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I'd like some opinions on my WIP rough rider.



Obviously it's just a cut down SM bike with a Cadian body and head stuck on. 

Personally I quite like the chunky look but I'd like to know what others think.

Also I need some suggestions on how to make hunting lances.

Thanks

I like the work on the bike a lot.
For me personally, the rider looks too much like a marine, though.

The bike looks good but the marine armour is a bit much for the IG. I suppose knee pads are not inappropriate though and you could tweak the lower leg armour to look like flares.

No. I think it is a great idea but the rider is the problem. Could you get away with legs from the IG sprues? You might need a left leg from one figure and a right leg from the other but it might work. Joining them should not be too hard as the join would mostly be hidden.

For IG bikes I think some clutter would not be inappropriate. Even something simple like a bedroll on the back of the bike and you can scavenge those easily enough from 1/35th scale accessory packs.

I will wait and see what you do, then steal your ideas.

I'm OK at cutting things off. It's the building them back up I have issues with.

I agree the legs and arms are still looking too marine-ish. I thought maybe I could file them down to look more streamline - perhaps something like motocross body armour. I'll have to have a play around some of the spare Cadian arms I've got - though legs are going to be a problem as I'm using all of them for my rank and file troopers.

I'll be adding lots of gear later - I've got lots of little bits and pieces I can stick on the bikes.

And feel free to steal away. I'm sure I got the idea from somewhere else myself.

You could use a grenade launcer/flamer arm (the one that would hold onto the barrel of the gun, the left one) on one side and get one of those spears from the huns or a las pistol to use as the right arm. The flamer arm might work if you put it as if he were holding onto the steering handle, but the hand is probably smaller than the handle itself...try it and see though.
cheers
P.S. agree about changing those legs...they're awful.
P.P.S. what do scout bikers look like when you do this with them?

Yeah, the grenade/flamer arm would work but looks a little stiff. And I need to have a play around with the spacing with the handlebars.

I think scout biker legs look OK but i don't have any and I don't really want to be spending £12.50 for five pairs of legs.

We've all been there man! All of us IG players who want RR's have tormented over how best to use the SM bike parts for our boys. The end result is that if YOU'RE happy with the chunkyness of the guy then that's good enough. These guys are all "Heroically" scaled anyways so the dimensions of the human form went out the window right from the get go. If you're really on the fence though here are some ideas:

I used fantasy Gryphon legion riders with IG accessories on them like canteens, laspistols or whatever. The stock lances were fine with me since plastic explosive (C-4) can be shaped into just about anything.

I'm using some old school Snake Bite Boar Boyz to make a few more. The old Ork legs are a pretty good fit to a human form with the new plastics. In this same vein I've seen pretty good looking conversions using the ork bikers legs and arms with a cadian or catachan torso and head. I think Hans did some of these not too long ago.

The Cadian and catachan legs can be manipulated to create interesting motocross posses or even parked posses but I've had pretty bad luck at making static sitting riding legs. With enough sculpting skill anything's possible, but it sounds like you're probably in the same boat as me with that.

Lances I've seen include styrene tubing, toothpicks, or sharpened plastic from elsewhere. To represent the explosive quality I've seen grenades glued near the tip, a mortar in place of the tip, or just a blunt end. Like I said before just a regular tip should fly too.

Have you given thought to scout biker bodies and frames? They might be a little closer to guard visually.

http://store.us.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.us?do=List_Models&code=304692&orignav=300866&ParentID=210978&GameNav=10

 

 

for hunting lances i am using the little plastic tube that comes with aerosol cans of carb & choke cleaner & other aerosol claeners & lubes from work . i just glue on cocktail toothpick points on the end.

Definately use the Scout Marine's lower body and maybe the arms for this. Use an IG upper body to make the model fit the rest of your army. Are you planning an Elysian or Steel Legion army? Seems like that'd be the best place for bike Rough Riders.

In my thinking, I prefer to not use a lance because it would be much too hard to control a bike and use the lance at the same time - especially when you hit something with that lance. Model some sort of grenade or missile launcher in place of the bike's bolters and use the "counts as" rules. I'd suggest the missiles from the plastic Space Marine sprue and use a thinner tube for the bike's launcher.  Also, if you can, remove the skull symbol from the gas tank and put an Imperial Eagle there instead.  You can find small enough bit for that on the Space Marine commander sprue or from a bits store/eBay easily enough.  That should do a lot to make it appear a "natural" part of an IG army.

I would like to say that I like the way you are taking this so far. I'm not usually impressed with conversion by reduction, but you're doing a pretty good job here.

I was thinking about doing the same thing for rough riders, only instead of the marine bodies I was going to use scout bikes.. the scouts have lighter looking armor and I was gonna cut the legs at the hip and then use cadian bitz for the waist up... reason I didn't is because of price... 6 bikes would be $90 + the cadian parts... didn't seem worth it to me...

If you can swallow the cost this entails use gusardian jetbike arms and legs.

What to do with empty jetbikes, cut away the seats and handlebars, replace them with domes raised out from the chassis and paint them yellow: Iyanden jetbikes. They should sell on eBay, amke your money back from the bikes you would have to buy.

I vote for using the metal Scout bodies and cutting away the upper half.
If you hit the trading section, you might be able to pick some up cheap (I did).
Alternatively, you could try www.Bartertown.com. They have thousands of traders there. I always go there FIRST when I'm looking for something.

Eric

Sorry for the delay in replying.  I had a very busy weekend which meant I only had a little time to play with my toys.



As you can see I've shaved down the marine legs a bit.  Still a lot of work to do with them but I think I might be on the right track.  Swapped the arms out for Cadian arms which I think makes all the difference in looks.

I'm not happy with the lance atm.  The idea was that it should have a counterweight to help balance out the length but I think it's a bit on the big side.  Still got to add some detailing and whatnot, so maybe it would look so bad once the lance is bulked out a bit.

Next job is to finish the bike by adding some suspension - or at least make it look like the wheels are attached to the bike rather than having it just sitting on top of the tires.

Try a toothpick as a lance. My Skaven that I use in Mordheim have their spears done that way. Also, try to have the lance held the way the Bretonnians do for a more dramatic effect.

maybe try shorten a lance a bit. Than put it on his back...
With arm exchange and shaving a legs you are going in right direction

Actually, that is a toothpick I'm using.  I'm playing around with the position of the lances so that each rider will look a bit more individual. And I forgot to mention that I was most likely going to reposition the hand. Though in real life it kinda looks like he's bringing the lance to bear.

Holycrusader - I like the idea of the lance on his back - might have to steal that.

Did you ever finish this guy?

Just a fly-by comment...

No I haven't finish him yet.  I had my baby 7 weeks ago so have been pretty busy since then.   Don't worry though, I do intend to post when I get the chance to work on him again.

How are you planning on doing the forks and rear suspension?

hi mole
nice to see you about and congrats on the young un. have you considered using marine scout bikers? their legs do fit with the cadian bodies and look less mariney
just a quick suggestion
all the best
millest

For the forks I've got an idea using some plastic rods and small springs.  The rear suspension will probably be some sort of trailing arm but I still need to work that out.

Hey Millest!  Don't suppose you've got five scout bikers hanging around?  I really don't want to have to give GW any more money.

hey mole, how bad timing is that, i sold 2 5 man squads like a week ago. let me have a look in my box tomorrow and ill see if i can help you out
laters
millest

Dammit!  They would have come in useful.  Oh well, if you do find some let me know.