As I mentioned in a previous article, we are at the beginning third party conversion and model boom. It is a long time coming and with 3-D printing prices coming down it is only a matter of time.
Some companies though have already used the culmination of Games Workshop's shortsightedness and dropping manufacturing costs to be posed as model manufacturer leaders going forward.
One of the leaders on the conversion and model making fronts is Maxmini, they are at the heart of the bustling Polish wargaming boom. They recently relaunched their website with a community focus and design. I am proud to have used their bits for my own creations and excited to be part of expanding their reach to as many gamers as possible.
Maxmini and others have expanded the possibilities to what a Warhammer 40k army can look like. This is just the start of what they set out to accomplish. I was first introduced to Maxmini by reading Bell of Lost Souls article showcasing a beautiful Space Wolf army a few years ago. In the article, the now iconic pre-heresy shoulder pad were displayed, and it was the first time I didn't see plastic card used to duplicate the effect.
It was at that point I had to take a closer look at this company. It was also about the same time one of my local buddies decided to look for a cheaper Thunderhammer alternatives. He came across Maxmini take on sci-fi hammers.
After scouring the Internet it was interesting to see what else people had come up with using Maxmini bits, like Spartan type heads for Emperor Children
More recently, I put my friend Chris also known as Aventine from BoLS, and various awesome commission painting to a test. I had him pick out a few Maxmini bits and put together a model. Here is the concept and model he came up with.
I decided I wanted a couple of Adeptus Custodes to accompany my Heresy era White Scars army, as I had always envisioned them as defenders of the Imperial Palace. I had cobbled something together using a High Elf helm, but it didn’t really inspire and I never finished it. I wanted Custodes that looked battle ready; no flowing robes over here.
Then I came across Maxmini’s ‘Steam Knight Nobles’ heads and ‘Gun Glaives’. I felt that these were perfect and they totally reignited my interest in the old project. A steam punk aesthetic is perfect for the Custodes in my opinion; as I have always seen them in a very ‘Blanchian’ way.
In order to get an unrobed, but still fancy look, the legs and arms from the Blood Angels Sanguinary Guard were used, who have great artificer armor. I did, however, leave off their famed nipple armor in favor of a breastplate with tassels from the plastic Space Marine Captain.The Gun Glaive was cut in half and pinned onto the fist of the model. The head fit perfectly. The model was then given a standard gold and red Custodes theme.
I used a simple gold recipe for the armor, using a basecoat of brown, then a base gold, and a gold highlight.
If you want to check out more of Chris's work and commission rates head on over to his blog!
Did I mention something about a contest?
Oh, yeah I think I did.
Well anyway this is a simple one.
All you have to do to win a €50.00 gift card from Maximini, is Facebook Like both Blood of Kittens and Maxmini and then give a thumbs up or comment to the link for this post. The key here is you must like both Facebook pages and the contest update from each Facebook page to qualify. If you already both Maxmini and Blood of Kittens fans then just thumbs up both updates and be entered to win! Extra points will be given to any comments with pictures or ideas for using Maxmini products.
The contest will run only for a week and then a week after that we will announce a winner!
Have fun guys and gals and remember the gift card is useable worldwide.
Warning
Contests are rated pageview boosting hypocrite. These articles are meant to give you free stuff at the cost of some privacy and self respect.