Privateer: Converting Trollbloods for Grind
Last month’s No Quarter included rules for the game – here’s how to get your models ready to play.
Brendan Roy shows how he’s customizing his minis for the new edition of Grind…
After filling out my Grind team roster of warbeasts, I set my sights on converting my first model: the Dire Troll Mauler. At this point, I really had no overall vision for my team, but I wanted to play it loose at such an early stage, so I wouldn’t hinder any creative whims I might have. I preferred to steer clear of any serious sculpting work because I wanted to see what I could do with just replacing parts here and there. Before I started this conversion, my only real concept for the Mauler was “hardened old gladiator with a barrel helmet.”
Going through all the extra bits I’ve accumulated over the years, I broke everything down into somewhat organized piles to get a better sense of what I might be able to create. I spent a few moments test-fitting various pieces to see how they might interact in the next stages of building.
I wanted to stick with the upper torso of the Mauler kit, as it’s easily recognizable; however, that didn’t mean I needed to stick to the standard legs. I tested the upper body with a few leg bits to decide which one had the best look. Part of me really wanted to go with the Titan legs, but since I wanted to avoid too much sculpting work, I opted out. Maybe next time I’ll use it and sculpt a hefty gut onto him for a sumo-style Mauler. We’ll see!
In the end, I stuck to the standard legs but swapped the spare leg for a lovely Khadoran one. When it comes to conversions and part swapping, I enjoy putty a good deal, as you can see in the picture. It’s just a small dab of glue on both ends of a ball of putty that’s then sandwiched between two parts. It’s quick, fast-holding, and allows me more freedom in creating the architecture of the piece. Then I can go back and sculpt or clean up areas as needed. Pinning is also useful here, but it requires more exact measurements and a much clearer idea of what your end piece will look like.
Other than my first Grind model for my team being a Dire Troll Mauler, the only other idea I had was for him to have a barrel for a helmet. I tried other pieces just to see how they looked, but the barrel won out. The Cephalyx helmet had a really nice look to it, but I decided to save that for a Scythean conversion. To get the barrel on, I trimmed the top of the troll’s head and then cut the barrel in half using hobby clippers. The roughness from the clippers was a nice effect, making the barrel look like it had been broken in half, which I accentuated with my hobby knife.
Even though the arms were the easiest step, I think I spent the most time trying out as many combinations of bits as I could. But a hand swap was all I needed for an effective look. This guy seemed to be going full Khador!
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Oh, the extra bits. With the model fleshed out in the previous step, this was where I got to make a pile of some fun looking stuff that might go well on…Mr. Ticklefist? I did a bit of sorting and got to work!
Covering up the ugly putty/glue work on the leg was a goal for this stage. I wanted to avoid sculpting extra cloth, creating a connection point to the replaced leg, or something else to adjust the fit, so thigh plates seemed a good idea. As he was already leaning toward the Khador-side of things, I think it worked out that the shields I had where the right shape I needed.
When I think of the aesthetics of a gladiator, a single shoulder armor plate is usually near the top of my list. I tried a few different larger shields I had, but the Demolisher shoulder plate seemed to work nicely (and, you know, this guy seems to be a fan of Khador now anyway). After clipping and trimming down the Dire Troll’s shoulder growths, I glued the plate on once I was happy with the positioning.
And then came the pain. Back when I was sorting through the bits in step 1, I became fond of the idea that the Mauler should have spears/weapons stuck in him from his years of battling. After grabbing the ones I thought were the best fits, I cut them down and prepared them for being glued to Mr. Ticklefist. When placing them, I tried to think about areas they could be placed that wouldn’t restrict movement—or the ability to handle him as a playable model.
And here is Mr. Ticklefist. There’s still some gap filling to be done, but his overall conversion is complete, and I can’t wait to start painting him. I’m very content with the way he came out. All the Khadoran bits I used helped me determine that my warbeast Grind team will be trained gladiators from a Khadoran nobles’ “fight club,” and they’ll be called something like the Khadorable Kreatures. One warbeast down, five to go!
If you’ve converted models for a Grind team, be sure to share them on Privateer’s forums!
What do you think of this conversion?
