Inquisitor Savant

Here is the third and final member of my Inquisitorial warband, a savant. I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in an Inquisitor campaign at work which requires three starting characters for each warband. I decided to use the two models I have already completed and add a third. As time is in short supply at the moment due to work commitments I decided to use an off-the-peg model rather than convert a character from scratch. After some deliberation I settled on this down-trodden-looking fellow from the Death Korps quatermaster set. However, after opening the clampack I was unable to leave the model 100% untouched and so added a few embellishments in the form of a pet owl (probably the closest thing he has to a friend), a purity seal and an Inquisitorial icon to demonstrate his allegiance.

I imagine this guy to be the product of some Administratum program to produce humans with computer-like minds capable of extreme calculations in the place of AI (like the Mentats in Dune). His abilities have brought him to the attention of Inquisitor Sterne who uses him to help crack codes, gather information and decipher esoteric patterns of data. In game I can see him R2-D2ing doors and computer systems to aid the party in their endeavours.

I will post full background for my three characters once it is finalised.

-Andy.

Gun for Hire (wip)

 

Work continues on the bounty hunter for Inquisitor Caleb Sterne’s retinue. I am really pleased with the face as it has turned out exactly the way I envisioned him: a hard-bitten veteran of many adventures. I think the stubble and shaved head really add to this.

The colour scheme was one of the hardest parts of this model to figure out which is why there has been such a delay between finishing building him and getting some paint on him. Initially, I knew I wanted a lot of black on him but didn’t have a clearer idea than that. In the end I opted for a colour scheme which would give him an individual look but also tie him in with Inquisitor Sterne. For that reason I painted the black coat and grey armour using the same methods as I used for the inquisitor. I then added some chips and scratches to the armour and glazed the bottom of the armour plates with Agrax Earthshade thinned with Lahmia Medium to make them appear well used, further emphasising the nature of the character.

In other news, I can announce that I will be returning to Warhammer World in the new year for a three-month stint as a Studio Painter. I really enjoyed the experience last time and am looking forward to going back.

Have a great Christmas everybody!

Andy.

Miners’ Strike

Here are some more disgruntled cyborgs to join my burgeoning Pit Slave gang. I armed these guys with autoguns and a shotgun to give me a little ranged support. I’m not sure how this fits with the rules of the game but if I ever play with them I’m sure my opponent won’t mind them having basic weapons rather than pit slave weapons. I’ll just make sure that models armed with guns don’t also have pit slave weapons as they will need two hands to fire them. This should also help keep things balanced.

The two autogunners have simply had head swaps to match the rest of the gang. I also added an extra mechanical hand to one and a chainblade bayonet attachment to the other to tie them in with the Mechanicus feel of the other models. The other slave has had his autopistol arm swapped for one holding a shotgun.

The green stuff work on these guys is a little rough and will need smoothing out later but it gives you a general idea of where I am heading with this project.

Heavy Metal

As you may have heard in the news, it’s been a bit wet here in Lancashire. Not ideal weather for priming models. However, I have been braving flooding and power cuts and managed to get some models converted.

The models were inspired by Nicolas Grillet’s excellent Adeptus Mechanicus warband. While I have used different parts for my models, I have tried to keep the same kind of feel. The models are a mix of Skitarii parts which I bought a while back as a source of parts for my Inq28 projects and the Dark Vengeance cultists. They are supposed to represent Necromunda pit slaves but I have re-imagined them in line with the newer Adeptus Mechanicus aesthetic. I think of them as an Adeptus Mechanicus indentured labour force  made up of hardened criminals sentenced to a lifetime of servitude in the mines and other lowlifes and unfortunates who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and fell victim to unscrupulous slavers. The tech priests have augmented their bodies with mechanical mining equipment which, now that they have escaped bondage, comes in pretty handy as rudimentary weapons.

These are the first three models finished but I have a number of others who are awaiting a bit of green stuff. I hope to share these with you soon.

Inq28 bounty hunter

Another common Inquisitorial agent is the bounty hunter, individuals skilled in hunting down criminals whose skills are of great use to Inquisitors. While building this model I had an image of Harlon Nayl from Dan Abnett’s Eisenhorn and Ravenor books in my head. He is described as wearing a long stormcoat over a black bodyglove and having a shaved scalp. While the model isn’t intended to be a direct representation of Harlon I have incorporated elements such as the long coat and shaved head (although I left the original Mohawk as it looked cool). I also gave him some body armour, always useful when your line of work involves being shot at a lot.

The main part of the model is made from a Cadian’s torso attached to the legs of one of the ever-useful Dark Vengeance cultists. I really like the design of the lasguns carried by the scions and converted a pair of arms from the scions kit to fit. I resculpted the left shoulder and hid my rough greenstuff work under a kroot shoulder pad adorned with an etched-brass symbol. A small holstered knife provided the finishing touch to the weapon and gives the impression that he is armed to the teeth. The rest of the model was decorated with purity seals, pouches and grenades.

I decided not to use the backpack from the scions kit as the hanging wires attached to the weapon hid the trenchcoat which is one of the defining features of the model. Instead I used a pouch from the ogryns set as a backpack and attached a space marine knife.

Overall I am very pleased with this model, especially as I didn’t have a clear idea of what parts I was going to use at the beginning, just an image of what kind of character I wanted him to be. The rest was a case of trial and error using blu-tak to try out the parts first before gluing them together.

Agents of the Inquisition

Here are my assorted characters for Inq28. Initially the models were created to be a part of my Inquisitor’s retinues but as I worked on them they have developed their own characters and I am planning on splitting them into two warbands, one for my Inquisitor and one for my Rogue Trader. I imagine the Rogue Trader to be an ally of my Inquisitor who provides him with transport when needed which means the warbands will fight together on occasion, allowing me to mix and match models for different scenarios.

The first character is a Rogue Trader inspired by an old illustration by John Blanche. The model is the chaos cultist wearing a commissar’s from the Dark Vengeance set. His head was swapped for one from the Empire Greatswords and the arms come from the Scions kit. A bit of greenstuff work filled in the rest.

Initially he was intended to be used in my Inquisitor’s warband but I decided that Rogue Traders are too important to just be henchmen and decided to give him his own warband. Plus I liked the idea of playing with a Rogue Trader and his retinue as the swashbuckling fortune-seekers would play very differently to the more austere Inquisitors and their agents. I would like to add some abhumans or aliens to his warband at some point in the future.

The next guy is a heavy stubber-wielding muscle man who will form part of the Rogue Trader’s retinue. Again, a Dark Vengeance cultist with a simple head swap and some added details. For this guy I wanted to stay clear of the usual archetypes of him being a hive ganger or former guardsman as these character types usually are. Instead I see him as a rating or other crewman from the Rogue Trader’s vessel who labours on the ship and is strong enough to carry a heavy stubber.

Here is an Adeptus Arbite enforcer who is one of my Inquisitor’s retinue. The conversion is closely based on one I saw on The Convertorum and is a combination of Scion and Mechanicum parts with a shield taken from the Ogryn set.

I was always very fond of Magos Delphan Gruss from the Inquisitor game and knew I wanted to include a techpriest in one of my warbands. I have seen loads of conversions based on the Vampire Counts wraith model but I wanted a more traditional, human-looking magos. the model itself is a data-smith from the Kastellan Robots kit with a simple head swap. He will probably join the Rogue Trader’s crew, helping to maintain the ship and using his position to explore the galaxy for STCs and other archeotech.

The techpriest will be joined by a combat servitor kitbashed from Mechanicum and Scion bits.

Because a number of models intended for my Inquisitor’s retinue have been co-opted into the Rogue Trader’s warband I will need to create some more models to accompany my Inquisitor into battle. I have already started work on the next conversion and hope to share him with you soon.

Retributors WIP

Work on the Stormcast Eternals continues. The base colours and shading on the Retributors are complete, just highlights to go now.

Stormcast Liberators

Yesterday I said that I would show my progress on the Liberators. Well, here they are. The armour is finished and most of the other colours have been blocked in and shaded. I followed the video guide on GW’s website but used Macragge Blue on the shoulder pads rather than Kantor blue as suggested. This is both because I wanted a brighter blue and because I want to differentiate between the blue armour plates and the blue leather elsewhere on the model.

Here’s a close up of one of the Liberators.

Age of Sigmar

I recently picked up the new Age of Sigmar boxed set from Games Workshop. I’ve never been a huge fantasy player but the models in the set are fantastic. The main draw for me was the Chaos army but I also fancied painting up the new-kids-on-the-block, the Stormcast Eternals. The idea here is to get them painted up quickly following GW’s official painting guide and then sell them on.

I assembled all of the models in a single evening (with the exception of Valdus Hammerhand who I will focus on individually) and yesterday I moved on to the painting.

Initially the models were primed black and then sprayed using the new ‘Retributor Armour’ gold spray. I must say, I really like this spray and it applied smoothly and evenly without fuzzing or clogging details. I used two thin coats here to build up the colour.

The models were then shaded using Reikland Fleshshade and edge highlighted Auric Armour Gold followed by Liberator Gold.

As I type, the models are much nearer to completion than in the photos but you’ll have to come back tomorrow for more pictures.

Ruins, Raiders and Rending Claws

Over the last few days I have been working on a number of different projects. I have managed to get these ruins finished for Lord of the Rings and continued to work on my Dark Eldar. I had hoped to get more done with the Dark Eldar but the weather conspired against me at the weekend and a combination of high winds and rain meant that I was unable to prime my raiders for painting. Instead, I took the time to work on Space Hulk and started to paint up some genestealers which have been primed and sitting on a shelf looking at me accusingly for a number of months now.

Below you can see my raiders in their various sub-assemblies. As I plan on airbrushing these I decided to keep them in a number of separate parts to make this easier. However, even if painting by hand it would make sense to paint them as sub-assemblies because of the number of fiddly components that would make certain areas hard to access with a brush.

Here is my first genestealer which was completed a while back as a test model. As you can see, I have gone with the traditional genestealer colours of blue and purple and tried to paint these in a dark moody style like those seen in White Dwarf. I have also tried to get a contrast in textures between the hard carapace and the softer skin by using sharp edge highlights on the carapace and subtle blending on the skin.

And here are four of his mates who I was working on over the weekend.

The raiders are going to have to wait until the weekend before I can airbrush them but hopefully I will get a chance to do a bit more work on these guys throughout the week.

-Andy.