Hello!
Most of the gamers probably complain about the lack of mercenary models for DoW armies. Thanks to new plastic, imperial state troops, making greedy swashbucklers has become pretty easy and cheap.
For converting I had used:
1. Imperial state troop.
2. Knife.
3. Green Stuff.
4. Paper clip.
5. Pin vice.
6. Penknife.
7. Sculpting Tool ( not in the picture ).
8. Nail file ( not in the picture ).
Start from the paper clip.
You can bend it using hands or the tongs, pliers from the penknife. After doing so it should look more less like this.
Next use the pliers to split the paper clip. From one you can get two 6 cm pike shafts and a cane.
Now it's time to get rid of mould lines, necessary parts and to drill a hole for the pike.
Now you can glue the pike.
Just like step before remove useless elements. The arrow shows mould lines on the spearhead.
Attach all the elements and you've got a pikeman.
Wait, what about the green stuff? Well this was the basic version, not requiring any sculpting abilities.
In the Old World Estalians are one of the best pikemen. Using some modelling putty you can give an ordinary trooper a very characterful look.
Lets start from the hardest part, the helmet also known as morion.
Pick a suitable head and remove what's necessary.
Mix the putty and put a small, thin strip on one side of the helmet. Slightly bend it upwards.
When it's dry repeat the step on the second side. Now put some on the back and elongate it.
Do the same on the front.
Stick a thin blob in the middle.
Model the crest using wet fingers and sculpting tool.
Place an egg shaped blob on his back.
Make 3-4 cuts.
Copy the step and receive these fancy pants.
Exactly with the arms. Place the green stuff somewhere to the elbow.
Now the boot. Stick a stripe just under the knee.
Sculpt the boot. The arrow shows the mould lines.
The previous pike didn't look very decent that's why I suggest using green stuff. Place it just above the hand. Now with wet fingers pull it in the direction shown by the arrow. Remember to rotate the pike. It will be less crooked or uneven.
Remove the inequalities and fingerprints with the nail file.
The effects of my work.
Advantages:
- low cost ( they are definitely cheaper than the rare, metal GW models )
- 100% tournament legal ( I didn't use any parts from miniatures of other companies. Also if you convert and paint the pikemen decently you might get some extra points for the effort )
- revenge on the paper clip
Disadvantages:
- not the best look of the basic version ( unless you correct the pike with green stuff )
- the Estalian version is much more time-consuming ( the helmet is very hard to do, special if you don't have any experience with sculpting )
Notes:
- be careful when you drill the spear shaft, it's easy to break it
- making pictures was very irritating ( there were moments I wish I had four arms like Goro from Mortal Kombat )
- well, this is my first conversion tutorial
I hope this tutorial is useful. If you have any questions I will try to answer them.
Cheers
Chris