Comrades of the Imperial Guard, come see the plastic conversion for our brother regiments of Savlar Chem Dogs da?
With some recent love for our boys in the Guard Astra Militarum in the recent Mont’ka book, we will probably see a lot of people revisiting one of the most overlooked 7th Edition codicies yet. If you are looking for a way to do this, but don’t want dull old Cadians are aren’t a fan of biceps the size of a models head (Catachans), then here is a really simple and characterful conversion to spice up your army.
First introduced back in the 3rd War for Armageddon campaign in 3rd edition, the Savlar Chem Dogs (Lexicanum link) are one of the many Penal Legionarie Imperial Guard regiments. And while Legionaires may not have their own rules any more, there is nothing stopping you from making an entire army, allied detachment or just veteran or conscript squad out of them.
(Sorry for the rush paint job. Need to wash him, but haven’t painted the whole squad, just wanted to share the EASY conversion so you too could get Chem Dogs on the field of battle!)
So this is actually a really simple conversion
First of all I just used simple Cadians (mixed from heavy weapon squads and infantry squads) as the bodies and torsos. To make them truly flavourfull, adding an assortment of pouches, backpacks, and war trophies would be the next step, but the core concept is in the pictures above.
As for the heads, which give them the Chem dog feel I selected Pig Iron Productions Kolony Militia Winter Heads.
These would actually be really good for any Vahallans or Vostroyans as well, but you really need something/anything with a gas mask. I just happened to also like the hats. Perfect for winter themed basing as even the typically bare headed Chem Dogs would want something warm on their heads. Maybe they served alongside some Valhallans and “procured” some head wear in the barracks (or off the battlefield…).
To do this conversion I simply took the heads and clipped off the gas filters on the cheeks. I then drilled with a pin vice where the filters used to be.
I then took melta bombs and cut the handle away and drilled a small hole in each end. This would form the Chem Dogs Nitro-Chem Inhaler.
Once that was complete I mounted the chem-inhaler to be by removing the Cadian collar and filling in with some Green Stuff. I then placed the Melta Bomb on back of the Cadian. It works best if one of the ridges of the melta bomb rests on the small mounting bracket for a vox on the Cadian’s back. I then took guitar string and bent it to shape to fit into each of the sockets on the face and the bomb, but any small hobby wire will do.
If you are not one to walk the beaten tactical path, then come check out more articles like this on Sepulchre of Heroes, home of the 9th Legion. You can also find there plenty of other thoughts and discussions on the hobby and Warhammer 40k, particularly Blood Angels. We feature ample hobby content in painting and kitbashing and cover several GW specialist games such as Battlefleet Gothic and Blood Bowl. Working daily to Bring the Hobby Back, so check us out!
