6 replies to this topic

[Jordan Peacock]

Later this month, on Sunday, October 28th, I will be running a Wonderland/Pirates mash-up of Savage Worlds RPG at Necronomicon 2012 -- a sci-fi/fantasy/horror/gaming convention in St. Petersburg, Florida. (http://www.stonehill.org/necro.htm)

I call it "Avarice in Plunderland." :D Why? Because it seemed like a good pun at the time. (It was late, and I was right up at the deadline for submitting my game schedule.)

I've been working on a mix of figures for the pre-generated heroes, combining "Wonderland" themes with a "pirate" spin. Our heroes take to the high seas, as they've been dealt a bad hand by the murderous Queen of Hearts.

First up, I figured that I'd start with one of the more nautically-themed characters from Wonderland as (loose!) inspiration for my Mock Turtle Pirate. My best bet was to start with a minotaur, and give it a turtle shell ... plus a few other things.

Reaper 14007: Minotaur, Mercenaries Monster (Ben Siens) - converted


The figure has been re-based on a War Cast Studios (http://www.warcaststudios.com) "plank" base (meant to suggest the look of a ship's deck). I replaced the minotaur's original arms with a couple of ogre arms I got as part of a "bitz" grab bag deal, from a Warhammer Fantasy "Ogre Kingdoms" sprue. (The cannon came attached to the arms, and I thought it would be amusing to have a minotaur mock turtle carrying one.)

I used Apoxie Sculpt two-part epoxy putty to add the tricorn hat, eye patch, pants (very important!) and turtle shell.

The background scenery consists of a converted Mega Bloks "Captain Cutlass's Stormstalker" play set, with a new deck and cabin features made from mat board and craft wooden "popsicle" sticks.

[Adrift]

If I was running in this game and saw that I'd turn and flee.

[Jordan Peacock]

If I was running in this game and saw that I'd turn and flee.

Heh. This is actually supposed to be one of the heroes. :D Well, protagonists, anyway.

[dwarvenranger]

Is that an actual ship mini the minoturtle is on? Or is it photoshop? If the first can we get some more info and pics of the ship?

[arosenwald]

Fantastic job. I especially love the tattoo work - I am envious of your freehand skills!

[Jordan Peacock]

Is that an actual ship mini the minoturtle is on? Or is it photoshop? If the first can we get some more info and pics of the ship?

As noted in the post, the ship is a Mega Bloks "Captain Cutlass's Stormstalker" -- that is, the ORIGINAL Stormstalker toy (the one that has a single solid boat base, not the newer multi-part one that recycles the "Black Pearl" ship base from when Mega Bloks had the "Pirates of the Caribbean" license).

I have picked up a few toy ships and modified them for a Pirates of the Spanish Main (Savage Worlds) RPG campaign, mostly by inserting new, flat decks that are more miniatures-friendly. The Mega Bloks ships are especially good for this, since the masts pop in or out easily -- so I can have the ships rigged up as a table display in the hopes of attracting wandering players at a convention, or remove the rigging and sails so I can more readily access the deck area for miniatures placement.

Mega Bloks Stormstalker and Black Pearl, modified for miniatures gaming:


Re-planking is easiest for the Stormstalker; I just cut out sections of mat board to insert into the deck areas, then cover the mat board with "planks" of craft wood sticks (with the rounded ends cut off) glued down. I remove the cylindrical "transformation chamber" included in the toy, to free up more deck space. Otherwise, the surface area of the "deck" of the ship is very irregular, with lots of up and down areas, and miniatures fall over very easily. If you can find "Admiral Scathe's Predator," it's basically the same ship base, but just with different rigging.

Here's another view of the Stormstalker, where I replaced the central mast with a couple of dowels and some scrap cloth, to represent an abandoned drifting vessel in an adventure.



The Black Pearl, the Phantom, and the "Dragons" ships tend to involve more work, as I have to take a Dremel tool to all of the pegs on the deck, and grind them down flat, then use putty to fill in the resulting holes (as the pegs are usually hollow). Still, the results can be fairly nice.

Dread-Eye's Phantom:


Dread-Eye's Phantom, with Cabin and Masts Removed:



I've even tried converting Fisher Price ships:


Also, the plastic "brigantine" ships from the old Pressman Games "Weapons & Warriors" Pirate Siege / Pirate Battle game can make for some interesting small vessels (though they're really more appropriate for 15-20mm scale figures).



I've got a few more pictures of ship and figure conversions in my Google "Pirates" album: https://plus.google....966577107209361

[Last Knight]

Very impressive work, Mr. Peacock.