NPC Plog!

[Alyster Wick]

I hope the esteemed conclave will humor my multiple threads. I've been trying to plan specific projects and see them all the way through (the Terrain log, for example) or at least see them through to a reasonable point of completion. This format has been encouraging.

With that said, consider this the start of what will be a long  and (hopefully) productive tale of NPC creation. And so it begins with a hazy and ambiguous picture hinting at things to come...

[Van Helser]

Nice. Don't think I've seen the box set at the top of the picture before. Looks the guy at the bottom right could be a Ratskin Renegade with little trouble. The gun puts me in mind of Brakar the Avenger. Looking forward to what you produce.

Ruaridh

[Alyster Wick]

Early in the conversion process, here are six WIPs:

PDF Troops:





Ratskins:

[Van Helser]

Really dig the bow conversion. Looking forward to seeing more.

Ruaridh

[Alyster Wick]

Finishing up the Ratskins (both in need of some GSing):





I'm planning on having them be a combination of raiders/traders who prize technology and abhuman specimens (they eat the abhumans to try and gain their powers, thus the giant rat head). Anyway, pretty happy with them. The "leader" is carrying a broken power sword which is only semi-functional. I like the idea of it only occasionally working, which will ad suspense to battles.

Here are the first couple Skitari/praetorians/whatever:



The skull one needs significant GS work.

On a separate note, all the PDF troops are attached to bases and I'm 95% sure I'm happy with them (well, happy enough. I'm trying to be less OCD about my models so I can actually get some of them finished).  Anyway, that's it for today!

[aeprod]

I'm digging these Tehnlog models - hadn't ever seen the set before - need to try and track it down when possible.

[Heroka Vendile]

nice creative work, the bullgryn mortar-arm is a good choice.

[Alyster Wick]

I'm digging these Tehnlog models - hadn't ever seen the set before - need to try and track it down when possible.

If you can find it, get it. The whole package was about $20, a steal for 15 models plus 3 different wheeled mortar units (still scheming on what to use those for). I couldn't me happier with the techno-native americans either, they turned out to be my favorite (and the most characterful) of the bunch.

Anyway, group shot of the Ratskins!



My goal with the NPC groups is to have two "Characters" (that is, two NPCs who are recurring characters) and three generics that'll come and go, with their deaths being inconsequential to the story. Try and guess who is who! (though I'm growing fonder and fonder of various models in the group, and I'm about to spoil half the game anyway).

Moving on, here's a shot of my Ratskin Leader and PDF Leader. Really happy with both of them. They each have a fairly substantial conversion that clearly marks them out of greatness (plus a really obviously nasty CCW for each of them).

[greenstuff_gav]

i wanted some ratskins; yours look great!
where's the giant rat head from?

[Dullmohawk]

Those ratskins are ACE!!! Very well done and a good use of the russian plastics!

[Alyster Wick]

Thanks for the positive Ratskin feedback! The Russian minis are pretty great to work with as far as NPC pieces go. The plastic is pretty easy to work with and the lack of detail leaves a decent amount of space to add in random bits and bobs to make the models more interesting and more 40K relevant. Also, it's easy to obscure cut marks and blend things together.

where's the giant rat head from?

Rat Ogre. I took one of the heads from the kit that comes in two pieces, split vertically down the middle. I went at it with a dremmel to get hollow out the inside and once I was happy with how it fit I glued it on. And there was the bonus of the metal orc-jaw fitting perfectly in there (that was completely unplanned, a real happy coincidence.

Also, looking for some feedback. The zombie-cyborgs were originally the pieces I was most excited about but now that they're here I feel like I don't know what to do with them. Anything beyond a simple weapons swap is going to be a pain (and even then, a couple piece with weapons I like the least are holding them up against their body, so even a basic weapon swap is impossible without destroying and reconstructing huge parts of the model). 

Anyway, it feels like a cop out to just do them as-is with only a couple weapon swaps, but putting hours upon hours in modifying them just so they can be decoration in scenarios every now and again seems a little silly. What does the conclave think, should I break out the dremmel, buckle down and see what happens, or just glue them to bases and move on to more exciting fare?

[greenstuff_gav]

which ones are the cyborg zombies?
without looking, could chop cyborg bits down and go for zombie-plague-infected hive workers?

[Van Helser]

I assume you mean the skitarii types with the skull face conversion when you say zombie-cyborgs?

It will be a lot of work to remove the weapons held across the torso (I have faced the same dilemma with other models from this range). I would be tempted to paint these guys up as is, and have them represent xenos mercs. The armour doesn't have the right shape for Imperial guys in my opinion, and sinking a lot of time into them to change things is kind of against the point of buying cheap models as grunts.

Ruaridh

[Alyster Wick]

Ah, I haven't been very specific and realize now that I hadn't posted close up pics (and for that matter this pic isn't great either). I'm referring to the blue figs in the middle here, who have been pretty popular as far as the Russian minis go:

[Radu Lykan]

i would break out the dremel, i took the guns off my insurgents quite tidily and it wasnt too hard to not destroy the model, i havent got round to putting new weapons in yet but i was careful and dont see it being a problem.
i want me some of those techno cyborg blokes, had forgotten about them.
my fluff for them has them as veteran soldiers that have been used and experimented on by an inquisitor continuously for years in order to test out various glands and implants, trying to create a "new man" that is immune to disease and hardier than your average joe. the inquisitor has now perfected his new man program and so he has discarded these proto types, abandoned and left to die on a random planet they have survived, gotten aboard a ship and are now looking for the inquisitor in order to have a pleasant chat about which limb he wants pulling off first
simple additions of wires/tubes coming out of the skin, possibly a few frankensteins monster type stitches to look like skin and limb grafts with different colours to show the different donors type thing along with some cranial scarring should give me the look i am after.
anyway.... thats what i plan to do with them