I think Privateer Press have some of the best sculpts of any wargames company. Deathjack, however, is not one of them – I really don’t like the shoulder skulls or the horns on the head. Of course that’s just my opinion, but I dislike the model so much I’ve not bought it and subsequently never fielded it. I’ve had an old Slayer Helljack model sitting unassembled for a number of years and the idea struck me – why don’t I convert up my own Deathjack! So, that’s pretty easy to say, but what do I know about miniature design. Nothing to tell you the truth.
I decided to do a little Internet searching and I stumbled on this picture (click on the picture for *FSitz’s Deviant Art page) –
Wow! was my first reaction. I thought this beast looked more like a Deathjack, but how could I build such a thing. I raided my bits box and came back with these pieces –
I’m going to increase the miniatures height with the pieces in the middle and broaden the shoulders to make it more imposing. The oversized horns will either look comical or work. Until I start pinning and sticking pieces together it’s hard to know what it will look like. I’d like a more dynamic pose so I’m going to try to position the helljack so it looks like it is just about to leap from a pile of rocks –
I’ve no idea how it’ll turn out. Next step is to clean off all of the components and slowly begin assembling the different parts. This could end up looking like a pile of junk, but then I’ve done no worse than buying the official Deathjack!
Owen
I’m not a fan of many of the Cryxian models, including the Deathjack. I really like what you’re trying to do with it.
I quite like the Cryxian aesthetic, but Deathjack never looked right to me. The rocks are big, I’m probably trying to compensate for the Slayer’s comparitively diminutive stature. We’ll see how it turns out!
Owen