Adding Dynamic Movement when Posing Miniatures

With all the versatility we're seeing in the quality of the plastic kits that are coming out for our favorite hobby, there is an opinion I'm seeing more and more..

"Who needs to convert, when the kits let us have so many different poses?"

Well, I do, dangit! And you should too! Why? Because with just a little effort, you can truly have a unique force that not only will no one else have, but you can really add a sense of dynamic movement to a fig who's standard, static poses we've all seen, all too often.

Take for instance the below examples of some basic poses of a few of my Centurions.

 

These are some very stock-standard poses, easy to accomplish, but still looking good, right? I've got a few of these in my force, and they are actually a welcome 'break' from converting every fig sometimes. While I'm happy with them, let's face it... anyone and everyone who has owned Space Marines has figs posed like these. They aren't bad poses, but they aren't any different than the guy playing one of the 31,000 flavors of marines out there either.

Now take a look at the next couple examples. (Thank God I had the presence of mind to take WiP shots of everything before I painted em, eh?)

You can see where I was able to give the Power Fist Marine on the left the aggressive, take-all-comers feel to his pose by widening the gap between his arms more than the original surfaces would allow. (Luckily I think I avoided the "Big Hug" pose that doing this can sometimes achieve) On the right, see how I was able to give the Standard Bearer a more dynamic pose using an arm that normally holds a pistol, and an arm that normally holds a power weapon (bolter and banner arms, respectively), some pinning to hold the bolter in place and then the Green Stuff to fill the gaps? The two poses of these models just aren't possible with out-of-the-box assembly.

These basic conversions really don't take much, and they really add some impact and life to your models.
Don't forget! If you want to know the ins and outs about how I accomplish anything, just ask! I'm happy to share and whip up a tutorial if needed :)

- Tim