The Warforge Miniature Modelling and Conversion

Even in (un)death…

While I was collecting parts to use for my Legion of the Damned army, I managed to get my hands on a pair of Forgeworld Chaplain Dreadnoughts through a couple trades.

I picked these guys up because out of all of Forgeworld's line, they seemed the most Legion-themed; skulls all over, a ribcage motif on the torso, and bones in the leg armor plates seemed hugely appropriate. The aquila plates on the front were the only questionable parts, but as you'll see in a moment, that's no longer much of an issue.

As is typical of Forgeworld, the quality was a mixed bag. One of the dreadnoughts was perfect - no miscasts, no bubbles, all the details were there, sharp, and lovely. The other? Not as lucky. There was a pretty blatant miscast on the front 'aquila' plates and the legs, and it just generally looked like hell by comparison. Both came new and mostly unassembled in their original FW baggies, so I think FW's Quality Control is more to blame than anything else.

In any event, I wasn't quite sure what to do with the one miscast one. After a bit of brainstorming, I decided I would grind the front plates completely off and turn the thing into an Ironclad because, hey, an Ironclad in an army with Vulkan rules is awesome - hello twin-linked burny death!

Of course, grinding the front plates off isn't quite as easy as it sounds. The skulls hanging off the front of the torso actually cover a bit of the aquila design, meaning that removing the design without mangling the skulls would be a bit of a challenge. I whipped out my trusty dremel, though, and with a bit of patience, sandpaper, and filing, I managed to essentially remove the entire front plate of the dreadnought. At that point, I grabbed some Apoxie Sculpt. This stuff is pretty fantastic if you need a putty you can smooth - a bit of water on your finger, and Apoxie Sculpt turns into a lovely flat surface.

I let it dry, and sanded it down a bit more so that it'd be flat, and viola, I have a dreadnought with no more aquila plates!

Now, my big issue is deciding where I'm going from here. I can see two options for the front plate, once I'm completely done sanding it down / cleaning it up. I can:

• Try and add Ironclad Assault Launchers to the front plate. I don't have the actual parts from the kit for this, so I'd have to improve something - perhaps the bits from a Terminator Cyclone Launcher.
• Add flames to the front plate to fit the Legion aesthetic, and maybe sling some sort of launcher-looking device underneath the plates, in the armpit area, to count as assault launchers.

Of course, I could just as easily leave the assault launchers off, as they're an optional upgrade and not necessarily the best wargear, but they always seemed iconic of Ironclads, which is why I'm considering. What do you guys think? Right now, I'm leaning towards cutting out some flames from thin plastic for the front plate and using those.