Tyranid Conversions - Rending Claws (Ripper Swarms)
I wanted some Ripper Swarms with the Weapon Beast - Rending
Claws one-off mutation (Codex, pg. 37) that confers the
Rending Claws biomorph to one base of Ripper Swarms for
a mere 6 points. The Codex Tyranids does not show any pictures
of this. There are two basic approaches, in my opinion -
mandibles, or adding arms with RC. I think the arms would
look silly so I opted for mandibles.
You can simply buy:
-
the old second edition Ripper Swarms
from the archive at the Games
Workshop online store,
-
the Trygon Tyranid Horror from the Epic
40,000 line, or
- the Ripperjacks from the Necromunda
line.
However, I wanted them to look the same
as the normal Rippers, so I thought long and hard. I wanted
plastic on plastic, because of the weld like joint that
plastic cement makes with plastic parts. This also would
allow me to smooth out imperfections with Tenax in the
same way that I remove flash
and mold lines. My trick is to use the extended carapace
from the gaunt biomorph sprue, bit #4, to be specific. Materials
- Ripper Swarm model, cleaned of flash and mold lines, and
with a pinned base.
- Cuticle clippers
- Hobby knife
- Faller Expert plastic cement
- Two Extended Carapace biomorphs #4 from the Gaunt biomorph
sprue*
* - this will be the limiting factor. You only get three
of these in a box of Gaunts and one in a box of Warriors.
I have plenty of both, so I am set.
Procedure
- Basically, you trim off both edges that stick out along
the side, as shown below, and then trim off the piece remaining.
You might be tempted to try doing this with a single cut,
but the result is not as good.
- Glue the piece to the side of the mouth, where the webbing
is at the base of the jaw. The piece almost perfectly fits
there. I glue both mandibles on right after one another,
let the glue cure for at least ten or fifteen seconds, and
then adjust the position as I see fit.
- I then went back and put a small drop of glue in the tiny
hole/gap in the left mandible joint.
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