Star Wars Miniatures Gallery--Gamorreans

Gamorreans:

Gamorreans are the orcs of the Star Wars galaxy. They are the muscle of many criminal organizations, and they serve as guards and mercenaries in the employ of anyone willing to tolerate their rather bloodthirsty behavior.

Gamorrean Guards WEG produced two different Gamorrean Guard figures, both wielding axes. Fortunately it is not too difficult to convert them to blaster-toting mercenaries. Since one of the figures has raised arms it is a particularly good candidate for removing and reposing the arms. The absolute easiest conversion is to make or adapt a scale model gun and glue it to the figure's back next to the diagonal strap that is already there.

G1 with rifle .
Another easy conversion is to remove the axe head and add a rifle butt to one end of the axe handle so the Gamorrean appears to be clutching a gun, perhaps using it as a club. In this example I used the figure with the lowered axe. I added a butt cut from a 1/35 scale model gun (a WWII era carbine), although a simple triangle cut from plastic would work. I also shaved the axe handle down to a rectangular cross-section and glued on two rectangles cut from thin plastic card to make the gun look slightly more complex. Since the axe handle in the left hand is still thick and round it now appears to be a grip on the gun barrel. I drilled out a hole in the left hand and added a short piece of fine wire and the barrel of the plastic model gun. The use of both the wire and the plastic piece makes the barrel look more substantial and the wire protects the fragile plastic from being too easily damaged.
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G2 with rifle This conversion is also based on the figure with the lowered axe. Because the hands of this figure were in the wrong positions for firing a gun they required some modification. I started by removing the left hand intact with a Dremel cut-off wheel (this was made easier due to this being an older soft lead miniature). The right hand and all traces of the axe were cut and carved away. I drilled out the left hand and the stump of the left arm and pinned the hand into a new position so it appears to be holding a pistol style grip. The trigger finger needed to be redone so I simply added a tiny piece of plastic card cut and bent to the right shape. The rifle was built upon the remaining part of the model rifle left over from doing the first figure above, with the addition of a piece of wire and six small bits of plastic to make a new barrel and butt. A new right hand was sculpted from scratch using plumber's epoxy. (Plumber's epoxy is cheaper than "green stuff" but I can't say that I recommend it for this kind of work. It sticks to your fingers, it stinks and is mildly hazardous, and it dries to an unworkable hardness after only about two minutes.)
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Back of G2 By now there are several axe heads accumulating in the bits box. I drilled out an axe head and mounted it on the end of a piece of wire, then glued it to the second figure's back and added a couple of epoxy loops to his diagonal shoulder strap.

G3 with heavy blaster .
If these guys are going to serve as mercenaries they need some heavy firepower. This conversion is based on the figure with the raised axe. I cut through the axe handle next to the right hand, cut off the left arm at the shoulder, and cut off the right arm just above the elbow. I planned simply to reposition the right arm, pin and glue it, then fill the small gap with epoxy, but this is a more recent figure made from brittle pewter and the arm shattered while trying to drill it out with a high speed Dremel tool. (A drill bit in a hand-held pin vise would probably work better on this pewter.) Fortunately the right hand remained intact to the wrist so I drilled that out and mounted it on the end of an arm's-lenth piece of wire pinned into the right arm stump. I filled the gap with plumber's epoxy and added a few simple details of muscle and a fur armguard. The repeating blaster is based on a 1/35 scale heavy machine gun. I cut the end of the barrel off and glued it into a hole drilled into the top of the right fist, and glued the rest of the gun to the bottom of the hand and to the top of the base and side of the foot. I added several pieces of wire and plastic card to the gun to change its lines. I pinned the left arm to the shoulder in a new position and filled the gap there with a tiny bit of epoxy.

All three figures are now ready to be based and painted.

Back to my Star Wars Miniatures Gallery.

Last updated 4-13-99.

	WEG produced two different Gamorrean Guard figures, both wielding axes. Fortunately it is not too difficult to convert them to blaster-toting mercenaries. Since one of the figures has raised arms it is a particularly good candidate for removing and reposing the arms. The absolute easiest conversion is to make or adapt a scale model gun and glue it to the figure's back next to the diagonal strap that is already there.
	. Another easy conversion is to remove the axe head and add a rifle butt to one end of the axe handle so the Gamorrean appears to be clutching a gun, perhaps using it as a club. In this example I used the figure with the lowered axe. I added a butt cut from a 1/35 scale model gun (a WWII era carbine), although a simple triangle cut from plastic would work. I also shaved the axe handle down to a rectangular cross-section and glued on two rectangles cut from thin plastic card to make the gun look slightly more complex. Since the axe handle in the left hand is still thick and round it now appears to be a grip on the gun barrel. I drilled out a hole in the left hand and added a short piece of fine wire and the barrel of the plastic model gun. The use of both the wire and the plastic piece makes the barrel look more substantial and the wire protects the fragile plastic from being too easily damaged. .
	This conversion is also based on the figure with the lowered axe. Because the hands of this figure were in the wrong positions for firing a gun they required some modification. I started by removing the left hand intact with a Dremel cut-off wheel (this was made easier due to this being an older soft lead miniature). The right hand and all traces of the axe were cut and carved away. I drilled out the left hand and the stump of the left arm and pinned the hand into a new position so it appears to be holding a pistol style grip. The trigger finger needed to be redone so I simply added a tiny piece of plastic card cut and bent to the right shape. The rifle was built upon the remaining part of the model rifle left over from doing the first figure above, with the addition of a piece of wire and six small bits of plastic to make a new barrel and butt. A new right hand was sculpted from scratch using plumber's epoxy. (Plumber's epoxy is cheaper than "green stuff" but I can't say that I recommend it for this kind of work. It sticks to your fingers, it stinks and is mildly hazardous, and it dries to an unworkable hardness after only about two minutes.) .
	By now there are several axe heads accumulating in the bits box. I drilled out an axe head and mounted it on the end of a piece of wire, then glued it to the second figure's back and added a couple of epoxy loops to his diagonal shoulder strap.
	. If these guys are going to serve as mercenaries they need some heavy firepower. This conversion is based on the figure with the raised axe. I cut through the axe handle next to the right hand, cut off the left arm at the shoulder, and cut off the right arm just above the elbow. I planned simply to reposition the right arm, pin and glue it, then fill the small gap with epoxy, but this is a more recent figure made from brittle pewter and the arm shattered while trying to drill it out with a high speed Dremel tool. (A drill bit in a hand-held pin vise would probably work better on this pewter.) Fortunately the right hand remained intact to the wrist so I drilled that out and mounted it on the end of an arm's-lenth piece of wire pinned into the right arm stump. I filled the gap with plumber's epoxy and added a few simple details of muscle and a fur armguard. The repeating blaster is based on a 1/35 scale heavy machine gun. I cut the end of the barrel off and glued it into a hole drilled into the top of the right fist, and glued the rest of the gun to the bottom of the hand and to the top of the base and side of the foot. I added several pieces of wire and plastic card to the gun to change its lines. I pinned the left arm to the shoulder in a new position and filled the gap there with a tiny bit of epoxy.