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Hey guys!

So I'm a little turned off by the sculpting of the official Winterguard and really miss getting to build my troopers the way I like to design them. So in an effort to get that customization and perhaps even save a few bucks, I'm going to attempt building them from scratch.

For bodies I plan to use WGF's greatcoat shock troopers[(Surprise surprise).

I remember seeing someone else doing this on the web before though he not only voided painting them in Khador colors, but he also didn't change their weapons or helmets.

In en effort to make them look as close to Winterguard as possible, I plan to use Pig Iron's soviet heads.


The only problem is that gas-masks tend to be worn by units that have special abilities because of their gas-masks, such as our beloved Kommandos. So I'm leaning more towards these heads, though I much prefer the look of a furled-up ushanka



At any rate I have bodies and heads, what I'm having trouble with is finding the right weapons. Honestly creating WG riflemen would be infinitely easier but the WGDS sounds like so much more explosive fun (Plus if I wanted to use rifles in my army I'd prefer to employ steelhead rifle mercs). But finding 28mm sleeved arms holding blunderbusses is a huge pain in the arse. The closest I've got is GW's blunderbuss from the Free Company kit (probably my favorite plastic kit of anything ever it's just fantastic) but the rolled-up sleeves is at odds with being attached to a great-coat, and possibly having gas-masked heads. Not to mention the huge size of the bloody thing.

Honestly that's what I need help with more than anything is finding arms or even just a 28mm blunderbuss-looking weapon by itself. I'm not worried about the shoulder pads because honestly I can just grab some plain, studded SM 'pads and throw them on (Since WG have shoulder pads much larger than Cadians anyways). If any of you guys know of a source or can help me find one it'd be much appreciated, and if we can cobble together a scratch-build Winterguardsman, I know that a lot of people scouring the internet even now for good alternates for either design purposes or being short on cash might have a good template to use even as a starting point.

EDIT: I think I can get away with taking a 28mm musket and simply trimming the barrel length a good bit. It'd hardly look stellar, but then again the blunderbuss of the Iron Kingdoms is supposed to be a simplistic, brutish looking weapon anyways.

Just gonna nudge this up a bit.

While I can't help you with finding blunderbusses, I do want to say those guys look pretty good for stand ins - you'll definitely want the open heads though, rather than the gas masked ones, even though I agree the masked ones look cool.

For the guns, consider looking for shotguns (probably in an "old west" style) as well, as they're pretty beefy guns (but very short, so may need cutting).

Winterguard dont wear gas masks so I wouldnt worry much about that.

Old school ww1 and ww2 rifles work as well - file down the rifle barrel and stock, and use a larger diameter tube (anything from brass rod etc) for the blunderbuss barrel.

Don't know if you've considered the PP parts store:

http://store.privateerpress.com/2010butchergun.aspx
http://store.privateerpress.com/devildogstroopersluggunsprue.aspx
http://store.privateerpress.com/lordrockbottomgun.aspx

Oh hey I didn't know they had a bits store, thanks!

Thanks for the replies guys I've got a stack of sources to use now. I'll try and get these guys cobbled together as soon as I can and get experimenting.

With PP prices I must say cheaper will be hard, I mean $49.99 for all ten men plus all three weapon attachments that is a darn good deal. But for looks purposes I think you are on a good track with those bodies and open face heads.

Yeah that's what I'm worried about. From where I stand I can pick up the WG kit for $37+S&H. If I can't beat that price margin I'll stick with the official models but if I can even save a solid $5 and get to build my own grunts I will.

Shotguns that would fit

http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/5-shotguns
http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/4-shotguns

 Desert Fox wrote:
Yeah that's what I'm worried about. From where I stand I can pick up the WG kit for $37+S&H. If I can't beat that price margin I'll stick with the official models but if I can even save a solid $5 and get to build my own grunts I will.

If you go the discountgamesinc.com route, you can get them for $35.00 + shipping, and if you pick up another $15.00 worth of product you erase the shipping cost entirely. If I'm not shopping local, I almost always use them because their customer service is 2nd to none, and they have a great podcast and twitch stream their tournaments often.