Rich's blood bowl teams

[richy376]

Hi all

I've recently got back into BloodBowl and decided to paint and convert a few teams up. At the moment I seem to be having problems sticking with just one team, so I thought this log might encourage me to get my teams finished one by one.

The first team I'd like to get done is a converted Orc team. I do love the GW Orc team, but my problem was that my brother has one painted up beautifully already! I didn't think I could compete with it, so I went a different way:



I like to think of this guy as my version of Varag Ghoul-Chewer. He's got a 'K' on his arm coz he's the Kaptin!





Black Orcs give a bit of muscle to the front line



And I thought this Gretchin looks like a pretty good catcher.

I've got a couple of linos and a blitzer painted up too, then another couple of guys to finish off the team. I don't know if it's against forum ettiquette to double post, so it'd be great if there were some interest so I could show you guys the rest of them and the other stuff I'm working on (converted Dark Elf and a start on a chaos team).

Anyway, thanks for looking, and any comments will be gratefully recieved!
cheers

rich

[EmperorNorton]

Double posting in your log is fine (the lack of comments forces me to do that quite often), but I'm sure you'll get replies here.

The teams looks great so far, the Kaptin especially.
The skull on the shoulder pad of the third guy is stunning.

[Gaftra]

great stuff! are you planning on including some trolls in there?

[Griffonclaw]

Those look excellent!
I think these are the best basic conversions i've seen in a loooooong time!
Excellent, encore encore!

[richy376]

EmperorNorton - Thanks very much. I've just had a wander over to your log, some great stuff you've got there. Your Brettonian team is a great idea.

I was quite pleased with the skull, it's the team symbol. Each player gets the skull on the right shoulder pad and the number on the left pad, left arm and back. Its a bit of a fiddle, but I reckon it's worth it in the end. An example is here tho it's very closeup, so it's a bit cruel to my painting skills:



Gaftra - Thanks! Yes, I haven't got him yet, but there's one planned. It will probably be quite simple, one of the newer GW trolls with the club snipped out.

Griffonclaw - Why thank you. The hardest part about the conversions was chopping through the Ork waist to get the right tilt to suggest the running pose. Sliced my finger once or twice!

I can give an update since you asked so nicely! I've done another blitzer to add to the one I didn't photograph before, and two linos:

Linos:


Blitzers:


I've got another lino and blitzer undercoated, so they'll probably be next, although I've been touching up my skaven team this afternoon, so they may make an unscheduled appearance. I do have a bit more sculpting to do on my thrower too, but here's a WIP:



All comments appreciated!
cheers
rich

[EmperorNorton]

I was quite pleased with the skull, it's the team symbol. Each player gets the skull on the right shoulder pad and the number on the left pad, left arm and back. Its a bit of a fiddle, but I reckon it's worth it in the end. An example is here tho it's very closeup, so it's a bit cruel to my painting skills:

No need to be so modest, your painting is incredibly neat.
The skull and the numbers look like they have been printed rather than hand painted.

[Gibbtall]

Great work! Awsome and dynamic conversions, coupled with top notch painting!

[richy376]

EmperorNorton: Many thanks, that's very kind of you. I think the trick was to use really thin coats of paint.

Gibbtall: Thanks, I did want to get a sense of dynamism in with the blitzers in particular.

I wanted to use the Ork Nobz for the blitzers and line orcs so they would look like a team, but this created the problem of making sure they looked different enough to tell them apart on the pitch. So, I decided to cut the Nobz I was using as blitzers across the waist and leg, repostion each and greenstuff the gaps to get the running pose I was after. I think it's ended up working quite well - the lineorcs look as though they are standing on the line of scrimmage, and the blitzers look as though they are chugging along towards the ball or the poor fool on the other team holding it.

I've not enough progress on the Orcs for an update, but I thought since I've touched up my skaven team I might show them too. They are just the GW team un-altered, but I've tried to bring them up to date by making them look dirty and scabby - like they've been practicing in the sewers!

So:

Stormvermin:


Gutter Runners:


the Rat Ogre:


And the thrower and a selection of Linos:


I have to say the new brown wash helped a lot with these. I'd originally used the chestnut ink when I painted them the first time, but had problems with it being shiny in the recessess. The wash didn't do that, so I'm very pleased.

Thanks for looking, any comments would be lovely!

[Braad]

Very sweet!
I like your conversions.

[richy376]

Thanks Braad, I'm glad you like them.

I've made a little progress on the last Orc Lineman and Blitzer, but my paints are running out and my brush's point has disintergrated,so I'll need a trip to the shop before I can get much further on them.

Luckily my superglue has not run out, so I thought I'd convert a Chaos team! Not really sticking to one team at a time, but oh well.

The Chaos Warriors are from the new WFB Chosen figures, although I'm not doing too much to them so I'll not show them until I've put a bit of paint on them. With the beastmen I wanted to get away from having them all look the same, so I've kitbashed a few together with bits from the Spawn kit and other places. I've also added a few bits of plasticard for the armour. This is where I'm up to so far:







I quite like them so far, the one in the middle of the first picture is currently my favorite. I've a bit more sculpting and plasticard work to do before they're ready for the undercoat, but I think its ticking along nicely.

The main thing I'm not sure of are whether they'll be a bit confusing to play with - for instance, one of the models has tentacles, and I don't have a beastman with tentacles on the roster. Do you think I could just explain which figures have what at the start of the game, or would it be worth knocking together some 'rookie' beastmen that aren't at all mutated? Would be grateful for any opinions.

let me know what you think

cheers
rich

[odmiller]

Great looking teams. Impressive painting and clever conversions.

[75hastings69]

Really love this, I think we need to see more blood bowl stuff on these forums and your Orcs especially have given me plenty of ideas for my own project.

It would be nice to have some WIP pics of your Orcs and a list of what parts you used.

Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff. Excellent!

[Crube]

Excellent stuff.

Love the conversions you've done. I have to say I think the Chaos stuff is a tad OTT for BB for my taste, but still very well done.

I especially like the bases on some of the Skaven - the ones with the white line- was this just done with some skull white over static grass?

[richy376]

Odmiller- thanks very much

Crube - cheers, and thanks very much for the positive criticism. I do agree about the chaos being very overblown, a few of them are a bit of of proportion with themselves. I don't mind that personally on this particular team though, as I think of it as emphasising their chaotic mutated aspect. I do really appreciate the feedback, and rest assured the chaos will probably be the most OTT team I put together!

Yes, you have it right on the bases. It's just a line of skull white drybrushed over static grass.

75Hastings69 - Cool, thanks. I'm really happy my team have given you some ideas for your own stuff, I'd love to see your teams when you've got started on them.

I didn't really take many pictures of the team when I was putting it together sadly, but I have found a couple. The one below is quite good as it shows how I've done the blitzers:



The blitzers all made from the 40K Ork Nobz. In the picture you can see that I've cut across the waist between the two belts, and through the right leg diagonally at the groin. This was so I could alter the legs position to get a running pose, and swivel the torso on its axis to get the shoulders in a charging pose.

Other bits to note in the photo are the neck, which I had to extend to get it looking forward rather than down, and the arms. The arms for my blitzers are from the Ork Nobz at the top and the Black Orcs for the elbows down to hands. In this photo I had to resculpt the shoulder, as sometimes the angles were a bit unnatural and had to be corrected.



This picture shows the same sort of thing, although the cut is through the right leg this time, as the tilt of the model was in the other direction.

The white disc on the models arm is plasticard, every player has one on their back and left arm. This is for two reasons really - when I started in the hobby all the 40K orks had round back plates, so it kind of harks back to that, and secondly it makes the players easier to identify when playing.



This is a painting WIP, so I can show these as I go if anyone is interested? I start with the skin first, it starts at Dark Angels Green, goes through Snot green, and picks up some bleached bone highlights on the way. I've also used a couple of washes of thraka green to tone it down as i've been going.

As for a list of parts, most of it came from the 40K Ork Nobz. The linos got weapon snips and the blitzers were as described above. The Black Orcs are 40K Ork Warbossess with Ogre hands. The thrower is grimgore ironhide's torso, with a Nobz head and legs. All of the players have also had the 40K pouches, ammo clips and accessories snipped off and filed down, which was a much longer job than that sounds!

Hope that helps, and sorry it's a bit of a wordy post. If there is anything I haven't explained properly, let me know and I'll try again! Any comments would be lovely.

cheers
rich

[neXus6]

Man these look sooo much better than mine...I converted a team out of plastic black orcs not too long back, I wanted a team that looked more uniform, but I'll admit I was pretty lazy so they are basicly just black orcs with the weapons cut off...arms raised are blockers, arms out are blitzers, unhelmeted are line orcs and Grimgor will be the thrower.

The dynamic poses really make a huge difference though...and I'm still trying to find a ball to give my Grimgor thrower.

I love the use of the iron fists on the black orcs too.

I may have to take my clippers to my team and try to give them that bit of extra polish yours have.

[richy376]

Cheers NeXus, glad you like them. Your team sounds pretty cool to me, the plastic black orcs do work great for BB. Any pictures? Giving Grimgor a ball was a bit of a puzzle for me too - In the end I thought it was easiest to clip away most of the helmet and use it as the base to sculpt my own ball over.

I've been chipping away at my orcs, and I've managed to get the two I was working on finished. Doing the red was the hardest part...



Because I'm going for a particular depth of colour I've been starting off with a mix of Red, Purple and Brown, moving it brighter with very light layers, and washing it occasionally with blue or red or a mix of both! It takes forever, but as I'm happy with the results I don't mind. Plus, once the red is done, the rest of the model doesn't take long to finish:





I'm not doing too badly with them now, my thrower is the last orc to do. Although I do still have a Troll to buy and convert, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I've also done a bit of work on my Chaos team. I've done a bit more work to the sculpting on the beasts, and I reckon they're ready for an undercoat if it ever stops raining. I also managed to find a pretty old model which I reckon will work as a Minotaur (Once I've added a shoulderpad or something similar):



Now, the astute may well realise that using this model has some problems, as it's wingspan is so big that if gets knocked down it'll take up half the pitch. So I might have to work out some sort of Prone/stunned counter to replace it with when it's on the ground. I was thinking Epic Lord of Change if I can get my hands on any, or possibly warmaster daemons. Maybe they could work as re-roll tokens too somehow. Hmm.

Anyway, it does also give me a nice theme for the team now - Engrimm's Lords of Change! What do you think?

cheers

Rich

[richy376]

I've finally managed to get my thrower done. I wasn't sure how he was going to come out, but he seems to have turned out ok in the end:

Front:


and back:


I realised that I've mentioned back plates a couple of times, but haven't given a back view of any players. So, a picture of what I've been on about:


I've used a system with the numbers to avoid the thing where players die and get replaced, or I start a team with a different make up to the last one, and then the numbers are all out of sync. So I've given them all a squad number which I can just write on the roster. Linos are 00 - 09, Blitzers 50 - 59, and so on. Seems to work.

I'm now just looking forward to picking up the troll and doing something for the re-roll counters and turn marker and the team will be all done. I may do something about a coach model if inspiration hits too. I've got an orc shamen somewhere that might do the job.

And cause I can post 4 pictures and I've got one to go, I thought I'd show an action shot!



Quite an intimidating front line eh?

cheers
rich

[Kaos]

Really awesome work here, especially those orcs!

And the field looks very nice too indeed.

Any plans on making a whole stadium?

[azhagmorglum]

Simply brilliant !! Almost makes me want to start an orc team and play bloodbowl too. Your conversions are stunning, and the paintjob is really great too.
Keep up the good work.

[richy376]

Kaos - Thanks mate. The pitch is from one of the earlier editions of the game (2nd?) that I picked up on ebay. Its a little bit smaller than the 3rd ed board, so its a bit of a squeeze with my biggerized orcs, but I quite like it. It comes as a grey sort of polystyrene I think, and I added the sand, painted it a bit and flocked it. I doubt I'll do a full stadium I'm afraid, my flats too small to keep it anywhere!

Azhagmorglum - Thanks very much. All I can say is that if you're even a little bit tempted to get into BB go for it! It's a really great game, certainly my favorite GW one.

I've made a bit of progress, although I was a bit annoyed to have recieved my mail order from GW minus my standard brush, which I use for 99% of my painting. I have managed to do most of a test Beastman though:





I won't do all the skin greys and blacks, its just that this one looked sort of like a water buffalo to me so it seemed to fit the model. Also it was really hard to get a photo because of the pose, so its a bit hard to see, but I've painted a bit of the chaos star on two of the armour pads, and a symbol that will be his team number on the other two. Having said all that, it now seems a bit odd to be offering up as a test mini, but anyway. What do you think? Does the blue and yellow work?

GW did however send me my Troll! So I've made a start on fitting him into the team:





Obviously the weapon had to go, and I've changed the position of one hand so it now looks like he's about to hit someone rather than holding an invisible broomstick! I need to make him some gauntlets really, but my attempts at plasticard failed so I'm going to try putty.

I'm not sure how I'm going to paint him yet. I was thinking blue grey, but I don't know if that will jar with the red team colours? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Cheers
rich