Terahin:
Hi!
I�ve wondered if the regular Dwarf Warrior beards is good for Chaos Dwarfs, or do I have to convert them a bit? How could I make them more curly? This questtion might be stupid, but I had to ask.
-Terahin
PS. My English is still weird.
Xander:
The regular beards are 3rd Edition friendly, but the newer editions would call for curly ringlet beards. People have used coiled wire for them, or small guitar strings. GS is probably the easiest, a lot easier than it looks. Check out my videos on youtube for an explanation of that. 
cornixt:
I use regular dwarf beards for mine
catbarf:
If you want them to be like the real Chaos Dwarfs as of 4th ed. onward, you MUST convert the beards.
Anything less and they aren’t really Chaos Dwarfs in my opinion.
Cornixt, I don’t mean to be rude, but the only thing in your avatar that says ‘Chaos Dwarf’ is the Blunderbuss- and even that could be just a special Handgun. If you want them to be easily recognizable as Chaos Dwarfs, you need a hat and a beard, and preferably armor, too.
cornixt:
I’ve had no luck in converting beards and I don’t have the time or patience to do it either. For some people, it won’t be a proper chaos dwarf if it doesn’t have a mask or chaos armour, or something else. My characters all have hats and most of them have the curly beards. My converted blunderbusses are the least Chaos Dwarfy models (they nearly all have masks) but I’m happy with them. There’s more to a Chaos Dwarf than his clothes and beard-style.
catbarf:
But that’s all that’s readily apparent. If your whole army looked like the one in your avatar, it might be a little dodgy. I just think that beards are the most common conversion.
torn:
actually i think a whole army like the one in cornixt’s avatar would be pretty cool, so long as the characters were sutably chaos dwarfish. looks a lot darker than a regular dwarf and definately has some evilness about it.
back on topic the easiest way to make beards is by cutting down the original dwarf one, putting sausages on greenstuff on it and then detailing with small horizontal slashes on alternative sides going down the sausage. there is a good guide on here somewhere with a diagram, looked something like
|-- |
| --|
|-- |
| --|
you get the idea, although the original was much better
Terahin:
Thank You very much for Your advice! I think I�ll have to try to convert the beards, but if I fail I�ll have to go with the basics. And for Xander, I really love Your videos!
-Terahin
Magicchecavolo[ITA]:
I like more to do a LOTS of orizontal slash, and my beards look more real (or more like the wailers…dunno)
AGPO:
Personally I think that if you’re using 6th-7th ed dwarfs then you are obliged to convert the beards simply to differentiate the models. A chaos dwarf army should look like chaos dwarfs and not Dawi - they are seperate races completely with different traits, cultures and facial hair styles
Thommy H:
Personally I think that if you're using 6th-7th ed dwarfs then you are obliged to convert the beards simply to differentiate the models. A chaos dwarf army should look like chaos dwarfs and not Dawi - they are seperate races completely with different traits, cultures and facial hair stylesWell, I think marching into battle with flying monsters and greenskins beside them should be enough to let your opponent know what it is he's up against.
AGPO
cornixt:
I’d prefer to have the normal beards that look good than sculpted beards that look bad. Why focus so much on the beards rather than the hats? Or the scalemail armour? Or the tusks? Or the greenskins, BCs, rockets, etc in the army?
AGPO:
Well, I think marching into battle with flying monsters and greenskins beside them should be enough to let your opponent know what it is he's up against.Not everybody uses those though, and I was commenting on the look of the models rather than any particullarly slow-witted opponents out there. Dwarfs are dwarfs, dawi'zharr are dawi'zharr - you would turn up with high elves painted black and claim they were dark elf spearmen. A dark colour scheme CAN work well but its worth the extra effort to convert and work on your skills just as much as its important to try and improve your painting
thommy H
Thommy H:
Except that anyone can get hold of Dark Elf models at a reasonable price…
The Chaos Dwarfs are such a niche army that it’s somewhat unfair for anyone to expect a player of them to have an army that consists entirely of old (and expensive) models or a fully converted force, since this is beyond the means of many players.
Yes, it’s rewarding to have either of those first two options, you don’t have to tell me that, but we’re limited here. Such is the nature of Chaos Dwarfs.
AGPO:
The Chaos Dwarfs are such a niche army that it's somewhat unfair for anyone to expect a player of them to have an army that consists entirely of old (and expensive) models or a fully converted force, since this is beyond the means of many players.But nobody DOES expect you to have an army of Chaos Dwarfs, thats the whole point of collecting a niche army. If you are just going to paint some dwarfs black and through in a few greenskins it rather defeats the object don't you think? If you just want a "glue and paint" army then collect something else
Thommy H
Thommy H:
You’re assuming “the object” is to have an army that fits the existing imagery. Plenty of people here, I’m sure, like the background, or the play style, or simply enjoy doing something a bit different.
As I’ve said already, old or converted figures just aren’t within reach for some people. I have mostly old ones, but no modelling talent whatsoever (believe me, these things would come ready assembled if I had anything to do with it) so, when I can’t get big hats, I’m happy to fall back on evil paint jobs and a little bit of rune-filing/buckler gluing.
It’s easy to be judgemental, but we’re all here to have fun, aren’t we? We’d all like to have an army like Xander or Snotling, but the vast majority of people have to do what they can to fulfill their Chaos Dwarf needs. Elitism is only going to make an already unpopular army even more so.
AGPO:
Not at all, the “object” in my opinion is to do somethnig different, so to me it would seem odd to simply paint the models differently rather than try and convert. I didn’t think I had much talent in the sculpting department, but this site encouraged me to improve, which is all you can ever try and do. If you prefer the gaming style then thats fair enough, I’ve got nothing against the dark colour schem approach - its just not for me. My army ceratinly doesn’t fit the "existing imagery (if by that you mean 4th ed big hats) in fact very few CD armies are the same, everyone has different ideas as to what they should be. My point was not to put down those who just use dark paint schemes but to try and encourage them to brach out a bit. It really is worth a try!
Thommy H:
Unless the person geuinelly has no interest in the sculpting side of the hobby - which is a cetegory I fall into. I’m a pretty decent painter but I can’t make anything to save my life (ask my old art teacher…) so I don’t go near modelling putty because it’s not a skill I have or one I wish to acquire.
Different strokes for different folks, I think.
AGPO:
A fair point. I guess the fairly laboured conclusion is that its up to you - thats the beauty of Chaos Dwarfs! (Although the idea of Chaos Dwarfs as beautiful is rather odd…)
Ghrask Dragh:
(Although the idea of Chaos Dwarfs as beautiful is rather odd...)*Strange thoughts of Chaos Dwarfs in white dresses standing over floor vents* :sick Thanks AGPO