DIY Ripperguns

Since the release of the Warhammer Ogres hundreds of people have been doing conversions into Ogryns, what with the lack of decent ogryn models. Granted the new ones are on the horizon, but I’m not a big fan of metal models, too much like hard work to convert effectively.

So when I did my Praetorian ogryns I hit the same problem a lot of people have, how to come up with a decent ripper gun for the conversion. This is the method I created, maybe it’ll be of some use to others or perhaps serve as inspiration.

Please note the images are in reverse order on the right, just a symptom of the blog project log script I wrote. I’m rewriting the site so this will make more sense then, honest.

The components:

• 1x Imperial Guard Missile Launcher
• 1x Imperial Guard Grenade Launcher
• 1x 2nd Edition Space Marine Bolter
• A couple of scraps of plastic/plasticard
• Greenstuff for tidying

You’ll also need some tools, I used a craft knife, a razor saw, a couple of files, some very fine sand paper (Tamiya’s stuff is great), and some glue (plastic cement and superglue).

The first image shows the components with the grenade launcher mid-hack. You need both the barrel and the ammo drum, so make sure you get a nice tidy cut between the two. Then cut off the hand/arm section and shove it in the bits box.

Next cut the missile launcher. Here you only need the part around the sight, as shown. Aim just behind the sight at the back, and just over half way through the eagle at the front. See the pic for clarification.

Finally chop up the bolter. A bit more complicated. Remove the barrel after the eagle (try and keep the eagle in good condition to leave on the finished weapon). Remove the ammo clip. Then cut a 45 degree angle up as shown.

First stick the barrel from the grenade launcher onto the sight unit from the missile launcher. This will take a bit of shaving to make them line up, you can see the rough marks on mine where I did this. Be sure to sand it smooth afterwards though for a factory finish. The hardest part of this entire conversion is getting the components in a straight line. Ogryns are a bit too dense to shoot around corners, so try and give them a dead straight weapon. File, sand, and if in doubt leave your plastic cement sitting on the pieces for a few seconds before joining them. This softens up the plastic and lets you play it into place.

You need to file a nice round notch out of the ammo drum as shown. I’m very luck in that my box of files has one with a perfect radius. If you don’t have one you can manage with a craft knife. I did my first one like that and it’s possible. But a file is a lot easier!

Stick the ammo drum onto the two helpfully positioned bands around the missile launcher. It should all fit snugly, if not get the craft knife on it and shave bits down. As you can see in the image, the drum should sit level with the front of the sight unit, which is of course now acting as our breach. Perhaps 🙂

Finally stick the little wedge of the bolter to the back of the missile launcher sight. This won’t fit perfectly, since the bolter is square and the launcher round. But a little filing and fine positioning will make a pretty neat join.

Now you need a hand. I used a fist from the club show. The hands themselves are pretty much all the same so whichever ogre fist you have spare. Chop the top and bottom off, perhaps leaving part of the grip showing underneath.

The next pic shows the ripper gun complete with fist, then two shots of it in place on my next work in progress Praetorian ogryn. I actually had to swap his arm for the more extended one shown to get a nice position with the gun. Worth building the gun first in future I think.

Finally you need a stock. This requires a bit of bodging, since the ogryn’s muscles are well defined and unfortunately not square. I cut two pieces of plasticard and attached them as shown. This was done by trial and error, so don’t expect to get it right first time.

I purposely made my stocks thin so it would look like they were wrapped under the muscle. If you did a large chunky one then it would have to be formed to the shape of the arm and might look a bit odd.

The last step, which I don’t have a pic for yet, is just simple gap filling with green stuff. On my last ogryn I had to fill around the stock to blend it in with the arm. I also sculpted the index finger extended into the trigger space to give it a more dynamic look.

And that’s it. Dead simple, assuming you’ve got the bits lying around. If you don’t have the old school bolter try a new one or maybe even parts of a lasgun, whatever you have. I just happen to have dozens of the things kicking around (hazard of being an old hobbyist I guess). Hope it helps some!

The finished article