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jt-y |
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Post subject: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
 Posted: May 21, 2014 - 07:08 PM
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Joined: Oct 02, 2012
Chorley, Lancs
Posts: 23
Location: Chorley, Lancs
Status: Offline
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There needs to be more traffic here, so here is my first offering.
This team was painted to replace my existing dwarf team which was speed painted and I have always thought could look a bit better.
This came about because I love dwarfs, possibly my favourite Warhammer race (it really would be a hard choice between dwarf, chaos [Nurgle in particular] and Kislev). But to date GW have never really got the models quite right to my eye, they have always been just short of the awesome artwork.
That's been fixed now with the new Ironbreakers/Irondrakes and Hammerers/Longbeardsbox sets, not to mention the characters and gyro-copter.
So I set about by picking up a box of each along with the slayer character and a gyro-copter to figure out how to build a team.
Below is what I came up with, which was finished in time for the NAF Champs and went on to win me my second best painted award in as many trips to this tourney.
Very pleased with that, it means a lot to win best painted anywhere, but at a 160 player tourney and against some very stiff competition it means even more.
I'm also going to take this opportunity to talk a bit about how the team was built because not only are the models nice but it is worth considering that many of GW's current plastic kits loan themselves very well to building BB teams from.
To put that in some context, Jervis didn't recognise these as GW models at first when he saw them at the weekend, seeing them without weapons and shields, and out of context, threw him for a loop and he thought they were from one of the indy manufacturers. I think that says quite a bit about the quality of some of the indy teams on the market, but also about what can be achieved with some of the plastic kits and, to be honest, very little conversion work or imagination.
And for what you get the price isn't always that bad either.
So, if you are still here, here are some pictures, and after an introduction like that the perfect place to start would be with two Avatars Of War plastic dwarf slayers 
Why AoW dwarfs 
Well, the new GW dwarf slayer character is a great model, but I felt a bit too dynamic to have duplicated within a BB team. The AoW plastics are a perfect match scale wise, and being sculpted by someone who once worked for GW and has put his stamp on the GW dwarf range, the style matches very well also.
After blagging a couple of frames of unused models from a club mate with a huge dwarf WFB army I selected the legs I wanted to use based on which allowed for the greatest amount of metal work, this being a major feature of the team as a whole.
The arms come from the GW Ironbreakers and are used to give the slayers that bit more coherency with the rest of the team. Slayers may not normally wear armour, but I felt it was worth this break from the norm to add that coherency and as a nod to the idea of football armour/padding.
Next up, the Blitzers:
These are made exclusively from Hammerer parts. The helmets, the style of the arms, these are both things that make the models stand out clearly from all their team mates. Also the idea fits; in WFB Hammerers are the elite guard of dwarf lords and nobles, so it fits that that the glamourous role of blitzer in the BB world (which is after all a parody of the WFB world where football has replaced war) would fall to this elite cadre.
This also guided my choices for what parts to use on the other positionals. I decided that I'd stick with the scale mail armour of the Hammerer/Longbeard models for the blitzers, runners, star players and sideline staff, and use the heavy plate armoured torsos of the Ironbreaker/Irondrakes as linemen.
Onto the Runners:
So, as with the blitzers these two boys wear scale mail. I feel this represents well the higher mobility and AG of these positions, and makes them very obvious on the pitch.
Unlike the blitzers these two boys have arms from the Ironbreakers set. This gives a strong visual link with the slayers and the line, and further helps to make the blitzers unique.
Another simple way to mark the runners was to give them both bare heads; it makes them visible and I feel explains their lower AV, something replicated by necessity on the slayers and by design on one of the star players later on.
There aren't any bare heads on the Hammerer/Longbeard frames useable though as the only ones included are specific to the command models; drummers and the like, so the heads used are both from the Ironbreaker/Irondrake box set. Not a perfect fit it must be said due to the designs of the torsos, but an easy trim to make fit on plastics.
Finally, both of these models wear catchers mitts taken from the plastic human team from the BB starter set. Another touch to set them apart and attempt to show their role within the game.
Number 1 wears a bandana as a reference to his previous incarnation in the original team, along with an honourific seal on his shoulder to represent Fan Favourite, an attribute picked up during the club perpetual league.
Next up, we're on to the linemen/blockers:
Numbers 7, 8, and 9.
Numbers 10, 11, and 12.
Numbers 13, 14, and 15.
These are simple models, no conversion required. Lovely.
It is a simple matter to cut away weapons, and a bit of work can remove any sign they were ever there at all.
On all of the empty hands I've drilled a small way in to the top of the fist, creating a divot which can then be attacked with a needle file to create a natural look.
The lower, inside part of the fist has had the remnants of the weapon hafts carefully trimmed away also and a more natural look created again by attacking the palms and fingers with a needle file.
Another benefit of these models is the ball and socket style shoulder joints.
Normally, when ranked up in a regiment, this won't mean much as the models will fall into very similar stances to add a regimented, shield-wall look, and for ease of ranking the models, but when used to create a BB team these ball and socket joints are a blessing. They allow for sufficient variety of pose and suggestion of movement in the models that all look unique on the pitch and all capture at least some small sense of motion.
You may have noticed that all the players feature circular plates on their backs to display team numbers.
These are a very easy thing to add.
All plastic sprues have 'feet' on them; small, circular nubs that stick out and are designed to prevent the sprues rubbing together whilst packed in a box, which can cause damage to fragile parts.
These feet are perfect for number plates. Simply cut them from the sprue and trim (CAREFULLY!) with a craft knife. Then glue them to the player's back, shoulder, wherever, and instant number plate!
Finally for this post, no dwarf team is complete without a Death Roller:
 
 
Ok, so it's a gyro-copter.
I love the model; it's small, compact, and looks incredibly dwarfish and brutal. Whilst trying to decide if I could justify using it I remembered a scene from the film 28 Weeks Later, in which a helicopter flies low over a field full of zombies, tilting its rotors towards the ground and cutting them into sushi whilst risking a terrible accident.
That was all the justification I needed.
The model features the directional rotors from the gyro-bomber (same box set) in place of the traditional gyro-copter fins with drop bombs, for a bit more blending power.
At the front the steam gun was trimmed away so that the ball mount could be reversed in the socket (the standard model features a positionable steam gun, a nice feature but one I didn't need) to give a nice, smooth domed plate on which to place the player number.
And that is it really for the team itself. Very little work required for a very characterful team.
In the next post I'll share the star players and sideline staff, but that can wait because it is very late.
Thanks for looking, and if you managed to read all of that, you show great fortitude 
Cheers,
JT. |
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wifflebat |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 22, 2014 - 01:37 PM
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Joined: Mar 04, 2014
United States
Posts: 2
Location: United States
Status: Offline
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| So good, I wouldn't even know where to begin stealing ideas! Congrats on a well-deserved win! |
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Kilowoggy |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 23, 2014 - 09:38 PM
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Joined: Dec 09, 2007
United States of America
Posts: 363
Location: United States of America
Status: Offline
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| Just stupid good... There's no words... |
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Co-Host of BOTH DOWN:The #1 Blood Bowl Podcast... that you can find at Both Down!
Or on Twitter @BothDown
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lamby |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 25, 2014 - 07:17 AM
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Joined: Jun 01, 2008
Posts: 10
Status: Offline
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| well done jt, i wish i had half the painting talent that you do, it really is a lovely team, even better in reality than the photos show. |
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Heff |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 25, 2014 - 04:47 PM
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Joined: Apr 18, 2011
Posts: 2
Status: Offline
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| Such talent wasted on dwarves |
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Stoevers |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 26, 2014 - 09:27 AM
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Joined: Jan 04, 2014
Germany
Posts: 12
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
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| Great! I love Dwarfs and I love what you did to them! |
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Axtklinge |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 26, 2014 - 10:10 AM
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Joined: May 29, 2006
Portugal
Posts: 325
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
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That is one awesome team, both on conversion and painting level.
Every little detail looks fantastic, and the colour scheme is just beautiful!
Congrats! |
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reroll |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 27, 2014 - 11:37 AM
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Joined: Jan 07, 2013
North Ireland
Posts: 8
Location: North Ireland
Status: Offline
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| Lovely. The colour of the metal and the purple wash is brilliantly well done. I would never even have thought to try that. |
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jt-y |
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Post subject: RE: Karak Wanderers (Dwarf team)
Posted: May 29, 2014 - 09:34 AM
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Joined: Oct 02, 2012
Chorley, Lancs
Posts: 23
Location: Chorley, Lancs
Status: Offline
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Glad you like them guys.
The purple shade is actually quite a common trick on gold as it adds a great deal of depth and richness to gold metalics. Here it became a much stronger feature when Alex at FF Fields picked up on it for a secondary colour on the pitch he designed and ran with it.
That in turn lead to the metal itself becoming far more brass like than gold, which doesn't show in the pictures, but in the flesh and in bright light the metal changes colour and can look silver, white, or even green from a distance! Far more like highly polished brass than gold, and done because gold doesn't tarnish, so I wanted to drift away from it to integrate the purple more.
I kinda envisage it as brass that's been anodized or coated in some way to protect it and add colour.
Anyway, thanks for looking and iI'll post pictures of the star players and sideline staff shortly. |
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jt-y |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jun 18, 2014 - 06:26 PM
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Joined: Oct 02, 2012
Chorley, Lancs
Posts: 23
Location: Chorley, Lancs
Status: Offline
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I promised a while ago to add more pics to this thread showing the sideline staff and stars. But then I chased a squirrel or some such nonsense...
So, having been reminded, on with the stars:
 
Boomer Eziason and Barik Farblast.
Super easy to make. The bodies are from the Hammerers/Longbeards boxset and the heads are spare heads from the Gyro-copter kit. I went with these for a more engineers guild look.
The arms come from the Ironbreakers/Irondrakes boxset.
In this edition of the game Ironbreaker unit champions can carry something called 'cinder bombs', so making Barik was a breeze.
And Irondrakes carry big flame cannon things, which as you can see work perfectly for Boomer's bazooka.
The best conversions are the ones yo don't have to convert.
 
Flint Churnblade and Zara The Slayer.
Flint was easy and I'm very pleased with how he turned out for such a simple conversion.
Again, his head comes from the Gyro-copter, but this time is a bare head to reflect the lower armour value. Very useful that the Gyro kit comes with 4 alternate heads.
The chainsaw was made by simply cutting the barrel from an Irondrake gun and gluing a marine chainsword in its place. A bit of greenstuff to fix up the gaps and cut tubes and bingo; chainsaw.
Zara is this years limited edition White Dwarf model. I just couldn't resit it really, it works so well.
 
Grim Ironjaw and Morg n Thorg.
Grim is the new slayer character from GW. He's a great model, but I thought too dynamic to use as the standard slayers on the roster. Perfect for a star though.
His arms have been removed and replaced with Ironbreaker arms, as per the other slayers,again to tie in with the team better. And the scenic base the model comes with has been used but reduced a bit in height, which also gave him an interesting offset on the base.
Morg is a standard ogre, but with the forearms from WFB Blorcs which are a great size match and give him some really brutal punching fists. This also gave a bit more metal to paint for a stronger tie in with the rest of the team.
The gutplate is a Longbeard shield, a perfect size match which went on with no issues.
Finally, the mohawk is a left over Avatars of War bit from amongst the bits I scrounged. I gave a lot of thought on how I could make an ogre look like the rest of the dwarfs. Eventually it occured to me that I didn't need to; I could just make him look like an over sized slayer.
 
Morg's tattoo's kinda make up for the arms and torso's being covered on the other slayers. They are intended to reflect several different races that he's worked for along with a CACK club logo on his right shoulder.
 [img]https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10308246_620177194739090_4742117538166268713_n.jpg?oh=88479f9de0f853db030d1f7850cb13f2&oe=540F9CC8[/img]
Wizard/Apothecary, Coach and Cheerleader.
The wizard/apo is a runepriest with a clipboard from the dwarf artillery set.
Both the coach and cheerleader are standard command figures from the Longbeards frames. I went with command figures like this because I feel it fits the gnarly dwarf nature well and it meant that out of twenty dwarfs from the two regiment sets only two went unused.
 
Team tokens.
From top:
Turn/Score marker (there are two of these), made from the Ironbreaker standard top.
Reroll markers (8 in total) these are made from the Irondrake standard top. 6 extra were picked up from a bits store on eBay. This logo was emulated by Alex and graces the centre of the teams own pitch.
Prone/stunned death roller marker, made from a couple of axes and a longbeard shield, because there is no way that gyro-copter will lie down on a standard pitch!
Fame and weather markers. Nice and small to fit the trackers on the teams custom pitch. They are standard toppers from the longbeards set.
And finally, the ball, painted and based to fit the scheme of the team, because at this stage it'd be daft to overlook.
And finally the team pitch, designed by Alex at FF Fields. A superb job as ever.
And that is the lot. Thanks for looking and any questions, please ask.
Cheers,
JT-Y. |
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Tojurub |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jun 20, 2014 - 01:52 AM
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Joined: Aug 18, 2003
Germany
Posts: 1520
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
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| wow! in all aspects, wow! |
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Dwarves rule!!! Especially when they pass!
3rd place Underworld Cup 2003
Swiss Champion 2004
2nd place Royal RumBBL 2015 and White Star Cup 2016
.....and now Ex-Vize-Prez
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AL13N |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jun 21, 2014 - 11:58 PM
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Joined: Apr 27, 2010
United States of America
Posts: 115
Location: United States of America
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madsherman |
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Post subject:
Posted: Aug 06, 2014 - 04:58 PM
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Joined: Aug 09, 2013
Posts: 6
Status: Offline
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That is a BAD ASS looking team... Not superfond of the chopper, but hey, each to his own. I just have difficulties seeing how he'd be able to reach the guys with the rotor when the blades are that short. Now, a wreckingball or spikes on the bottom of it might do the trick for me  |
_________________
"Accept the fact that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a halfling is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All depends upon it." -Ronyld Spïers
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jt-y |
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Post subject:
Posted: Sep 08, 2014 - 10:30 AM
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Joined: Oct 02, 2012
Chorley, Lancs
Posts: 23
Location: Chorley, Lancs
Status: Offline
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Axtklinge |
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Post subject:
Posted: Sep 11, 2014 - 05:21 AM
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Joined: May 29, 2006
Portugal
Posts: 325
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
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Those star players are just WOW.
And I really mean... WOW!
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