Prototype Skaven Wych

This weekend, I broke from my "assembly line" of 45 Skaven Wyches, and finished one completely.  I hope you like my take on combat drugs and splinter pistols, Rat style.


Let's start with the splinter pistol.  I used Dark Elf repeater crossbows, trimmed down and pinned to the back of each Skaven's left wrist.  I used putty to create a strap, in an effort to give this wrist-mounted pistol a more "Boba-Fett" feel.  Here is another shot that illustrates the weapon:

I think that this small crossbow is a perfect way to depict a splinter pistol.  The small bow implies a limited range, and the clip full of crossbow bolts could easily be poison-tipped darts.  The size of the crossbow was another positive element:  I didn't want my diminutive rats to be carrying overwhelmingly large weapons.

Another element worth pointing out on this model, is the combat drug injector.  Pinned to the model's back, is a canister made from the barrel of an Ork shoota. The business end of the barrel has been drilled-out, to accommodate the combat drug hose that leads to the model's chest.  The rear-end of the barrel, where the saw removed the rest of the shoota, has been touched up with a bit clipped from the grip of an Ork hand weapon.  I used a variety of tiny odds and ends to mix up the appearance of the canisters.  I think the "over-the-shoulder" putty strap helps to communicate not only the purpose of the tank, but also the weight of such a piece of wargear.  Here is another photo, unfortunately this one was a bit blurry:

As you can see, the canister now has a hose running out and into the chest cavity of the Skaven Wych.  I think that while simple, this conversion, which I have repeated 45 times, will make the squad fairly unique in its appearance.  Now that I think of it, I still have to add the bits I have for haywire grenades...  Alas!  An ALMOST finished prototype is better than nothing.

At this point in the construction of this army, I am beginning to feel much more confident with my choices.  I believe that the army we be cohesive in its aesthetic, and not too ambiguous when it comes to the element of "counts-as".  As usual, I will be providing my opponents with army books full of photos distinguishing each unit, but honestly, I think the conversions themselves will be user-friendly.  As I have said before, it helps that what I am using, does not already exist in the 40K universe, so it cannot be confused for something else.  It's not like running termagaunts as grots, but more like running a potted plant as a mycetic spore.

Your input is welcome.  It's exceptionally cold here at the moment, and my freshly painted terrain is festering out in the garage.  I hope Testor's Dull-Cote dries well in the cold!