40k on a Budget

As many of you know, Warhammer is an expensive hobby.  In an attempt to field more models and save my wallet I did some research on converting the Land Speeder Storm scouts into usable models. I found some great examples online and decided to give the conversion a go. 

Here are two of the basic conversions.  The only thing I had to do for these models was separate the torsos from the original legs, shape them to fit onto the regular scout legs and glue.  I had previously purchased five scout legs on Ebay for about $4.00 with shipping, they came in handy with these two models.

This model was also extremely easy.  The only conversion I did here was carve out the hand in order to have the scout hold the combat blade.  The model was already in this pose, I just stuck a Tyranid skull under his foot. Simply done but the model looks great.

The picture is a little blurry but this is the Heavy Bolter gunner seat model.  I wanted to be able to use him as both a Heavy Bolter wielding scout and have him sit the gunner seat in the Land Speeder Storm.  I accomplished this with a lot of green stuff and some magnets.  The model can be removed from the base and seated in the Land Speeder Storm.

Here is a shot of the base from underneath.  I cut out a hole in the base, attached another piece of a base above the hole and green stuffed a rare earth magnet inside.  It looks a mess, but it works.

The model has a piece of a strip magnet glued to his foot.  I shaped it a little bit to try to give it a look that will blend well with the base.  Now the scout can be attached to and removed from the base.

Here is a shot of the scout from behind.  The magnet on his foot blends with the effect of the base fairly well.  Once painted it should look like he is squatting on a raised mound of earth.

Lastly we have the Scout Sergeant.  The pose is unaltered.  I glued a pair of binoculars in his had and threw a Boltgun on his back.  I didn't like the way the Boltgun looked just stuck to his back.  I decided he needed a sling.  As you could see in the green stuff mess above there is no way I could make a sling for the Sergeant on my own.  I had to enlist the help of The Liz.  She painstakingly molded the sling out of green stuff and attached it to the model.  A big thanks to The Liz.

Here are some shots from various angles to show some of the detail The Liz put into the sling.

I did not alter the pilot model.  Someone needs to fly the thing.  A box of regular scouts costs about $25.00.  All in all I figure I saved about $20.00 by doing the conversion.  I'm really happy with the way the scouts turned out.  I will post some pics when I actually paint them and glue on their arms.  Until then I'd love to hear your comments and critiques. 

-Talagand