Plasma Gun Conversion, and a painting update!

OK, I mentioned a few days ago that I was trying to convert a simple lasgun trooper into a plasma gunner, and here is the final result:

I'm pretty pleased with it (for a first attempt) but certainly not too bad! I was trying to go for a plasma 'rifle' look, as I kind of liked the idea that the Praetorians wouldn't use bulky assault weapons in their massed ranks of volley fire. It was a long winded process though: I originally did it in various sections, firstly trimming down the lasgun and then covering it to form the main bulk of the weapon 'stock'. (below)

Originally I added the rounded end of the plasma gun, (shown below) and then the 'coils' on the top of the gun, before attempting to drill the end of the gun to try and and detail. Apparently greenstuff doesn't like to be drilled. Bugger.

In the end, I removed the rounded end and then re-sculpted it and made sure to add the detail in before it cured! Much easier. I think I might be able to do this in a much shorter and quicker process, possibly even sculpting the stock and the barrel in one go. Or, I could even try and have a go at Crosser Modelling's simple weapon swaps http://crossermodelling.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

Also, quick update on painted models:

And yep, that dummy is an ordnance weapon... at least when my son throws it...