Void Crows, a 40K space salvage crew.

[Modhail]

Way back when, in the days that =I=Munda first saw the light of day over on the Dakkadakka forums, I started on a little salvage crew. Lowlifes that boarded derelict ships to get what they could before the official Mechanicus and Naval Reclamation vessels could arrive at the scene. Crows of the Void, picking at corpses, only to scatter before the bigger scavengers...

This is the original group  I built at the time:



This first group was fairly generic, so I'd be able to use them as salvagers, low ranking naval armsmen, station security, whatever NPC group I'd need.
But it was also very much a combat group, for a salvage crew they had very few scavengers, they lacked more civilian types.
I was already on my way to correcting that with a plasmacutter-servitor and a savant, when the project stalled due to lack of people to game with.
Here are those two additions:

1-G0R, with his cargo clamp and Rhyza-built Class IV "Gooseneck" plasma cutter arm.
And the as-yet unnamed savant:

Here you can see the augmetic frame the elderly man needs to able to move in the bulky void suit:

For light in dark derelicts, they could use these "Lux" pattern servoskulls:

(The grille has since been greenstuffed shut, to make it a floodlight.)

So, why bring all this up now?
Well, because I've started expanding the group again!
Here is the new addition in a pre-greenstuff test assemble, leading the way for the savant I showed earlier:

She has a heavy Lumen-wand in an overhand grip, ready to whack anything that might get startled out of the shadows.
I the other hand she carries a powered Boarding Gaff (inspired by Jes Goodwins Naval crew drawings), here's a better view of it:

As part of the scavenging crew she will get a less heavily armoured void suit than the boarding party. She will also need ears and hair, so out came the green stuff:


(God, are such tiny ears a nuisance to sculpt! Bad for the blood pressure...)
I still need to add arbites-style kneepads and her hair, I'm thinking of a single central faux-hawk ponytail and shaved sides, Escher style. But first this GS pass needs to cure, don't want to smush anything up.

So, what more is planned?
I want to add a big burly man with a nice two-handed crowbar, one or two guys with simple towershields, one of which will get a boarding gaff also. I see these guys as double duty troops: If the boarding team gets into trouble, they can provide cover and close combat support. When all is clear they can use their gaffs and shields for hauling cargo. Should there be an unexpected hull breach, they can use their (disposable) shields and some sealant foam to close the hole. (Which means they should both get cans of sealant foam, aka web grenades. Or I could simply give one a webber, to represent "alternate use" of a sealant foam gun.)
I've also got the bits to make a Crewboss in a more fancy pattern of void suit. Maybe at one point I'll also add a tracked or grav cargo sled for hauling loot. But with those last to additions the group will definitely have become an experienced, professional outfit, who may even occasionally take on a legal job <shudder>...

[Mason]

Wonderful ideas and execution.
 

I do recall seeing these at some point in the past but had no idea where.
Now I know where to find them again to steal all you great ideas!
 

[Modhail]

Thank you!

Steal away! To be honest I got the "inspiration" for the void suit conversion off Xanthus on Dakkadakka myself.   
I'd love to see what you come up with.

[commissarmoody]

Oh man, I also made started a crew based on Xanthus guys from dakka dakka.  I need to dig them out and start working on them again.
Very cool and looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

[Dentatus]

Most excellent idea and figs. Sounds like they'd make for some excellent games.

[Gangleri]

I'm so pleased you're reviving this project!  I remember these guys from many moons ago on DakkaDakka and was always sorry we didn't see more of them.  Looking forward to the additions.

[Wachaza]

Nice. Got  a list of the bits used? Especially the gorget/neckguard bit.

Nice stuff. 

[Vermis]

Excellent stuff. This kind of creativity and personalisation is what really makes the hobby for me. Being appropriated as void suits really makes those chunky Cadians look a look better! And yeah, ears are a bugger, aren't they? Takes me far too long trying to get them lined up symmetrically.

Lastly, Wachaza: second thing I noticed was the use of kroot shoulder pads for the neckguards. Very effective.

[warburton]

Great stuff, I look forward to seeing more!

[Dewbakuk]

Fantastic, this is the kind of thing that would get me playing 40k games again.

[Modhail]

Thank you, guys! I'm glad you lot like them, certainly spurs me on to keep going on them. 

Commisarmoody, please do! The more the merrier...

Wachaza: Cadian torso, legs and arms. Kroot shoulder pads for the gorget and kneepads (though you could substitute the kneepads with Cadian shoulderpads), the stomach plate on the original gang is the square armour plate from the Kroot sprue. The shotguns come from the old Necromunda plastics, the heads in the padded caps from the old plastic Sentinel (apparently the newer plastic version doesn't have these heads anymore...).

Dentatus, Vermis, Dewbakuk, that's actually a major reason for me to do gangs/warbands like this. I've found the "official" version of 40k less and less interesting over the years, the increasingly massive scale of the game, the clunky, often illogical rules, that got more and more disconnected from the background stories as the editions progressed, the hyperbole stacked on hyperbole, it just didn't excite me anymore. It got me thinking about what drew me to the game in the first place, and what kept me coming back and giving the game another chance, time and time again. It is the setting and the human measure within that monolithic galaxy-spanning empire that appeals to me. The most fun I had in GW games were things like second edition 40K, Necromunda, Mordheim, Inquisitor and Gorkamorka. Games at a skirmish level, where individuals mattered beyond being wound counters for the heavy weapon guy. Where the smaller nooks and crannies of the setting were explored, the more civilian, "human" side of things. Just around the time I was first pondering these things, the concept of =I=Munda or Inquisimunda arose. It was right up my alley, the whole attitude of "Play the setting, not the product" and "Story first, rules last". This gang is part of me doing that. I guess it is a sort of parrallel evolution to the Oldhammer movement: taking the storydriven gaming and freedom that was in the old rules and setting, but applying it to the current day iteration of the setting. With maybe a healthy pinch of John Blanche-esque weirdness and gothic horror. Not so much of the latter in this gang though, they're fairly down to earth scavengers. 

I also did some work on the next member of the crew:

A big brute of a man with his "universal unlocking tool"... I couldn't have a gang of Void Crows and not model at least one crowbar, now could I?

I gave him shims of plasticard at his waist, under his feet and at his shoulders, attempting to make him a suitably big brute of a man. But the effect is less pronounced than I had wanted. Hopefully it will be more noticeable once painted and sat next to his buddies. If I also make sure to cover his base in plasticard, I can gain another mm of visual height.
The crowbar is simply heated and formed plastic rod. The most hassle in this conversion is finding the right arms and hands, and then fiddling to get everything to line up... Still easier than sculpting ears though.
He will get the same style of void suit that the little lady is wearing, so hopefully the arms will come back off without too much hassle when I do the greenstuff work. He will be getting the same armour as the lady salvager (as in female member of the salvage crew, not as in someone who salvages women! Duh! ) .

[Gunbird]

And Erik does it again. Some side project huh? 

[Dr Mathias]

Excellent work

[JoeRugby]

Those are really cool.

Nice use of Kroot shoulder pads, green stuff and ...everything

[Pizzagrenadier]

What an awesome project. I had never even thought of doing salvage crews. Now you have me wanting to do a whole crew to use in the Bug Hunt corridor Kickstarter terrain I haven't purchased yet but now suddenly need to use for models I haven't converted or painted yet...

Love the tools and details, especially the servo skull lights. Just so cool. This gets me to thinking of converting some of the new Pig Iron Kolony guys over to something like this...

I've found the "official" version of 40k less and less interesting over the years, the increasingly massive scale of the game, the clunky, often illogical rules, that got more and more disconnected from the background stories as the editions progressed, the hyperbole stacked on hyperbole, it just didn't excite me anymore. It got me thinking about what drew me to the game in the first place, and what kept me coming back and giving the game another chance, time and time again. It is the setting and the human measure within that monolithic galaxy-spanning empire that appeals to me. The most fun I had in GW games were things like second edition 40K, Necromunda, Mordheim, Inquisitor and Gorkamorka. Games at a skirmish level, where individuals mattered beyond being wound counters for the heavy weapon guy. Where the smaller nooks and crannies of the setting were explored, the more civilian, "human" side of things. Just around the time I was first pondering these things, the concept of =I=Munda or Inquisimunda arose. It was right up my alley, the whole attitude of "Play the setting, not the product" and "Story first, rules last". This gang is part of me doing that. I guess it is a sort of parrallel evolution to the Oldhammer movement: taking the storydriven gaming and freedom that was in the old rules and setting, but applying it to the current day iteration of the setting. With maybe a healthy pinch of John Blanche-esque weirdness and gothic horror. Not so much of the latter in this gang though, they're fairly down to earth scavengers. 

This. Absolutely how I feel about 40k. It's why I came back to 40k, not to play it as it is now, but to take advantage of the new models that are available and recreate that skirmish element of what I loved about 40k from when I bought Rogue Trader as a pimply faced teen. Of course, as these kind of things go, now I own an Ork Stompa that needs to be fought over and am working on an entire city I'll probably never finish...

Now add to that a space hulk interior...

Inspiring work!