Converting a Heavy Flamer Turret for a Razorback Part 1

I've been seriously falling behind on the Liber Sanguinis articles. Now that the holidays are behind me and I have an impromptu month off of school, I'll be able to post more frequently over the next few weeks.

I just got a fairly large order in from TheWarStore and I wanted to start working more on my models. Since my Razorbacks are the closest to being finished and I wanted all of my options to be WYSIWYG, I figured I'd work on the twin-linked heavy flamer turret for my Death Company.

To the left is a picture of what the final conversion will look like. Let's get to it.

Below is a list of the bitz you'll need to get started as well as the tools I use and links to where you can get your own:

• Complete twin-linked heavy bolter turret
• 2 heavy flamer bitz from a Cadian Sentinel
• 1 flexible LEGO® hose
• Small piece of plastic card
• Plastic cutters (I use Games Workshop)
• Super glue (I use Zap-A-Gap)
• Saw (I have one from Micro-Mark and Games Workshop)
• Pin vise (got mine at Micro-Mark)
• Liquid Cement for Plastic Models (I use Testors)
• Needle Files (I use Games Workshop)
• X-Acto Knife

For the 40K bitz, I'd recommend my favorite bitz seller on eBay, Hoard O' Bits. This dude ships extremely fast, his prices are very reasonable, and you won't get raped on shipping charges. If you need to purchase a new twin-linked heavy bolter, I'd actually recommend going with the one from the Chaos Land Raider.

Maybe it's just my luck, but all of the ones I have from the Razorback kit don't fit properly and I always need to drill out the hole where the guns attach to the post. It's not a deal breaker, but it is something to consider. Also from what I noticed these auctions seem to end cheaper on eBay. I'd assume its because most people are using Razorback in the search string when they need to buy a turret. You may want to buy a couple extra heavy bolters by themselves if you are worried about making a mistake. They are only a few dollars from Hoard O' Bits and spares are always good to have.

For the LEGO® hoses, these have been sitting in my bitz box for years. I would head to eBay and do a search for lego hose. Be careful not to buy the technic hoses. You want the flexible ones. Looks like you can get 8 of them for like $2.50 which is more than you'll ever need. Now you could leave these out and just cover up the holes with plastic card. I honestly think this is what really makes the conversion look good and is what is lacking on all of the other conversions I've seen.

With the plastic card, you just need a really small piece for added stability (1" x 1" is plenty). I have tons of plastic card laying around that I got at Games Day from Chris Fitzpatrick years ago when he still worked at Games Workshop. You can buy a plastic For Sale sign at Lowes or Home Depot or even just use the plastic from a blister pack. Next time, I'll go through all of the steps and put the turret together. 

I almost forgot, Farseer Frank is actually at the Conflict GT in West Nyack, NY this weekend. Him and Dan are hopefully tearing it up and showing those poor fools what  DED 'ARD is all about! I didn't get to go this time because I wouldn't have had my army done in time. Hopefully I can get Farseer Frank to return from his hiatus and report on how his first tournament experience went.

Till then,

–The Harrower

EDIT: Part 2 is now posted! Check it out here.