Manus wrote:
Thanks guys. Creepy is possibly the highest praise I could ask for with this guy. The gas tank is from Zinge Industries.

It's vacation time and pics are a couple of shots I took before leaving home. They are both edited and uploaded using mobile devices, which takes forever BTW, so they will be uploaded in a couple of posts.
I'm going for the creepy biologis look here, so several appendages with the right tool's were needed.

Loving it! Reminds me of the weird hybrids you see in Blanchitsu in Warhammer Visions...

Thanks, most kind

Good god i love this thread, i've just been wandering through it then.

Do you mind if i borrow your paint scheme on your Skitarii Rangers for my Dark Mechanicus? I love the Grey Armour with the touch of red and brown coat! What paints did you use too if you don't mind me asking

Keep up the great work! The Ogre conversion too inspires me to pick up a box of the buggers..

Thanks a lot.
Feel free, you can borrow anything you like. For more detailed painting tuts have a look at my blog http://forgemechanicus.blogspot.dk/search/label/Ranger%20Skitarii or find ForgeMechanicus on Facebook where more detailed advise also 's posted.

Couple of shots to give an idea of the final bulk of the model.

Looking good! How are you planning to paint the face.. lamp... thing...?

Wow, gorgeously creepy model, well done !

Thanks guys. For this mini I think creepy is the highest praise Not completely sure about the head, but I'm thinking divershelmet filled with fluid.

Last bits added and I think he's done now.

I think he looks spot on - just the right amount of details and bits. Looking forward to seeing the paint process!

Looks wonderful!

Thanks guys, much appreciated

Had a few moments to spare yesterday, so I finished Jäeger the Debt Collector. The hair took quite a bit of time to get right, but I think it really hit the right look. The rest of him turned out pretty much as I wanted too.
Jäeger is a teched up former soldier now turmed mercenary, currently employed by a small operation - working as a dept collector. You seriously don't want to owe these guys any money.

Love the model - and the back story! How did you do the fur at the top of the cloak, and the cables coming out the back?

That guy looks Bada$$!

I'm just loving your builds... exquisite!

Top conversion work over these last 2 models, really spectacular.

EDC

Thanks guys, much appreciated.
Cables are made from greystuff and using a tupetool. The fur is simply done by pushing the blade of my hobbyknife into the grey stuff after a general shape has been established.

For some reason I'm having difficulties painting this one, really having a hard time figuring out which colors to chose - annoying. This has also lead me to painting details and small ares well before I normally do. On the positive side I have figured out how I wanted the helmet to look, I now has a slight greenish hue, which will be made a bit more strong, it will the be highlighted and gloss varnished.




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Thanks guys, much appreciated.

The cables are made from grey-stuff using a tube tool. The fur is done by pushing the blade of my hobbyknife into the grey-stuff, after a general shape has been laid down

For some reason I'm having difficulties painting this one, really having a hard time figuring out which colors to chose - annoying. This has also lead me to painting details and small ares well before I normally do. On the positive side I have figured out how I wanted the helmet to look, I now has a slight greenish hue, which will be made a bit more strong, it will the be highlighted and gloss varnished.

You know Manus... sometimes I find that I just have to work my way through a figure... paint the familiar bits before going on to what vexes me. Can't be perfectly inspired for everything I guess.

Cheers - guess you are right.
So painting is continuing, still not really sure what I'm doing which is strange as I most of time have a clear idea of how to do it, right from the start. But as it is now I'm just painting bits and hope for a not too messy end product

That's looking really nice. Just keep fiddling... you'll get it.

Thanks, much appreciated

A couple of pics showing the progress so far.

Looks pretty sick so far

Sure does! Will you be painting the face / lens thing in a bright colour for a focal point?

Excellent progress. It's really coming together.

EDC

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

The Mechanical Dog finally ready for duty

Amazing model, congratulation !

Looks awesome - proper grimdark

Cheers guys, glad you like it.

First mock up of next entry for the RYR. A Lord Inquisitor.
Thinking about replacing the staff top, with a hammerhead - what do you think?

As so many others Inqusition/Imperial characters was some of the first I saw of the Inq28 universe, and I think everyone doing Inq28 model have to attempt an Inquisitor at some point, So here is my go. Quite happy with the way he turned out - and for once not a conversion job that took forever.

High Cleric of the Holy Church of Terra, Void Marshall, Protector of the Throne,
Conquistador Prima of The Imperial Navy, Arch Confessor and Inquisitor Lord
(..and WBO heavyweight champion of the world)

Rodrigo Menéndez de Márques

I really love the scroll on The Mechanical Dog

Where did you get that hammer? ANd is that a chest piece for a shoulder pad..It looks awesome

Ahhhh... I remember the days when I used to kit-bash and custom build every marine. How I miss them...

@styrofoam04: Cheers, the hammer is from a mechanical dwarf out of Titan Forge, and yes it's a chest piece from the tracked mechanicus servitor.

@Gitsplitta: that's really one think I enjoy with this run into Inq28 - the time to concentrate on just one mini at the time. I have also always converted most minis in units and it takes for ever.

At little something extra. Been wanting to add candles to a few minis for some time - and finally had a moment to sit down and experiment with making some, so I decided to add a little detail to the base here. I think it looks really good, and I'm kind of looking forward to painting these to see how it ends up.

I think your link is broken Manus... either that or my computer is acting up...

I have a fine pic here - anyone else having issues?

Nope, looks allright here. Brilliant conversion btw, another promising project...

Thanks

Really hoping the armour will look black once finished. Trying to keep the rest in a good mix of shiny imperial and dirty Inq28 style.

Oooohhhh. That's looking really sweet thus far. Love the palette

Thanks a lot

Really fast progress with the Inq Lord, this is about 3½-4 hours paintjob in all - which is really fast compared to my usual speed. Really like the way he's coming along - bought one of the gloss nuln oil washes from GW, perfect for black armour.
As I gave him a Spanish sounding name, I figured I'd try out a more brown skincolor, worked out pretty well IMO.

I have decided to try out something different for quick display/WIP shots as I wasn't quite satisfied with the colordisplay when the minis were on the green cutting mat or white tissue. So I made this little piece, which might be optimised with some 3d details and perhaps a change in size.

gorgeous piece of work there.

That looks awesome - the backdrop makes a huge difference!

Love the way you've painted the cloak and leather holster...

Thanks a lot guys.

Just need to finish off the base now - tried to work in some OSL on the candles but simply couldn't make it work, so they ended up without. Quite happy with the candles in all other aspects, not the last time I've added those to minis, that's for sure.

Really happy with the way this one turned out, quietly thinking this may actually be my best mini ever - great feeling

So I proudly present;

High Cleric of the Holy Church of Terra, Void Marshall, Protector of the Throne,
Conquistador Prima of The Imperial Navy, Arch Confessor and Inquisitor Lord
(..and WBO heavyweight champion of the world)

Rodrigo Menéndez de Márques

Fantastic work. Gorgeous attention to detail. Really love the old battered and well worn look to the long hammers. Stuinning work all round

Nice work on the Lord Inquisitor, he looks awesome.

EDC

Thanks guys, very much appreciated.

Couldn't resist a groupshot even though they were not really made to be in the same unit

Beautiful mini Manus... strikes the perfect tone, especially love the candles. What a perfect touch!

Your background is just perfect... how'd you pull it off?

They do work rather well together!

Thanks a lot guys. The background is simply a couple of pics found online, merged in a word document and printed on a regular printer.

Finished this guy in just a couple of painting sessions - which is truly a mad turnover compared to my usual speed
Jäeger the Debt Collector - he working with these other two guys, in the same small operation, and well....he is collecting debts (under the motto: "you better pay" - which is not really that advanced but pretty spot on).

Badass ! We shall indeed pay, no need to use that hammer.

Soooo cool. Awesome work on the dept collector.

EDC

Thank you very much.

Started a new mini too - awesome sculpt. I think she will be nicknamed Sweet Death.

Been working a bit more on Sweet Death, adding a body armour (sculpting will never be a force of mini I'm sure) and other bits to the body it self. I have covered up the fleshy bits some, I'm not in the shy-away-from-huge-racks-on-gaming-minis crowd, but just felt it would be more fitting for an imperial agent - and also build a nice big gun

I also have this figure in the box for converting, keen to see what you do with her, lookin great so far,

Some very awesome minis are popping up in here. The latest one is off to a very promising start.

Thanks guys - hope like the progress

I really wanted this mini to be twisted and somewhat disturbing. So I got the idea of a very discomforting looking personae, hiding her true face and letting other parts of her catch the unlucky victims eyes while getting in close for the kill.
I'm thinking about sculpting some hair but I'm not sure.

Wow ! Brilliant concept with the skull and mask, I love it.

Thanks - much appreciated

I'm a bit in a pickle though, hoping to get your opinion. Finishing touched have been added, bit of repositioning of parchments and some base work. I also tried my hand on adding some hair.....as I've said earlier sculpting will not be a force of mine anytime soon. But the hair can be reworked and redone over and over until I'm satisfied - but does the mini look better with hair or without? Help me out here please - atm I'm on the no-hair option.

I totally see the need to hide the back of the head, as an apparent skull would ruin the mask's purpose. The sculpting looks nice, but I am a bit unsure about the hairstyle. It might have to do with the shape of the head being quite thin and elongated, therefore long hair tightly attached towards the back of the head might look cool (hope this makes sense ^^). Another option would be some kind of grim reaper like hood, but I think some nice hair would fit your Sweet Death concept better.

Keep it up !

Thanks for the comments - makes a lot of sense. I have had a suggestion of a judge's wig - I might try my hand on that, think it would look wicked!

Think a formal wig would look excellent. Can you raise the mask a bit so it's more noticeable. Fantastic looking character so far. Love it

You know... the only thing that bugs me is the mask is really cool both in it's physical nature and what it says about the figure (horror behind the beauty), but at the angle the mask is being held, it's a complete no-show as far as normal viewing of the model is concerned, which is a real shame.

Could you perhaps rotate the wrist and angle of the mask to pole so that it is being held sideways across the body more? That would still give you effectively the same pose, but it would provide a much better viewing contrast between the mask and the skull beneath.

Just a thought.

Wow! I didn't expect the skull! great Ideas! It does need something to hide the back of the skull. Personally I like the hair idea but maybe you need to try again. Try finding other resources or tutorials.

Thanks for the suggestion - I was though a couple of tries on the hair, but in the end decided on something somewhat feminine (at least to my sculpting skills). I have also, after some very sound advice - thanks guys - twisted the mask slightly actually allowing people to see what it is

Ah, I like that much better! That has all the elements of a truly horrific figure (and I mean that in the best way).

I can hear the scream, excellent sculpt!

Excellent, yeah that haircut will do nicely !

@gitsplitta: thanks - glad you pointed me in the right direction.
@styrufoam04: thank you very much
@Kernelterror: Cheers

Started work on the next model - take one of The Shrine of Apocryphal Teachings. Correction will be made as I cannot see the scroll as anything else than toilet tissue - not good......

*chuckle* Yeah, it does look like that. How about "The Privy of Apocryphal Teachings"??

*He did WHAT whit the holy scripture ?* ! Excommunication !

Maybe the problem is that it exactly matches the proportion of a toilet paper roll, making it wider could be a solution. Another track would be to roll it around two axis instead of one, and to therefore not have a roll anymore. Would make writing on it a bit easier too I think.

Still, very cool project, looking forward to following that one too.

Privi will work too

My thoughts exactly KT.

A small up date on the Shrine situation.

That's some very nice work. The original build made me think more of a cash machine than a toilet though

That's slightly better though

Actually it started with the mount - had the idea of a hunchback henchman with some books and stuff on the back, and the "backpack" sort of took off on it's own - cool enough. Well back to the mount then. Using a skaven body I could get the hunchbacked position, but I also wanted a tormented head, so a hood came into mind. I started by making a armature of wire and plastic rod which I shaped slightly in the top. I glued in a couple of cables from Dragon Forge design, then added a blob of greystuff and smeared it down the sides of the "head". I added a couple of lences from a marine scout's night goggles and made split in the hood down the middle. The final touch was a couple of stitches in the back and a cable for a rebreather. The rebreather was dumped again though as I did not want to make the model to busy in the front.

this is how The Hunchback ended up looking. Simple as possible.

Lovely. Just right.

Oh my god this is insanely awesome.

That figure with the screaming skull head is ludicrously awesome as well. I love the whole "Horrifying beauty" aesthetic

Thanks!!

Excellent, very characterful creature.

Thanks a lot KT.
Last round of progress for the hunchback and shrine

Hunchback is awesome, no way to tell its a conversion

I had to look through all 23 pages of this blog and I have to say as a fellow gear head I friggen love all these conversions, and it gives me some ideas of what to do in the future!

Hey, do you accept challenges or ideas? Maybe like make a vorax like unit out of the GW Crypt horrors? and how did that leviathan knight turn out?

Very big fan and long time stalker of your blog. Shame I didn't hang around in the forums more often or else I'd know you had a thread here as well.

I really like that hunchback model... and here I thought I was the only one who had the idea of plague monks into gothicky Ad mech... (plus I think all Ad mech guys love the scroll and hanging parchment bits the monks come with)

@CF: thank you very much.
@T9G: Thanks - glad if I can inspire other stuff. I'm always up for good ideas - and challenges as well, but rarely have the time for them though. The Vorax idea sounds really interesting though, might have a look into that. The leviathan knight is safely stored in his box - no more finished thatn the pics shown here
@kakita: Cheers mate, glad you follow the stuff somewhere I take you have seen the Menials? and yes the plague monks are a great kit for bits and inspiration for "darker" models.

...........here we are a little closer to the finish line.

Coming to life nicely, keep it up !

Looking brilliant, really captures everything we love about 40k.

EDC

Manus, I have to admit I saw the menials a long time ago. But i didn't realize they were plague monks.

I didn't even know that's where the scroll that many inq-ers use came from. It's only when I was trying to figure out what was a suitably gothic/medieval//gribbly model and looked at the plague monk Sprue then back to many models I saw earlier that I recognized where the base model was from.

Goes to show how successful you guys are.

Thanks guys, much appreciated.
@kakita: thanks, there are just so many gems hidden in quite a few of the warhammer kits, so it's just a question how to get your hands on as many as possible

Got the last drop of paint on the Hunchback and the Shrine of Apocryphal Teachings. Really worked out pretty well I think, actually a bit better than I thought it would. The only thing I couldn't make work was some more support than cables, and I can live with that.

All are just amazing, the painting, the conversions.... the aesthetic is spot on.

Thanks a lot nwns

The painting has commenced on Sweet Death. Perhaps the skull was better working when it was all greys But I kind of feel the the mini is lacking a focal point - perhaps it will work all right once finished, which shouldn't take too long. On the other hand, I'm pretty happy with my blacks here, using VMC german grey, with a few lighter grey highlights and nuln oil washes - like on the black glove on her right hand.
Also cooked up a family photo of my Inq28 minis so far, though not really meant to be in the same warband I still think they look pretty cool together - under all circumstances it nice to see 'em all at once.

Nice to see some paint on that mini, I'll reserve judgment though until you're further along... a lot can change between now and then. Fantastic looking group though. Lord, I'd hate to meet that in a dark alley.

Thanks a lot GS.
I really hope the last licks of paint brings Sweet Death together. Really right on the brink of replacing the head - pretty sure the skull was a good idea - one that didn't work out though Might try to add some optics or other gubbins to make it look more interesting. The bronze armour could will also be toned down later on today - toned down and flooded in verdigris!

I think I got Sweet Death on the right track again yesterday. I added a lens to the skull, finished the hair, redid some of the red areas and finished some of the detail work. I think that helped quite a bit for the overall look.
Also tested a new way of painting lenses which worked pretty well I think.

I liked Sweet Death before, but her new mechanical eye really takes her up a notch for some reason.

Thanks, hope you like the finish version too.
Got the last drops of paint on Sweet Death today, turned out I liked her a lot better than I feared during the painting process. I think she ended up looking rather grim and deadly, just as an agent of the Emperor should.

Wow, gorgeous ! The final shots with proper lighting really make justice to the paintjob.

Excellent work. Really an outstanding figure!

Superb. great fig and a top paintjob

Amazing work on Sweet Death. A brilliant conversion and a brilliant paint job.

EDC

Thanks guys, really appreciate the kind words - especially on a mini like this, where I have had my doubts. Glad you like her.

Started my new project - I think my warband needs a servitor - I think it needs to be nasty!

Excellent start!

Sweet Death is beautiful!

I need to be subscribed to this thread. You truly are a master of conversions!

Thanks guys - please enjoy.

The way I see it, this can turn out in two ways. This could end up as the planned retrieval servitor or as a Hive Stalker - not really sure where it's going yet.

Bioconstructs are plenty in the grimdarkness of the future, some are made for service of men and thus have a purpose and yet other simply created because the mechaneer was able. Once in a while these creations are set free or break free as their masters slowly looses control. Since the dawn of time, the hives have been filled with stories of unhappy creations stalking the shadows seeking vengeance on the race who turned them into these misshapen beings.

Big Nasty - product retrieval and perimiter security.

Very nice mechanical creeper, with an appropriately sneaky pose. Should be good !

Cheers - looking forward to painting it

Nasty build... really like it.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks to a good mate of mine, Inso over at Inso's World I managed to get hold of the White Dwarf Slaughter priest.
So I figured I'd better try and do it justice, I really wanted it to keep it's brutality and still make it look very different from all the other quite cool conversions we have seen for the last couple of weeks. Much like many of my other minis I had a general idea where he'd go, without having everything down to detail. He ended up becoming the beheader of my imperial force - here is how he's looking so far.

Excellent ! That will make for a sinister beheader indeed.

That Slaughter Priest conversion is awesome. Really brutal and he looks like a total badass.

The spindly guy is looking great too, really creepy.

EDC

Thanks guys.

Every good imperial organisation needs a suitable headsman, who with the right amount of terror, publicly can finish of the enemies of the Emperor.
Bael the Beheader is who, Bael - Imperial High Executioner.

Oh I like this, he's suitably imposing and dark. Great work as usual

Sweet Jesus man this bastard is evil I want one, where on earth is the scyth from that is awesome ......

@Alaricuk: thanks a lot
@ldd: CHeers mate - the scyte is made of an ork axe combined with a blade from the darkelf talos painengine. BOttom is from a AdMech taser goad (I think it's called). Good to have you back

Seraphim
Had this idea for a couple of days, something not quite as decorated and covered in bits as the last couple of minis. Some of the grimdark art pieces I enjoy the most are the female agents drawn by Mr Blanche. For some reason I think the female side adds even more twist and grim to the dark, so I'm really pleased that it now seems we get even more female minis from GW - Sisters of Silence. The small pics I've seen look brilliant and could be the base of many conversions.
This is based on a darkelf mini. I had to give her a bit of clothing and a very nice google search supplied endless inspiration for folds in tight tops .
The biggest problem when making female minis is the lack of bitz, everything seems to be too big. After going through my bits box several times and dryfitting tens of heads I came to the conclusion that only the newly acquired dark eldar heads came close, sizewise at least. Not surprisingly though, they all looked a little to eldar. So out came the knive and greystuff, and I came up with this, which I think looks suitably sinister. I tested out an idea of making some sort of lenses using white glue - not a succes, as it just dried out flat - luckily it was easily removable. I also started assembling the body.

 Manus wrote:
@Alaricuk: thanks a lot
@ldd: CHeers mate - the scyte is made of an ork axe combined with a blade from the darkelf talos painengine. BOttom is from a AdMech taser goad (I think it's called). Good to have you back

I was always around but this just needed commenting on as it rung every bell of cool in my head, plus I saw it on Facebook and was going to nick the idea plus I love those Maxmini heads but never know what to do with them ?

This is probably the best idea I have seen them used for, it just screams APOC, BIONICS and total badass to me PERFECT JOB !!!!!

Cheers ldd, and please nick away

Fished off Seraphim too.
I really like the minimalistic look - I also think she ended up looking rather sinister and wrathful. I had a few comments on the wings being too small. That's quite on purpose, actually I'd have made them even smaller if I had had the bits to do so. They were never meant to be wings per se, but rather some appendages slightly off never really knowing if they would be of any use, mechanical or feathered. The pistol is from Victoria Miniatures.

Very nice ! No worries regarding the wing size, they'll give a nice baroque look to !

Thanks a lot, good to hear as that was the intent.

You know Manus... you're blog has become one of my favorites... and the creativity and skill on display here is exactly why. Amazing stuff.

Thanks - much too kind

Been working on both Big Nasty and Seraphim some more. I wanted Big Nasty to have somewhat of a skin condition. The base color was a purple and middletones was put down mixing purple and grey with a skin color. Lighter mixes of this blend was used for highlighting, and final highlights was purple and pallid wych flesh, and finally wych flesh on it's own. The whole lot was washed with a thinned down orgryn flesh wash. Now I just need to add some color diversity.
I also need to figure out something about the arms - way too monochrome.

Very nice! Excellent job on the skin tones.

Thanks a lot

Had the fortune of of finishing Big Nasty during the weekend - got a new phone which is acting a bit differently from my old camera, so hopefully the pics will be better moving forward. Anyway - here is Big Nasty, product retrieval and perimiter security.

Gorgeous, really tells a story how a servant body was limb after limb turned into this machine. And the metal job on the mask really makes it looks ancient.

Cheers mate - glad you like it

Seem I can't keep the paiuntbrushes at ease so I actually finished a second mini in just two days - not sure when that last happened, if ever

Really happy with the way Seraphim turned out - kind of minimalistic and fragile looking and still deadly and lovingly twisted Tinkelbell like look.

Perfect, another very inspiring and characterful model.

Very nice, they're both full of character.

Yeah, she looks both creepy and cool.

Thanks a lot guys, much appreciated.

Those last two figures are outstanding, lovely work.

Thanks a lot.
Trying to get this bloke to look really brutal - and what better way than making him black Never tried painting balck skin before though - so any advice is more than welcome.

What kind of black is that? Like a dark brown, or like drow black?

I think regardless, you probably have to tone it down with some areas of red/pink to simulate the blood underneath.

Cheers - I would like a dark brown - I'll be hitting this with several washes, I think I'll include some reds a well, thanks

That's a great looking fig Manus.

Thanks a lot.

Tribal Chief turned Executioner?
Pretty happy with the way the skin turned out - might try to add a bit of orange wash too though, as suggested below. The only thing that naggers me is the shine - I recently poured together two half bottles of sepia wash, which might have been a mistake, as the shine showed up after that was applied, so I think I need to get a new one of those.
From the start I wanted him to look like some sort of tribesman, and I really like when scifi minis wear some sort of animal hide - for status/showoff, and I think it sets him off from the other models in my collection pretty well.
The skin was painted using; a base of Scalecolor African Shade washed with Nuln Oil, it was then highlighted with VMA Burnt Umber and further with a mix of Burnt Umber and GW XV-88. A wash of Gryphonne Sepia wash added and it was finished of with a rehighlighted with the same mix as before the wash.

Wow. Amazing work. Another great Slaughter Priest Conversion.

Love the leopard print tabard.

EDC

That skin came out pretty well and the animal pelt certainly is an interesting touch, we seldom see animal prints in ad mech type stuff.

Thanks guys, glad you like the leopard hide - I think it really adds some character.

Bael the Beheader - High Executioner, ran into some serious paints this weekend - he came away unharmed though. He figures, that if the executioner thing fails, he'll be lead singer in Brütäl.

Good Heavens Manus... that turned out beautifully. The skin is done really well. Variations of shade and color along with splashes of red... and I just love the leopard skin. Wow.

A truly outstanding piece.

Continuing to love these fantastic conversions dude!

@gitsplitta: thanks a lot, almost blushing here
@LM: cheers - good to hear, hope that will continue

A family photo of my Inquisitorial warband so far.....

This warband is pure class, congrats !

Bloody awesome
Love it. Grimdark lives on. Now get those lovelies sent into Blanchitsu immediately!!!

Thanks a lot guys glad you like 'em.
Always thought Blanchitsu was a style?

Feature section in White Dwarf too

Ahh I see.
Figure there is much better stuff out there

Wouldn't say that - your Inq retinue is top quality. Really great imagining of the theme

Spectacular group Manus. You've really set a very high standard for yourself... impressive.

Thanks Gitsplitta, hope it will continue

I have utmost confidence in your ability to make the rest of us look like untalented hacks.

Good god, how have I not found this before? I blame Gits.

Welcome to the true faith brother.

......

Next model up.....

Ooo very mysterious cloaked figure.

Group shot of the war band is looking amazing .

EDC

Cheers mate.

In the intricate courts of the AdMech the struggle for power never stops, and as history is written by the victors only their names are known outside the vast forgeworlds. But for every victor there are hundreds of adepts loosing the battle for power and only acts as stepping stones on other's path to glory. The techpriests loosing out on glory and power end up as low level priests, assigned to distant locations or chose to leave the forgeworld altogether. After such a battle for power Ahrman Rhadi has been trying to hide his shame on borderline off world planets, where he has been scavenging the ruins of settlements and warzones, making a living finding leftover prometium and selling it to the needy inhabitants and warriors of local clans. Since his fall he has only been known as the Prometium Dealer.
He'll be leading Big Nasty, Half 'n' Half, Jäeger and The Mechanical Dog (and more dodgy characters to come) in the darkness of the future.
Had the idea for this guy some time back when I read a very inspiring thread on the Ammobunker, concerning a librarian searching warzones for any books which had not been destroyed. I really liked the idea of such a retinue - not really combat orientated, but fulfilling a niche task with intense determination. So I figured, what would the everyday people need - fuel. Fuel for vehicles, for cooking and for fighting - good money could be made if one knew how to retrieve, process and store such a product.

Excellent story and figure Manus. Really think he's going to end up being very special.

Very AdMechy! Great job!

I love the story, i can't wait to see how this pans out!

Thanks guys, hope you like the finished version too.

Love the checks on the sleeve & the muted colors of the robe.

CHeers

Oh man that is cool. Love all the little details, like the checks, the striped cable and the detail on the book. Nice work all around!

EDC

Thank you very much.

Ever had a Dremel in your face?....well this unlucky individual has. Unlucky as he might have been, he still answers to the nick Double Tap. Usually is dead on spot.

Damn that's some bad candy poppers he ate like what you are doing here and I am going to steal this idea as I want to build some jaws styled ratlings and this is pretty much spot on

You do create some cool looking conversions mate

Oooo that's a bit sinister looking. I like!

EDC

You know Manus, I can tell your work just by looking at the picture... without even knowing whose thread I'm on.

Great work! Where are the bits for the Prometium Dealer from?

@LDD: Thanks a lot, please steal away, lovely little critters they are.
@evildrcheese: Cheers - sinister is always good.
@Gitsplitta: That's funny I have it that way witha few other converters/painters too. Never seem my own stuff that way though. I presume it's a good thing
@Luthermax: Thanks.
Head: GW ruststalker
Body and right arm: GW necromancer.
Left arm and gun: GW mechanicus ranger
Mechanical arm: privateer press necrolike army something
Backpack: Gw mechanicus radgun.

Some very cool minis!

Yeah Manus... it's a good thing.

As mentioned previously I have been working on some rules for skirmishing Inquisimunda style. There has been some interest so I might as well share.
We never played any skirmish games in this setting and the main cause for this compilation of rules was to have a very short set of rules - two pages here actually.
Please bear in mind that the rules were made for some personal gaming and will most likely be easy to exploit, if winning is the sole purpose of your gaming.
The rules are a mixup of rules from Mordheim, Necromunda, Inquisimunda, both original and Yak tribe, and 1 Page Kill team.
So far the only contain the Inquisition and Chaos covens, cause that's what we'll use, we use the warbands from Yak Tribe's Inqusimunda though if you want to have ago at some other ones.
Any comments and suggestions most welcome - also on the name!


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Thanks for sharing, I've been intrigued as to what system you used your guys in. Do you ever use them as henchmen in regular 40k?

I honestly haven't played a game of 40K in years - also never played this yet!

 Manus wrote:
I honestly haven't played a game of 40K in years - also never played this yet!

Well henchmen can be great fun in little games, especially in things like heralds of ruin.

Sneaking into the bell-tower Double Tap could overlook the entire section of the town.
Shortly after a wave of single shots fired rapidly sounded over the battlefield. " In position - you can advance freely" he sniggered over the comm-link.
I really like how those small bits from Anvil Industry makes the rifle look extra gothic. Very simple but with a great effect.

Love the little chap, he's creepy but in a cute way!

I saw your rules on the facebook group. They are very nicely put together, I sadly don't have time to look them over right now, hopefully I can make some time over the holidays.

Double tap looks excellent, and the cloaked character gives me the shivers, superbly built and painted.

Nice! Really like the extra bits and piping added on.

He's great, I love his name too.

He's great!

@gitsplitta: agreed, it does the trick
@ Alaricuk: thanks - glad it works!
@rexhavoc: Chees, and no worries. They are really not a must read
@stevefamine: Thanks
@general Kroll: Thanks a lot

Adding some powerfire to the mix!

Bulking out my disciple,a religious nutter who thinks the Emperor protects!

Hellbent on bringing the word of the Emperor to all, both those who wish and those who doesn't, The Disciple will deliver a soulripping sermon - silencing those who oppose with a heavy dose of lead.
I have been thinking about adding a candle to his right shoulderpad, not sure if it will work though. Apart from that he's finished.

That's simply awesome Manus.

He's great!

Thanks guys much appreciated.

Do you know the feeling when bitz just comes together in a way that you almost feel a mini is making it self?

Hot damn, I love the priest with the heavy stubber. Are those High Elf legs he's got?

EDC

The priest is a great conversion and a really impressing character model.

Thanks guys, and yes those are highelf legs.

Finished my Acolyte, Nikolai Anatoly Pajari. Schooled by Rodrigo Menéndez de Márques, he has all the right traits to become a stellar Inquisitor, his rather unforgiving personae is already feared among the Heretics.
Also experimented with a candle for the Disciple - looks better irl, doesn't photograph very well, I think I'll keep it and see what it looks like painted.

Fantastic conversions once again!

Lovely. I am so jealous of your talents Manus, keep up the wonderful work.

Thanks guys, glad you like it

All right her is what I'm working on now - a new bit for my Promethium Dealer retinue.

Brilliant. Great idea to use a kinder egg inner. Love your kit bashes, they are well thought out and visually outstanding

BUUUUUUUURN!

LOL! I love it... makes me smile.

Thanks guys - really glad you're commenting.

So if you want to sell promethium you better have a place to store or those drops you siphon from wrecks and puddles. Of cause those retrieved product bits are not always the cleanest, so you'll need a small refinery too.
Think I'll add a few candles to this one too, but apart from that I think it's pretty much done.

Why would you add candles too a tank of gasoline?!

otherwise, awesome idea! I cant wait to see it painted

Nice scratch build! I like the pipe-organesque feel to the exhaust pipes

Hehehe candles on top of the tank ^^ ! Well, as long as emperor protects...
Looking great !

Thanks guys, I guess we don't care too much about employees' safety

Cheers - hobbytime has been almost non existing during the holly-days, so I didn't have much time for online updating, so here goes quite a few little bits and pieces.

Finished painting Double Tab - not the most exciting paintjob I know, but I think it's rather fitting for what should be my sniper.
Also finished off the Promethium dealer's tank - added the candles, workers safety is not a big issue in the grimdark
And I started painting Nikolai Anatoly Pajari, wondering a bit if he's getting too red - but seeing the pics here instead of RL I don't worry too much. I do think he'll be nicknamed The Red something though, perhaps Duke or Interrogater.

That little kinder egg thing is awesome. Such a great idea.

Nice, very nice. The mace inquisitor looks brill painted, love the checks on the little shield.

The flamer egg is a work os sheer genius.

EDC

Thanks guys

All right, finished my Acolyte Inquisitor - Dr. Nikolai Anatoly Pajari

I think we'll call him doctor too. Don't know why, it just seems really fitting for this model - slightly disturbing and ready to apply his knowledge of human physiology in Q&A sessions.
Quite happy with the way he turned out.

Parts for the mini:
Head: Victoria Miniatures
Torso and powermaul: GW genestealer cult
Right arm: GW Mordheim middenheimer
Left arm: GW Empire general
Legs: GW chaos sorcerer
Shield and book: GW greyknight accessories (I think).

managed to finish the Promethium Dealer's transport - also knows as the PTSD - Promethium Transportable Storage Device.

Brilliant!

Wow, coolest PTSD I've ever seen !!

Loving the PTSD.

"oh Emperor no he triggered the inquisitor's PTSD!! Everybody run!"

awesome job though =D

Really cool stuff.

My daughter is going to wonder why she will br getting loads of kinder surprise eggs suddenly!

Awesome! How did you paint the aged metal of the barrel?

Thanks guys, really glad you like the build of the PTSD.
When I paint metals and want a really old, weathered and dirty look I use 2 different methods than my normal metals. I use sponging instead of brushed and I add various off colors for shading/breaking up surfaces. On the body of the PTSD I have stippeled orange, dark green and yellow, between the washes, and added some turquoise wash to recesses and dabbled it on the main surfaces too. On the organ pipes I used a heavy dose of orange and purple wash dabbled on.

Me, The Promethium Dealer and friends will also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year.

From left to right, back to front
Half n' Half: Produce testing and treasury
The Mechanical Dog: Field repairs
Jäeger: Debt collecting
Big Nasty: Product retrieval and perimiter security
The Promethium Dealer: Boss

Promethium Dealer - funny and great in one. Cool idea.
Group photo is impressive. Five badass

Thanks a lot

That promethium tank is soooo cool!

EDC

Love it!

Let me just put these burning candles on top of a tank of explosion juice. No way that could go wrong.

Thanks guys, glad you like it

Bit of progress for the Disciple

The Disciple ready to rain down doom on the heretics.

Very cool. I wasn't sure about the candle at first but it definitely works now that it's all painted.

Excellent!

Thanks guys


Finally the full retinue is ready to take to the battlefield. It has been years since I played anything remotely GW, but we have a game coming up next week - and I can't wait to get this lot on the tabletop.
Backrow left to right: The Goose, Inquisitor Lord Rodrigo Menéndez de Márques, Seraphim, Bäel The Beheader.
Frontrow left to right: The Hunchback, Sweet Death, Double Tab, Dr. Nikolai Anatoly Pajari, The Diciple.

Outstanding! Really Manus... simply fantastic group of miniatures. I hope you have a GREAT time playing them.

Thanks a lot mate, I'm sure I will. Hopefully I'll remember taking some photos too

That is one wicked cool looking bunch of folks there!

YEP ! i agree, You have fantastic miniatures. Mix of bits, idea for how to connect them in one miniature and paintjob are great.
So .... when we will able to see more ?

Thanks guys, really glad for the kind words.
Working on a bit of terrain atm for our game coming up - modelwise I'll be back soon

Gamenight last night and we had our first game using the Inquisimunda-ish rules, we thought they were actually working quite well, only had a few minor adjustments. Ammoroll, were harsh but that might have been down to some unlucky dicing. What's your experience with that rule?
For some reason I didn't have the common sense for close ups. My miniatures will be the ones laying down. Had two fighter dead post battle - something of a blow this early to a warband.
We were lucky enough to get our new MDF terrain in the mail just before the game, and had time to put most of it together. What a treat, very easy put together and very playable - from TT Combat.

Just before the game the other night I had a bit of time to finish off the storage tank for my manufactorum. After it was painted to look dirty I gave the velding lines a brownish wash added some dark brown spots and painted metal bits rusted. Then using a Vallejo rust wash added stripes of rust running down the sides, emphasized the brown spots and underside of the velding lines. The I added some vallejo liquid mask and painted the omega logo in that area. After the red paint was dry I carefully removed the mask with a finger and it yielded a pretty cool chipped appearance.

Love the warband, clearly there has been a ton of thinking going into each one.

Also very nice to see that the GW building can look so good with heavy weathering. I have been contemplating getting rid of my city of death terrain, but now I am thinking I should try a paint scheme like yours first.

CHeers - give it an overhaul and have a look.

After the warping incident I set out to test a few, clearly more succesful, ways of basing terrain.
Since I only had foamboard, I decided to try out, what seemed to a general consensus of several pieces of advice I received, and simply paint both sides of the board. Only had 3 mm left, but I figured tat would be the ultimate test then. So before anything else I painted the foamboard with just a thing layer of a cheap artshop black acrylic paint.
By suggestion I had gotten some foamex - or foamalux, as it was called at my local signmaker's. Quite easy to cut, and not bendy once it's cut down to small bits like this one.
Both then had a bit of details added, and then a mix of filler, black paint and various sized of gravel.


They have now dried over night and look mom - NO WARPING!!!

Needed a new theme and figured Void Pirates would be a good place for all kinds of crazy conversions. Does anyone know a place for some background and fluff for these buccaneers?
First up is Crazy Ivan, Void Pirate Demoequilibrist and Hull Breacher.

Nice work on all that terrain Manus. Going to be a real joy to play on I'd bet. Love your pirate "opening salvo".

Cheers, hope I'll soon have more time

Did a bit of terrain progress. Decided to go with a sandstone color to get a bit away from all the grey of the battlefields. I think I'll give it a more chalky surface and then add a bit more washes of various colors.

Finished of the piece last night - almost anyway, as I had kind of planned adding a bit of dead grass and moss. Never really thought it was fitting for an industrial setting, but wehn you look grass and moss rapidly takes over anything as soon as it's left unused for just a short time. So I think it will be both fitting and look good too.

Nice work Manus. Like the brown shade (as opposed to grey).

Thanks mate, here is a small update on Ivan.

Crazy Ivan. Bombslinger and part of the hullbreaching team of my Void Pirates.

Just wonderful Manus!

Nice. His collection of bombs turned out quite lovely.

Thanks guys. Was a little worried that all those boms, would make him too uniform and monochrome - but it worked out all right.

The new guy is great .

I can't believe I didn't find your blog earlier, Manus.
Your work is very inspirational, and shows the true grim side of 40k, exactly how I have always imagined it
Awesome work, excellent imagination and execution.
Well done, and thanks for sharing !

CHeers guys.And you are most welcome godardc, if you want to have more regular updates I'd suggest taking on my blogspot or FB page - links are in my signature.

Though Crazy Ivan came relatively easy to me, I have had somewhat of a struggle actually picturing those void pirates - or perhaps not the picturing, but how to actually turn that into miniatures. Not that easy to make the minis flashy and flamboyant and at the same time time keep them gritty and darkcore - which is still the way I want to go. But having thought it over during the weekend, I have come to the conclusion that they don't all have to be flashy - captain will of cause, but for the rest I'll try to focus on that they are actually pirates. A ramshackle horde of misfits, hardcore (though extremely romanticised) criminals - feared for their ferocity and their failing respect for human/xenos life. Thus the minis will reflect this side of things, hopefully showing some badass characters you'd make sure to hide from and you shouldn't be in doubt why they ended up pirates. I focus less on making them look like Caribbean pirates but still try to incorporate little reference bits and pieces - and hopefully draw them all to gether with the paintjob.


Next up is this bloke - not named yet - I wanted something brutal with a big gun for my hullbreaching team.

I think you're doing an admirable job of making flashy/grity void pirates, personally. This new brute looks great.

Cheers.
After quite a hiatus I think I'm back!

Tzaangors - love that kit so overly detailed and twisted. Pretty sure they will be be put to use loads in the future.
First use for me will be this - which I'm pretty sure will end up being an eldar pirate.

Great start!

Thanks a lot - in the end I actually really like how he (or she - who can really tell when it's eldar?) turned out.
I have been really impressed with the Tzaangors - very sinister and very terrible in just the right way.

That turned into an excellent build. Nicely done Manus. Beastman is looking quite menacing.

Thanks a lot.
Having a bit of a slump atm, so updates or visits here doesn't come that often.

Finished the next pirat, Gronk the beastman! Quite like how he enden up.

That Beastman is looking really ready for modern fighting!

Beastman looks great. Your ideas for conversions are awesome

Cheers guys. Has it been a long time? NO not at all....
I was finally able to finish a model again, so without further ado here is Hook - a big, brutal - but very kind - Void pirate.

Gorgeous, perfect flesh tones, both on the body and on the tentacle.

Fantastic work here - both on the builds and the paintwork following.