Converting an Emperor's Champion - Dysartes

A selection of thumbnails. Click for the full image

Every gamer wants unique models in their army, and one area that this can come to the fore is in your characters. I originally converted this guy for my brother's birthday, when the only Emperor's Champion model was the limited edition one that looks like he's fishing. While I didn't do the paint-job on this guy, I feel the conversion came out well.

If you want to convert this guy for yourself, for a different angle on the Emperor's Champion to the standard one, read closely.....

Components List

You'll also need some pouches, which you should have in your bits box if you have been collecting Space Marines or even Imperial Guard. If you ordered the Dark Angel as a complete figure then it will come with the backpack you'll need for the Champion.

The Conversion

The conversion itself is fairly simple, and there's only really one part that may prove tricky. Firstly, as with any model, you need to clean up the components, removing flash and mould lines.

Once the components are cleaned up, glue the Dark Angel body to its base. Glue or pin the Devastator arm to the torso - I feel the pose you get just from that is fine, but use of Green Stuff or filing can allow you to redirect the army slightly.

Remove the arm with the Chainsword from the sprue, and clean it up. Mephiston's Sword comes with the gauntlet attached, leaving us with two choices. In the model above, I cut the hand off the arm and attached the sword and hand as seen below.

If you are going to do as I did, I'd suggest removing the arm right up against the elbow, as I feel this gives the best proportions to the lower arm once the sword is attached. Again, you can either glue or pin it, as pinning will give a stronger bond. Once the glue is dry, glue or pin to the torso - I'd suggest in a raised position.

Glue the Black Templar's shoulder pad to that arm. If your Emperor's Champion is for a Chapter other than the Black Templars, use an appropriate metal shoulder pad, or just a plain plastic one.

If you look at the Dark Angels body, there is a small Dark Angels symbol on the models belt line. This is very fiddly to get to to try to file off, so I'd suggest simply gluing the pouches you have over it - of course, if this Champion is for a Dark Angels army, there's no need to bother.

The final thing you need to do is to glue the backpack on the body, and base the model, and it is ready to be undercoated.

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