Kitbashing as a beginner

[SolarBur]

Hey there all. 

So i've been wanting to do a little something more with my clan pestilens, not so much them unique, because i have no modelling experience before so i don't want to get out the greenstuff just yet. So i've wanted to kitbash them. And there is a lot of rats in this army (51 in my planned 500pts), so i've been getting a touch of the nerves as i have done beforehand with previous armies over the years. 

I saw one of the staff members armies he was working on today. A small minotaur army, which happens to be my first opponent of the new year with my clan. That is going to be a very bloody fight

But i was looking at his army, all the little additions, banners, trinkets, head armour. All from various parts he had. So i started to wonder what could i do with my plague monks, but i wasn't quite sure. Bits are hard to come by on the bits sites in the uk for some reason, but i have two boxes of flagellants as a good starting point. So lots of parchments, books, bells, scrolls and pouches. Even a few weapons that are roughly the same size as plague monk hands. So i have a good choice of bits to work with. 

What i'm not sure of is how much to put into the unit. If i had a 20 man unit, how many should i add bigger bits to, is it going to be simple enough to do a few weapon swaps for the double hand weapon unit, and what to do with the stave unit. I'm trying to keep it simple as i can, just so i don't overwhelm myself like i have done many time before, but i can't help but wanting to do a bit of kitbashing so my units don't just look straight from the box. 

Could anyone give me advice to help me out with this ? I know my question was a little all over the place, but i found a little difficult on how to word it ^^:;;

[swiftmus]

The only way to know for sure is just to try it! But you could do something along the lines of converting one in every five models say, they will then begin to stand out while keeping the overall aesthetic the same.

[Double Misfire]

Welcome to the real hobby!  

A good tip with any conversion you're not sure about it to use Blu Tack or a similar adhesive putty to make sure any extra bits or pose variations 'work' and to find out what they look like before gluing them.

 

Different kits, even if they're for the same race or faction can sometimes have dramatically different scales and proportions, usually owing to the year they came out in (modern GW models tend to be taller and have less cartoonishly large heads and hands than models that came out 5+ years ago, models from the 90s have even more disproportionately large heads and weapons, and models from the 80s are perfectly proportioned but crudely sculpted and tiny). The differences between the Plague Monk and Clanrat kits are as good an indicator as any of this.

Flagellants are a great kit to try swapping out the odd hand/weapon/limb with Plague Monks with, you shouldn't even need to sculpt any fur on the Flagellants arms, as it's not unrealistic to imagine the Plague Monk in question might have contracted a disease that caused him to start going bald. If you're worried about what to add to your plague monks with staffs, try swapping the top of their staffs out for maces, bells and burning torches from the flagellant kit.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pics of your results here!  

[SolarBur]

15 hours ago, swiftmus said:

The only way to know for sure is just to try it! But you could do something along the lines of converting one in every five models say, they will then begin to stand out while keeping the overall aesthetic the same.

Well i've been giving it a little go tonight. Nothing major just a little blu tacking the models before i start work on them tomorrow. But i'm just keeping the kitbashing simple, mostly one or two part swaps, some as is, and some with an extra bit added to them. 

 

 

12 hours ago, Double Misfire said:

Welcome to the real hobby!  

A good tip with any conversion you're not sure about it to use Blu Tack or a similar adhesive putty to make sure any extra bits or pose variations 'work' and to find out what they look like before gluing them.

 

Different kits, even if they're for the same race or faction can sometimes have dramatically different scales and proportions, usually owing to the year they came out in (modern GW models tend to be taller and have less cartoonishly large heads and hands than models that came out 5+ years ago, models from the 90s have even more disproportionately large heads and weapons, and models from the 80s are perfectly proportioned but crudely sculpted and tiny). The differences between the Plague Monk and Clanrat kits are as good an indicator as any of this.

Flagellants are a great kit to try swapping out the odd hand/weapon/limb with Plague Monks with, you shouldn't even need to sculpt any fur on the Flagellants arms, as it's not unrealistic to imagine the Plague Monk in question might have contracted a disease that caused him to start going bald. If you're worried about what to add to your plague monks with staffs, try swapping the top of their staffs out for maces, bells and burning torches from the flagellant kit.

Good luck, and don't forget to post pics of your results here!  

yeah i started using blu tack tonight

Just been doing a few little bits and pieces. Everything from torches, shields with book and parchments, blades rammed into stumps, puppets, and regular monks. This is so far just building up the double hand weapon monks. For the staves i'm not so sure yet. I know i have a lot of bells left on the flagellant kit. Maybes make my double hand weapons the bearers of the word of the horned rat, the staves the sound of the horned rat. Though that's just a random idea right now ^^:;;

I did manage to finish my plague priest. Which was a bit of kitbashing. The base model is the plague furnace priest. A head swap with the half skull faced monk, the chunk of warpstone on his staff has been replaced with a bell and flail from the flagellant kit and a plague censer. An extra arm possibly a mutation (or a paid graft from clan moulder) that holds the book, but also hides behind it his original arm clutching a dagger. The back of the priest looks a bit bare right now, so not sure on what i want to add for that just yet.