Clan Skuttle

So as I mentioned in my introduction post I've recently been bitten with the Mordheim bug, and as I play Clan Skuttle Skaven in Warhammer (and Warmaster and Man o War) I wanted to do a Pirate themed Skaven warband. Using the Eshin list didn't seem right though, as Pirates and Ninjas don't mix, so I figured I'd do a counts as Pirate Warband. That decided I set to the bitz box and ordered some decking resin bases. I never really plan conversions out, they just sort of happen as I fiddle around with bits, so this is where I am right now. Most of these models are still WIP with lots of Greenstuff work to be done, but I figured I'd share some photos.

Captain. Based on the Queek Headtaker model, and my first FInecast miniature. Fair amount of bits here, and I've included an overhead shot so you can see his looted greatcoat, parrot and gunblade.





Gunner. I figured a Jezzail made a good thematic substitute for a chaser cannon. Plus Royal Navy ships had sharpshooters with rifles in the fighting tops, so it's not without justification.



Random Crew-rat.



Cabin Boy. I wanted a couple of humourous models for the Cabin boys. This one is based around an old Rackham Goblin Pirate sculpt, but turned into a Skaven. I added a meat cleaver and decided that, as he seemed to be wrestling with the squid / octopus for a reason, he could be the Chef. Calima-rat, he also cooks!



Finally a balance and blue-tac mockup of the Rat Ogre. I'll likely use this as a hired Ogre. Just happy to finally find a use for the oddly positioned Screaming Bell Rat Ogre!



I'll put up some photos of the second warband I'm working on tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

That's bloody gorgeous! Great conversions Draig. The Rackham goblin makes a good skaven, but my favorite at the moment is the rat ogre.
Needs a rat in the crow's nest looking down at him.

Fabulous, will be watching this topic since each mini has a TON of character!

Love it, Love everything about it.
Although, as a Clan Skurvy player I can't condone the choice of clan, the undersea is only big enough for one clan of pi-rats.

Good Job. :-)

Damnit!!!

I wish I'd done that with my piratey Rat Ogre!! It looks amazing!

Thinking about it, of all the various Creatures available for Mordheim games, the Rat Guys are probably the most likely to be Sea Going Folk, AND you've got them down to the tees. The Jezzail & the Octopus toting Guy are among the coolest ratty conversions I've yet seen. The Rigging Rat Ogre is a BRILLIANT piece...even if I have trouble with the traveling mast concept. GREAT STUFF...keep 'em coming!

Awesome minis, great convertions!

Thanks guys!

renfield286 wrote:

Although, as a Clan Skurvy player I can't condone the choice of clan, the undersea is only big enough for one clan of pi-rats.

Awesome. I know five people now who play Skurvy, now, they seem to be the defauly Naval Skaven choice, with good reason. They are the most famous. Skuttle gets a single paragraph in the Uniforms and Heraldry book. I chose Skuttle for that reason though. For me what's more Skaven than being the second best at something, and desperately wishing you were the best? Go go underdog!

DeafNala wrote:

The Rigging Rat Ogre is a BRILLIANT piece...even if I have trouble with the traveling mast concept.

Yeah I see what you mean, the mast wouldn't move with him. But equally neither would the decking under the other minis, or the detailing on any base. I justify it because I'm a modeller first, and a gamer second. My minis spend more time on my shelf than on the table, and I love using the base to create a diorama snapshot. The added bonus of this Warband is that I can use them for games of Warhammer scale naval combat with my WIP Submarine, the Thing-Thing, because the bases fit the decking I'll lay down on it.

Hey Draig, nice to see you here as well.

That's some serious coolness, that is! Great conversions, high class throughout the entire band so far.

Theo

The Thing-Thing is a BEAUTIFUL piece of modeling; it will be a WONDROUS creation when complete.

On the Traveling Mast, I didn't mean to sound too critical. A base should place the mini in a specific time & place which you've done VERY WELL with the base. I also, being more the modeler/painter than gamer, am guilty of the "traveling" concept. Observe the traveling sign post & candles:

Spoiler:

These are beautiful mnis with a great theme and concept. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Nice Minis and the Submarine looks verry cool. Hope to see ist soon finished.

DeafNala wrote:

On the Traveling Mast, I didn't mean to sound too critical.

Not at all! I'm never afraid to hear criticism, it's one of the best ways to improve. I agree with you on this one, but I wouldn't change the model, I like the pose too much!

So I've done some more work on the Warband. Firstly a Crew-rat. Nothing too fancy, just a bit of a dynamic pose and the classic cutlass and hook combination. One annoying thing about the Clanrat box is that all the left arms are fixed to accept shields, and you have to carve them out and use new arms. That means there will be a lot of green stuff work to tidy them up. On the plus side I'll be able to add in bandanas, eyepatches and things a la Kurgan when I have the Green stuff out, so it's not all bad.



Next up is the second Cabin Boy. I decided to go for a Deep Sea Diver look here, and I think I got it. The helmet is from a Rackham sculpt if I remember rightly. The body is from the Island of Blood Warpfire Thrower team. I figured the fuel tank would make a good air tank. Harpoon thing was just lying around.





Finally I started the First Mate. This one is based on the Island of Blood Warlord. Lots of repositioning, weapon changes and Green Stuff work here. I added 'waves' to the top of his head blade, mimicing the artwork for Skurvy in the Skaven Unifroms and Heraldry book. Plus the stone he's standing on had to be repurposed into a spar or plank of wood. Not quite done with him yet, he still needs a cutlass, but he's getting there!

these are some frigging AMAZING rats!!! I particulary like the crazy cabin boys. Good use of the kroot rifle on the sharpshooter

Keep the pictures coming

You really have a great sense of motion with all your minis...the Crew Rat on the barrel is a prime example. I love the Deep Sea cabin Rat. WONDERFUL conversion work...keep 'em coming!

Excellent conversions! So dynamic!

These pi-rats are really looking great. Good job.

Thanks chaps. Did some more work on the Warband today. Looking at the Mordheim Rulebook I realized it wouldn't take much work for me to be able to use this Warband with the standard Skaven List as well. Captain is an Assassin. Mates are Black Skaven, Cabn Boys are Night Runners, Crew are standard Skaven etc... I'll mostly use them as Pirates, it makes the most sense thematically, but it's nice to have options. However, there were two options in the Skaven list without logical substitutes in my warband. The first was Giant Rats, so I quickly whipped up three bases of them.



The second was a Sorcerer. I figured this would be a useful model to convert either way. If I was using it as a Skaven Warband he could be a Sorcerer. If I was using it as a Pirate warband I could use him as a Mercenary 'Wizard'.

The Skaven Uniforms and Heraldry Book mentions Clan Skurvy having Sea Seers (instead of Grey Seers) so I decided Skuttle would be the same and made one. This conversion uses the Plague Priest from the Plague Furnace. I carved off all the boils (which took ages!) then added a boarding hook to his staff instead of Warpstone, changed his censor for a lantern, and sculpted a load of barnacles and a crab on his robes. I decided to give him a rickety dock base for heigh. You may notice a tentacle coming up out of the water, perhaps in reply to his magic! I'll finish this model off with some clear water effect resin about 1cm or so high, covering half of the dock legs and some of the tentacle to make them seem to be coming out of the water.



That's all for now, thanks for looking!

cool crazy rat wizard! I like his less than stable base, very skaven

Awesome, Could I suggest this chap

from freebooter?

With the conversions so far i'm sure you could make use of this chappy

renfield286 wrote:

Awesome, Could I suggest this chap?

Oddly enough I was going to use him for one of the Cabin Boys, until I found my pile of Rackham Pirate bits. Maybe he'd make a good hired sword or DP now?

I've managed to make some good progress over the weekend so far. The Warband is really taking shape, though it's alarming how many models it needs for its Skaven configuration! I've been working on Henchmen and I managed to put together four crew rats. The second can double as my second Gunner if necessary.









I just need one more Mate / Black Skaven and three more crew and I'm done, though I'll probably add another couple of bases of Giant Rats.

Arrg! Great looking rats matey, the use of bitz and Rackham models gives a ton of character.

EXCELLENT kit-bashing! The Rat Lads have both a definite nautical/pirate feel & a Mordheim look. NICE WORK!

OK where do I start? hmmm how about FANBLOODYTASTIC!!

This is the reason I joined this site to see unique and wondrous warbands being made. The conversions are insanely cool and your skill deserves high praise indeed so here it is HIGH PRAISE.

The cabin boys have to be my favourites just for the comedy value and the Rat Ogre well.... top banana.
The captain's bladed pistol is a great touch and along with the first mate add some seriously menacing characters to the warband.

And what makes all this even more exceptional is I hate skaven! Yes sorry rat sniffers its true I hate them but I could quite easily settle down with this lot.

Pirates + Skaven = Success!

Cant wait to see them all painted.

P.S I forgot to mention how cool the Thing - Thing is. all praise the sea rats!

Many thanks for the kind comments chaps!

Here's a groupshot, including a truly awful Fortified Manor set I got for pennies on ebay. It had been assembled with a hot glue gun and painted in the style of Jackson Pollock! I've been reworking it over the last week. It'll need a lick of paint, but it's almost there.