EMPEROR'S CHAMPION SHADOW GUARDS CHAPTER By ( Shadow Guard )

CHARACTER CONVERSIONS

Step 1 - Selecting the miniature: I went through my routine of looking through the Citadel catalogues, and my spare marines in the storage box (as opposed to bits box) The ezekiel miniature stood out as being a pretty good Ec on its own. It was robed, hooded and was already wielding a massive sword in a two handed fashion. I could have gone with simply removing the librarian icons and attachments but I wanted mine to be quite unique, so gathered my courage and the jewellers saw and commenced my journey in to conversion nirvana. I also for the first time, decided to scan the miature to record it's progress.

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Step 2 - Preparing the body: I first had to carefully remove both Ezekiels arms. As you can see in figure one, this is no easy task as both arms are folded closely on to his body. First to go was the right arm, which I took great care not to damage as I intended to use it after repositioning it. I cut along line 1 as indicated using a jeweller's saw. (figure 2) There was no way I could remove his left arm in one piece so had to saw through it as shown along lines 2 and 4 in sequence. Finally I sawed out his large book of secrets along line 3. (figure 2) What I ended up with is seen in figure 3. A points to where the right arm was, and B where the left was. C is where I remove book of salvation, D another book and E his keys. A little bit of filing to smooth out the cut surfaces, and I was ready to select the arms.

I had the right arm positioned behind his had as if he was about to swing a mighty blow. nitially I had the sword positioned so that it would be behind his head, but as the hood interfered a lot, I ended up with the current pose. (A & B) I also positioned the boltpistol sideways (D), just to be different, little realising the implications of being tainted with a "John Wu like Gangster Pose" which resulted in many an interesting discussion on the net!

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Step 5 - Painting and detailing: I then added a chaos marauder's flail chain with a crux terminatus taken from the banner pole of a plastic terminator.(arrow) My intention was to give some indication of movement as the Champion whirled around in battle.(figure 8)

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Step 4 - Painting and detailing: At this stage I decided to base him and undercoat him with my standard white undercoat and bleached bone base coat. Going with the cluttered look I rummaged through my bits box, with just concepts of what I wanted to add on. The imperial eagle from a banner pole fit the waist very nicely (B) and a small tome removed from the ezekiel miniature fit the hole on his right chest(A). That was the Codex Astartes, to signify the EC's adherence to the Emperor's will more than that of his own chapters'. Added some purity seals as they never go out of fashion and an ammo pouch (C).(figure 7)

Birth of a Shadow Guard Emperor's Champion: Initial concepts and Thought Process I first started to convert an Emperor's Champion for the ShadowGuards Army, when I mistakenly thought that it would allow me to field the EC as a third HQ without taking up an HQ slot, similar to the Black Templars list. As the idea grew on me I wanted to create an EC that was quite different to what I had witnessed mostly on-line and in magazines. The EC in my army had to fit in with the overall theme, therefore had to be robed. He also had to be different as I was quite adamant that every miniature was distinct on it's own right. I wanted him to have a large and ornate sword, and a laurel wreath of some kind to signify the Iron Halo as well as his special position. I also wanted this miniature to be cluttered with as many items as possible, as distinctive from my geneally clean-looking troops. I wanted him to have the black sword in his right arm swinging back behind his nack and his left arm pointing straight forward along his eyesight, taking aim with the master crafted bolt pistol.

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Figure 1

Figure 2

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Step 3 - Selecting the arms. I had intended to use the right arm from Ezekiel placed in a different, more dynamic pose. However once I cut it and repositioned it the arm was too close to the body, and caused the hood to interfere with the sword. So I had to look elsewhere for a suitable arm. I found one in the Epistolery miniature, the right arm being of suitable size and shape, and the shoulder pad suitably ornate.(figure 4) For his left arm I had a very specific need. It had to be shooting to the left, therefore the joint mechanisms would be seen. Very few citadel models had rthis type of pose, but I had a left over Techmarine from the SM Command squad box, who had the necessary left arm. But he also had a bionic forearm beyond his elbow so I had to get rid of that and only used the part between his shoulder and elbow.(figure 5) A plastic assault marine left forearm with bolt pistol filled in the rest. (Figure 6 - C) I had to spend a bit of time positioning the arms with blue tac to get the right feel. What I finally got was a reasonably dynamic pose. (figure 6)

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It was now, that the importance of ongoing review made it's mark. I was posting these pics as I converted it, on the Bolter & Chainsword SM Chat Board. The verdict was unanimous that the chain was too long and looked clumsy. So I shortened it which made it look a lot better. (figure 9) I also ensured the power cord from the sword joined that in the right arm accurately.(arrow)

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Figure 7