INQ28: Militarum Tempestus Scion Conversion - Part 2

As the Emperor protects, so must we.

After having so much fun converting the first INQ28 Militarum Tempestus storm trooper, I knew I had to get to work on converting a second. For the second stormtrooper I wanted to maintain the same modified hot-shot lasrifle, but this time have the rifle shouldered like it was getting ready to be fired. Adding the stock to the hot-shot lasrifle proved to be a lot trickier this time around and required a lot more cutting and greenstuffing to situate everything properly.

The shouldered hot-shot lasrifle complete with stock and holographic sight.

In my last post I had expressed my disappointment that the older plastic Cadian heads were not compatible with the Scions. I decided to look into this a little further to see if I could make something work. Fortunately, I have found that they are actually scaled properly, it is just they lack the necks seen on the Scions. Eager for a challenge, I decided to try to model a neck with greenstuff on one of the Cadian heads. After looking through all the plastic Cadian heads at my disposal, I found one of the scarred faces from the Cadian command squad and decided it would make the perfect head for a grizzled Inquisitional veteran. The greenstuffing went so well that I decided to sculpt a collar around the soldier's neck as well.

The extra power source for the storm trooper’s hot-shot lasrifle was removed from his backpack and additional attachment points modeled on with greenstuff. 

The plastic Cadian heads are scaled properly with the new scions, however you need to model on necks if you want them to seat correctly.  

One of the last options I wanted to explore with the model was giving the soldier a holstered sidearm. In order to actually fit the holstered weapon on the model’s waist without looking cluttered I knew I would have to create a pistol much smaller than those typically seen on Warhammer 40k models. I started the conversion by cutting down an Elysian Drop Troop holster and adding the modified grip of a boltgun to substitute for the pistol (I tried my best to style the pistol like a Glock 17). After playing around for awhile trying to fit the holster on the model, I decided I needed to make further modifications to comfortably accommodate the pistol, allowing for the soldier to easily draw the weapon if needed. To do this I trimmed down the armor-plate on his right thigh to make more room for the holster. Next using greenstuff I sculpted a mount for the holster and glued it in place. Finally, I sculpted some additional straps to mount the holster to what remained of the soldier’s armor-plate. The whole pistol turned into a lot more work than I was planning, but overall I am very pleased with the results.

The evolution of the storm trooper’s sidearm. The base of the holser came from the Elysian Drop Troops. Special care was taken to model in a mount for the holster with greenstuff.

The finished holstered sidearm! I crafted the pistol in the likeness of a modern automatic pistol.

Sometime during my work converting the second storm trooper I found out about Migsula’s fantastic Skitarii Praetorians. I was surprised how well their hotshot lasguns could be transformed into boltguns with a few modifications, including a simple magazine change.  Additionally, he brilliantly decided to reposition the shoulder-mounted targeting arrays (officially called monoscopes by GW, ha ha) to face the direction his troopers were looking. A seemingly small modification, but one that went a long way in selling the models. This inspired me to do the same on my new storm trooper and go back and revisit my original one. While modifying the monoscope on my first storm trooper I also decided to replace the massive gem on his beret with a smaller more reserved emblem of a shield (that gem had always bothered me…).

The second storm trooper, ready to wage the Emperor's wars.

I revisited my original storm trooper conversion and repositioned his shoulder-mounted monoscope and replaced the gem on his beret with a shield emblem.  

I recently acquired one of GW’s new Asta Militarum Taurox models. I am considering trying to convert one for my Inquisitorial storm troopers.

With the second storm trooper finished I have started to consider my options for the third. Nothing is definite yet, but I am throwing around the idea of converting a special weapon like a plasma or melta gun. Alternatively, maybe make the sergeant of the squad with a pistol and a drawn combat knife? If anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments section.

- Adam Wier