Converting a Norse team - WIP

[maxwellrpower]

G'day everyone, this is my first post on this fantastic site and I'm here to show off some of my first miniatures for a very long time. I always liked the Norse and have played a lot of the original PC version of Blood Bowl, so I thought I'd build myself a team.

So far I'm just about finished with my Ulfwereners and Berserkers, so here they are!









They are mostly bloodreaver parts with legs, heads and hands added to the Ulfwereners from the Wulfen kit.
I'm pretty happy with how these first few have turned out, I've also got a pair of runners in the blu-tack stage of assembly.

What do you all think?

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest some alternatives for their hands, I'd like to not have the whole team with closed fists and weapons clipped off, but I've got no idea where to find alternative hands/arms at an appropriate scale. I thought, for example, that I might use the pointing and shouting arms from the Catachan command on one of my throwers, but they are so small on the Bloodreavers they look ridiculous! Any suggestions?

Thanks for having a look, I'm keen to hear some CC. My greenstuff work is very amateurish, I know, but an amateur is what I am, so there you go!

[Regash]

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest some alternatives for their hands! Any suggestions?

The older Zombie sprues did have a couple of open hands that were ridiculously large for 28MM scale.
They maybe fit for the new 32mm but I never tried.

Other than that, they look awesome except for the Space Wolf shoulders on your Berserkers who look way to large for them somehow.
Maybe it's the brighter color and they look better in person or when painted.

[maxwellrpower]

The older Zombie sprues did have a couple of open hands that were ridiculously large for 28MM scale.
They maybe fit for the new 32mm but I never tried.

Excellent idea, I'll check that out, never would have thought to look there. As far as the shoulder pads go, they are big but I hadn't thought of them as being 'too big'. They're not glued on yet and one of the things making them look really big (aside from the fact that they are pretty big anyway) is possibly the big blob of blu-tac underneath.

I'm planning to get some marauders to use for all the linemen, just so there's some more variety and to make the throwers, runners and berserkers stand out. Point being I can try out some of the shoulder guards from that set instead. The skull ones might be really cool for the berserkers.

[Regash]

I'm planning to get some marauders to use for all the linemen

Take a look at my Norse, they've been converted long before Blood Reavers were created. (But I found some better minis forthe Ulfwereners that are not in the picture.)
Yes, the Marauders shoulder pads are really nice, although there are not really many of them on the sprues.

In the pic, you see numbers 5 and 6 in the front row, who were my Berserkers and numbers 7 and 8 being the Ulfwereners.
I replaced the Ulfs with some decent werebear minis from Uscarl, the Ulfs became the new Berserkers and the Berserkers retired.

[mawph]

The older Zombie sprues did have a couple of open hands that were ridiculously large for 28MM scale.
They maybe fit for the new 32mm but I never tried.

Excellent idea, I'll check that out, never would have thought to look there.

While I've no idea about new larger scale minis, the old zombie sprues are amazing for open hands. There's a plentiful supply there.

[maxwellrpower]

Just ordered myself some zombie hands, woohoo! Thanks for the input
I'll post again soon with some updates, I should be getting some work done on my runners tomorrow and I'll start on the throwers as soon as I get those hands.

[maxwellrpower]

Take a look at my Norse

Nice, where did the yeti/snow troll come from? I'm planning on making one out of the Dark Eldar clawed fiend with a head swap, if it's ever back in stock.

[Regash]

Nice, where did the yeti/snow troll come from?

It's one of the old Ogre Kingdoms Yhetees, just weapons snipped.

[faust_33]

...I've also got a pair of runners in the blu-tack stage of assembly.

Oh man, I feel like an idiot...I was converting some minis the other day and trying to get the feel of how to position a part. Of course, my stupid fingers would keep dropping the piece I was trying to hold on, and rotation was nearly impossible. If only there was some way to temporarily hold something to the mini while examining it from all sides! If only!

Yea, and then yesterday I blue tac'd minis onto a medicine cap for painting. Thought of blue tac'ing pieces onto a mini for preview conversions, didn't even dawn on me!

Anyways, your conversions. I think they look pretty good. I haven't tried to model fur in green stuff, and yours looks really good. Also the tunics. I'm still really getting the hang of green stuff, but hopefully some day. I'm getting better at smoothing out seams or filling in gaps. I found clay tools and some water really help out there. Modelling other materials, and making realistic tunics and belts is my next dream. Or shoulder pads. Would love to be able to make some decent shoulder pads.

As for the shoulder pads, I agree with Regash, they look too big from the front pic you took. I also have some of the zombie hands, and remember them looking too large on a smaller model. So they will probably work really good on 32mm scale.

[nazgob]

I'd suggest picking up the new human team and butchering it for parts. They offer really good conversion opportunities.

[maxwellrpower]

If only there was some way to temporarily hold something to the mini while examining it from all sides! If only!

Yep, blu-tac is super useful! I actually just got some of those soft synthetic clay shapers and they do make smooth gap filling so much easier. The fur is super easy to do, the trickiest part is not making it too thin when you're working on it off the model and not destroying it when you pick it up to attach it.

It's one of the old Ogre Kingdoms Yhetees, just weapons snipped.

Those are really cool, I hadn't seen them. I'm still pretty keen on using a clawed fiend but for my head swap I might just see if I can grab one of those from somewhere! That will make my life easier.

I'd suggest picking up the new human team and butchering it for parts.

I do like that idea but I'm not sure the normal human parts would fit with the Bloodreavers/Marauders any better than the Catachan ones I've got do. Or do you reckon they're big enough? I haven't actually seen the minis but a mate bought the boxed game, so I assume the human team in there would give me an accurate reference for size.

[faust_33]

If only there was some way to temporarily hold something to the mini while examining it from all sides! If only!

Yep, blu-tac is super useful! I actually just got some of those soft synthetic clay shapers and they do make smooth gap filling so much easier. The fur is super easy to do, the trickiest part is not making it too thin when you're working on it off the model and not destroying it when you pick it up to attach it.

Yea, that is one of my biggest problems. I'll get something shaped up on the table. Then pick it up go to apply it to the mini....and squish! Or I finally get it all laid out, attached to the mini, and go to add another piece...then end up smooshing the first piece while I'm trying to adjust the second. It's like I'm all thumbs.

[maxwellrpower]

It's like I'm all thumbs.

Something that you may find helpful is pinning everything as you assemble, that way once you've got a part in place it aint going nowhere even if you do knock it around a bit. I suffer horribly from big clumsy hand syndrome so I feel your pain!

It's a bit more time consuming but you get more efficient at it really quickly and it makes your models way more durable. Also a pin vise with drills is pretty cheap and I just bought a 30m roll of 1.25mm wire which will probably last me forever!

EDIT: Just realised you were talking about green stuff, so pinning is obviously not relevant! Still, my big clumsy hand syndrome is applicable and I still feel your pain

I just make sure it's not sticking to my work surface (which is a piece of thick clear acrylic plastic stuff) and then leave it to harden a bit before I stick it to the model. It stays pretty flexible for a long time so you can still shape it a bit a long as you've got it pretty close.

[faust_33]

Thanks so much for the tips, I've learned quite a bit just from this thread!

When you say "a long time", about how long is that? I usually mix my green stuff 50/50, but I feel like I get too impatient about getting it on the model. I guess I fret too much about it drying out before I can get it in place.

I think I have a clear acrylic sheet somewhere, or some ceramic plates that would probably work too.

Yea, I also have a pin vise. I've mainly only used it on the old metal GW models. The heavier big guys pretty much require it to keep their parts together. I used a thick paper clip as the rod, but it's hard to snip. I'll have to try wire, that sounds a lot easier.

[maxwellrpower]

Thanks so much for the tips, I've learned quite a bit just from this thread!

When you say "a long time", about how long is that? I usually mix my green stuff 50/50, but I feel like I get too impatient about getting it on the model. I guess I fret too much about it drying out before I can get it in place.

I think I have a clear acrylic sheet somewhere, or some ceramic plates that would probably work too.

Yea, I also have a pin vise. I've mainly only used it on the old metal GW models. The heavier big guys pretty much require it to keep their parts together. I used a thick paper clip as the rod, but it's hard to snip. I'll have to try wire, that sounds a lot easier.

No worries, more than happy to share the little experience I have!

It should stay workable for around an hour, you'll notice it starting to get a little harder in that time though. After that it takes ages to fully harden, I'd say around 24 hours depending on the temperature (faster if hotter, slower if colder), but you'll still be able to fit a piece to your mini, especially something thin like say a cloak or a loin cloth. At this point hopefully it'll be flexible enough to shape it to fit the mini, but hard enough that it will be much more difficult to squish the details you've sculpted in.

Anyway the point is you've got a fair bit of time, not so much if you need to still sculpt it a lot once it's on the mini but if you're just gluing on a pre sculpted piece and maybe only need to adjust the fit a little bit you could safely leave it for a fair while to harden up first.