Gar Shadowfame:
Have you tried with straws, from mc donalds or burgerking etc, i wonder if it is possible to slide them on helmets and have maby 1cm big hat, much smaller than 5ed cd, but it allows keeping the theme with more realistic proportions.
it could even be 5 mm for the look without exageration
Bassman:
Clam: you made a frikkin’ good tutorial!
Well, Dwarf 4 is really cool. I can easily see entire amries made from this. Well, if you do not want to go over budget you could always easily find another head from youy bit box or sculpt an enclosed helmet.
Dwarf 5: nice and clean job but not exactly my cup of tea. Maybe it’s just the helmet I dislike. I would choose another one but it’s just a matter of taste.
Dwarf 6: well, sorry to tell you but it’s ugly. Too much effort for a Chaos Knight that got a massive hammer in his head 
You can use GW dwarf bodies with much better result.
Xander:
Again, excellent work.
Their legs do indeed seem quite salvageable.
Awesome tutorials, keep it up!
AGPO:
Top work, the Maximini heads work beautifully to rescue these otherwise - IMHO - ugly models. :cheers I do have a couple of questions though:
1. What did you use to drill out the head so neatly? I used a stanley knife on by BFSP warriors but from what you’ve said about the mantics that might take forever.
2. On an unrelated note, how big are the maximini heads? I’ve been thinking about using these for my knights/warriors of Nurgle but so far I’ve not seen them in the flesh and I’m not sure how they’d fit. Would they be a good match for the GW plastics?
When you’re done with this blog I’d like to sticky it in the tutorial section if you’re cool with it
Dino:
I must say chaos dwarf #5 really clicks with me. #4 looks really nice as well.
Thommy H:
Really good tutorial - although it’s essentially just making me think I’d never want to bother working with these models, it’s interesting to see someone see what can be done in the name of scientific progress.
clam:
Thanks guys - glad you like the step-by-step guide (tutorial) - and only glad if this can inspire others to try - or maybe do a small army.
And yes Bassman, #6 is ugly as sin. When I was uploading the text, I actually thought about leaving him out - but then again - why should I? Have already wasted my time doing the conversion.
But I’ve tested out another torsos conversions - and it looks rather nice 
So nice that I’ll do another one - just to check if I’m right 
Top work, the Maximini heads work beautifully to rescue these otherwise - IMHO - ugly models. :cheers I do have a couple of questions though:Ad 1: I know there is a lot of text - my goal was to get one of those WoH medals you know
1. What did you use to drill out the head so neatly? I used a stanley knife on by BFSP warriors but from what you’ve said about the mantics that might take forever.
2. On an unrelated note, how big are the maximini heads? I’ve been thinking about using these for my knights/warriors of Nurgle but so far I’ve not seen them in the flesh and I’m not sure how they’d fit. Would they be a good match for the GW plastics?
When you’re done with this blog I’d like to sticky it in the tutorial section if you’re cool with it
AGPO
- so I’ll highlight the drilling part - just for you For the 5th one I picked the �?~cloaked body�?T (not my cup of tea, but let see if we can make him a Chaos Dwarf after all) and glued a �?~torso 2�?T onto the body. After �?~observation 1�?T it was pretty obvious that I couldn’t just cut/clip the head off �?" so it�?Ts time to find the heavy tools. So, on with the drill press and a 6mm auger.Ad 2:
myself
CheTralfara:
Those maxmini helmets are the same proportions as GW Chaos Warriors. The even have the round bulb at the bottom that fits perfectly into the neck socket of a GW chaos warrior.
aka_mythos:
I’ve been wanting to do Chaos Dwarves for a while. I never really liked the overly stubby look of GW’s models, but I loved all the other aspect of their aesthetic. I know alot of people here hate the Mantic Dwarves but I actually really like their overall look. With GW’s Dwarves, they have this triangular proportion where they become almost conical. That makes them too blobish and bottom heavy for me. The Mantic Dwarves, have in my mind a more sensible proportion. The heads are stylistically sound but are just little too large relative to the rest of the model.
I realize I’m in the minority with the Mantic Dwarf models, but I like them and I had been thinking about doing the sort of conversions, Clam, you’ve done here. I really appreciate the fact you did and that I happen to hear about the site from Gamesday and found this thread. It has swayed me to these evil slave driving ways.
Thanks.
P.S. Total noob question, but how do you guys remove the “pin” from the push pins, when you use them as hats?
clam:
First, welcome on board aka_mythos - glad to see that you found us (look Xander, it paid off ;))
There might be many here that dislike the Mantic Dwarfs, but that shouldn’t hold you back. Many people here like a certain looks of the chaos dwarfs. You’ll find the obvious big hatters, the old school’ers (like me), the mask guys, the helmet guys, the mini chaos warriors, the comedians etc. But no matter what style you choose - you’ll always find us supportive and can always get some good advices in here - and always given in a friendly tone. So, get one with it.
Grimstonefire:
I’m guessing some serious wire cutters would reduce the pin. Depending on which way up you do it could could just use an electric drill through the head and pin it on without cutting.
tjub:
I'm guessing some serious wire cutters would reduce the pin. Depending on which way up you do it could could just use an electric drill through the head and pin it on without cutting.I usually just bend it back and fourth untill it breaks off and then smoothen the top area with GS.
Grimstonefire
aka_mythos:
First, welcome on board aka_mythos - glad to see that you found us (look Xander, it paid off ;))Thanks. Once I get the stuff I've ordered I'm going to start up a mini-blog as well. Not to go off topic too much, but I kinda like all the looks so I'm going to use the different aesthetics to define the role of each unit. Like my Blunderbuss CDs are going to have big hats while the straight up warriors are more mini-chaos, while my artillery crews are planned more like Hellcannons' CD. It will be a fun and interesting challenge to do something akin to what you have here: blending the different aesthetic into the same basic models.
...
You'll find the obvious big hatters, the old school'ers (like me), the mask guys, the helmet guys, the mini chaos warriors, the comedians etc.
clam
clam:
3. So, Mantic�?Ts can�?Tt be turned into Big Hats?
Bassman put down a challenge, didn’t he? He might be right about this conclusion of his �?" and it might be true that Mantic�?Ts aren�?Tt suited for Big Hat conversions �?" but I won�?Tt give up without a fight.
Dwarf #7
First one is another pretty much �?~straight out of the box�?T - but I will now try and work a bit with the �?~the hunched�?T pose.
Another reason, is to show how easily these are to convert using almost any GW human/dwarf bits.
Last, I want to try a different hat design
So for this one I�?Tll use dwarf body #4 again �?" simply because this one is not about beards.
Again just flattens his helmet but did a more horizontal cut this time. Glued a wooden pearl on and finish the Golf tee hat look with a bulb of GS - and a little skull head.
And from the bits box I found some marauder warrior musician arms �?" and thought: �?Twhy not�?T. So of with the fixed left arm - need a bit of cutting but not that hard to do really.
Looks like this:
And I couldn�?Tt help it had to give this one a nose job �?" and a prober moustache.
Pros:
Again, it actually a very simple conversion - especial when you can use such a variety of bits.
Changing the angle for the had helped (IMO)
Cons:
Still a very tall dwarf - but if you hole army is made from these - who cares?
If you like the overall Mantic look and want to give them a more savage look - you’ll be needing rather a few Marauder Warrior left overs.
Dwarf #8
This was actually one of the very first I did �?" when I got the box set.
This one got the close shave. Trimmed nearly every details off �?" and started over
Looked like this when I started:
And if you shouldn�?Tt recognize it �?" it�?Ts a body #3.
I really spend a lot time doing this guys hat. Wanted to try and do an authentic 5th ed one �?" so, lot of GS to do. Also needed to give him a prober beard and some scale armory �?" both were an experiment with some �?~new�?T designs.
Here is an early stage WIP:
And after a few hours playing around with plastic rods and card he turned out like this. So here is the final result:
Pros:
You can change the overall appearance. On this one I didn’t remove the shoulder guards - but you could ‘easily’ do that as well. Will tone the humpback look even more.
Cons:
Doing an army - would take (a guy like me) like forever and you’ll be needing quite some GS. Guess, I would mould and cast the hat, if I was to do an army of these.
Still a tall dwarf! (Is that a human??)
Dwarf #9
Right after Bassman�?Ts conclusion I did this one.
Really no need to go into details here �?" it�?Ts the body #1 and a hell of a lot of GS. Oh, and armes are GW dwarf arms - mainly because there is no full lenght left arms in the Mantic box set - Actually, you only get 2 shorten ones in the hole set 
Pros:
If you dislike the Mantic overall dwarf look - I think I’ve succeeded toning that down - can’t hardly tell it’s a Mantic anymore.
Cons:
This one takes time - especially for Mr. Slowhand, here.
And a little competition:
5 slaves to the first that can name the forum member from whom I so utterly have stolen the designs - hopefully you can forgive me :~
And using this body actually made him slightly smaller - look:
[align=center]Next time:
Beasts of Dwarfs[/align]
GRNDL:
Wow, Clam, very nice. You’ve inspired me to pick up a box of these guys on my next order to Warlord Games, which is going in very shortly. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Shakhorth:
Well that proves it, you can make big hats with Mantic dwarves. :hat off
Great work Clam. This entire blog is an inspiration for every style of CD.
Abecedar:
everytime I get back here there is something inspirational. Am not a real fan of the thumb pin big hats at all but really liked Number 7, I don’t think I’ve seen a scratch build bulb one before.
Clinkz:
everytime I get back here there is something inspirational.I very much agree this is a great thread, nice to see all the different directions people can take when making CD's :hat off
Abecedar
AGPO:
This thread gets better and better. Dwarf 7 is my fave of this batch :cheers
Grimstonefire:
That’s based on the one from the Indy Dwarfs of Chaos book isn’t it? Is it Kefas the artist?
Imo dwarf #8 without the scale mail (but with a beard that goes down to the knees) and Dwarf #4 are my favourite.