Conversion Corner: Nurgle Naval Officer

"I draw my strength through you"

It has been a few months since the last installment of Conversion Corner, when I converted another True Scale Space Marine using a Primaris model. Earlier this month, I created a tutorial for converting a smaller scale las pistol, and wanted to finish converting the model for Conversion Corner! I always really liked the naval officer model from Kill Team: Rogue Trader, aside from their gigantic las pistol and shotgun, and decided modifying those aspects would be a good opportunity to show how Games Workshop models can be strengthened by simply giving them appropriately scaled firearms. The model was converted to fit alongside Anvils of Konor’s Nurgle Militia, so I added a few subtle Nurgle elements to the final model.

Aside from modifying the model's weapons, a few small changes were made, including adding a bandage on the model's face and adding a fly belt buckle. Additionally, I removed the powerpack on his back and shaved off some of the filigree on his coat.

Both firearm conversions started by cutting the original weapons down substantially, using a fine hobby saw.

The majority of my efforts were focused on reworking the officer’s combat shotgun. My main goals for the weapon were to reduce its size and modify it from a pump-action shotgun to a semi-automatic one. In the close confines of a spaceship, having a shotgun that does not require manually chambering each shell would save the operator a lot of time. I started by removing the majority of the front of the weapon and replacing it with two brass tubes. The bottom tube of the weapon houses shotgun shells that are automatically loaded when a spent shell is ejected from the weapon. I added a charging handle for the weapon with a small brass tube and sculpted the ejection port around it. As a final detail, I sculpted a front and a rear sight for the weapon.

Brass tubing was used to create the barrels for both firearms.

Greenstuff and plasticard was used to add detail to the weapons, including sights.

It was great to get back to converting non-Space Marine models again. I am constantly amazed at how much better most Games Workshop models look just by modifying their weapons, and would encourage people to try their hands at it! As always, any comments or questions are welcome!

- Adam Wier