Gashants II

I won't bore you with the ugly details, so no photos this time.  Suffice to say that the latest conversion attempt looks like a leprous, multiple-amputee paralympian Octosaur wearing granddad-like baggy trousers*.

Not pretty.

YET !

I'm determined to get these acceptable from a distance (probably from the next room) and use them for something - draught animals perhaps with docked tails, which would otherwise get stuck in traces etc.  (Sorry, just thinking out loud.)

In the meantime I've been in contact with Rod Campbell at Highlander Studios and he's been kind enough to do a bulk deal on his gashants.  Salt of the Earth, that man!  I imagine I'll still have plenty clipping and filing to get the Black Hat riders to fit, but it will save me going through industrial quantities of green stuff.  And it's something to look forward to after my holidays.

Oh well, ever onwards and gashantwards!



* Talking of baggy trousers, Madness are doing a gig in Luxembourg in September!

Gashants I

Gashants or Octosaurs?  Of course as  a fan of Space: 1889 there isn't really a choice to be made.  My problem, rather, is how to amass a herd of gashants in 15mm.

Gashants from Highlander Studios

Rodrick Campbell over at Highlander Studios Inc does some lovely ones.  That's it.  Period.  I haven't yet spotted any bipedal dinos that might do service with a little work, so Highlander is the only game in town!  Unfortunately for me, they cost US$ 10 per pack of four gashants with tack and harness.  I really don't begrudge him the money - as I say they really do look good - but by the time I pay import duty they'll cost more than twice as much as a pack of 4 Black Hat octosaurs (£3 per pack, and that includes riders).  That's not even looking at postage across the pond versus across the channel. (Did I mention that I am Scottish?)  And I want lots of them - more that 60 easily.  Plus artillery draughts (probably).  So I really need a different solution.


Given that I already have the Black Hat octosaurs, I really should look at ways to convert them without it becoming too much of a chore.

Here are the three variants of octosaurs in the Black Hat range:

First impressions in term of work needed to convert them are that ...
- The posture of the octosaur is much more horizontal than that of a gashant
- The larger pair of rear legs on the model are very vertical.  Gashant legs are much more digitgrade in shape, and bunched under the torso nearer the centre of gravity
- Octosaurs have four appendages too many - but the small forelegs look good for a gashant conversion
- The octosaur's head is wrong - it needs to be more bird-like
- The neck and tail should have frills
- The tail might be a little heavy, and not long enough
- Gashants have really enormous thighs and rear ends.  And I mean HUGE.  (Weightwatchers should branch out and sell plans for the reduction of gashants' thighs and bums!)


Anyway, that's quite a long work list, although the first two are probably the most serious issues.  Change the angle of the torso, and the rider's sitting position changes too, leading to MORE conversion.  I suppose that might tie in with the green stuff that will be used to increase the bulk of the haunches.  And if I have to rebuild the legs, how stable will the casting be once complete?

I'll work on this over the next few weeks and see if converting is really feasible with the limited time and skills that I have.

Shieldgunners

It's been a while, what with the real world taking its toll, and being distracted by the Boxer Rebellion.  But I have been tinkering with shield gunners, that trademark Oenotrian troop-type from Soldiers Companion, and I see no reason why other city states won't have borrowed the idea.

So here's what I have managed so far.

The raw materials are just a Martian Imperial Guard Halberdier - one with the halberd held close to horizontal should work best - plus a pavise from the Imperial Guard with guns.

I trimmed the halberd a few mm forward of the left hand, to allow the "shotgun" to project through the shield a bit.  I also bent the end of the halberd down to suggest a shotgun stock.  I then chopped and filed the pavise down a bit, and drilled out a hole slightly off-centre to take the shotgun.

And that's pretty well it.  Between the left forearm and the "barrel" you've got a pretty good surface area to glue the shield on, and here are three based up.  I think that the notch in the pavise/shield works nicely for the look.

Not too bad for 5 minutes work really, although I may add a shield strap if I'm feeling adventurous. I also have to decide out how to deploy them.  I may mix them with my halberdiers, as shield guns are essentially close combat weapons.