Jason Moses

As part of the Visions in Color planning committee, this mini was partially my brainchild. Looking at it, I see many of the features I’d originally described when Dominic asked us what kind of miniature we would like Reaper to make for us. One of my suggestions had been that she be not easily identifiable as fantasy or sci-fi, with the idea that she could be easily concerted into either. Knowing Reaper, I guess this was kind of a silly suggestion, and indeed she turned out about as sci-fi as my 1991 Nissan, Sentra.

But dammit, I wanted a sci-fi mini and I set about trying to figure out how to make her into one. Thankfully, Games Workshop has a race of flowery, space elves called Eldar, and the VIC looked like she’d just about fit in (in fact, it’s so obvious I’m wondering how many other people will have converted her into an Eldar?). So while I’d paid little attention to the Eldar in the past, I started really looking at Eldar paint jobs and GW bits.

I knew that in order to convincingly make her something other than what she was, I was going to have to replace her head with some kind of helmet. I really wanted to use one of the Eldar Sorcerer heads, but the only one I liked came attached to a $15 figure (Eldrad), and I felt that was too much for one bit. My next idea was one of those strange helmets worn by the Wraithguard, and on my first trip to GW central, that was the first bit I wrote down. I also bought Jain Zar’s left arm, and a suitable blaster thingamajigger-toting right arm. When I got home I got right to work with my Dremel Tool and a grinding bit, and some hours later I was finally able to establish that the Wraithguard helmet was just way too big (although their spine looked great). And while Jain’s arm looked (and fit) just great, it was obvious that the right arm was going to look pretty silly without the left’s shoulder pad. So on my second trip to GW Central I bought another Jain arm. After poring through the bitz books and again rejecting the entire Warlock just for the donation of his head, I finally settled on the Swooping Hawk’s head and arm sprue. That night I put together the VIC and I was mightily pleased: The Hawk’s head matched the Wraithguard spine; the shoulder pads fit perfectly, and somehow brought the entire shoulder/head area into harmony; basically all the parts fit together.

I was so pleased with the conversion, and so pressed for time, that I wanted it to just stop right there. But I had a lot of painting to do, and I got down to it. I won’t say anything about the paintjob except to admit that it was rushed and it’s certainly not my best. I finished it literally the day it was due to be submitted.

Jason Moses

Comments submitted on the original site:

Geert writes...

Apparently it wasn't all that obvious. Great conversion! An
almost poddle-like effect. :-)

Geert writes...

darn, that's the second time I've misspelled "Poodle". I'm
hexed.

Dallas writes...

Hi Jason,

I would have never picked this one out as yours ;~). Great job.
You've done a wonderful job with the conversion. As to the
painting I wish my rushed paint jobs looked this good.

Dallas

Dave Kelly writes...

Well you did warn us! Been a while since I've had the opportunity
to see anything painted by you, and you haven't disappointed.
Your conversion actually struck me as being blindingly obvious,
but only after you'd pointed out exactly how obvious it was (yeah
it's 12:30am, I don't make sense).

The gems are great, the marble-esque effect on the blade is cool.
The rest of the paintjob is just spot on and my only query would
be the flat black cloak unless my tired eyes are missing the
highlights. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your commentary, although
it would've been good to see you have a little more time and
write down how you painted her/him/it. Nice to see you back with
the paints.

Rachel Borthwick writes...

Very, very cool. I wish there was a GW HQ in my town :(... Love
the colour scheme, I know a guy with a similarly coloured Eldar
army so it looks very Eldar to me. Great work on the staff - I
may have to steal the pink crystalline look for something in the
future. Nice base too, subtly reinforces the scifi+eldar look.

Craig Stocks writes...

Ahhhh!! oh the humanity! GW bitz on a Reaper figure! ok, got
that out of my system. ;-) Lovely work. very imagitive
conversion.

Deane P. Goodwin writes...

Hey! Where the VIC mini? ;-/ Very startling piece of work here
(and I mean that as a compliment) Very strong conversion and good
spacey color choices. Love the base.

Tom writes...

Very nice piece, Jason! The conversion blends together
seemlessly (those coat-runes certainly help!), although she
appears to be a bit neck-less. Not quite sure about your
basing... But I absolutely LOVE the rose-ish lightning/marble on
the blade of the glaive. The yellow-golds came out VERY well,
and the gems are simply gorgeous and realistic. The black could
stand some more highlighting, and the whole piece seems a bit too
shiny (especially the base). Great job -- one of my favorites!

Dick Vandegrift writes...

All I can say is " Wow " Work like yours is why I was timid
about entering the Vic. I am too old to ever come close to your
talent. Not enough years left for practice needed to reach your
level. I sure enjoy viewing your fabulous painted figures. Dick

David writes...

Wow! Took me a minute to find her! Oh yeah, there she is. Great
conversion. I'm very new at the conversion thing so I think you
were very brave to do such radical surgery. It was worth the
risk! Not only did you manage to get rid of the big hair
(something I wasn't too keen on) but you also managed to make the
mini look like it was sculpted that way. The elevated mini works
really well with the pose and accentuates the movement in the
coat and skirt. Nice! What else...Oh yeah the painting! Nice job.
As others have mentioned the black could use a little more
highlighting. The flesh and jems are great as is the over all
colour scheme (I'm a sucker for black and purple). You may have
rushed it, but it still looks good.

Dirk Stiller writes...

Jason, awesome conversion!
Great paintscheme. Well, what more can I say, I am totally blown
away, anyway. Even the marble base looks great.
Great job
Cheers
Dirk

Joe Wiedeman writes...

Jason,

Sweet work man!

Very nice conversion, I thought more people would do the Eldar
thing too, go figure...
I particularly like the helmet you chose, though I think that
having the lenses a bit brighter would've helped.
I like what you did with the base too, ties in with the weapon
nicely.
Peace.

Joe

Irven Keppen writes...

Wow! Which mini was this again! ;) I like what you've done with
her, a very imaginative conversion! You've added so many details
to a mini already chock full of them that I don't know where to
start! I guess I'll just list a few of the things I like the best
because I don't see anything that I would change. The crackling
power on the blade is a nice touch, I'm still afraid to try that
technique myself. The runes on the cloak seem to enhance the
Eldar theme you've chosen! After looking at the mini some more, I've changed my mind, I
would change the black cloak and gloves to a different color.
They seem to take away from the mass of the mini and make the top
appear much heavier then the bottom. Well thats all I can spot!
Good job!

Katie Owen writes...

:D Told you playing around with different styles was fun!

Neat conversion, gorgeous gems, nice metal, the stone veins and
the trim on the cloth came out sweet. Black on the inside of the
cloak and spear-wielding glove don't look highlighted enough, but
whether that's the pics or not only you know ;) . The pale
buttery yellow looks great on the cloak runes, but comes out flat
on the spiral on the shoulder,the ribbon, and the faceplate. I
really like how you got so many different colors to work well
together.