Warhammer 40,000: Zootopia's finest

This is a slightly strange story that starts with a wedding. We were invited to attend the wedding of two of our very dear friends last summer, and the dress code was "legendary", with a strong suggestion of cosplay or at least costume. We ended up going with a Star Wars theme; my partner wanted to go as Revan, and I'd always quite fancied an Imperial officer's uniform. I think we did a decent job of it; here's a picture.

I bought the uniform from an online store, who assured me that it was up to 501st Legion standards, and I believe it was! But when I searched their online store with the term "imperial officer", I got a whole bunch of Star Wars uniforms - and an Officer Hopps cosplay from Zootopia.

Now, we love Disney movies in this household, and Zootopia is an especially delightful one. Also, if you think about it, it makes perfect sense if Zootopia belongs to the Imperium. You'd think that population counter in Bunnyburrow would lead to big problems - unless they regularly ship a regiment of rabbits out to the Imperial Guard. I mean there must be stranger abhumans out there, you'd think.

Since I'd already used Eureka Miniatures rabbit samurai for my Stormbun Eternals, it wasn't much of a stretch to try bringing them over to Warhammer 40,000 as well. Here's a Chirikov Rad-Guards Scout Sentinel, being piloted by one of Zootopia's finest.

I am very happy with this model. The cockpit section is Dark Red, with the inside and some of the panels in Red; the legs are Red and Gunmetal Gray, washed with watered-down Black Glaze, which I think worked excellently.

**

Of course, I didn't stop there. To return to Star Wars for a moment, I've already used several models from Fantasy Flight's Star Wars: Imperial Assault in 40k, and I was wondering whether their AT-STs could be used as Sentinels. I bought a copy of the General Weiss Villain Pack to find out, because not only are AT-STs cool, but at a measly 20€ at our friendly local board game store, they're cheaper than Sentinels!

Also quite a bit bigger, it turns out. But if they're cheaper than Sentinels, then they're a lot cheaper than Armiger Helverins. The crew compartment is in Light Grey, with the metal bits on the guns in Gunmetal Grey. I wanted to make the legs a bit darker so I did what I did with Star Wars: Rebellion and painted them in Dark Seagreen. That came out a little bit too dark for my taste, so I painted some of the raised bits London Grey.

For the command Armiger, I found I had exactly one metal aquila left over from another project, so I stuck it on the front. I then sawed off General Weiss's head, replaced it with an Eureka rabbit's, and behold: General Hopps.

Delightfully, all three AT-STs I mean Armigers, pictured here mid-painting, fit perfectly into a Feldherr 90mm raster foam tray, with room to spare.

I really can't recommend Feldherr enough. Here's the finished squadron:

We've decided to run them as House Hawkshroud, although I'm thinking I'll name them the Loyal Zootopian Lancers.

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I'll be honest: of all the conversions I've ever done, the Sentinel and General Hopps are right up there with Rebellion Captain Phasma as the models I'm most proud of. These are all fairly simple conversions, painted to, well, my ability; but I couldn't be happier with them.