[Brother Argos]

IG Codex, Argghhh <looks at large pile of cadian boxes> , <considers doing some IG> , <Ponders which force> ...

Cadians ? Done to death, who wants to be the same as everyone else!
Vostroyans ? Character, Cossacks, Hmm possible, but too archaic looking for me and METAL, metal is the bane of conversions.
Catachan ? oh please, Rambo, big arms, BIG ARMS, nah.
Death Korps ? got a good few packs of them, with snapped off gun barrels, resin weak and snaps, expensive, like the look though.

Uhhh oh, just ruled out all the plastics, hmm not good.

Praetorians, Character, Metal, hmm no longer sold on the GW site, ebay, possible rarity appeals
Mordians, Praetorians with caps, prefer Praetorians.
Valhallans, Russians, Look ok, great coats, hmm maybe.
Tallarn, Arabic never moved me.

Steel Legion, hmmm WWII German Paratroopers, that might work, Metal.
Hmm based on Armageddon, would work well with my Salamanders.
Nice artwork too, stylish, and the cool laying down and firing Heavy weapons.

Ok this is working for me. But I want plastics and compatability with the Cadian sprues ... oh damn, time to do some work.

So began an Easter weekend of fun converting, with the intention of making a Cadian soldier into a Steel Legion trooper!

I have got about 85% of the way there so far, just gloves, boots and lightning emblem on shoulder left to green stuff.

Take a look, tell me what you think, anything wrong ?

I used this for inspiration ...

 

[Mayor Quimby]

Excellent work, the green stuff coat and all the plastic/plasticard detail are great.
Once you add the gloves (which is a mandatory detail to me) it will be simply perfect... once you prime it, I bet it will be impossible to spot that it is a conversion.

The only thing that worries me is the number of models that you will have to convert... but if you have the guts to do this amount of conversion on more than 100 models, hats off to you sir!

Thank you for sharing, I hope you will start a WIP thread so we can keep track of your progress.

 

[Mr Twingy]

Wow that looks great, its a nice clean conversion plus everything Quimby said ^.

One Question... for the arms did you just file down the cadian shoulder pads till that matched the same level as the arms?

Cant wait to see an army of them.

Spladge P

 

[Brother Argos]

The gloves are indeed important, however the hands needed to be cut of the gun first to accomodate the use of the carbine with folding stock from the tank sprue.

My aim eventually will be to cast the components I have made from greenstuff, so I can match and mix them with the plastic cadian components as needed. This will make things much quicker in the long run.

Here is a list of the changes so far: -

Chest: Chest piece was from Vehicle sprue, and was chosen as it did not have any armour on. Channels cut for straps, straps made from plasticard, Ammo Pouches made from plasticard,rebreather made from plasticard with the grooved section being cut from one of the cadian trooper heads, Eagle shaped clasps added finally.

Head : Taken from a Steel Legion trooper (one of the few without a massive mould line), Added gas masking tubing using the "power cabling" from Dragonforge ( WELCOME TO DRAGON FORGE DESIGN ). At some point I need to sculpt the head from scratch so I can mould and cast my own copies without legal issues.

Arms : Cadian Rifle arms, Shoulders shaved down and some small creases added, more work needed to make proper folds, also need to add the lighting strike insignia on the left shoulder.

Hands: Detached from the Cadian rifle arms, rotated slightly, the hand that was part of the gun was carefuly cut off without damaging it, and attached to the arm and therefore allowed the use of a different weapon.

Weapon : Because the Steel Legion are an Armoured Fist unit and as such spend a lot of time in vehicles, they generally use Las-Carbines instead of las-rifles. The normal metal models have carbines (with folding stocks), and I used the Las-Carbine with folding stock from the Tank sprue to represent this. I had to change the way the hands worked to make this happen.

Legs : Cadian legs, trimmed down at the top, Three layers of green stuff to build up the bottom of the coat, final layer applied carefully and smoothly, Coat pleats added last.

Feet : Need to trim the boots back, and then sculpt on the changes to a full knee high boot, also add a small skull in the center at the top as per the 4th edition IG codex image of a steel legion trooper.

Canteen : At the moment I am using a Forgeworld Elysian canteen, however it doesn't fit with the style on the metal models, something else to make from plasticard or Greenstuff.

Knife/Bayonet : Currently a Forgeworld Deathkorps knife, I am happy with this and find it matches the metal steel legion nicely, I have a significant amount of these from my Deathkorps, so might stick with it.

Blanket : Currently taken from a metal Steel Legion trooper, however its going to be sculpted in green stuff so it can be reproduced.


The future ...

Do more converted parts to enable me to use the new Cadian command sprues, and all the old Cadian stuff, and the add-on forgeworld cadian parts.

See if I can make transparent resin goggles ... now that would be cool.

 

[Brother Argos]

Ok was a good night tonight, got one of the gloves done, put the lighting flash emblem on the shoulder, and made a folding carbine stock out of wire that looks the same as the one on the tank kit carbine. Pics tomorrow.

 

[Tsele]

I like the idea and all of your work... it is inspirational...

Now I have to work on my GSing skills...

 

[Brother Argos]

I like the idea and all of your work... it is inspirational...

Now I have to work on my GSing skills...

Best way to work on your skills is to have an existing figure you want to duplicate a part from, and then keep practising till you can do that.

 

[Brother Argos]

While looking at the new IG codex, I came to this rough army list .. please bear in mind I am aiming towards an Veteran Armoured Strikeforce.

The following is 1500 pts.

Company Command Squad with Medi Pack & MeltaGun in a Chimera, with Heavy Bolter x 2

Veteran Squad with Meltagun x 2, in a Chimera, with Heavy Bolter x 2
Veteran Squad with Meltagun x 2, in a Chimera, with Heavy Bolter x 2
Veteran Squad In Valkyrie, with Meltagun x 3

3 x Leman Russ, 2 Normal, 1 Punisher
Hydra
Basilisk, Enclosed
Armoured Sentinel with Missile x 3
Valkyrie

 

[Brother Argos]

Some Picture Updates ...

Firstly here is an extended version the Folding stock normally found on a Las-Carbine. I hope to model a few of the arms to accept this version.

It took around an hour to make the stock, but I think now I know the "how to" I could do it in about 30 minutes, or possibly cast it in resin?

 

[fallvictim]

Looks good, if you can cast it it would make this project go smoothly.Look forward to seeing the converted arms.

 

[Tsele]

It took around an hour to make the stock, but I think now I know the "how to" I could do it in about 30 minutes, or possibly cast it in resin?

And of course you can make some models firstly and use them to cast resins t obuild the army faster!

 

[ArtificiallyEnhanced]

I love it, that looks a great conversion. You're gonna have such a great looking army when they're all done.

 

[Brother Argos]

It feels strange to be doing this much modelling. I haven't put this much time into doing this for years, but I am enjoying it immensely. I have to achieve things before the real world calls me back or worse, I burn out, therefore I am pressing ahead hard.

This mornings update focuses on the aquila clasps on the chest, the shoulder emblem and the glove.

The aqulia clasps are less than 1.5mm they were scraped with a scalpel to reduce the hard edges, then cuts were made to create the fantail of the eagle and to hint at the location of the heads

Next up is the first glove done, when the greenstuff has hardened I need to fatten up the fingers a little to make a more glove like feel.

Lastly the emblem is done, and I need to practice it a lot so I can do it on other arms.

More photo's later, with a comparison shot showing a Cadian, my Steel Legion trooper, and a Metal Steel legion trooper side by side.

 

[Tsele]

The project is going along great... as far as I can see... The aquilas on the vest are wonderful given their size...

 

[Brother Argos]

Here are some comparison photos showing a Cadian built using almost identical components to the one which I am making into a steel legion trooper, then there is my Steel legion trooper, and finally a metal Steel legion trooper.

The pictures are deliberately stripped of colour to make the comparison easier, although there is a final shot with colour for those interested.

Here is the colour photo.

I was surprised to see the differences, the first difference between the Cadian and my trooper is the bulkiness that the shoulderpads and helmet give the Cadian, followed closely by an illusion of height difference (Cadian looks slightly taller), however even when measured they are virtually the same height. The second more obvious difference is 2mm difference when compared to the Metal Legionnaire, if I am going to use them together I will need to make sure the scenery on the bases boosts the Metal Legionnaires by a couple of millimetres to fool the eye.

Although the boots remain to be done, as does the final gloved hand, I am pleased with the result, and have begun work on my own sculpted helmet, soon to be followed by a complete head. While the first layer of greenstuff dries on the helmet, I have also put the basecoat of greenstuff down on the right foot. Hopefully more pictures tomorrow showing progress.

Oh lastly I found a wonderful rolled up blanket, which comes attached to the Cadian backpacks from Forgeworld, which I will be using instead of the metal one.

 

[isitused]

For your shoulder emblem you could do a pressing. Take a finished (completely cured) bolt you like, and brush on some oil, then press some greenstuff onto the symbol and let it set for a few minutes. When it’s a bit stiffer you should be able to pull it away leaving an impression of the emblem. Then you can just stamp it on the shoulders with a little clean up work they should look as good as the original.

Here are a few Fists I did when I was toying with the idea of doing a Crimson fists army.

 

[Andusciassus]

It's a really nice model you've got going there.
It's also an admirable project.
I am so subscribing to this

 

[King Ulrik Flamebeard]

This is really great work, nice converting and it be nice to see an IG army that isn't the basic plastic sets. I hope you keep up on your work, it will be a journey worth watching.

Kuffy

 

[girlhunter2102]

I like it! Now if only GW made plastic Steel Legion (yours would still be better though) it would make it easier on the both of us.

 

[Brother Argos]

Progress report, I worked on the boots last night and made a small addition, just on the knee a small skull, the idea came from the illustration of the steel legion in the 4e Imperial Guard Codex. Now one boot is almost finished I am pleased with the look.

Here is a picture from the 4e IG codex: -