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Cadian Commissars - Inso

Introduction

As an Imperial Guard collector for many years, I was very impressed with the new Cadian plastics from Games Workshop, so I set about building an army. There was just one problem; they did not release any new Commissars to go with them. Having seen the metal Kasrkin models, with their carapace armour and the Cadian officers I decided to take the plunge and convert some Commissars of my own, taking some design cues from the rest of the range and basing them on the Cadian plastics. What follows is a basic 'step by step' guide showing how I set about the task.

Tools and Components

Here is a list of the tools and components that I used for the conversion:

1. Green Stuff (GS).
2. Polystyrene Cement (Plastic Glue).
3. Super Glue.
4. Scalpel.
5. Clippers.
6. Dress Makers Pin.
7. Modelling tool.
8. Plastic Card.
9. The Cadian Infantry / Heavy Weapon Sprue.
10. Items from the Catachan, Space Marine and Rogue Trader Marine Sprues.

The Basics



The first thing to do is select the Cadian legs and torso that you are going to use, along with the Catachan head (you could use the bare head from the Cadian sprue). Once you have decided which to use, clean off the flash and glue the legs to the base and the torso to the legs. Next, remove the top of the head (at a sloping angle) with clippers and a knife and glue the head to the torso. Trim off the chest eagle and the leg pocket flaps (to leave space for the knee pads later on). Now let everything set ready for the main work to start.

The Cap Basic Shape



Now for the cap. Cut a plastic-card disc the same size as the top of the head and another, slightly larger one, to act as the brim of the dress cap. Glue the small disk to the top of the head and then glue the larger one on top of this, leaving more of an overlap at the front. Chamfer off the top edge of the hat brim by scraping with the scalpel.

The Sculpting Begins

The sculpting has to be done in stages, leaving time for the GS to dry in between, so patience is required. For this write up, whenever you see LID, it means let it dry. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, as it is soul destroying ruining what you have already spent ages on by putting your fingers on wet details.

Select a suitable modelling tool, mix a small amount of GS and ensure that you have water (or spit!) available to keep the tool wet (you will need to keep the tool wet at all times, other wise the GS will stick to it). You are now ready to start.



To start with, sculpt a GS band around the hat base. Using Kasrkin pics as a guide, sculpt on the knee pads (no straps yet) and LID. Once dry sculpt on the straps and LID. Remember to only sculpt the leg armour that will be seen after the coat tails are added later. If you wish to thicken the shin armour, now is the time to do it because the coat-tails will hinder access.



Back to the hat now, and add a peak to the front with GS and slope down from the brim to the hat band all round with GS making sure that you leave some of the band showing LID. Once the hat is dry, you can sculpt on the basic 'frame' for the coat-tails and LID. Once dry add the detail to the coat-tails with a second layer and LID. If you look at the picture, you can see why the pads were done first because of the limited access.



Now we can start on the body armour. First, extend the abdomen carapace with GS. Now add the front and back armour plates as shown (using Kasrkin pics as a guide) and LID.



Add the side armour with GS and LID


This part has a lot of detail, done at once, so be careful where you put your fingers! First you need to roll out a VERY THIN piece of GS and make the strap above the peak. Roll out two TINY balls of GS and put them on the sides of the hat, on each end of the strap to act as buttons. Next sculpt on a hat badge of your choice (I have used a skull). For the cap badge, you could always glue on a plastic skull-face from a marine champion banner pole (or other tiny skull/motif).

Working further down, add a chest motif with GS (or glue on a motif from elsewhere) and then, finally, add on the front armour latches with GS and LID. If during this phase you feel that you need to break it down to avoid finger marks, do so.



The final part of the conversion is to add cuffs to the standard Cadian arms with GS (do this while the arms are off and LID before attaching to the body) and attach the arms and desired equipment to the Commissar. If you want to add extra details to the equipment with GS, do it once it is attached to aid grip while you sculpt.

Conclusions

Hopefully I have helped to create your stunning Cadian Commissar that is now sitting in front of you. The following pics are of the one I finished, with an idea of what equipment was added. I hope you enjoyed the journey.

This pic shows a Catachan water bottle with the yellowish pouch coming from first ever boxed set of plastic Space Marines>
This pic shows the twin pouch with grenade from the Catachan sprue. The bolt pistol is from a Space Marine sprue and is glued onto the Cadian Grenade Launcher hand on the end of the heavy weapon sprue pointing arm. I have also modelled on a GS two-headed eagle.
This pic shows the Catachan Sqt. sword glued to the handle of the Cadian Sgt. arm. The chevrons have been removed from the arm. The grooves on the sword have been filled with GS, and power cabling with skull motifs added.The grenades are from the Space MArine sprues.
A pic from the front. All he needs now is basing and painting.

Don't forget to drill the Bolt Pistol barrel if you need to.

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