New HQ models for my White Scars!!!

     I'm quite the perfectionist when it comes to a lot of things, and conversion work is one of them.  That's probably why it's taken me almost a month to get my new HQ models put together.  Since the release of the Dark Angels codex, I have been playing a Ravenwing army with my White Scars.  I know I might catch some greif over this, but you buy over 70 Space Marine Bikes and play the vanilla codex.  I don't even care if I win or lose, it's simply the army that I have always wanted. 

     Now I have a couple of guys to lead it, too.  I purchased the Sammael model a few weeks back.  I have to say that I didn't know what all the complaining about Finecast was until I got this.  The way GW describes them as having a "few" bubbles is a joke.  I had air bubbles on things like hydraulic hoses where 75% of the hose was missing.  I don't think that filling it in with glue, as they suggest, is gonna cut it.  I had to get out the green stuff and get it as close to what it should be as I could.  I will admit that I am glad I don't have the old metal model.  That thing could double as a weapon and I have heard that it would snap flying stands like it was its job.  Another problem is the warping of the parts.  They are admittedly much easier to bend BACK into shape then metal, but metal was never this far off.  I felt like I was goin to have to break the left leg and right handlebar just to get them to reach.  And the sword was the worst.  It was literally bent on three planes.  Fortunately, I had planned on replacing it with a sword from the White Scars biker upgrade bits. 

     For the conversion work, I mostly just had to remove anything that had Dark Angels iconography.  There was the chest plate, the front of the neck guard, the end of his cape/cloak, the left leg..... I also don't know why Sammael has a giant book on his jetbike.  Maybe he has a final coming up that he just HAS TO study for.  I took it off to use later, as you will see.  I was also not a huge fan of the bird on the front.  Not that I don't like the looks of it, but it seems too Ravenwing.  My plan was to add a nice White Scars-y lightning bolt.  I made it by freehanding it onto some .060 plasticard then cutting it out.  That was actually harder than I thought because the plastic is so thick that the blade wants to bend the small points of the lightning bolt.  I kept the wings on the front, but didn't put on the head and body of the bird.  I used a little green stuff to fill in the space and then put the bolt right in the middle.  After I had that in place, I felt that it was kind of too flat.  I know I could help it with some cool paint later, but I saw the head and just had to stick it on there.  I think it is pretty dumb, but I like it.

 

 

     I also did some work to get my Librarian on a Bike finished.  Here are some pics: