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Hey guys I'm currently planning a jetbike army and I'm converting ALL my Eldar bikes from the Reavers. But I'm really struggling to find a place that will sell the hoods of the regular Eldar Jetbikes... I was wondering if anybody can help? Thanks.

I was going to make suggestions on conversions and making your own parts out of resin, but I ran the numbers, unless you've got some super cheap supplies (like "fell off a truck" cheap) converting Reavers to Eldar Bikes is going to end up costing you almost the exact same amount (or more) as just buying jetbikes new. Remeber, Reaver MSRP is about $11/bike, so any conversion you do is going to have to cost less than $4 in parts and supplies (assuming your time is free) to save any money.

Or you can wait. In one of the GW site articles about the Dark Eldar design they said they intentionally made the core frame of te Reaver Jetbike a very generic shape specifically so they could use it again when they updated the Eldar Jetbike. Of course who knows when they will be doing said update...

Sorry dude, it's a good idea, but at GW's prices even for parts, it's unlikely to be economically sound in the long run.

The price is understandable and I've got enough to buy boxes of Reavers, I just need the Eldar Jetbike hood. The rest of the conversion bits I have from previous purchases, like heads, bodies, weapons and what not for riders. Granted its still expensive but I'm ready and willing.
Every bits site I find either doesn't sell jetbike parts or sells all of them except the hood? If anyone knows a site that'd be sound.

In that case, use the Reaver hoods as the base, get plenty of Green Stuff, and sculpt a new hood over the reaver one. It's not exactly a complex shape, so you should be able to get it close enough to look decent. Then use a resin casting kit like Alluminite makes to start pumping out resin hoods.

If you don't mind upsetting the forumz and the possibility of Matt Ward breaking into your house and peeing on you while you sleep you could just buy one actual jetbike, tweaking it to fit the reaver frame and then making resin casts of that. Won't make you any friends at GW's legal department, but it might save you a little time...

I think you could bend plasticard into a pretty similar shape. I know my friend did quite a few complex curves when he scratch built his titan so it should be possible but perhaps difficult to make many hoods the same shape.

Savis wrote:I think you could bend plasticard into a pretty similar shape. I know my friend did quite a few complex curves when he scratch built his titan so it should be possible but perhaps difficult to make many hoods the same shape.

Good idea, a little heat might help get a nice even curve.

Or find some plastic pipe thats the right diameter for you and cut some nice shapes. Easier than trying to get the curved look done yourself.

Alternatively jetbike armies turn up on e-bay occasionally. see if you can pick one up cheap and cannibalise

Thank you all for the suggestions. Green stuff scares me but not nearly as much as resin casts and plasticard. I might try what Flinty said and cannibalise on someone elses Jetbikes from Ebay. Might be able to pick them up cheaper on Ebay than £8 a pop on Ebay... Alternatively I like what you said, Ghostofman, with the whole steadily green stuff the Reavers hoods. It seems silly that people sell the Reaver hoods but not the Eldar ones... Derp.
Thanks again guys. Might have sorted it.

Thin plasticard and hot water.

Start with a template from cardboard. You need to get the shape right first and this is the easiest part. Once you have that, trace it onto 0.25mm plasticard (Evergreen call it 010 size, 10/1000ths of an inch).

Hot water to soften it enough to hold the curve.
Shape it to the bike. Glue in place.

Repeat.

I'm doing this for my army. Got a load of cheap 2nd hand reavers (new ones).