Junkers 101

Article by Jon Shields

If you’re collecting a Junkers force for Void 1.1, you’re going to need plenty of Convict Legionaries. The plastic Junker sprue is a good, inexpensive way to build your force, but it only has two basic leg options for posing your models. And they are both very similar. Not a great prospect when it comes to painting them all up. Also, they look different to the metal models, which can make support models look somewhat out of place.

So, I set about addressing these issues, armed with a plastic Junkers sprue and equipment that should be easy enough to get hold of, without recourse to specialist modelling/craft shops. And this is the result….

Components

For the first few stages, you will need: a plastic Junkers sprue, a pair of side cutters (pound shops or DIY shops will be able to provide a perfectly servicable pair of cutters if you don’t already own some), a sharp knife (you could use a box cutter, but things may get a bit fiddly for the larger blade), and a cutting mat (If you don’t have a cutting mat, you could try turning a cork-bottomed coaster/placemat upside down and using that as a cutting mat). Not pictured: a bottle of superglue or polystyrene cement. Also, if you have a needle file handy, it could be very useful when cleaning the model, but you can get by without one in this case.

Step 1

Use the side cutters to remove a set of legs from the sprue. One of the legs is going to be re-modelled into a running/lunging position. Choose which one, and then using your knife, carefully cut it away from the model’s base tab.

Step 2

Now cut that same leg off, just blow the knee. Make sure that you
remove the ribbed area behind the knee with this cut

Step 3

The result of the amputation should look something like this.

Step 4

Make a diagonal cut from the calf area to the knee joint. The angle will depend on how high you want the leg raised. A good rule of thumb is to remove small slivers and keep dry-fitting the part until you are happy with how it looks.

Step 5

Take the opportunity to level off both leg stumps, and you should have something like this.

Step 6

Now, glue the leg back together in a suitable running/lunging pose, like so. Experiment with turning the lower leg a little too. Just remember that the foot determines the direction of movement, so don’t go too crazy.

Step 7

If you are very lucky, you will have aligned all your cuts perfectly, and won’t need to fill any gaps. Well done. The rest of us will need to do some filling now. At this point, I’ve assembled and attached the torso. You can also glue the base on at this point if you like, but I prefer to be able to get into the nooks and crannies of a model as much as possible when the putty is involved.

I use Green Stuff, but Miliput or any other putty you would use for modelling will work just as well. The tool I will be using is a manicure tool from our local supermarket. It has a plastic/rubber cuticle pusher at one end, and a curved, blunt point at the other, and costs very little. Mine was free, as my wife was auditing her beauty products box, but I’m assured that the tool was not expensive in the first place (£1 – £2).

Step 8

Take a small ball of putty, and place it in the gap where the leg has been attached. Use the rounded, pointy end of the tool for shaping the ball to match the surrounding surfaces.

A couple of tips here: make your putty just a little soft (more yellow than blue for green stuff) to make your life easier at this stage, and keep your sculpting tool wet, or lubricated with lip balm for a smooth finish.

Step 9

Here, I’ve used the cuticle pusher end of the tool to flatten and smooth out areas. If this end of the tool is turned around, the crease at the knee bend can be defined. A knife could also be used to do this. Finally, the edges of the putty are blended into the rest of the model using the flat end of the tool. You can see this where the green stuff becomes less opaque on the model.

Step 10

The finished join should look like this. Looking good so far!

Step 11

Okay, it might not look like much, but there’s a certain order I like to do things in here:

1) Base 2) Backpack 3) Arm 4) Shoulder Pad 5) Shield 6) Shotgun

The reason for this is to ensure that none of the pieces being glued on get in the way of other pieces. For example, if I had attached the shield before the shoulder pad, I might not have been able to get a natural-looking fit on the pad. Also, don’t be afraid to experiment with components. For example, here I’ve turned the shield through ninety degrees to get the look I want.

If you are attaching a shotgun to a backpack, it is worth trimming away the rivets on the side of the shotgun, so that the glue has more surface area to adhere to and will create a stronger bond.

Step 12

Now for the other arm. After cleaning up the arm and sword, carefully cut the hilt from the guard of the sword. We have a use for that piece, so don’t lose it! Ensure that both the top and bottom sides of the fist and the underside of the sword’s guard are nice and flat for gluing.

Step 13

Cut the hilt in two, just above one of the rivets.

Step 14

Glue the piece you’ve just cut under the fist, and the sword blade/guard above the fist. Now we’re ready to attach it to the body!

Step 15

Try out a few positions before committing yourself to glueing the arm to the body. Then add the final shoulder pad.

Step 16

The plastic Junker head is not too dissimilar to the metal one. I would recommend carefully removing the rivet circled in red here, which spoils the effect. If you are feeling confident with your putty skills, you could also separate the visor into two eye slits. I’m not going to for this tutorial. There is also a rivet on top of the helmet. I had a mishap with mine, so I removed it.

Step 17

Add the head to the body, and fill the gap under the chin with some putty. We’re going to sculpt a mask over it, so it doesn’t need to be perfect.

Step 18

Add some more putty from the bottom of the visor to below the chin. The layer mustn’t be too thick, though. Form a rough mask shape with your sculpting tool/fingers ( a triangular mask always looks good on these guys), then smooth it out with your sculpting tool. Now, ensure your sculpting tool is wet/lubircated, and, using the pointy end, gently press a couple of folds into the cloth mask you’ve just sculpted. If you want a straight edge, you can wait for the putty to cure, then use a knife to cut a nice, straight edge.

The Finished Model!

Et voila! One dynamic Junker Legionary. This pose would be ideal for the Desert Fox legion in particular, with their emphasis on speed. Also, with only a small amount of work, you could convert this model into a thermite lancer, by replacing the sword with a spear-type weapon, or a suicide bomber, by leaving off all the weapons and the shield, and adding small rectangles of putty or plastic off-cuts to the torso area to represent the explosive charges.

I hope you enjoyed Jon’s work! It’s a cracking article nad Jon has a real talent for such work, follow his FB page Warmog Painting where you will find more conversions as well as some very beautifully painted miniatures – including Void 1.1

6 Comments:

  1. Cool. The plastics availability has been kind of random over the years, are you going to be able to release them?

    • Hi Ben,

      Yes, this is something we would like to sort out and address later this year after supply situation gets back to normal.

      Cheers,
      Sebastian

      • Great to hear about the Junker plastic return as I love converting and with so many options for poses opened up with them to work in plastic my hordes of legionnaires will be a great force to face off against my Viridian forces. 😁

  2. cant wait to grab some once you have it in plastic and dive deep in this game

  3. I'd rather not say, I'm very paranoid

    Well, the plastic miniatures certainly look good. Hope we get them back in due time but I understand that current circumstances would throw a spanner in the works. Do you have an ETA or no?

    • Hi,
      They are on the list. Sadly I can’t give a definite date; it is simply beyond our control. at the moment, but I can assure you we are working hard to bring them back 🙂
      Cheers,
      Seb

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