Monday 4 July 2011

NOMADNESS!!! - The Evolution of my Mercenary Warjack Conversions





Hi all,
No news or preveiws or game results or ........ etc today. Just some models that were great fun to build.

Lets start with the term 'Nomadness'. It refers to a Captain Shae force running 3+ Nomads and using Coup De Main alot. But can also  be applied to anyone running 3 of them I guess.

A great rundown of this and how it can be used can be found on the PP Mercenary Forums in the Riding the Storm: A Pirates Life Tactica thread by PG_vytzka. A must read for anyone that wants to use Shae.

Sounded like great fun to me so I headed out and grabbed 3 Nomads.
I like to convert minis. Love it infact. So I decided that any Mercenery Warjack I get will either be Pirate style or built to match the Pirate style for my Talion Charter army.

Looking at the Nomad Warjack model I liked it. But it needed abit more to make it look like it belonged on a pirate ship.
What would fit instead of the sword? A giant cutlass!!!
And the buckler? Why, a ship wheel of course.
I hunted around until I found a wheel and cutlass the right size. Then I started to create.
The result?

Nomad 1






I liked it. Undercoated it. Then started thinking.
The weapons were a nice touch but it still needed to tie in more with my other Jacks like the Mariner and Freebooter.
I thought about using the Mariner/Freebooter torso but thats that part I see thier Amphibious rule in with all the valves and such.
But the heads could work!
And another member on the forums said that the Nomads legs looked abit small to keep it steady on a rolling ships deck. So I went and ordered some heads and legs to match.

I decided to try out a couple of weapon variations on the next one. Instead of the helm wheel I used a wooden looking cart wheel. And the cutlass had the hilt removed and a different style blade added.
The Legs were a straight swap but the head needed abit of work.
After about an hour of cutting and filing I had the head to near enough the right shape.
It didnt quite sink in under the collar like I wanted it to. Still, I was happy with where it was.
Finally I wanted to match up the boiler a little but not all the way to amphibious.
So I cut off the top and replaced it with some angled plastic tube.
And this work created-

Nomad 2 - Mariner style



I liked it much better that the first. The head and legs really work but these weapons were a little off.
What about a mixture of the 2 models? And some Freebooter parts aswell!

I went back and fine tuned the original cutlass style abit more. And added the helm wheel to the buckler aswell.
The legs were abit more tricky this time because they were in a running pose. The head went on like a dream though. (After lots more cutting)
Seeing I was going for a Freebooter look I replaced the original exhaust with plastic rod and the top of the Freebooters.
I wanted a more dynamic pose this time in the arms to match the running legs. After cutting the arms lest before the elbows I was able to swap the top parts over and have a cutlass held high.
Attempt 3-

Nomad 3 - Freebooter style



So there it is. My 3rd Nomad. I think its goes together well and takes the best parts from the other 2.
Do I have more ideas? Sure! But theres lots more non-Nomad Merc Jacks I have that need builing yet (8 at the mo). All I know so far is that ALL of them will be converted some how,
Lets finish the pics with a comparison shot of the 3


Want to see some more Merc Jack conversions?
Ofcourse you do!
Check out the Merc Jack showcase threads >>HERE<< and >>HERE<< on the PP Forums for work from loads of great modellers and painter.


Thats all for now folks


Hendybadger out

2 comments:

  1. Very nice! I think the second one's my favourite, though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The second one is growing on me now. Just hope I can do them justice in the painting stages

    ReplyDelete

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