Let me start by saying, I totally stole this idea from Asjarra. If you don't know who he is, I highly suggest you check out his YouTube page.
http://www.youtube.com/user/asjarra His conversions will blow your mind. Check out Abaddon, Logan Grimnar, and Khan for sure.
I have been posting regularly about this on my blog (topsecret40k.blogspot.com), but I am going to try to put updates here also. I am very curious to hear suggestions or feedback.
So this Fantasy Army is a blend of Empire and Space Marines. The thought is that the Space Marines were teleported back in time by the by the warp. Something went very wrong, and they ended up in the time of Warhammer Fantasy. They have been in that time for a while now, and their equipment has began to age and break down. Some of it no longer works, but they are able to get some equipment working by using Warp Stones. You will notice the army has a mix of empire soldiers, and they still wear certain pieces of their marine armour. I plan to use them somewhat like modeling orks. Vindicator Steam Tank??, Rhino pulled by horses??, a Keep reinforced with Land Raider Parts???, etc....
The local shop had a Empire Helblaster Volley Gun, so I figured that was as good a model as any to start with. I remember getting thrashed by those in some previous games I played. I think its a model I would use in the army.
I started by making what I consider to be the old Sargent of a Devastator Squad. He still has his bolt pistol, but he uses it very sparingly. Hes in the front of the Gun directing the other two devastators who are operating the gun. He also still has his the breastplate from his power armour,backpack, left arm, and shoulder pad. There are two pouches that hold his last clips to the pistol. The remainder of the model is made using empire pieces, and an empire head.
The next model I did was a spotter for the gun. This model has his space marine breast plate and back pack. He also has his right glove from his power armour. I created him a version of the survey looking tool from the Volley Gun Kit. I added some pinning wire from GF9 through his hand, and attached the scopes. The kit also came with a cool hand that was holding some binoculars. I added a scope from the scout kit to make it look even more complex.
The final model I made crew man I made is by far my favorite. The idea behind this model is that he is taking down ballistic information about the gun. Since most of the marine computers aren't working, I thought they would be keeping track of the information by hand. I never thought I would be converting a quill / pen into a space marine hand, but I guess there is a first for everything. I didn't have any good empire heads left since I only had the one kit, so I left this guy with his space marine helmet. He also has his breastplate, backpack, right arm, and right shoulder pad. The book came with the Volley Gun Kit, and I think the quill and book really make the model.
The last item I made was the volley gun itself. I know, I know.. the obvious though was to do an assault cannon for this, but I thought this looked cooler. I'll hear allot about this I'm sure. I started with the wheels and base of the Volley Gun. I added to it the Heavy Bolter Turret from an old Land Raider I had laying around. Once I got it on the base, I added the ammo box and tool box behind the guns. I added some power cables going to the the gun, thinking the ammo box would be holding the Warp Stones. I then added the signum bit to the model to it would look like a remote that shoots the gun. The base looked like it needed a little more, so I added the barrel and the satellite dish. I am thinking they have powered it and its working as a communications device. I wanted o make the models looked recessed. I added some layers of plasti card and cut out the spots for the bases. This made them side in quite nicely. I think i will start using this effect more.
Automatically Appended Next Post: The Reiksguard Knights are equipped with Hand Weapons, Lances, Shields, and Full Plate Armour. I thought with these guys, I would leave them in most of their Power Armour. This would represent the Full Plate Armour. Hand weapons, of course had to be chain swords. I also had a Power Maul that I added to one, but I will paint it up like a normal Hand Weapon. These guys were actually a pain to fit on the horse and into a formation. Once you add the shoulder pads and shield, they are very wide. The banner is my favorate of the models. I don't know where this banner comes from, I found it in my bits box. It had a stone spear head at the end, so I think it may have been orks. I cut of the banner portion and added it to come GFP pinning rod. Then I added some plasticard to make a handle and some small pieces that attached the banner. I have four of these guys made so far. I need to make one more to finish out the unit. I am running short on bits, so I guess I need to hit up eBay or buy some
GW Kits. I have a ton of Space Marine bits, but I am wayyy short on Empire Bits. This will be a squad of 5, and I am going to add my general to the unit. Six models in total will be on the movement tray I made below. I added some magnetic sheet to the tray and it holds these models in place nice. If not, I think they would have bumped around too much after they were finished painting.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I started to work on the test model for this army to try and get an idea of how I wanted to paint them. I was torn which space marine chapter to do, but I think I have landed on Imperial Fist. It will be a good challenge to do a lot of both white and yellow. This guy took way longer to paint than I planned, so I need to come up with a way to speed up the process or skip some steps. For some reason my yellows and whites look thick when I photograph them. The model doesn't look that way, but it drives me crazy in my photos. I may go back with a brighter yellow and see if I can make it stand out a little more.
I am going to use this model as my State Troops. They are equipped with Hand Weapons and Handguns. I am thinking I may do these only in units of 10 to mimic the
40k squad size. I don't know if they are effective or not in such small groups, but I will give it a shot and see if its viable.
