Converting characters from the plastic box sets is not only fun, it will save you a lot of money. Here's how I converted mine.
First, the Ogre Bulls box set of six plastic Ogres is your friend here. Six models for $40 is far better than one.
Even better, they are not Finecast.
Sure the Ogre characters in Finecast look cool, but with the exception of perhaps the beautiful Firebelly model nearly all are easily converted from more affordable and sturdier plastic kits. I used three plastic Bulls to create my Ogre Tyrant and Ogre Butcher and Slaughtermaster.
Last time the Ogres got revised Games Workshop added a whole bunch of great new plastic kits to the range. Mournfangs, the Ironblaster and the Stonehorn kit all come with a plethora of great optional heads, weapons and armor plates. When you add this to the meat cleavers, chunks of meat and other optional bits in the Ogre Bulls kit there's no shortage of parts for creating unique characters.
In the photo below you can see how I've used Kneadatite ("Green Stuff") to sculpt an apron and beret for my French chef of an Ogre Slaughtermaster. The fillet knife in his left hand is an optional bit from the Ogre Bulls kit and the large curved carving knife in his right hand is a cut-down version of an Ogre Bull sword. I put him on a sculpted rock made of two-part epoxy to make him seem larger and so he'd stand out from the rank-and-file soldiers in the army.
My other Ogre Butcher was built similarly using Green Stuff and an Ogre Bull. He has a meat cleaver in his right hand from the Ogre Bulls set. The cool characterful head comes from one of the other sets in the Warhammer Ogres model range.
Here you can see the front and rear of the Butcher model after painting. The sack and ribs hanging from his waist are all stock optional bits in the plastic Ogre kits.I had some fun with the apron, the phrase on it is a reference to a favorite episode of what may be the best written fantasy/SF TV series of all time. Do you know the series? Hint, it lies between the "pit of Man's fears and the summit of his knowledge."
The Tyrant is made from an Ogre Bull. I cut the body at the waist and then sculpted onto the torso with Apoxie Sculpt to make it slightly longer thus adding to the height of the model. The head and pauldron are from various Ogre plastic kits. The huge two-handed weapon was built from a banner pole and weapon bits from kits like the Mournfang box set.
Converting the three main characters for my Ogre army from half a box of Ogre Bulls means that all of them together cost half the price of a single Finecast Ogre character. Even better, converting my characters makes mine unique from other Ogre armies with stock character models. It was also a fun hobby project. So why not let your imagination run free a bit and try converting some characters of your own?
I've recently been painting my first Ogres and have a unit of Bulls done as well as a couple of the characters shown here. I'm hoping to provide more information on the painting process in a future hobby article.