop the blade with your thumb without cutting into the skin. It's very tricky so if you don't trust your blade skill then it is better to just scrap the details away with either a file or your blade the same way you'd remove mold lines.


And yes, it can be done. Most basic models can be cleaned. Both tac squad and bikers are quite easy to strip of icons. The terminators are also doable but much harder. And some of them might not be salvagable without resculping a few areas.

I even created chaos marines out of mine.

I would recommend cutting the shoulder pads completely off and gluing on a clean one. I would use a dremel.

It is possible to scrape the DA insignia off with a craft knife,
But it takes time and a lot of patience. I did it for my red corsairs. The trick is to keep the blade on the surface of the mini. If you are worried about cutting your thumb then put a plaster on before starting.
as for Doomhammers advice, its all good as he is the king of chaos conversions. (Or possibly the human incarnation of slaanesh him/herself)

Clearly, doomhammer's idea of what is easy and hard is not on par with the rest of us. His sculpts and reworks are on a level that most of us can only fawn over (god dammit, man. Those marines are so awesome, you barely even need to paint them. Showing off that it's all greenstuff is too impressive.)

But that said, his tips are solid. If you're gonna do this, you're gonna need to take deep breaths and start storing up patience. Slowly does it. Just carve off tiny tiny flakes, and it's actually quite easy. Just have to fight that impulse to get it done and over with by taking out larger chunks. And make sure your blade is sharp. If it starts getting tough to get chips off cleanly, it's time for a new blade.

Never underestimate the use of a file. I use a sharp knife to get rid of the big stuff, then file down the rest. By not trying to cut down the raised areas all the way, when you go over it with a file you end up with rounded pads. If you remove too much you might end up with voids (not too bad for battered chaos marines though).
If you want to go high tech, use a dremmel with a sandpaper attachment, and for the emperors sake hold the pieces you are working on in a pin vice or something so you don't lose all the skin on a finger.
As a last resort: kijiji and ask for a trade: dark angels for chaos

A dremel and liquid greenstuff. Failing that, a sharp hobby knife and liquid green stuff.

I should have said before. You dont need to be a gs god to achieve a good looking conversion
None of my minis are resculpted. If you use your imagination you can come up with some effective ideas just by kit bashing.
This guy started out as the black reach sergant.
there are more simple conversions in my gallery

tomcat31 wrote:
I should have said before. You dont need to be a gs god to achieve a good looking conversion
None of my minis are resculpted. If you use your imagination you can come up with some effective ideas just by kit bashing.
This guy started out as the black reach sergant.
there are more simple conversions in my gallery

you've got your... it's a bit embarrasing, but your picture is on sideways.

(It's weird how you just can't get a good view of what something looks like when the picture is sideways, but there it is. Don't be a part of the problem, be the solution! Rotate your images!)

 Aeroroot wrote:
Never underestimate the use of a file. I use a sharp knife to get rid of the big stuff, then file down the rest.

This^ & patience. ;P

Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate the advice.

I've done a few more with the craft knife/ emery board combo and its looking better, so i'll just keep with that at the moment, but for future/ more extensive conversions, I will dremel it.

Thanks again guys.