Between the Bolter and Me: 2014, a year in review

2014, a fine year for conversions.

It is hard to believe that Between the Bolter and Me has now been around for over two years. The blog has served as a tremendous way to encourage all of us to continue pushing our abilities as hobbyists. This past year has been particularly successful, with us completing more conversions than ever! Furthermore, we have tried our hands at increasingly complex conversions. With 2015 just beginning, we wanted to review the most notable projects from the past year. This will serve as a means to help highlight those projects that still need to be finished and also provide inspiration for new projects.

Dark Eldar: Duke Sliscus conversion complete

"We learnt long ago that the inscrutable universe turns upon an axis of suffering, because pain is inevitable."

The past month and a half has been a busy one for me, as I prepare for my PhD thesis defense. Despite that, I have found some time to spend on the hobby and used it to finish my conversion of the Dark Eldar Duke Traevelliath Sliscus. Started sometime last year, the conversion was very close to completion when I was distracted by all manner of other projects.

Between the Bolter and Me: 2013, a year in review

It is hard to believe that Between the Bolter and Me is already a year old! What started as a means to stay excited about miniature-based wargaming amidst my time in graduate school has blossomed into something bigger.  Instead of just serving as a distraction, it has become a fantastic outlet for my creativity and has encouraged me to become a larger part of the developing community. I am more excited than ever to be in the miniature gaming hobby and to be a part of the community as a whole. Over the year I discovered and have been inspired by a huge list of other hobbyists and their blogs, including Migsula, Jeff Vader, Kari Hernesniemi, Mikko Luoma, KrautScientist, Pijamas Gagarin, and Dave Taylor, to name just a few.

My confidence and skill as a modeller has improved by leaps and bounds, particularly in the area of actually modelling with greenstuff. And while I still have not started painting yet, it is only a matter of time!

With 2014 just getting underway I wanted to take some time and review some of my favorite models that I (and the other members of Between the Bolter and Me) converted in 2013.

Dark Eldar: Converting Duke Sliscus

Follow the Serpent!

Ever since the release of the Dark Elf assassin Shadowblade, I knew I wanted to use the model as a foundation for a conversion of Duke Sliscus. The model’s dynamic pose seemed to play nicely with the image of him I had in my mind, a flamboyant firebrand of a character.  I mused on how best to create the characters, and with the later release of the Dark Elf fleetmaster, I knew I found the last few pieces I needed.

Dark Eldar: Kabalite Trueborn - Part 3

They cower. We carve.

It has been a long time in coming, but I have finally finished the fourth member of the squad of Dark Eldar Trueborn that I started some months ago. The final member of the squad is very much in line with the other members of the squad, adopting a pretty unassuming pose, with his blaster poised and ready. The model took advantage of the recent reinvisioning of Dark Elf range by using one of the heads from the wonderful plastic Dark Riders. Each of the squad members are based on Dragon Forge Tech-deck bases, perfect for reinforcing the idea that they are seasoned space pirates, accustomed to raiding void-crossing vessels.