Kitbashes from opposite ends of 40k
Kitbashing seems to be my most productive hobby activity at the moment: While converting plastic models has been my favourite part of the hobby for a long time, I seem to have worked myself into a bit of a kitbashing frenzy right now, using my work on various conversions as a means to relax. This might be a disappointment to those of you who would like to see some painted plastic on this blog, for a change — I can merely ask you to bear with me here: I will get around to doing some painting eventually, promise 😉
In the meantime, I do have to show a number of new kitbashes to show you: Three wildly different projects from opposite ends of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, so to speak. Here we go:
1. Golden Boys
Granted, it has been some time since we last heard of my kitbashed Legio Custodes army — but the project is far from dead, I assure you! By way of proof, let me show you two (fairly) recent kitbashes I made for this project:
First of, a conversion I am extremely happy with: Meet Constantin Valdor, Chief-Custodian and Captain General of the Legio Custodes:
Even though it’s only a Space Marine based kitbash, I believe most of the visual cues are there to make the model a reasonable approximation of the artwork for Valdor. While most conversions have him running forward, however, this one is clearly more static, resembling his appearance in this piece of artwork.
As you can see, most of the bitz for the conversion came from the Sternguard kit, which is basically your go-to source when it comes to building ostentatious looking Marine characters. The kit has also given me the chance to touch up a couple of earlier conversions, among them one of the Marines for my squad in various marks of power armour. Here’s the old version of the model in question:
I think we can all agree that the legs on this guy were a little iffy. Fortunately, one of the beautiful leg pairs from the Sternguard kit allowed me to give this guy a bit more presence. Take a look:
The model now looks quite a bit more massive than before, which I think is a rather nice fit for the slightly clunky, archaic looking armour on the upper body.
So here are the two models together:
My small Custodes project may be far from finished, but it’s a great little sandbox I can always return to in order to tinker away on a model or two for a while. It also helps me get the urge to build blinged-out loyalists out of my system, which is a great help when I need to stay focused on my more chaotic projects 😉
2. Lord of the Fallen
Next up, a very recent kitbash: Last Sunday evening, I sat down and converted my own version of Cypher, apropos of nothing. I didn’t even need the model from a gameplay perspective, mind you: I just felt that Cypher had been a staple of the CSM background for so long that I needed to build my own version. Here it is:
As you can see, the conversion was based on the model for Interrogator Chaplain Seraphicus from the Dark Vengeance limited edition set I purchased back in 2012. It did feel kind of sacrilegious to cut apart a limited edition model like this, to be honest, but I figured it wouldn’t do any good to leave the model lying around for another two years — plus I will need those lovely smokestacks from Seraphicus’s backpack when I eventually convert the 4th assault company’s Apothecary, so that made the decision a bit easier 😉 What’s more, fellow hobbyist and Skull-Championess Flint13 pointed out that desecrating an Interrogator Chaplain by converting him into the Dark Angels’ worst enemy was strangely fitting, in a way…
Beyond those considerations, the conversion is fairly straightforward from a structural perspective, which gave me the liberty of lavishing some extra work on a couple of small details: I originally considered having him in a more static pose, with the arms held down. But when it came to building the model, I just couldn’t resist spacing his arms as far apart as I did, making it look like he’s covering a huge area with his shots — it’s just the way I imagine him in the midst of battle, guns blazing, and it works for me. I also obsessed over which pistols to use for the conversion for quite a while (and I am really happy with my eventual choice). And I spent far more work on that backpack than I would care to admit…
3. A daemonic gladiator
And finally, as if to prove that I haven’t forgotten my World Eaters, a very early WIP I am currently working on:
I have gone on record saying that I am not a huge fan of the fairly underwhelming plastic Daemon Prince kit. In fact, I kitbashed my first own Daemon Prince at one point, partly out of a desire to avoid having to use the “official” model. But as karma would have it, I did still have a mostly complete Daemon Prince kit lying around, and I felt the urge to challenge myself with trying to come up with a version of the model that fits the gladiatorial look and feel of the World Eaters more closely, while trying to dial back some of the cartoon villain look. Here’s the result:
The model’s nowhere near finished, of course: What you see above was only started yesterday afternoon, but I think I may be on to something here…?
Anyway, so far for my current kitbashes — they really serve as a great way to relax for me, funnily enough, and as the one part of the hobby that I never seem to tire of.
So, let me know whatever feedback or suggestions you might have in the comments! And, as always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!
August 14, 2014 at 16:41
Well I really like all of the kitbashes here. Funny that you started with a custodes cause that was the army plog I first got to “know you” and your absurd kitbashing-fu 🙂
However, the daemon prince is truly inspired! Do not mess around to much with him as less is often more and it’s a fine balance right now.
August 16, 2014 at 17:52
Cheers, man! I know what you mean about the Daemon Prince, especially since the comically exaggerated features are one of my main gripes with the standard DP — which is why I’ll try to keep my version slightly stripped down 😉
August 14, 2014 at 17:09
Lovely work as always. Your kit bashes have such character in them. Very well laid out and presented.
August 16, 2014 at 17:52
Thanks, greggles!
August 14, 2014 at 17:24
You kit bashes are always so unique. They all look really great and the posing is perfect! Great work!
August 16, 2014 at 17:52
Thanks a lot! 🙂
August 15, 2014 at 07:53
I like the figure’s helmet in the 5th picture, it looks really badass. Can you tell us which kit it is from?
August 16, 2014 at 17:54
Cheers, mate! It’s a helmet from the Skullcrusher kit with the “bunny ears” trimmed off and the eye slits shaved down for a more cyclopean look. I also added some “ears” from a regular Space Marine helmet and a topknot (from the Chaos Marauders, I believe). Hope this helps!
August 16, 2014 at 20:26
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback, and keep up the good work!
August 19, 2014 at 20:11
Will do 😉
August 16, 2014 at 02:08
Great work. I especially love that second custodes (with the new legs) could just as easily fit into a World Eaters warband. Cypher also looks wonderful, and the DP is coming along very nicely.
August 16, 2014 at 17:55
Thanks, Azazel! Maybe it has something to do with the model’s original head coming from a Khornate kit? 😉 I am pretty fond of that model, to be honest, and have been tweaking it further since posting those pictures.
August 16, 2014 at 17:51
This is great! I’ve been eyeballing the Chaos Ogre heads for my own DP and wondering about the fit! Now I know it works – wonderfull!
(My DP ALSO sports a Brazen neckalce made from the skullcrushers kit as well 😉 However, mine is based on the archaic metal one.)
August 16, 2014 at 17:56
Cheers, Adam! While the dragon ogres are sadly a bit too small to work as Daemon Princes in their own right, I was really happy to discover that the heads work rather well on a DP body — in fact, the whole convsersion was really planned around this particular head, to tell you the truth.
August 17, 2014 at 16:53
Hmms… How about the Shaggoth? If you’re looking for a “counts as” DP, the shaggoth has the characteristics of the Dragon Ogres, but a lot more height and size in general.
Will Tell you how the head works out on the older DP models 🙂
August 19, 2014 at 20:04
Hmm, not really a huge fan of the Shaggoth model, to be honest, at least not in 40k. Plus there’s the fact that it’s huge and made of Finecast, which seems like a recipe for disaster… 😉
August 17, 2014 at 16:11
[…] A blog about KrautScientist's wargaming exploits « Kitbashes from opposite ends of 40k […]
August 18, 2014 at 02:17
I want a Cypher like that… And I do actually want one for the game, I just don’t want to spend extra money… Truly excelent work. If you could post a list of bits you used (aside from the Chaplain) I may convince myself o spend the money.
August 19, 2014 at 20:11
Cheers, Michael.
Hmm, let’s see:
– the head is from the Ravenwing accessory sprue (I only added some strands of hair)
– both pistols come from the CSM Raptors
– the skeleton on the backpack is from the Vampire Counts Skeletons
– the Iron Halo-ish thing on top of the backpack is an old WFB Orc armour plate
– the sword is from the WFB warriors of chaos
– the left arm came from some Marine kit or other.
The Librarian from Dark Vengeance should also make for a nice Cypher, plus he should be far easier to obtain than the Seraphicus model.
Hope this helps! 😉
December 23, 2014 at 21:25
[…] He was more of a “Why the heck not?” project, primarily motivated by this conversion (https://eternalhunt.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/kitbashes-from-opposite-ends-of-40k/ , about halfway down the page, under “2. Lord of the Fallen”). I had an extra of the […]
July 15, 2015 at 09:01
[…] and impressive, while also seeming rather dynamic in spite of its bulk. I am still very happy with my own (Space Marine based) conversion for Valdor, but wow, that guy is just huge! I also really like the guardian spear! The only thing I am not […]
August 5, 2016 at 12:32
These are fantastic mate
August 5, 2016 at 22:49
Cheers, man! 🙂
April 12, 2017 at 10:43
These really are great! I recently got into a bit of kitbashing and these form great sources of inspiration! What did you use or the legs and the torso of the demon gladiator? I’m trying to recreate this piece of art (https://www.artstation.com/artwork/XJ0Gy) and I think those would make a great fit!
April 15, 2017 at 15:57
Cheers, man! The entire body is basically GW’s stock plastic Daemon Prince. I only made some tweaks, added some armour plates and used a different head. Hope this helps! 🙂