Space Devils

I've been in a real lull minis-wise recently (since, umm... July), but am, finally, back on the horse! 

The other day, I got a parcel containing something I've been eagerly awaiting for months - a pair of test sprues for the Stargrave Mercenaries and Troopers (still not seen the Crew!). Having checked these to get them rolling for production, I couldn't resist kitbashing a few crewmembers. Naturally, I also couldn't resist mixing in a variety of components from other kits...

I've always had a soft spot for Star Wars' Devaronians - the space-demon-looking chaps. No idea why, really - I just like the look!

Devaronian, by William O'Connor, from The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

Fortunately, I also happened to have a sprue of the Frostgrave Demons, which includes a couple of heads that work perfectly for Devaronians and also fit nicely with the Stargrave figures in terms of neck joint and scale.

My first one was a simple kitbash - Trooper arms on a Mercenary body with a Demon head. The only work that was needed for the head was to flatten off the ball joint on the bottom of the neck a bit to both reduce its length and fit better in the socket on top of the body. He's not quite finished - I still need to base him (once I've decided how I want to do that) and drill out the gun barrel.

Having got this guy done as proof-of-concept, I decided to try something a little more involved for my second one. The base elements of this second Devaronian were the same - Demon head, Mercenary body, Trooper arms (this time the machine gun from the sprue). Given that he was toting a big, ammo-chewing gun, I dug out the large backpack from the Frostgrave Knights sprue. This didn't quite fit flush to the back of the Mercenary body, but a little bit of filing and carving soon fixed most of that, while a knife from one of the Stargrave sprues filled a small gap and some ammo pouches from a Bolt Action sprue over each shoulder helped make it feel a little more heavy-duty. At this point, I felt that the backpack itself was a bit plain, so I found some random pouches from my bits box and mounted them to the sides.

Really enjoyed both of these and am very happy with how they came out. My kitbashing was a little rusty after going so long unused, and my use of polystyrene cement was a little heavy-handed, but it's good to be back!

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