| I loved the plastic Brettonian men at arms bodies and heads, but wasn't sure what to do with them until I applied arms from plastic Cadians- voila, instant WWI style trench fighter! The addition of backpacks from the (out of print) plastic Warzone miniatures complete the image. | |
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I liked the shoulder pads on the Cadian arms, so to get them to fit I cut the outer edges of the Brettonian sleeves off with nippy cutters so the arms would fit right on. With careful filing and posing you can line up the arms in convincing 2-handed poses. |
| There are some nice poses available with the Cadian plastic arms, including this cool grenade-throwing pose. Note the left hand holding the lasgun from the top. I chose a head with an open mouth for more drama. | |
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This Heavy Stubber is from the metal Escher Ganger line, spliced onto the back of a lasgun for a dramatic pose. The Escher weapons have a more practical scale to them that works well for Guardsmen. |
| The Cadian Grenade Launcher is another good match for the Trenchers. Note the extra frag grenades on the waist, also from the Cadian sprue. There are several varieties of surcoat on the Brettonians, but my favorite are the studded ones like these. | |
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This metal model is an old Titan Crew, with arms and flamer from the plastic Cadians and a Brettonian pan helmet added on. The gas mask and quilted surcoat fit the theme perfectly. |
| The Sergeant can stand out from the rest of the troops, and thus uses a body off the Brettonian command sprue, a Catachan backpack, and a Warzone plastic head. The sleeves were left on this time, adding Cadian arms from the elbow down. | |
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This sniper is a converted Widowmaker model from Warmachine. A quick helmet swap and a unified color scheme help this model blend in perfectly with the rest of the squad. |
Click here for a shot of the trenchers in their native habitat.
Here's a shot of the tank I've done for the trenchers. Decals
and markings are still to be added. Yes, that's a Lemann Russ turret
on a Chimaera body- I never really liked the Lemann Russ body, so there
you go. The turret has been modified to pin into the Chimera turret
mount hole, so turrets are interchangeable. Sponson Heavy Bolters
were trimmed down until they snugly fit into the side hatch holes of the
Chimera. I'll also be making removeable side hatches to replace
the heavy bolters, for an easy swap between Battle Tank and Troop Transport.
Click here for a shot of their tank bearing down on some well deserving victims.
I painted the camouflage with spraypaint, believe it or not. I created some simple stencils by cutting jagged lines out of cardboard, and held them up near the tank. You can get a nice feathered edge that looks like airbrushing if you hold the cardboard about a half inch away from the model and spray mostly on the cardboard. The tank was then finished with detail painting, rust and dark brown washes, and steel drybrushing.
