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I have this converted shotgun that I want to give to my veterans, but it doesn't have a hand on it. How do I give it to a model to wield? I'm new to 40k minis (got them three days ago), and I need help! I was thinking maybe slinging some shotties across the veterans' backs but I want most of them to carry it in their hands. Also, although they're going to be tabletop standard, I still want to do a decent job on these.

What model are you planning on attaching it too?

What I mean is, are you attaching to a standard Cadian shock trooper?

You can snip off the grip and attach to the hand that'll be holding it.

Yeah that's pretty much it. Snip off the grip on your shotgun. It might need a little cleaning up in the form of some gentle filing.

Get one of the arms holding a lasgun and carefully cut the gun off from around the hand. Attach your shotgun to the now vacant hand.

1. Yep, just the standard trooper.
2. So I replace the hand-less grip with a grip-with-hand? Sounds simple enough, but will it look weird if I screw it up?

Eh... It might look at a little funny. (in the odd sense. not haha funny.)
It's a fairly simple and straightforward conversion though. So it shouldn't be too hard. If you do mess it up I can't imagine it'd be hard to fix. Try it and find out.

Any conversion - even normal assembly, for that matter - will look weird if you screw it up. Luckily, you're looking at straight cuts to be joined in a less than prominent area, surrounded by linear detail that will help mask any minor indescrepancies in the resulting seams. Take it slow, dry-fit your parts before gluing, don't have a seizure while gluing, and you'll be fine.

What do I do with their left hands? Not sure if it's long enough for the veterans to carry it in both hands.

Hmm. There's a pickle. Without some moderate modification you could be up the duff.

The easiest way to make sure everything lines up hunky dory is to convert them straight from the gun holding arms. I don't know how that'd conflict with your overall conversion though.
Some pictures would help immensely. Just so we can see what you're up against.

If theyre not long enough then just have them one handed, and put something else in their other hands. This is how you gain experience kitbashing. Try to think outside the box with parts. If you need to use gs, then do it.. Just be patient with it

When an arm won't fit a gun, I'll frequently do as suggested above. If I really want it to work, out come the saw, GS, and possibly a lighter. Minor readjustments to styrene or resin can be made by (gently and evenly!) heating the parts and applying pressure. White metal can just be forced by hand.

More extreme adjustments require cutting and filling. Sawing a notch out of the inner elbow would allow you to bend the arm inward, shortening the length of the guardsman's reach with minimal resculpting necessary - basically just filling a gap.