Eisenkern Guard build pt1

(or why I love OTHER miniature companies)

   Yes, I realize I am building several minis with NOT A SINGLE GW part other than the base! (and one bolt pistol)

The photo above is one of my test builds using the awesome Dreamforge Games Eisenkern range with several conversion bits from other companies. (don't mind the BlueTac holding the heads and weapons on!)

   After receiving a series of snarky text messages from one of my 40k friends about the lack of GW parts in the test build, I decided to preface the rest of this post with the following disclaimer:

I don't play in tournament games, and probably never will.  I am a casual gamer who started 40k in ancient times past where modeling and storytelling were more important than tournament play.  If you don't like my lack of GW parts and find it heretical then please refer to the following message from your local Astra Militarum recruiter:

Now that we have that out of the way...
   I love the GW-themed Lasguns from Anvil Industry.  I've use their version of the Stormbolter before and these lasguns were of the same high quality.  Great molds, minimal flashing and lines to remove, and appropriately scaled to 28mm "heroic" minis.
   I picked up a bunch of the conversion heads and weapons from Mad Robot Miniatures (MRM).  WOW.  I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the nicely packaged parts.

   The heads scale well with a variety of bodies from both GW and Dreamforge, and may have to get added to my recently purchased GW Scouts for my rider-less Landspeeder Storm. (What could be better than scouts with mohawks AND sunglasses??)
  The weapons look great, but I'll have to try them on a few test builds to see how they scale with their GW equivalents.  Here are the weapons arrayed with one of the Eisenkern figures:

 From top to bottom they are the MRM Plasma, MRM Melta, Anvil Melta and Anvil Lasgun.    I think the Melta from Anvil Industry is going to win out, at least for my IG/AM build.  I've got plenty of Rogue Trader Mk 6 bodies that will need meltaguns, and the MRM Melta matches that "slightly-smaller-than-heroic" 28mm scale.  I've learned from several of the people that have painted the Eisenkern range to do the heads and weapons separately, so once I get that phase complete, I'll post another WIP update on this project.