Converted Tactical Squad Sergeant

Rounding off a bit of a hobby day, here's a little conversion that I made earlier. The basis of the miniature is still the beaky armour from the Age of Darkness boxed set. I wanted the model to be holding a bolt gun one handed (or at least a bolt pistol). Of course, there's no left handed bolt pistol that comes with the set, so it had to be a full bolt gun. Happily though, there is a left handed plasma pistol that comes with the set - and that in turn provides the hand for this conversion. 

As with any long term collector and gamer, I have a reasonable bits box to draw down upon. Here, I have selected an old chaos space marine bolt gun to be the weapon of choice. There are no particular chaos markings on the weapon, and I like that, yet it also perhaps is suggestive of an eventual slip to the darker powers. This is a theme that I like for the armies that I use in 30k (especially those of dubious loyalty of alignment: I like to play as both loyalist and traitor rather than stick permanently to one side or the other). 

Slicing the fist away from the original plasma pistol was a tricky operation, but with some careful scoring and fore-planning, this can be done relatively quickly. The bolt gun itself required the handle and trigger to be removed and filed down. When glued together, it is fairly seamless. I have rounded this conversion off by adding a chain bayonet to the front of the bolt gun. Although it doesn't quite align fully, it is close enough that no one will notice - doubly so once I get around to painting this one up. 

The miniature is rounded off by a power fist for the right hand, along with a bolt pistol holster and un-helmeted head. A great little conversion for the squad I feel.