Conversion Kits

As part of my reference I bought some 'conversion kits', which are exactly what they sound like, small kits made to slightly convert or alter models. Most models, though packed with details, are fairly generic, so their are a wide variety of kits available (largely from Games Workshop's sister company Forge World). These kits can contain a range of different parts which can add extra detail to units, for example making them fit a certain army; by use of transfers, shoulder pads with chapter logos etc. This helps to make armies look more uniformed and interesting than solely painting them in their specific colours.

Another use of conversion kits is the reinvention of your models, such as using select parts from kits and attaching them to other races or unit classes. Although this has limited uses it opens a new avenue for hobbyists to explore creating interesting alterations and mixing up their own units.

Chaos and Ork conversion kits already exist (separately), so I bought myself some as I thought using these could give me a really quick and easy way to put some combinations together without worrying about having to design sections myself. 

These are examples of the type of parts found in a conversion kit, the ones shown are from the Forge World Ork conversion kit. Found here!

I was able to quickly put together some fairly simple models using these parts and some from standard Chaos models.

Here are the two models I made.

These models are pretty interesting but I don't consider them to be a very good mix up of Chaos and Ork as there is no real integration of the two races, they don't flow. With my models I'm trying to intrinsically meld the races together by making the Orks look warped and changed by Chaos. What I'm aiming for couldn't realistically be done with conversion kits.

However I do think conversion kits could have a place within my project, if I made my own. I am still planning to make my 3 models myself but parts of those models could be broken off and 3D printed again on another sprew. I'd then have a proper Chaos/Ork conversion kit of my own and I could use that kit with other models to quickly bulk up output and potentially have many more units by the end of my project!

Making the extra conversion kit parts would be relatively simple, most could come straight from my 3D models when they are finished, using those parts to modify other models would also be pretty quick to do. The time however would come from then painting those models. Painting my models is a big part of the project, bigger than might be expected, but a good paint job is what makes the models stand out and come to life and properly painting models takes time. I'm allocating time to paint my main 3 models but I simply may not have enough to paint several more afterwards.

Maybe I could make them and leave them grey or black, I'm not sure how that would look sitting next to my fully painted models. Hmmmm, not sure about this one. I think I'll have to see how I get on with my main models and make a decision a little later on when I have nailed down a time frame.