Skitarii Customization - part 2

(too... many.. bits... MUST CHOOSE!)

I showed off a test build of my Skitarii Ranger with the first post in this series of customized Skitarii. (He's the one on the right in the image above.)  I've now gone back and made some more changes to the model and we'll have to see where this ends up.

Of course I would be remiss if I did not show you an image of the GW Skitarii Rangers to set the stage for my radical departure from GW canon:

Now I knew I wasn't going to get the whole-body robes like the GW Rangers above.  I had looked at using the Victoria Miniatures cloaks, but they just didn't scale right with the Anvil Industries bodies.(and custom green-stuff cloaks were CERTAINLY out of the question!)  At the same time, I needed to make the model similar, yet distinct from the Vanguard models that were taking on a Spartan look.

Ranger with Transuranic Arquebus

I had worked several weapons into the previous sample model, but hadn't built up the Skitarii's Anti-Materiel rifle, the Transuranic Arquebus.  Since I wasn't using their steampunk-looking rifles, I relied on the Anvil Industries Negotiator rifle for the baseline weapon.  In keeping with the rest of my Skitarii weapons, I replaced the box magazine with a rotating one.  I love the fact that so many options are available for the weapons from Anvil Industries, as it allows a great deal of customization right out of the bag.  The legs, torso, cloak and powerpack are the same as my Skitarii Vanguard, which will allow me to paint the metallic pistol-like legs that I think are more fitting than the spindly little shin/calf replacements that the GW minis have.

I opted for the smaller shoulder pads that I had used on my Inquisitor's retinue, as they would give a feel of still being armored, yet a lighter, more "huntsman"-like version of the Skitarii armor.  I placed the goggles from the Anvil Industries head options over the face of the Ranger to give them some enhanced optics, which I'll just have to take up another notch for the Ranger Alpha.

The business end of the arquebus

I should have pinned his arms when I was assembling him, but the fine balance of adding green-stuff to place the arm in the right position, along with the weight of the rifle pushing the arms down was getting me into a never-ending cycle of push here, pull there in order to get it just right.  I didn't add the shooting staff mod that the GW Rangers have, as I couldn't figure out a way to pull it off with the arms I had while making it look good.  

GW Ranger with arqebus and shooting staff

That will be a project for another week, as I've got some ideas that will mix mechanicum and modern in an effort to get a unique look to a Shooting Staff/Targeter.  Now off to primer this guy, and get some paint on him.

Thoughts, comments, etc on this take on the Skitarii Rangers?