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Making my own Plastic Sisters!


FlamingWalnut

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Hello there! It has been FOREVER since I even looked at these forums. Love what you've done with the place...

Ahem. So I've been looking into getting more into 40k now that I've moved to a decent community. And while I love most every army, one that I have such a soft spot for have been the Sisters of Battle. I love badass women with big guns. I even had a decent sized army of them once. But...I hate metal. With a passion. I mean, it's nice...when it's a one of. But over and over? Ugh. And to top it off, I love converting, which is pretty much impossible in metal. SO, I came here asking if anyone has tried to make their own custom sisters out of plastic kits. I'm not a big sculptor, so green stuff molds from scratch is out for now, but there's got to be SOMETHING that could be done... Anyone have any ideas? 

What I've got so far: Female Elf heads, covering the ears. Cloaks of some sort, maybe from the Wood elves? Dark Eldar has sleek armor, but the design is very off... 

And of course, while I'm fine with the extra work, I'd rather not pay an arm and a leg for these. (Unless Forge World makes some AMAZING models...). I'm still a poor college student. XD

What say you, Sisters!?

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If you are considering Fantasy Ranges, you might want to look at the High Elf Sisters of Avelorn set.

Combined with the Wood Elf and Dark Eldar ranges, should give a very unique look to your army.

 

Also it would allow you to differentiate your squads more as you focus more on a particular range for them.

For example, your Celestines could probably be mostly Avelorn, while your repentia would be mostly Wood Elf and Dark Eldar.

 

Other sets to consider are the old High Elf Maiden Guard models and Mortaheim Sisters of Sigmar.

 

If you have an issue with the Dark Eldar look, then I would suggest that you avoid Dark Elf Witch-elves, because you will only have more of the same issue.

 

<climbs on soap box>

This is no mean feat you are setting before you...

The biggest problem with most female model ranges is the over pronunciation that the models are supposed to be female.

 

I recommend that you go subtle on any green stuff... lets just say augmentation.

Consider that the model when held at arms length is equivalent to viewing a person at the far end of a foot ball field or soccer pitch.

You should not be able to see the whites of their eyes or the shadow of their cleavage.

<gets driven off soap box by crowd throwing rotten fruit>

 

Good luck. And pics when you are done.

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lol Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I've found a few examples of DE conversions and...they're good. Not sure if they feel RIGHT enough, but a great place to start. Not sure about the Fantasy Lines. I mean, a lot of the suggested Fantasy models DO look good for female warriors...but they are missing power armor (obviously) And I am an ABSOLUTE amateur at GS....sooooo, this might be a while. Thanks for suggestions though, if anyone has anymore by ALL means, go for it.

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And snap heres a link you might wanna check.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/296182-alternate-sisters/

 

Looking at them with backpacks and bolters certainly make them look better...The scale mail still throws me off, but that can be worked with. Thanks for the link!

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Posted · Hidden by thade, October 14, 2014 - Promotes recasting of GW product.
Hidden by thade, October 14, 2014 - Promotes recasting of GW product.

The best plastic Sisters would require that you recast the metal ones.  I hear you cry, but if you take the full metal range all two dozen or so models, and cast selectively with some cutting and trimming with small amounts of green stuff you could produce a fairly decent sprue of torsos with legs (split them if you feel like going the extra mile, arms, backpacks, heavy weapons, and heads.  You could do the bolters, special, pistol, and melee weapons too, but it would probably be easier to just steal from Marine sprues for those.  For less work you could even do a few with bolter bodies where only the head and backpack are separate.  Once you have the parts, make a sprue and pour your own.  A bit of work and planning from the start, but an endless horde of cheap plastic bolter nuns later.

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Discussion of casting techniques is within the rules, insofar as it relates to conversions and modifications; HOWEVER discussion of recasting GW product is against the rules, because it's *illegal* and can get the board shuttered. So...don't do it.

 

See the PC&A board rules for details.

 

But, Thade! This isn't the PC&A board! It's-

 

Not the appropriate forum for discussing the ins and outs of casting at home anyway. :) We'll abide by the PC&A's wise rulings, since they protect the B&C.

 

As you were. <3

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Well then ignore what I said. Not that I said anything as clearly there was no other post by me whistlingW.gif. Curse you Cecil for pointing out my mistake; go climb a mountain and get beat up by your reflection so you can get an awesome cape tongue.png.

As for plastic parts, you should be able to slice up certain Daemonette torso for the bodice. Imperial Guard shoulder pads (may need a trimming) could work if you shave off the detail and replace with fleur de lys waterslides. Eldar Guardian legs might work. I've seen Space Marine Scout arms with green stuff sleeves work very nicely, although those might be a bit big so perhaps Guardian arms with green stuff sleeves might be better. The head could be any female head. The pack could be the Marine one with the blank face, shave off those four little vents on the bottom and perhaps the little side things just above them as well.

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I can see your point about the fantasy lines not having "power armor" except for one glaring point.

 

The DE range doesn't have power armor either!

 

And given the official SOB range power armor looks nothing like the space marine power armor.

And that doesn't address the difference in power armor just in the various Marine models (SM, CSM, DA, BA, SW, GK, & INQ).

One could easily ask what is power armor supposed to look like?

 

So my question to you is what do you want the power armor to look like?

Your choices are going to be limited to a few cross culture looks... plate, chain, leather, cloth, bodysuit, and nude.

 

Some of those choices should be very easy to eliminate, based on your preferences.

For me, nude goes right out the window... as do the S&M leather looks.

 

Personally I just forget about what something is supposed to look like and instead focus on what looks good to me.

Take my Ravenwing bikers for example, everyone of them is modeled with an assault marine plasma pistol, even though none of them ever have a plasma pistol in the game.... and all because I really thought that bit looked the best.

 

But if someone has an issue with it, I simply tell them that what they are looking at there is the new Mark IX bolt pistol. It has a sleeker design, improved accuracy, and reduced jamming. Give the larger magazine capacity and lighter weight, it is the perfect side arm for long range recon units.

 

And it is a heck of a lot less confusing than the ork in the yellow shirt with this unit of Tau Firewarriors is the IG missile launcher and those ripper swarms are actually Ogryns.

 

Did I mention looks better too!

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If it's power armour, it should at least fully encompass the body.

The old MK1 Thunderer Suit suggests otherwise. From what I recall, Powered Armour was defined by the presence of the fiber actuation bundles under the surface that provided the servo assist and generally the power plant backpack to provide a useful service life.

 

The cited first generation has been noted in the fluff as only servo assisting the upper body as it was mostly invented to augment close combat, not just for general utility as later marks tended to. It didn't yet need to be vacuum proof.

 

So, power armour should generally be a bit thicker, but remember, this is the Imperium, and with enough Creds one can buy better versions of most kit from one of the more venal techpriests, including more densely packed servo fiber bundles for ones power armour. All one needs to do is stretch the believability. Might not want to stretch it too far though if one doesn't want to get ribbed by ones playgroup

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Dreamforge makes some awesome and sleek looking power armor soldiers. With them, some which heads, bolters and green stuff, I made some (probably) inexpensive sisters.

I've not seen these before, I can really see potential in them. Do you have pics of your conversions, how well do they scale with GW kits/heads/bolters?

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If it's power armour, it should at least fully encompass the body.

What about the Inverse Protection Law of Female Armor? Do you not have any respect for your tropes? Custom plastic Sisters is the perfect opportunity to break out ceramite bikinis, and just to prove I'm not be chauvinistic, even Khorne Berserkers benefit from this rule too. tongue.png

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Those are tropes far below respect.

 

First off, power armor is a head-to-toe thing because - even helmeted with the added protection of an Iron Halo (or some other force field generator) - enough bolter rounds will still bring you down. You're not going to leave your midriff open, regardless of gender.

 

You might think "Well, they don't always wear helmets and should by that logic!" Rightly so. The *reason* helms are left off is the same reason Sam Raimi saw to it that Spiderman was unmasked as often as possible: visibility of the face adds a lot to a character. You can see their emotions, the direction they're looking in, even just general features to give them an identity. Not just "another rank and file with a helmet" but "Sariel the Flawless" with her tear-tattoos, scarred forehead, grey eyes and peppered hair. It gives them identity. Helps them stand out. Defines a character.

 

The moment you strip away armor to expose skin (i.e. "ceramite bikini") the character you're defining is a sexualized one, which does a great disservice to Sisters of Battle. They work hard to earn their Power Armor (not "powered armor" but legit Imperium *Power Armor*) that was likely worn by a fallen hero of the Sisters before her, with the names inscribed within its chestplate and heraldry of her unit(s) and those before her.

 

Get into the fluff; it's the best part of the game, especially Sisters.

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If you want Inverse Protection Law Sisters, Howling Banshees, Khorne Berserkers, etc, more power to you.

 

If I ever get the time and money to start my own conversions from plastics (even third-party kits if necessary), it'll be at least shoulder to toe full armor and/or robes. Even the Repentia, which is why I'm still considering the Mantic Basellian Sisterhood for Repentia.

 

Should I delve into more Heretical realms (and right now I have other ideas I'm more interested in), I can assure you they will not be sexualized. You can pull off worship of any of the four Chaos gods without turning toward teenage wet dreams. Even Slaanesh.

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Dreamforge makes some awesome and sleek looking power armor soldiers. With them, some which heads, bolters and green stuff, I made some (probably) inexpensive sisters.

I've not seen these before, I can really see potential in them. Do you have pics of your conversions, how well do they scale with GW kits/heads/bolters?

 

These look like prime candidates for Sisters theme conversions. The shoulder pads are even pretty close. I may just pick some up to see if I can Sororitas-ify an Inquisitor retinue.

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If it's power armour, it should at least fully encompass the body.

What about the Inverse Protection Law of Female Armor? Do you not have any respect for your tropes? Custom plastic Sisters is the perfect opportunity to break out ceramite bikinis, and just to prove I'm not be chauvinistic, even Khorne Berserkers benefit from this rule too. tongue.png

I have respect for that trope... in its place. Its place being 18+ erotic entertainment. Not in grimdark setting where the focus is on war and battle.

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Well silly tongue-in-cheek ceramite bikini clad Berserkers aside, I did notice something of a flaw in my idea.  I was looking at the one plastic Daemonette I do have on hand and I see that it leaves an annoying bare patch that could be skin tight power armor or you could putty on a collar of sorts to hide it.  I'm not too sure if there is a decent bit you could use to cover it instead of resorting to greenstuff, but worth noting. 

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Dreamforge makes some awesome and sleek looking power armor soldiers. With them, some which heads, bolters and green stuff, I made some (probably) inexpensive sisters.

I've not seen these before, I can really see potential in them. Do you have pics of your conversions, how well do they scale with GW kits/heads/bolters?

 

 

Here's a link to a converted one next to an assault marine. I used the Dreamforge troopers, Wych heads (I've seen other heads suggested, but I don't remember what company they were from), liberal greenstuff for cloth, and bolters I got on eBay.

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/284443-third-party-model-optionsconversions-for-sisters/?p=3562108

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