[Redscorps] Counterfeit Forgeworld Models - The Pros and Cons - Part 1

Earthlings,

I'm writing today about the subject of counterfeit/recast Forgeworld miniatures and my experience with one that I purchased.

A little while back I saw a link from one of my Facebook contacts to a site where you could get EXTREMELY cheap recasts of popular Forgeworld sculpts, direct from China. The price for a Blood Slaughterer was low enough to get one just to see what it was like (it was also the only model they offered that I already had) so I placed my order and after a whole heap of comically nonsensical emails I had one in the post.

I'll just say before we get any further, that I had no intention at any stage of switching my purchasing from Forgeworld to this website(They had a lot of World Eaters stuff that I could have bought up on sight) as I am a big fan of the Forgeworld as a company, the customer service of the staff and the ORIGINAL designs that these great sculptors create. I just wanted to see what the recast was like and to be able to do a comparison to the legit items.

[Redscorps] Kharn-o-saurus WIP Part 2 & Daemon Prince WIP

Hello Earthlings!

Not sure if I'm breaking the rules by posting so much (Your not - Other Crew) lately but I figured I would actually share some conversions as opposed to just posting pics of my Red Scorpions junk.

Well after the last post where I posted my initial WIP of my Kharn the Betrayer conversion I had a look at the photographs and decided I wasn't quite happy (Photos have a great way of doing this, showing your errors, showing scale differences and off angles etc..).

I went back to the model and had a look at some of the areas I wanted to change. For starters, the front belt buckle area and the back pack icons are a touch to big for the model in their standard state. Also the squareness of the icon vs. the round surrounding area of the belt buckle looked out of place. On the back pack I'd just done a quick trim and file of the area thinking the icon would fit but it didn't so I went back, broke it off, trimmed both the area and the icon down a bit and fitted it again.

What else did I do.. I added a few more little icons here and there plus a few skulls and trinkets from my bits box... Anyway, I think if you compare the photographs between this post and the last one you should agree that this is a much more cohesive 'factory' looking conversion. More so when you throw some primer on and unify the colours:




Something else I am working on conversions wise is this Daemon Prince. I like the new kit a lot, I think pretty much every aspect of it looks sweet, though a little cartoonish in its proportions. I think the chicken legs have a lot to do with this and though they look pretty sweet on Tzeentch and Slaanesh, Nurgle and Khorne need something a little chunkier.

This is where the old kit reigns supreme in my opinon, I think also that it better represents the DP's Ascension to daemon-hood and his roots as a Lord of Chaos. The other guy seems a little too daemon oriented to be hanging out with the boys on the reg, where as I think this power armoured behemoth doesn't look out of place at the front of his warband during office hours or meeting the boys for a couple of brews after work.

Parts so far:
Old DP Legs
New DP Upper Body
Old Blood Thirster Belt
New High Elf Dragon Wings
Defiler Face Mask

Pics bro:



What do you think? Coming along alright?

Cheers
Redscorps

Editors Note - We got in all the entries for the September Open Conversion contest. Almost 20 in all! So, we will get those up ASAP with all the excellent descriptions everyone also submitted in the next day or 2. We want to thank everyone that has entered and ask everyone that hasn't, please do check back often and vote!

[Redscorps] Hi, My names Kharn. I'm new here, can you show me around?

A nice and easy conversion for all of you World Eaters players out there. I love Kharn the Betrayer but the model is really old now and not overly imposing. I've always thought the SM Jump Chaplain was a great basis for this model with the cool pose and ancient looking armour but my previous attempt to make a custom Kharn with the metal one was rather unsuccessful (I also managed to chop an almond sized chunk right off the end of my index finger while trying to cut it, BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!).

I've not worked with the Finecast range before and had read a lot of bad publicity, but I have to say that working with the material is great. The level of detail is superb plus the fact that there were only a few minor mold lines and only one small bubble meant I was pretty stoked!

It's really easy to cut which afforded me the ability to remove the shoulder pad, head and scrolls from the purity seals without much of a headache. It's actually so soft I was able to really easily re-sculpt the leg sections once I removed the purity seals and add the detail of the armour joints back on.

So the parts I used for this conversion:

GW/Finecast Space Marine Jump Chaplain Body
Forge World World Eaters Head and Shoulder Pad (From the WE Upgrade set)
WHFB Chaos Marauders Arm (The one with the dagger)
Possessed Chaos Space Marine Backpack
Forge World Chainaxe Head and Handle (I cut the pole out as it was too thin, I used the handle joined to the head of the chainaxe, joined to the Crozius handle as the thicknesses matched better)
Some bitz from my girlfriend's son's CSM bits box (Couple skulls, some chain, a tooth thing)
Forge World World Eaters Brass-etch Icons
Some barbed wire from Armypainter I think

The conversion is nearly done, a little cleaning up to do here and there but it's finished enough to show you what I managed to achieve in about 2hrs with the above parts. I think it's a much more impressive model to represent the mad-dog Kharn with and I can't wait to hit him up with some blood effects.

Click to enlarge:

What do you think? For the base I am intending to add a small pile of skulls from Secret Weapon Miniatures and probably a cheeky Red Scorpion Helmet.

Thanks for checking in,
Redscorps


Ps My Kharn's tougher than the normal Kharn! Power armour gauntlet to hold your Plasma Pistol OOP Kharn? Yeah, not on my watch sunshine..