DIY: 40k Conversions - Conversion Beamer

One really cool option that is seldom played on the 40k table by vanilla marine armies is the Master of the Forge.  Most people don't like him because: (a) he doesn't have an invulnerable save, and (b) he is essentially a two-wound version of the techmarine, which can be purchased for much less, and without taking up an HQ slot.  But there is one really awesome piece of equipment that is available to the Master that can not be purchased anywhere else... in the entire game: the conversion beamer. A conversion beamer is an odd little device that has a variable strength and ap value based upon the distance to your target... but the further away from your target you get, the better it works.  And at a 72" max range, you're most effective when almost nothing else in the game can touch you.  The odd thing about this little device?  Nobody knows what it looks like!  No model has been made for it since at least the Rogue Trader days, and that's the last time a picture was produced too.  While this may cause some people frustration, I think it's a great opportunity for some conversion work.

(The RT conversion beamer in all its black and white glory.)

Interestingly, most likely because most current 40k players either didn't play the game back in RT, or much more disturbingly, simply weren't alive yet, there have been many attempts at capturing what the conversion beamer should look like:

From Stillfrosty at LINK:

Note in this version the conversion beamer uses a 'dish' to beam the deadly signal, but is essentially the size of a bolter. 

From Digitaldaggers on the Bolter and Chainsword forums LINK: 

This thing looks like it's mostly centered around a plasma cannon, but that thing is massive!  Talk about the extreme opposite from the bolter version.

From Gurth on the Botler and Chainsword forums LINK:

Take a good look at the guy in the middle.  This is an amazing scratch version of the conversion beamer that has been given to some rogue trader era space marines... back when even a humble foot soldier could carry them into battle.  I don't know if Gurth actually made this model or if he just found it on the web somewhere, but I do seem to recall that someone, somewhere, scratch built and then cast that thing for his own personal use...

From WeeMan LINK:

This one is also based on some RT era parts, but relies on the old plasma cannon for its design.  Note that in this model you will see a fairly popular trend to put the master on a bike.  It makes sense that if you're going to want to fire that weapon at maximum range, then you need to be able to move fast enough to fire it that way!  By putting him on a bike you don't have to tie up a transport, and that extra toughness boost doesn't hurt either... even though S8 weapons will still make him go splat.

From Stillfrosty LINK:

I think this is a model that Stillfrosty found on the web when trying to figure out how he was going to do his own version, but I could be mistaken.  Either way, note that this is another massive version of the beamer, and has even been loaded onto a sidecar like WeeMen's version.  It's interesting to see that some people have decided a man portable relic should have the profile of a small tank...

From Turbo_MMX on the dakkadakka forums LINK:

This is, by far, my favorite version of the beamer, and I used it as the basis for my own conversion.  Note that as a plasma gun, it's still about the size of a bolter, but with the addition of the dish on front and the clever targeting module from the Ravenwing sprue, this thing becomes something just a little beefier than your typical hand weapon.  Also like Turbo_MMX, I decided to put mine on a bike as well, to take full advantage of the need for mobility and the toughness boost, without having to use the larger sidecar footprint. 
 
This conversion is deceptively simple, and you can pull it off without any step-by-step instructions, although there should be some within that dakka page I've cited above.
 
Although I do not have a picture of mine up here yet, I'll do so once I've thrown some paint on it.  I prefer not to show my models in their ugly naked stages, but I think you'll find some fairly common similarities between my model and the one above.  When I get around to painting my own Master of the Forge, I'll be sure to post him up here as an update... or as a page by himself with a link back to this page.
 
But what should we learn from all of these pictures?  Sometimes not having everything spelled out by GW creates great opportunities for real creativity to flow in the creation of your conversions.  At least, that's my take on it...