This began a few months ago. I bought my first miniature in over 20 years and, with no clear idea or purpose in mind, I began relearning how to paint and convert. Many, many experiments later an idea took shape. Perhaps it's an overly ambitious plan, but it is a plan none the less.

My aim is to collect, convert and paint a force representing a well connected Imperial inquisitor, his retinue, his allies and the forces of the Imperium which he can call on when he needs some military muscle.

It will grow to encompass Inquisition forces, Imperial Guard and Astartes in a single, themed force.

This will be a long haul. I am aiming to make each and every miniature the best that I can make it. It could take years to complete, but I hope that the sheer variety of troops found in the army I envisage will keep me interested.

So far I've made a modest start. Kit bashed soldiers of the Inquisition in carapace armour and armed with bolters. Three finished so far with more to come.





A psyker, or is he a mystic? I'm not entirely decided on this one yet but I do like the model and have to have him in there somewhere.



Yes, it's a very small start but it will grow. I'm currently working on a Death a Cult Assassin. This is my second attempt at creating on from a plastic witch elf. The first wasn't great, this one seems to be working much better. She's currently half painted.






Plans for the immediate future include more Soldiers of the Inquisition, more Death Cultists and yesterday I bought a box of space marines. I work slowly and often chaotically so this blog may be updated sporadically. Thanks for reading.

MB

What a first post. Seriously cool conversions you've got going on.

That assassin is slick, but my favourite thing has to be those Inquistorial troops.

Welcome to Dakka! Very much looking forward to what you have planned.

Well, this is all stuff I'm currently working on, so you're a huge jerk.

Luckily they look awesome!

Looking forward to working on my own death cultists, haven't decided on the half mask (which looks great), or starting from the alt heads in the Witch Elf kit and going for a skull/deathhead thing.

Greatsword legs and torsos on the acolytes?

Medium of Death wrote:What a first post. Seriously cool conversions you've got going on.

That assassin is slick, but my favourite thing has to be those Inquistorial troops.

Welcome to Dakka! Very much looking forward to what you have planned.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

plastictrees wrote:Well, this is all stuff I'm currently working on, so you're a huge jerk.

Luckily they look awesome!

Looking forward to working on my own death cultists, haven't decided on the half mask (which looks great), or starting from the alt heads in the Witch Elf kit and going for a skull/deathhead thing.

Greatsword legs and torsos on the acolytes?

Thank you. Yes, those are Greatswords legs and torso. I also considered using the mask heads in the witch elf kit. They have the potential to look amazing but I decided to save them for if I ever do some Slaaneshi cultists because they would be perfect.

Great work all round. Painting, conversions, greenstuff and theme. Really really awesome and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

Wow, very impressive stuff. I'm surprised how well the SM arms work on Empire bodies, and the assassin is very well done. Looking forward to more.

Man those Inquisitorial troops look super cool! What parts did you use?

Thanks all.

 Malika2 wrote:
Man those Inquisitorial troops look super cool! What parts did you use?

The troops use Empire Greatsword torsos and legs. Arms are from space marines and the helmets are from the High Elf range. I've also used various bits and doodads from the Empire flagellants and grey knights.

Those are High Elf helmets? I was really thinking Dark Eldar! Kick ass!

So what's next?

There is some cool stuff going on here!very, very nice conversions!

Cool stuff bud, looking forward to seeing what you get up to

Brilliant work on the Death Cult Assassin and the Hooded Executioner look on the Guardsmen is excellent.

Great first post!
Absolutely brilliant conversions and your painting is fantastic!
Definitely inspired me!

Very, very pleased with how this worked out. The base needs tidying up and she needs some varnish, but my Death Cult Assassin is basically finished. Eventually I'm hoping to use the rest of the witch elf box to make four more of these, but I think I need to do something else and return to these ladies later.

This looks awesome!maybe i should get some witches...

Very impressive, nice to see Dark Eldar heads being put to good use (there are so many in the box!)

She looks very nice indeed, I might try using Witch Elves when I get round to making mine.

I've been playing around in my ever growing bits box and made these two chaps.



The one on the right is a Ministorum Priest. I started him with no clear idea what I was building, just blutacking bits together to see what happened. This was the result.

The marine is my attempt at true scaling. I know opinions differ on the subject of true scale marines but I think the two of them look good together scale wise.

Nice work. The Priest is really nicely done, and the marine looks suitably bulky. At first, the legs looked a little too big, but I think it would probably be fine once he's painted and doesn't have the blue-tac adding extra height.

Amazing! The conversions are top-notch, and great painting as well. I cannot stop looking at the Deathcult Assassin.

Great work!

This is stunning stuff, and I'm more than likely going to steal the idea of using greatsword bodies for henchmen.

For the true scale marine, I prefer normal legs with spacers, rather than termie legs. He looks incredibly bottom heavy.

Check out a blog by Veteran Sergeant (or mine) to see what I mean.

 torealis wrote:
This is stunning stuff, and I'm more than likely going to steal the idea of using greatsword bodies for henchmen.

For the true scale marine, I prefer normal legs with spacers, rather than termie legs. He looks incredibly bottom heavy.

Check out a blog by Veteran Sergeant (or mine) to see what I mean.

Thanks for the complement.

Regarding true scale marines, there is no right way to do it and different methods give different results. It's just a question of what you prefer. I do like the bottom heavy look that using terminator legs gives. It reflects the way that astartes are depicted in some of the art with massive, tree trunk like legs. I took a look at your thread and I love the look you've achieved with spacers also. Your marines look tall and noble. I'd say mine look heavy and powerful. Both looks are great in their own way if you ask me and I may think about using your method on my marine officers to give them a different look to the troops.

Regarding true scale marines, there is no right way to do it and different methods give different results. It's just a question of what you prefer. I do like the bottom heavy look that using terminator legs gives. It reflects the way that astartes are depicted in some of the art with massive, tree trunk like legs. I took a look at your thread and I love the look you've achieved with spacers also. Your marines look tall and noble. I'd say mine look heavy and powerful. Both looks are great in their own way if you ask me and I may think about using your method on my marine officers to give them a different look to the troops.

Agreed. Personally I think the Terminator legs look really good (and they match Corvus armor style legs well). But I would make a suggestion nevertheless: The arms are still a bit small looking, and I'd recommend moving the arms down a bit (so they rest lower where they attach to the torso -- then you can cover any gaps with the shoulder pads. This is just nitpicking though, I think it looks great how it is. -- nevermind, after looking at it a long time I don't think the arms are a problem.

Some brilliant ideas here - I love the High Elf helmets in the first image, the Assasin is pure power, and your new Priest is also excellent.
Subscribed

Fantastic assassin! Love it. Keep it up!

Brilliant conversions and a great atmospheric painting style!

Subscribed!

Hell yes!

Subbed.

Awesome and inspiring stuff so far.

I love how this is your "just getting back into Warhammer" thread

Some really great conversions. I really like the Acolytes and the Deathcult Assassin is really something!
Looking forward to future releases.

Amazing conversions, that Death cult assasin is ace,

did you have problems with the space marine arms on the greatsword torsos? I'd have thought they'd be a bit big and awkward to fit? (they look really awesome btw)

I may have to bookmark this for "inspiration" when I eventually start Inq28.

Subbed

I absolutely love the DCA! Can't wait to see your whole army completed! Congratulations!

Beautiful work, the DCA in particular. But the overall quality is immense!

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments. I'm a bit overwhelmed by how well received my minis have been. Unfortunately my work means that my hobby time comes in short bursts with long weeks in between when I don't have chance to do much. I hope people will understand and be patient with me if I don't have much to post in the next month or so.

 OneManNoodles wrote:
..did you have problems with the space marine arms on the greatsword torsos? I'd have thought they'd be a bit big and awkward to fit?

Using Space Marine arms was a bit of a gamble and my first attempt at kit bashing. They are too big really, but I think I get away with it .. just.

Yes, they were a little bit awkward due to the Greatsword bodies being narrower than Space Marines. This resulted in the arms having to join the bodies at angles they were not designed to, so a bit of filing and filling was needs to get everything to line up on the guys holding the bolters in both hands. Nothing too hard, just fiddly.

I have the next two Acolytes built, just need to find a bit of time to paint them.

Superb conversion work and the painting is incredible. Count me subbed

Outstanding conversion work!

Uhhh these guys look great!where is left head from?

 Boba Fett wrote:
Uhhh these guys look great!where is left head from?

Thanks Boba. The pointed helmets are taken from the High Elf Shadow Warriots kit.

This is fantastic work, no plan is too ambitious so long as it is enough to keep you motivated and moving forward. I really like your theme and will now be eagerly following your progress. Your work is top notch and beautiful to look at.

I like the helmets on the bolter guys especially. They look like armored Klu Klux Klan hoods which is rather appropriate for the tone of the Inquisition.

I am definitely stealing the shadow warriors bitz idea. Good one. Subscribed to your thread now. Keep up the good work. I started my second Space Wolf army on the same principle you are working with and eventually got it up to about 5000 points or so, so time gets you there.

 Dust wrote:
I like the helmets on the bolter guys especially. They look like armored Klu Klux Klan hoods which is rather appropriate for the tone of the Inquisition.

Thankfully we don't have the Klan in the UK. I was deliberately going for the pointy look, but I was referencing the tall pointed hoods worn by Spanish Catholic priests, and so associated loosely with the Spanish Inquisition. I get where you're coming from though

Incredible, fantastic! I love the Death Cult Assassin the most, and I'll definitely be trying a similar conversion

You say you're building a 40K army with them, but they would be amazing for Inquisimunda (you almost have a full gangs' worth.)

I really like the henchmen, especially the helmets. The arms look great, but I do think they are a little long (they would reach their knees) have you tried boosting the henchman height at the midriff with green stuff?

Welcome to dakka and back to the hobby, you'll go far I'm sure. I love your army idea and you have skills that kill. Congratulations on a flying start.

These guys are looking so cool and I hope there is more to come in the future that death cult assassin is amazing! The subtle green stuff work on the head makes all the difference imo.

Keep up the good work, we want to see more

Young Logan

Love your work! That assassin is an inspiration

So amazing, can't wait to see more!

Love your kit bashen skills! This makes me want to make my Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, which I made a narritive that says he teathers a fine line since he has an Eldar in his Retinue to represent a Death Cultist. Problem is I reallly want him to have a show down with a big bad Ork Warboss which would be his antagonist but He cant get an invul save to not be crushed by the powa klaw.

Your use of bits is incredible. Well done.

That assassin, especially.

Great Conversions man! Looking forward to see what else you put up!

Aaaaand .. I Sub'd.
keep up the good work, those are awesome !

Fantastic work. Doesn't really look like the time off could have slowed you down one bit. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what else you're going to do.

Great stuff keep it up!

Fantastic work. Great paint jobs. I will be watching for future examples. Thanks for posting!

This is fantastic.

You should look into killzone. Its a skirmish ruleset that is perfect for specialized projects like this.

Is there a paypal account, into which I can funnel beer money, to encourage you to work faster and post bit lists?

great work I have only one question... what kept you away from the hobby for soooo long and how did you keep your skills so sharp?

OMFG I put my dca aside and weep but seriously those are some slick models!
I have a friend who has won several golden daemons and lookng at your models I see so much potential for a truly award winning army!
The consistency from the psycher to the dca in terms of the hoods is really great. It is such a good stylistic link. Are you thinking of linking all the base structures to create a specific environment or location for the entire force? Do you have back story in mnd?
have you put a list down on paper yet of your overall army construction? Are you going to do any non metalics? Do you do wet blending?
I would love to see videos or series of stills as you creaete and paint some of your models!
Sorry for my late night rambling but stunning simply stunning!

canadianguy wrote:
OMFG I put my dca aside and weep but seriously those are some slick models!
I have a friend who has won several golden daemons and lookng at your models I see so much potential for a truly award winning army!
The consistency from the psycher to the dca in terms of the hoods is really great. It is such a good stylistic link. Are you thinking of linking all the base structures to create a specific environment or location for the entire force? Do you have back story in mnd?
have you put a list down on paper yet of your overall army construction? Are you going to do any non metalics? Do you do wet blending?
I would love to see videos or series of stills as you creaete and paint some of your models!
Sorry for my late night rambling but stunning simply stunning!

First of all thanks and that goes for everyone who has been kind enough to comment on my miniatures.

To answer your questions;

Bases. Shortly after I started painting minis again, I watched Saving Private Ryan for the first time in years. I was inspired by the final battle in the ruined town and thought it might work on my minis. So I'm thinking the setting is a ruined Imperial city in a warzone, lots of rubble and pieces of destroyed architecture. Eventually I'd like to create a ruined city board to play on, but that is some way off.

Back story. I don't have anything specific but I have ideas. I love all things Imperial when it comes to 40k and I couldn't pick just one army so I've chosen a theme which allows me to basically collect whatever I like and shove it all together. My idea is that my army will centre around an Inquisitor which enough influence to call in allies from all the Imperium's forces to help him. I want to collect some space marines, probably from the Red Hunters chapter as it fits the theme of the army, but I haven't ruled out the Black Templars instead. I'm also planning some Imperial Guard (or Astra Militarum as they will soon be). No firm plans there yet but I did invest in the Raging Heroes Toughest Girls of the Galaxy kiskstarter on a whim, so I may go for an all female guard contingent or I may just convert some RH character figures to be special characters in my army. Ultimately I want a bit of everything; Imperial Knights, Adepta Sororitas, whatever the Inquisitor may be able to call upon. The one thing I have definately decided though is that my Inquisitor will be Ordo Hereticus.

Painting. I don't have plans to do any non-metalic metals simply because I don't like them. It's just a question of personal taste. I do some wet blending when it feels like it would be useful. I just use whatever works. Some areas are pretty rough and the paint is just slapped on, other parts are very carefully blended with many, many shades to give a smooth finish. I've also been experimenting with some sponging techniques. Most of what I've been trying out I've learned from Youtube. There are some amazing videos out there and I'd say to anyone, don't be afraid to try things out and experiment.

I don't plan to do any videos but, if people are interested, maybe I should take more work in progress shots rather than just pics of finished miniatures?

As I said a while ago, my hobby time is severely limited and unpredictable for the forseeable future so it may be some time before I have anything else to show, but thanks again to everyone for the comments.

Victoria Miniatures have a female guard squad coming out. Worth checking into. Those toughest girls models have totally caught my eye too. wip shots would be totally cool by me. I like to see the unpainted versions of good conversions like yours.

I can't wait to see what you will do when you build your Inquisitor

I managed to grab some rare hobby time this morning and got stuck into painting the my melta toting acolyte. So far I've shaded and highlighted the biggest areas and his face, base coated his weapon and roughed out a possible design for his banner.



As always, feedback and suggestions are welcome and thanks for taking the time to look.

Mate this stuff is sweet! I like the way you've adapted the Warhammer stuff, it's pretty classic but you clearly have an eye for what you are doing. It's healthy that you're taking your time I reckon. It does come across in the details. Nice painting.
Those Elf helmets give a really nice spooky KKK/medieval Spanish feeling to those Inquisitors. Don't forget to update your OP with these pics!

Wow those are some cool conversions, I love simple kitbashes making unique squads.
And nice work on the assassin, the GS hood is pretty superb!

I've been doing some thinking ...

It now feels like everything I have done so far has been practice. I look back at it and I can now see all the things I could have done better. I may be being over critical of my own stuff, but it's in my nature to spot flaws and then see nothing but the flaws ... and no, I'm not fishing for compliments here, you kind people have given me enough of those already. The fact is I've learned a lot in the last few months, been inspired by a lot of the amazing work I've seen online and have been helped greatly by the feedback people have given me.

So far I've been playing around with ideas and techniques with no clear direction. I think it's time I set myself an actual, achievable goal. I'm setting aside most of what I've done so far and will come back to them sometime in the future.

My aim has always been to make a WH40k army with an Inq28 feel to it, so I have to start thinking in terms of squads. I'm going to build on my assassin, which is the miniature I'm most proud of, and make a close combat Inquisitorial squad.

This will consist of a full squad of 12 henchmen with an inquisitor to lead them, broken down as follows;

An Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor equipped for close combat.
5 Death Cult Assassins
2 Arco Flagellants
3 Crusaders
2 Ministorum Priests

The squad will mounted in a Landraider Crusader, which will be an interesting challenge as I've never painted a tank before.

So that's the plan. I want my miniatures to be as interesting a varied as an Inq28 retinue, but still be recognisable as what they are meant to be in 40k.

Yesterday I began work on the first Arco Flaggellant. I have shamelessly stolen the idea for this miniature from Kari Hernesniemi's Arco Eviserators.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/560020-Arco%2C%20Cyber%2C%20Evisorators%2C%20Ghouls%2C%20Spiky%20Rat%20Pack.html

I'm hoping to put enough of my own spin on this minis so that it falls into the realms of "inspired by" rather than "ripped off from". Legs are obviously Dark Eldar. The body was sculpted using the upper torso of a Dark Elf Doomfire Warlock on a greenstuff abdomen. The 'spines' on his back are cut from a Grey Knight backpack. Head is from the Empire Flagellants. This was my first attempt at sculpting fur and now I want to put fur on everything. The mini still needs some Inquisitorial bits and doodads and I want to put some kind of cable/tubing coming from its chainsword to a power cell somewhere.

As always, your advice and feedback is greatly appreciated.

A clear goal is always a fantastic way to focus your mind. I think it is a fantastic idea to try to organize your efforts as well. I long ago stopped doing things without a firm plan behind them, I am too easily distracted.

However, you have far more talent on the modelling front than I do and I am certainly enjoying watching you getting back into the swing of things. So I am hoping you find a plan that will inspire you to produce more for the rest of us to be jealous of.

Keep the stuff coming it is awesome!

I think I'm most looking forward to your crusader conversions

I'm looking forward to all of it!

your start on the AF. looks pretty solid, the space marine chainsword looks a little big, if you've got one I'd say swap it for one of the IG ones.
The flagellent kit comes with a whole host of chains and whips that I'll be using for my Arco Flagellants.

duuuuuude! This blog is getting better and better! I really love the style of your minis!
(and thank you, for posting more pictures of the progress)
The new mini looks great so far!

 OneManNoodles wrote:
I'm looking forward to all of it!

The space marine chainsword looks a little big, if you've got one I'd say swap it for one of the IG ones.
The flagellent kit comes with a whole host of chains and whips that I'll be using for my Arco Flagellants.

I agree with onemannoodles. The chainsword looks really big and massive on the mini...

Mind my asking what bits you used for the Priest? He looks badass enough to be an Inquisitor.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with those who said the chainsword looks too big. I'm not sure what the solution is yet. I may try to find a couple of smaller ones or alternatively use a totally different weapon. Some kind of sword blade perhaps?

In the meantime I've started work on the second flagellant.

Waaaghpower wrote:
Mind my asking what bits you used for the Priest? He looks badass enough to be an Inquisitor.

The priest's body is made from an Empire Flagellant. I cut off the flagellant's feet, which enabled me to pose him more upright on the base and make him some gs shoes. His arms and head are from the Empire Greatswords kit.

Try taking a look at the chain-bayonets for the HH FW marine kits.

Also I have a DKoK chainsword lying aroud that would be the right size from this weapons set A lot of the Death korps parts are more true 28mm so are a lot smaller and more detailed. If you want to see a size comparison just pm me.

The flagellent kit is a great kit, you get so much in it.

Life has been very busy and I've just had no time for hobby. However, it has made me think about what I really want to do and what I can realistically achieve in the very limited time I get for toy soldiers. I think I know where I'm going now, but first I have to relocate to another city. It could be months before things settle down and I can start yo really get to grips with what I want to do.

So here's a sneak peak at a test model I made this weekend. When I return, it may be in a few months and it may be a fresh start. Hope to see you on the other side.

Loving the palette! The purple is fantastic and your skintones are ace I'm also quite enamored with the fur effect and what you've done with the shoulder blades ( ) Really comes together quite well as a model.

I think I speak for all of us when I say best of luck in all your endeavors and we're anxiously awaiting your return

That's disturbing an excellent cross between Micheal Myers and the Joker excellently executed. Good luck with organising the move a word of advice a little hobby time of an evening will do wonders for the stress levels

It's been a long time since I posted. I seem to be having a hard time actually finishing anything, partly because I'm too self critical and partly because I have so little time for hobby. Anyway, searching that interweb recently I came across a discussion about Inquisition Kill Teams in 40k. Great idea, but Kill Teams don't include HQ choices. No HQ means no Inquisitors!

An Inquisition force without Inquisitors doesn't sound right, but take an 40k Inquisitorial henchman squad and put a Ministorum Priest in charge and you have an Ecclesiarchy kill team!

I also wanted to have another stab at warrior acolytes. I was quite happy with my first ones, but I think I could do better now. So, here he is, warrior acolyte number one and Ecclesiarchy foot soldier;





I'm very happy with him, less happy with my crappy iphone photography :(

Here's the Kill Team so far;

Looks awesome as ever, love the combination of parts, and a very cool theme/idea!

Great looking group! New guy is suitably grimdark.

Nifty although in that case my recommendation is cheat.....It's just too fitting to not do it and when I've used them they aren't actually over powered in Kill Team.

@Paradigm Thank you. I'm very happy with how they work together. I'm in danger of actually having a theme going on here

@Moltar Grimdark is exactly what I was aiming for. I do feel like I was struggling to capture that feeling when I first started back in the hobby, so I'm delighted that you think I've now managed it.

@Llamahead The lack of Inquisitors doesn't bother me in Kill Team. I actually like that it's forcing me to try something different. If this force ever gets expanded into a full on detachment, I may use the Inquisitor rules to represent high ranking priests.

Fair enough and if it encourages you to create more pretty models for me to gawp at its good

Nice work! Once again you've done some really neat stuff here. I'm certainly keen to see your Ministorum Priest when you get round to it.
Also, do you plan on using your other acolytes aswell?
I mean, they're still pretty cool too!

@Xendarc Thank you. I don't think I'm going to be using my first batch of acolytes. They were cool at the time, but I think I can do better now.

Death Cult Assassin number 2 for my Kill Team. The aim was to build a model which was obviously related to the other one but had her own character.

I really like the death cult assassin you just made, great use of bits to make a great character.

Really really nice work !!
Big fan !!!

Great base really adds to the dynamism of the model.

@monkeyballistic Fair enough, I get that feeling too about some of the older stuff I've done in the past.
DCA No.2 looking good. I really like the mechanical hook arm/hand.

Great to see you are back! Wow these new minis look great! The conversions look so great and balanced!
A very inspiring blog(and one of my favorites)! Keep up the great work!

Btw:where are the daggers from?

Superb stuff! The death cultist conversion is inspired and well executed - might have to try it myself at some point as those new with elf models really are beautiful sculpts!

Cheers

Dante

This is some impressive kitbashing and greenstuff work.

I'm definatly going to use this as inspiration for my own retinues when I start them.