WIP Rogue Trader

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by in OldHammer, Side projects

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Happy Tuesday folks! It’s been a hectic bank holiday weekend, and my painting mojo has been a bit lacking since finishing Tick-Tock. Instead, I have been working off and on to put together a Rogue Trader – possibly my most ambitious miniature conversion to date! I knew that a) I wanted to use a classic Oldhammer model as the base, and b) I wanted him to be in Power Armour (as per the description of a Rogue Trader in Rogue Trader). I also wanted him to be well tooled up, and wanted to try and capture some of the freedom of expression we see in the Inq28 community. I basically wanted a little bit of everything I love about the hobby encapsulated in one model… no pressure!

It would’ve been much easier to start with a modern PA model as the base, but I’m stubborn when chasing a vision. So… the first thing to decide was a solid Oldhammer base for the conversion. Rogue Traders are famously independent and even flamboyant, so I knew that I wanted an unusual suit of armour to start with. After some musing, I decided on the LE10 Power Armoured Trooper by Bob Naismith from (I think) 1986. I absolutely love this suit, it’s gloriously bonkers and the perfect starting point for a Rogue Trader in my humble opinion… In fact, it’s so cool that I hear it was the inspiration for the newish Forgeworld Mechanicum Thallax! (Thanks Paul!)… The only problem with the sculpt is the teeny little ‘Kermit the Frog’ legs…

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See what I mean? Teeny! As much as I hate the thought of chopping up a classic model, they just had to go…

So, after much soul searching I took the plunge and booked my LE10 in for surgery. A pair of Mk8 Marine legs (from the original ‘Errant’ sculpt, 1991?) were sourced & dry fitted. I had to really bulk out the thighs & knees with GS to make it look ‘right’, and my undeveloped sculpting skills were sorely tested! After much head scratching and faffing around, I arrived at this point:

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Once I was happy with the proportions, I spent some time stripping the paint off the legs… (yeah… really wish I had done that first JB!), and filing the GS as smooth as possible. I also started adding bits and bobs to the model – some Imperial iconography, grenades, and a badass sword. I also found space for a cool space feather, (no doubt some valuable and exotic trophy), and a funky plume (a nod to the picture of Rogue Trader ‘Jeff Zuckerman’ in the book of the Astronomican). I also added a 32mm base. So here he is at the moment – still some way to go, but hopefully you get the idea:

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Well, that’s it for now. I hope you chaps & chapesses like the direction this guy is going – the project has certainly got me excited! I’ll be working more detail onto him over the week, as well as continuing through my ‘in progress’ painting pile. Hopefully I’ll have some updates for you fairly soon ;-)

The Tick-Tock man…

28 Friday Aug 2015

Posted by in Side projects

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Run, run, as fast as you can, don’t get caught by the Tick-Tock man! He’ll burn your flesh and smash your head, and grind your bones beneath his tread

(Praetoria Prime – Underhive/Sump nursery rhyme)

Happy Friday folks – third post this week! Yey! I’ve made a solemn vow to clear some projects that are ‘in progress’, so as part of that, I’ve been working on finishing the Tick-Tock man this week. Just to remind you, Tick-Tock was started before I went on my holidays. He was bashed together using the free AoS model that came with the White Dwarf mag a few weeks back as the base. I then added various AdMech components (most notably the arms & flamer), plus a load of watch parts. I wanted to make it look like a clockwork automata, (largely inspired by the lifeless facemask), that has been added to and ‘improved’ over time. I really tried to emphasise that there is no biology inside the suit, (I hacked out bits of the chest and abdomen and inserted watch parts in the holes for example), and I’m particularly pleased with the ‘key’ that protrudes from his chest.

Paint-wise, I pretty much followed the suggested paint scheme for the AoS Stormcast Liberator, but substituted bronze for the usual gold. This was a deliberate move on my part – I want the origins of Tick-Tock to be a bit enigmatic… maybe the shell of a slain Liberator has been ripped out of its own time and space and ended up in the 41st Millennium, where it was salvaged and turned into the automata? Or maybe, the spirit of said Liberator is actually still trapped in there somewhere? Who knows, perhaps the resemblance is purely coincidental! Anyhow… The rest of the paint scheme involved weathering, weathering and more weathering – I wanted Tick-Tock to look old and worn out… neglected even. Finally, an application of blood and gore makes it clear that this is one piece of clockwork that you don’t want to wind up!   (badum tish!)

Game-wise, I can use this guy in a number of ways. He’s equipped correctly to be used as a Kastelan in 40k – I have a half formed idea of a rogue bAdMech robot maniple, hiring itself out to the highest bidder, so that is one option… but my main plan is to use him as an NPC in Rogue Trader – either as a mission objective, or as an environmental hazard. Either way, I’m sure I’ll have fun J

Anyhow, enough chit-chat, have a butchers:

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Time for something completely different

26 Wednesday Aug 2015

Posted by in 215th Praetorian

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Hello chaps & chapesses, something a tad left-field today. About a year ago, I had an amazing game day with Ross, a fine and true Brother-in-Lead, and long-time adversary. We pitted his fantastic oldschool daemonic hoard against my Praetorian Imperial Guard in a series of games that were loosely based on the classic ‘Last Stand at Glazer’s Creek’ scenario from White Dwarf issue 222, (which was in turn based on the famous Anglo-Zulu war battle at Rorke’s Drift of course).

The day was so inspirational that I promised myself that I would try and write a short story based on the game. I love reading, and I used to like writing fiction in school… I know how to put together a decent assignment for my degree studies… my blog posts are (usually) readable… how hard can it be, right?

Well… it has taken me a year, on and off, but I’m finally done… weighing in at almost 9000 words, the true tale of Eidolan is ready to be told. I’ve set up a separate page to keep things tidy, and it is with a mixture of pride and embarrassment that I present it to you now. I hope that it brings some enjoyment to those who take the time to read it:

The Tale of Eidolan