In case you were wondering, some of the parts to make my groovy Rough Riders were sculpted by Rob at Curious Constructs.

Monday 7 April 2014

Teuton Scions and Taurox WIP


After starting my Taurox conversion yesterday (found here in Part 1 and Part 2), today I pulled out the Scion kit. Since I first saw them I have been dying to put Curious Construct Pickelhaube heads on them.  In my mind the baroque armour was crying out for a bit of 18th century Prussia! 

To make them look a bit more special I replaced the helmet spikes with bigger ones and made helmet plumes out of copper electrical wire. I had done this before with my Praetorian Rough Riders (a step by step making the plumes is here). This was roughly what I had in mind:
Just look at the size of that spike!
 Here is how they tuned out:

We have been told that Col. Gravis is working an another head especially for this kit. I'll be quite happy to have some with a different helmet to mix things up down the track.

The scion kit is really nice in the flesh. You do have to be cartful not to mix up the bits because each Hotshot lasgun will only fit one set of arms and one backpack. It was a bit fiddly lining up both hands on the arms and the power cable too, but that is all part of the fun. I liked the extra bits of equipment in the kit - the little Imperial Handbook is a nice touch. One odd thing though, there are enough Krak and Frag grenades to deck out the whole squad but in the new rules only the Tempestor is equipped with them. Its a shame when the rules and the kits don't line up. 

I also made some more progress on my converted Taurox today. 
Here it is next to a Banewolf to gauge the scale.
If you are planning to build one of these yourself and would like to paint the interior, I stumbled on a handy tip. If you don't glue down the floor and bonnet they easily slide out to paint - even with the rest of the kit built.
Driver in place.
Floor and Bonnet section unglued so I can paint it. Check out the detail.
Here it is again slotted into place.
The back area. You can see where I raised the the track guard (the white bit under the seat).  I will add some greenstuff to clean it up a little.  
The gunner seat can be positioned at floor hight or raised to look out the turret.
I raised my gunner as high as I could. 
At this point I realised I had a problem. My nice Pickelhaube spike was too high and hit the roof!
It stuck out quite a bit!
I really wanted to keep the spike because  planned to have a removable roof and painted interior. After a bit of thought I decided that this part of the roof was under the turret so wouldn't be seen. So I made space for the spike and it fit perfectly under the turret.

One thing that bugged me with this kit was there was no Heavy Stubber included! Why give me loads of extra stuff that I don't need (like two sledgehammers and other tools) but leave out a crucial upgrade like a heavy stubber! In fact ALL of the Optional Vehicle Equipment is missing.

No: Seachlight, Dozerblade, Heavy Stubber, Smoke Launchers, or HK missile!

Anyway I had to go and raid another kit to find a Heavy Stubber. There was nowhere for it to fit well, so I mounted it in the turret view port. It happened to line up with my gunners hands quite nicely.


It doesn't look like it will be hard to build it with interchangeable guns, just the odd magnet here and there. There is still more to add to this but I feel like it is almost there!

Finally, here is the group all together.

And alongside my Teutons (or as I call them Prutenians - which is a latinisation of 'Prussian') 
The Taurox will get a set of hussar wings to match the other vehicles in this army.
I'm looking forward to getting these all painted in a batch before I move on to something else!

21 comments:

  1. Quality job. I love the little cheat to fit the helmet spike in. I haven't thought of buying a Taurox yet. I might get one to be a Command vehicle for an Armoured Fist platoon. But again. Great job on these.

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    1. Thanks Ady. If you are like me and just buy what you want with no regard for tactics then go for it. Otherwise a Chimera might be a better command vehicle because you can’t issue orders from a Taurox (from the White dwarf rules). Although with the next codex out this weekend that might make the choice clearer.

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  2. Nice. I hope Col Gravis's helmets live up to the standard you've set. That whole bunch look great,

    I would have gone with a different helmet for the vehicle crew, There is a reason AFV crews have different helmets from the hoi-paloi. However, cutting a hole in the roof to fit one's regimental headgear is suitably 40K. Don't change it !

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    1. I’m sure Gravis’s helmets will be leagues better than mine, which will be awesome because I’ll be inspired to build more of these guys.

      My crew have the choice to either bash their heads on the bulkhead every time they drive over a rock or ask the Regimental Commissar for a padded crew helmet and a hug. Actually, if the chair was fixed and they were belted in well, having the helmet attached to the roof would mean the crewman wouldn't be thrown around at all. Possibly the most uncomfortable ride ever though! :D

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  3. Seriously cool work on the vets! The head swap really gives them a great character - excellent stuff man!

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    1. Thanks Mordian, it was a pretty simple conversion to change the whole style. I'm just stuck now on the colour scheme!

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  4. Very nice indeed. Not only on the Taurox, but also the Scions. I only have one question... why is the driver on the wrong side?

    The Scions with those heads are really nice, especially with "tassels" up top. I think one of them should have some sort of optics over his eyes. Like a mini HUD or something.

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    1. Haha, its the correct side in my country.

      But I agree its very cool.

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    2. If there is the demand, they'll do an export model.

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    3. Argos: Yes, I totally need to add a few optics to these guys, cheers for that!

      An export model, OMG you are killing me!!

      Yes, this is the GB, AU, NZ, JP,IN, ZA … model
      The US, Europe and rest of world needs to buy a Left hand driver conversion kit!!

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  5. Damned fine work! I hope they will kick as much behind on the battlefield as their look would suggest.

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    1. Thanks but sadly this unit comes in at 200 points. I think it will be a stretch to earn that back in damage. At the very least they will die while looking good. ;)

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  6. Good start to work, I really like your conversion design with alternative heads of bits Warhammer.
    Good luck!

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  7. Not sure how I missed this post but better late than never.

    Cracking stuff as always - the horse hair plumes is a brilliantly simple idea - the best kind!

    I'm itching to get my own kit - the models look brilliant.

    I loved the solution for the Taurox/Spike incident - very good result. I also quite like the Stubber conversion - looks the business.

    I look forward to destroying both units in a future game!

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  8. Oh, everthing about this is simply delightul! It's genuinely made me break into a broad grin - thank you and bloody well done!

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  9. Oh, and this: "but in the new rules only the Tempestor is equipped with them." is - happily - incorrect. In the new Guard codex ALL scions have frag and krak (p99). Happy days!

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  10. How did I miss a post full of such awesomeness. These are bloody lovely sir! Those plumes on the Scions are excellent, simple and effective like every good conversion. Utterly transforms them. And I'm impressed at the effort of getting the pickelhaube-wearing driver in that Taurox! Looking forward to seeing it with the hussar wings

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  11. Wow, those heads go perfectly with that armor. Well done, sir.

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  12. Just to let you know, I've nominated your for a Liebster Award sir

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