Ad Mech walkers customized!

(You guys know me... I can't leave well enough alone)

An auxiliary Dragoon from House Themistokles marches in front of his Knight brethren

So here is my first take at my modified Sydonian Dragoons / Ironstriders. (please pardon the big globs of Blue-tac holding the rider together!)



My intent was to take the servitor out of the "machine" so to speak.  Since I intended for my Skitarii forces to be less current 40k and more Rogue Trader-ish, the Dragoons/Ironstriders were going to need to change.  I was inspired by the mentions of a variety of walker types and sizes in the Rogue Trader-era fluff, complete with riders jousting from the saddle.  I cut the majority of the servitor body out of the walker, leaving the head simply as an attachment point with the hull.  I still haven't figured out what I want to do with the head to make it blend with the rest of the mechanical structure.

The rider I used in the photos is a mix of the Ad Mech parts from the kit with a head from the Tempestus Scions driver from the Taurox.  The Scion head isn't the final one I'm going to use, although it does give him a bit of a rebellious, jaunty look!  I've got some of the Spellcrow "Long-haired Space Knight"heads on the way to use on the final model.  Parts from Victoria models will fill out parts of the body that I want to be less Mechanicum, and more Knight pilot.  You can see how I've built a version of the Throne Mechanicum behind the pilot.  The clip on sensor array and the cabled legs of the servitor made for enough arcane parts to make the seat look less like a motorcycle seat, and more like a lighter, less capable Throne, patterned after those used by the full-size Knights.

There were other minor changes like removing a few extraneous spikes from the walker's carapace, and getting rid of that strange Ad Mech mechadendrite tail that several of their new models have.  Look, if they can't repair the retraction mechanisms on the mechadendrites, then how can they hope to keep these mechanical-walker-things working??  

Once my order of more primer and basing supplies arrives from +TheWarStore.com , I'll get to priming this guy and start assembly on Knight #3. (yes, I am a glutton for punishment!)  In the mean time, I've got the parts for another walker, courtesy of Blackdagger Games and their awesome eBay bits store.  I guess I had better get him done ASAP!