Question About "Truscale" Strike Squad / Death Watch Kitbash

[Schurge]

So after 10 years I'm finally starting a second 40k army... Grey Knights! I'm going to cross the terminator kit with heavy intercessors for truscale terminators which seems to be a pretty common practice. For the strike squads I'm going to do something a bit different. Most guides seem to recommend crossing the terminator chests with intercessor or bladeguard legs. That is very expensive and might look a little too much like my terminators so I am going to use the legs from the new Death Watch kits which are still upscaled from old marines but not as large as primaris. My question is if anyone has done this and if I should also buy the Death Watch chests off of ebay or if they look good enough with the strike squad chests. Thank you.

 

Bonus Question, has anyone used an airbrush to pain miniatures out in the Texas sun, and does that hamper the process? I imagine it does.

Edited July 30, 2021 by Schurge

[Grotsmasha]

If you're issue with the strike squad is just *height* there's a few small things you can do to the standard kit to gain some height without needing to buy extra kits. Some people cut the thighs or calves, but that is incredibly labour-intesive. First step is a 1-1.5mm plasticard/styrene sheet spacer under the feet. The next is another 1-1.5mm spacer between the torso and legs, this can also be plasticard/styrene, or a blob of greenstuff putty (this will allow additional posibility too). The last id optional, but will give the model a little bore bulk too. 

With a very sharp knife, you carefully separate the abdomen from the upper torso, following the curve of the armour. You then add a 1mm spacer between the upper half of the torso, but not the lower half, which puffs of the chest. 

I have a model or two following this method, I'll through up a pic once I dig hem out :tu:

[Schurge]

 

I have a model or two following this method, I'll through up a pic once I dig hem out

 

Hey pal, did you manage to find any of those old minis? 

[Grotsmasha]

I didn't. I'll have a look today for my plasticard and whip one up :tu:

[Grotsmasha]

Ok, here we go.

1. I could not locate my plasticard / styrene sheets, so I cut up a 25mm GW base. It seemed a little to thick for this, but was good enough to show the process, I neede2 in total (1x32mm would probably have been enough).

2. Using a sharp hobby knife I separated the abdomen from the torso front.

3. Then glued the upper half to a flat of plasticard.

4. I then trimmed the torso back neck bit flat so that it was level with the rest of the piece and glued on the abdomen.

5. I then attached spacers beneath the feet and to the waist. For the waist, I used the curved lip I'd cut from the 25mm base.

6. Let all the glue set for at least an hour, preferably longer as you don't want the pieces to move on the spacers as you trim them.

7. For expediency, I have just used my clippers and conformed to the shape of the torso, but for actual models a rough cut and the sanding or filing would provide a significantly tidier result. Here is a front and back shot of the trimmed torso, cut and shaved to fit onto the torso rear.

8. I then trimmed the waist spacer to the width of the cod piece.

9. So here is the model assembled, with a side by side. See that gap at the waist? There's two ways to deal with it. The first is the easy way with pouches and grenades etc, which is what I've done. The second involves doubling the thickness of the belt with plasticard. If you were to gap the waist with Greenstuff, you could double purpose it to sculpt a thicker belt too.

(Actually, there's a third way, but is more time intensive than either method. Basically you cut the ball of the top of the legs, add the spacer between the legs and the ball joint. Personally though, I think GS will give the best result of all three methods)

and lastly, a comparison beside a Primaris,

[Schurge]

Wow, thank you. That's a lot of work to do for a stranger on the internet, I appreciate it. The model looks good too.

[Schurge]

@Grotsmasha

 

So, my first attempt at what you recommended, nothing is glued aside from the legs. https://imgur.com/gallery/b7Bo4DT

[Grotsmasha]

Yeah, nice, scale looks good. If you're going to go the leg-cutting route, there's a log in the WIP by......Veteran Sergeant iirc that did this a well, I'll try dig it out.

 

When i gave this method a go, I found the easiest place with the least clean up for the spacer in the thigh was right at the top between the top of the armour and the ribbing for the groin.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Grotsmasha

[Grotsmasha]

HERE it is :tu: