Zoruk Ironfist, like many other young ogrun, set upon Immoren to establish himself and prove his martial prowess.

He found employment within the ranks of the Cygnaran military, hiring out his services as a bodyguard. When the walls of Sul were breached, Zoruk was at the vanguard, pressing forward with a small assault force, breaking the Menite line. Battle found Zoruk ultimately crushed and broken beneath the rubble of a collapsed building, his client fleeing from the carnage.

As he laid dying and the battle moved on, Zoruk Ironfist was pulled from ruin by Asheth Magnus, who had followed the battle from afar and saw the events unfold that led to Zoruk's defeat. Unfortunately, although rescued, his arms were shattered and his skull fractured. Magnus offered the bokur a chance to continue fighting and avenge himself the dishonor of being left to die. With Zoruk taken to a secret cache, Magnus salvaged parts from warjacks and fashioned new limbs for the ogrun, while repairing and nursing other wounds the ogrun had sustained.

Zoruk Ironfist now fights along side Magnus, eager to join the Warlord's conspiracy and regain his honor with a measure of payback.

Introduction

So what is this all about? Why is there a blurb giving a backstory to this article? Good questions!

Conversions are an integral part of the miniature hobby. Simply stated, a conversion is any modification of a miniature from its original physical state to another. This can be anything from a simple weapon swap - that is, changing what weapon a model is holding - to using base components of a model to create a new and unique offering. Typically conversions are done for aesthetic purposes, although often miniatures are converted because a company simply does not offer the model required.

The conversion that will be highlighted in this article ended up taking on a life of its own. I had wanted to add another ogrun bokur to my mercenary reserves. With the advent of Magnus the Warlord and the loyalist army I painted for pages in WARMACHINE: Superiority, I found I had a good reason to paint up another. The thing is, I dislike painting the same model repeatedly. The stock ogrun bokur is a nice model, but I just did not want to paint it again. A change of color would be interesting, but not enough to convince me to work on this project. While flipping through the IKRPG Monsternomicon I found a picture of an ogrun that was apparently inspiration for the bokur model. This one, however, was loaded up on weapons. That sparked the first thoughts of doing simple weapon swaps to make another, different bokur.

The main swaps were going to be the bokur's weapon and shield. Easy enough to change shields, and just as easy to remove the ogrun polearm and add in a giant sword. Having a Nomad's sword on hand, this looked like a good solution. When I started holding parts next to each other I realized that there was a perfectly good hand attached to the sword, which in turn lead me to the decision to replace the entire arm with a mechanikal limb that would look appropriate with the Nomad's hand [and sword].

After consulting with my fellow BrushThralls I came to the conclusion that simply having the right arm rebuilt would be odd, since Magnus also had a mechanical right arm. The suggestion was made to have a mechanikal left arm, with an integrated shield. This eventually turned Zoruk Ironfist into something of a Frankenstein's monster with multiple limb replacements and even a skull plate. Yes, I said Zoruk Ironfist, because as the conversion concept developed I realized he would have to have a name and a backstory that would provide a compelling reason for this conversion.

Concept Sketches

Where to start? With any conversion a strong concept is necessary. Given the above, I broke out my BrushThrall notebook and started scribbling down ideas. Sketching is a great way to develop concepts before building. All of the models we use start from concept sketches, so why should a conversion be any different?

You can see from my initial notes how I developed the construction, and you can see places where I ultimately deviated for one reason or another.

The Parts

A project like this just doesn't happen without parts to build from. The basic plan was to replace the bokur's head with Arquebus Jonne's head, build the right arm based on the Nomad's hand and sword, build a new shield arm and swap in a Revenger's shield, and load him up with extra weapons. I also wanted to tie him to my loyalist army, even though he won't be used there, by replacing his chainmail armor with a greatcoat.

Also included was the raw materials used to build parts from scratch:

• Plastic rod, 0.040" diameter
• Plastic rod, 0.080" diameter
• Plastic tube, 9/32" diameter
• Sheet Styrene, 0.040" thick
• Brass tube, 1/16" diameter
• Brass tube, 1/8" diameter
• Brass tube, 7/32" diameter
• Guitar string
• Green stuff
• Craft bead, random 0.4" diameter

Tips for Working with Green Stuff

This article is not a lesson on sculpting with green stuff, but I feel it's important to provide a few tips that I thought were necessary to remember while working on the bokur.

• Sculpting with epoxy putty is not like classical sculpting, where you remove material to reveal a shape below. Miniature sculpting is more about pushing the putty into place and into shape. Remember the Conservation of Matter: Matter is neither created nor destroyed. With that in mind, remember that anytime you press in one place the putty will displace somewhere else.
• Green stuff is sticky. Remember to lubricate your tools using water, spit, Vasoline, or even cooking oil.
• Use a little at a time. The working time is not so long that you can use a large amount at one time.
• Work in stages. Sometimes you have to set up a foundation for something before you sculpt in detail. For example, don't try to sculpt an entire arm at once. Instead, lay down a base of green stuff [to establish the basic mass] and let it cure, then lay down another layer or two than can be sculpted into muscles.
• Work in stages. This is important for another reason: it is aggravating to put your finger into uncured putty because you are working the other end of a model. Let parts cure before moving on.
• Use a lamp to speed up curing time. Heat from a light bulb will help green stuff and other epoxy putties set up faster and allow you to get back to work faster. Be careful, a hot lamp will also melt plastic parts.

Enough talk, let's start building.