Converting the Tau XV8 Crisis Battle Suit, Part 3 - The Finished Product

Welcome back to the third and final part of FTGT's Crisis Battlesuit conversion series.  I've thoroughly enjoyed this process and hope you all have as well.  If you missed part 1 or 2 you can find them here:
Part 1
Part 2

Above is where we last left off.  The overall dimensions were in place, now for some refining. 

I started off with the ankles - gluing on some scrap wedges laying around from cutting them out of the plasticard. 

I whittled them down and added in some "screws" that i shaved off of a couple spare pulse carbines from firewarrior boxes.  

Left untouched/right shaved down

Next I shaved down the armor on the thigh pad.  This gives the leg a sleeker, longer appearance.  You can see the little "screw" bit (from the pulse carbine) on the right side of the photo that I used on the ankles.  

Next I attached the lower legs to the thighs.

I needed to lengthen the outside portion of the thigh armor, so I threw a blob of putty on it.  I use Procreate Putty - I find it much easier to work with than traditional green stuff. 

With the thigh armor done, I put some putty around the ankle joint and the knee joint to smooth them out. 

I bulked out the shoulders with some 1mm plasticard.  It doesn't add a ton of width, but I definitely prefer the look to the standard shoulder.

Next up I used some more 1mm plasticard to cover the part I cut during the lengthening of the jump pack.  I also shaved down the rectangle near the attachment on the bottom portion so there was a transition into the added plasticard.  

Next I used some 3.2mm plasticard to add some width to where the jump packs mount.  If you look close you can see the uncut piece on my cutting mat where I laid the mini and traced out the shape of the attachment point.  I then cut it out and glued it on, shaving it down for a smooth transition.  

Next I added in another jetpack thruster.  I put a blob of putty in and used a square bit (pitctured) to shape it.  The top two thrusters look a little close, but if you look at the new finecast commander (look at the last pic in the post - it is a side shot but you can still tell) you can see this looks almost identical. 

Here I've added some putty to square off the jump pack vent and smooth out remaining gaps on the rest of the jump pack.  In the background you can also see the shoulder pad where I've started to add some putty to smooth out the plasticard transitions.  Due to drying time on the putty, I alternated here between the shoulders/upper arms and the jump packs.

I then attached the jump packs and legs to the mini (with pins from the hip to the torso).  At this point the only thing left was the arms.  

Here I've put a magnet for the weapon attachment point, and added a pin to give the arm some rigidity.  I also put some magnets in the jump pack slots for support systems (not pictured).  You can see in the photo the shoulder and upper arm section where I have added putty/shaved down the plasticard.  After all of the putty dried i filed and cleaned up any rough transitions throughout the entire mini, including using some liquid greenstuff for plasticard joins.  I then gave the model a light coat of white primer to unify the look of the finished conversion.

Alright, time for the big reveal!  It's been a long process but thanks for sticking through it.  Without further adieu, here is the shiny new XV8:  

Here he is with a couple of flamers on to roast anyone who called him a robo-chicken before his conversion.

Before and after shots, all that time at the gym has paid off for the formerly little guy.

Here he is in a mock lineup to match the codex art.  You can't see the stealth suit on the right side because it has its cloaking system engaged (it's totally not because I don't have any stealth suits...).  

Welcome to the family!

Phew!  That was a long process, thank you for sticking it out.  I hope you like the mini, and I'd love to read your thoughts/questions/comments below!  I'd also love to see some of your conversions!  I'll be doing two more of these guys in the future, and will post up some pics when they are ready.  For those I'll try some flying/more dynamic poses.  See you guys next time!

-Ron