What figure was used to convert Raja Khandar Madu?
This is probably the question I get asked the most. The Raja Khandar Madu conversion (at right) seems to be the most popular figure I have. I've even had people specifically ask to play against "the Redhead"--though they've often found (the hard way, of course) that she plays rough! 

Unlike Sisters of Battle, my female Marines don't have any err...feminine features, so my female conversions are very simple: basic Marine figures with female heads. Raja Khandar has some lightning claws and a modified backpack, but usually people ask about her distinctive face.

For a long time, I didn't have an answer to that question. You see, several years ago, when I was putting together my female Marines, I went out and bought a lot of female miniatures. I didn't pay any attention to what company made them or what game they were for. At the time, I was only looking at: 1) price, and 2) how easy it would be to remove the heads. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on figures I'd just decapitate, and I didn't want to do anything much fancier than snip the heads off with some clippers. 

For a variety of reasons, few of the figures I bought were from Games Workshop. At the time, the only extensive range of female figures were the Necromunda Escher gangers and the 40K Sisters of Battle. I used a few of the Escher miniatures, but I stayed away from most the GW stuff because: 

1. The GW figures were somewhere around $5 each; 

2. With the  positions of their shoulders and arms, they would require lots of careful sawing and filing (which I didn't have time for); and

3. I wanted to distinguish my Tigers of Kali from Sisters of Battle. Using heads from Sisters wouldn't help.

Wanting Raja Khandar to turn out really well, I saved her for last. Literally years went by as I slowly painted and converted my army. Finally, in February 2000, I finished everything else and started on her. 

Bringing "the Redhead" to life
The Raja Khandar Madu conversion is based off of Samantha of the Blade (below), sculpted by Sandra Garrity and sold by Reaper Miniatures as part of their "Dark Heaven" line. 
 

For this figure, I took the time to carefully remove the head with a hacksaw and filed it down so that it would fit smoothly with a plastic 3rd Edition Space Marine torso. I used "green putty" to fill in the gaps and to resculpt the ends of the hair where the hacksaw had cut them. Her hair is painted in Blood Red with several applications of Flesh Wash to make it appear more natural.

Her torso and legs come from the 3rd Edition plastic Marine sprue; I've distinguished her as wearing artificer armor by painting the chest eagle gold and customizing the backpack with some sabretooth tiger heads (from old, out-of-production Ral Partha miniatures). The Iron Halo is half of the collar from the Warhammer Chaos figure Scylla. Her lightning claws are Terminator arms, again painted gold to signify that they are master-crafted. She hangs her helmet on her belt. 

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© Copyright Kenton Kilgore, December 2000
 

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