Behind With The Times Part 1: Into The Shadows

Hey, you know what I haven't posted in ages? Aside from anything good? Minis stuff. There is of course a perfectly good reason for this, it's called Skyrim. But despite being trapped in a hellish digital purgatory of bugs and inventory management I have managed to work on a few bits on & off over the past few months.

So let's see if we can't try and catch up with some of my Shadowrun conversions.

First and foremost is a Troll heavy weapons guy. This is based on one of the awesome gangers available from Heresy Miniatures. I simply cut of the human head, and replaced it with an Orc head from Hasslefree. The it was just a question of adding horns, which are the tips off a Chaos Space Marine helmet. Fill in the gaps with a little green stuff and bob's your minigun wielding metahuman death machine. I'm quite pleased with this guy, overall.

Then we have an Ork civilian. At least to the extent that anyone in Shadowrun can be considered a civilian. Especially when they're an Ork. The base mini is from Hasslefree, one of their modern adventurers. The face was cut out from under the hat and replaced with the front of one of their goblin heads. The assault rifle is from Heresy. I'm particularly pleased with the way I've managed to change this from a Human gormlessly staring at a mobile phone to Ork gormlessly staring at a mobile phone. It all managed to fit just right.

Dwarf Rigger. She actually needed very little in terms of converting. She's actually a pilot for Hasslefrees range of space dwarves. She already had a jack in her head, so all it really needed was a deck of some description. This comes in the form of a computer keyboard from Black Cat Bases. Of course, the deck is nearly as big as she is, but that just adds to the charm I think.

And of course what kind of Rigger would she be if I didn't include a couple of drones. These boys come from Black Cat Bases, and have a certain utilitarian charm. Maybe I overdid it a little mounting both arm options on the yellow one, but really you gotta have something to hold stuff in place for the buzzsaw.

Next up is my go at a Toxic Spirit. These are one of the things I really like about Shadowrun, so I needed to have a go at making one. And when I saw the Sludge Gulper in the Heresy store I knew I had one. The main thing with this one modelling wise was to fill up the base with as much litter and crap as possible, and luckily  Black Cat do sell a wide variety of detritus. Painting wise I was originally thinking of going with a really bright green for that radioactive ooze look. But I actually quite like the darker green/brown shades I eventually went with as it makes him look more... Effluvial. A Toxic Spirit should be kinda dirty after all, and neon colours are a bit to clean.

When I browsing through the list of Gangers on Heresy looking for something to make into a Troll I also found this guy, and had an idea. A fairly simple question of finding a spare had with a book and repositioning the right arm and he makes for a good street mage. Or possibly he's just come for the poetry recital. Versatility is a welcome advantage in any model.

Whilst he may have started as Black Cats version of H.P. Lovecraft, the addition of a chunky gun transforms this guy into a decent corporate wage mage. He even has a familiar. Gotta admit I'm not really 100% happy with the paint job on this guy, but after trying to come back to him so many times I rather ran out of steam. Maybe the weird skin tone is a medical condition?

Corporate Fugitive. I have no idea who this mini was by. I've had him for years and stripped and repainted him a few times. There was always something about a mini that was labelled Corporate Fugitive that looked like John Major that I always found intensely amusing. I suppose this just goes to show my age. He came out okay, but really my inability to paint normal humans does hamper things a bit. I'm always happier with monsters and robots.

Rounding out this particular instalment of Shadowrun themed pieces is this Hazmat clad tech guy from Hasslefree. There are two great things about dudes in Hazmat suits. Firstly they're versatile. If you need faceless minions for any modern or science fiction setting they work great. Secondly of course is the fact that being fully enclosed in plastic suits means there's very little in the way of human features for me to mess up. I figured a bright yellow would work well for this guy, but it wasn't until afterwards I realized I'd created an A.I.M. agent. Funny the way things work out.

There are a few more pieces to catch up on, but I think that will do for the moment. I'll save the Owlbears for next time. Because you KNOW there's Owlbears.