Sunday 15 March 2009

Colonel Gravis (Part 1) and Manticore Conversion

Okay, not quite as much of a prolific day as I'd planned, but it was beautifully sunny, indeed it was possibly the best day we'll get all year here in soggy Devon(!), so a trip down the coast was in order. I have done a few things, which will see the light of day in due course, but as this was my last weekend at home before my Easter Road Trip in America, travelling from San Francisco too Dallas over just over a couple of weeks with some friends, it'll probably mean no more chances to get lots of stuff done in one session.

Anyway, onto work!

There was some interest in what was fairly obviously my plan from the last post, a conversion based on the DKoK Commissar drawing his sword, who will become none other then Colonel Gravis, Regimental Commander of the Praetorian 4th. I've only done a little too him so far, the head and breathing appartus has been removed (the head kept for future use), the greatcoat collar having been bent down to a more natual angle with the pipes removeal and a new head added. The head I've chosen is the standard Cadian Sergeants head, with the mic removed.

Right now though I've come to a little bit of a dilemma as I really like the look of it with just the bare head, but I'm not sure if I should'nt just go ahead and add a Pith Helmet, because it's the Praetorian thing to do and for consistantcy.

What do you think, should he get a Pith Helmet, or perhaps one modelled on the base fallen? I've opened a Poll to the right hand side of the blog, please do have a vote, but also feel free to post your thoughts in the comments!



Incidently, the arm with the power sword is not glued in place, just bluetacked on for the moment to give a better idea of how the model will look.

Finally here's the converion I mentioned previously for a Manticore, it was done by a friends brother some years ago that I've borrowed so as to have a play around with using the new Manticore rules from the new codex. I'm planning on converting one largely similar at some point, with a hull put aside for this purpose but thought I'd share it now as inspiration, personally I love it, much more infact then the FW version.

Missiles up...



Missiles down...

11 comments:

Admiral Drax said...

Ahh, wasn't it just beautiful today - I felt like I'd woken up in a 1940s Disney film!

That's a great idea for Gravis - I'm going to think more about headgear before voting though...

And as for the manticore? A great idea - I've been tinkering with MLRS-style uses for those old missile tubes (hance, in fact, the original idea for my 'wyvern' conversion) but I love the idea of putting them in like that. I'd have to model beneath it more completely though, and I'd be at a loss as to what...though I do have an old griffon mortar base knocking around. Hmm...

Cracking paint job! Reminds me of my old Epic vehicles.

- Drax.

Anonymous said...

Another option would be to give his helmet to someone else in the command squad.

That way you can keep the cool-looking helmetless head but still have the helmet in the squad without it kicking around in the dirt.

I'm not sure what I'd recommend: it is quite common for heroic models to have different headgear to their troops, but a helmet would fit the theme better. Could you swap the bare head for one with a helmet just to see what it would look like?

Angelic Despot
(forgot my password...)

The Inner Geek said...

I picture a man so cool under pressure, that there is no way something as trivial as a battle would part him from his helmet. So, I voted cap on.

the-seventh-son said...

there is new heads coming soon from GW so i would see what they bring, a cap would be cool, and maybe and advanced comm-link would look pretty damn snazy

like the idea of the Mantacore, but i dunno if the missiles are big enough...

Unknown said...

I think the Colonel model is looking fantastic already, but I do feel it doesn't really suggest "Praetorian" at the moment, so I voted for having the helmet on to help tie it in. I'd certainly be open to other directions, though - is there another British headgear of the era that might be appropriate?

Craig said...

I love it already. I'd go with the pith helmet but agree with the other comment saying "try it with a pith helmet head". That would give you the clearest idea. One thought though... since it is THE colonel gravis himself, just ask yourself "what would I wear on the battlefield?" if the answer is that you'd stand uniformed with your troops then whack on a helmet, if not, dont!
Craig @ cadian8th.blogspot.com

Craig said...

Col, how do you make it so that when people want to click on your pictures, they can gwt an enlarged view of it? My first post did it but ever since its been standard size pics and no close ups. Please write back on my blog!
Craig @ cadian8th.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Love your Blog and I see your trip will be ending in Texas? Why not go through Austin (best city in Texas by far) and stop by Battle Forge Games where the Bell of Lost Souls guys play? That would be freakin sweet!

~kings

Anonymous said...

What about an old officer hats? Something from the napoleonian wars?

Col.Gravis said...

Thanks for all your thoughts so far guys, suffice to say I'm probably not gonna get the chance to do much work on it now until next month now, but I've certainly got plenty to think about.

In truth I'm still not sure myself, but I'm likely to go with adding a Pith Helmet, however that said I'm also seriously thinking about sculpting my own head as well.

Drax, I agree wholeheartedly, I'm looking forward to building my own version of it, though likewise I want some under missile launcher details etc.

KSB, I actually wear a Pith Helmet when playing at Tournaments and using the Praetorians so... ;)

Anon, unfortunately time is quite tight towards the end, but who knows, I might mention something to the others, three of the four of us are players.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what your plans are in Dallas (besides flying ;) ) but besides going to a professional American Sports Game (Hockey: Dallas Stars, Basketball: Dallas Mavericks, Baseball: Texas Rangers, AMERICAN Football: Dallas Cowboys (offseason)) everything is better in Austin. Lots of live music and blocks and blocks of pubs all in a row. Not to mention the outdoors is much nicer and any car trip will be 15minutes max in Austin compared to 45minutes in Dallas (that place is bigger than London and without public transit). Seriously, Austin is worth the trip regardless of warhammer!

~kings