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Ok, yet another project here but this ones a small one, single figure (for now anyway!) representing a rogue trader. I've been reading the Ravenor books lately and really wanted to put one together.

Having a spare DKoK commissar lying about I decided to use this as the basis. A quick "off with his head" later and some cutting and scraping to remove all of the gas mask and tank and I had the base for my conversion.

While considering what to use for his head I found a head I had been sculpting a while back so decided to use it. I've given him a tache and goatee, along with earring to make him more rogue traderish. Not sure if I'm done with his hair yet, we'll see.




Incase your wondering about the mouth, he's exhaling smoke while smirking, the missing hand is being sculpted to hold a lho stick or cigar to further emphasise the brash, rogue theme.

The rest will be brought out in the painting.

More soon but thought I'd get some comments on what I've got so far.

Cheers,

Dante

very nice. One thing-the neck looks a bit big. but that could just be me.

Kinda does to me to. but I like the Idea sounds good.

There is no neck in the pics, its just poster tac, I've just finished sculpting the neck now, no pics yet though.

Cheers,

Dante

How many "spare" Commissars do you have?

Give him a braided goatee of about two fists (of the model of course) long. Give him a bionic hand with the sigar/pipe/cigarette in it instead of a normal hand. This way you have that 41st millennium vibe of bionics without having to do the whole "17th century portrait but then with a bionic eye on it" vibe some of GW's artwork tends to have.

oh, likein it so far. I'm a big fan of RT's.

one thing tho, I think he could do with a different shirt, currently, he looks to commissar. the shoulder tassels re-enforce this image imo.

very nice sculpting on the face though, makes me a tad envious

Lovely start - I would really stretch the concept though, if you imagine the RTs described in Eisenhorn or Ravenor, this one is pretty generic.

Exotic weaponary, maybe a pet, much more extravagant hairdo! a wig even, and impressive detail on the clothes.

I know what you mean but at the same time, the vast majority of traders mentioned in ravenor were only notable due to their clothing, which will be made extravagant through painting. The hair is something I'm pondering. Considering giving him a Duke Castellan - esque ponytail but not sure yet.

I like the idea of a pet and am considering doing a cyber mastiff to accompany him on his base. That or some kind of "sheen" monkey similar to one of the illustrations in the =I= rulebook. I think it might work well on his shoulder and accentuate the rogue theme.

As for the shirt and jacket, I chose the model as a base specifically because I felt these were rogue traderish. Especially if you look at the Blanche drawings and artwork and mini's from the =I= range.

Cheers,

Dante

Hey what about include some veeeeery muscular brute as a bodyguard. Use an Ork body, but give it a human head and use greenstuff to make the clothes/armour look more Imperial. Also some Imperial weapons instead of shoota and choppas.

For some reason it makes me think of some wrestler pumped up with steroids and such, but then 40k style!

Give him a monocle damnit! A MONOCLE!!!!!

Yeah, he totaly needs a monocle.

Hmm, I mentioned a bionic hand earlier, but perhaps something more subtle. I don't know if you could go that detailed, but what about a couple of bionic fingers and a more subtle version of the bionic eye. With this I don't mean a boxy thingie that is sticking out of the guy's skull, but just some greenstuff over just the eye, it would look like some sort of bionic monocle at most.

Liking this guy a lot! Will be interesting to see what you do painting wise, since that will make or break the "fancy" look he needs.

Oh, nice. Your GS skills are quite good.

CMDante wrote:I know what you mean but at the same time, the vast majority of traders mentioned in ravenor were only notable due to their clothing, which will be made extravagant through painting. The hair is something I'm pondering. Considering giving him a Duke Castellan - esque ponytail but not sure yet.
...

As for the shirt and jacket, I chose the model as a base specifically because I felt these were rogue traderish. Especially if you look at the Blanche drawings and artwork and mini's from the =I= range.

Sure, but the real stars all had something special I'd like to see the more OTT push more because, with your talent it would be something super, yet you seem to have a fairly "reasonable" approach to all of your projects. Duke Castelan is "safe" and "reasonable". Even the Pact, in their absolutely superbly executed chaos worshipping form, aren't really crying out for something totally different.

You've picked a great starting point, your sculpting of faces is way beyond anything anyone else here has posted and you can really paint. Now show us something crazy! Please

Or just do as you say and I will be blown away by the gorgeous work anyway. Just pushing for little experiment and Punk here

Some Eldar jewellery would be really fitting as well, maybe some Soulstones or something like that around his neck or wrist. Or perhaps an Eldar looking sword instead of a normal one?

@ Migs - I know, I completely agree with you, I am very measured and reasonable, possibly even restrained in my approach. This is largely due to the limits placed upon the time I have for modelling these days. I don't really have the time I would like to be able to experiment much and make mistakes through trial and error so I currently just aim to produce original pieces that don't deviate too far from the norm.

That being said though, I am happy with what I currently produce, sure it would be fun to go for some really wild conversions, making a Tobias Maxillia style trader, but that would take more time and effort than I can currently spare. I already have plenty of projects that have been put on hold or unattended lately as it is!

I also feel that the model I have chosen as a base doesn't lend itself well to extravagant conversion without completely rebuilding it. I liked the coat and shirt as well as the pose though so decided to go with it.

Perhaps sometime in the future I'll give something really wild a go!

@ Malika - Way ahead of you mate. Just put the finishing touches on a soulstone on the neckplate thingy.

I've also been toying with a few other conversion ideas using a couple of other FW pieces I've had lying around for a while. Perhaps I'll post a few pics of the pieces in question to generate some discussion and ideas on them.

Cheers and thanks again for all the comments so far folks,

Dante

Ok, quick pic update to show progress on the hand and give a better idea of the pose.



Hand is very early stages so pretty rough at the moment but you can see what I'm going for. The fingers still need alot of work, the pinky needs resized a little and the ring finger needs gs to bulk it out too.

Cheers,

Dante

I really like what you've started here.

However, I can't help but nit pick and feel that his epaulettes are too militaristic for a Rogue Trader.

Maybe they could be removed and some other extravagant detailing applied instead? Maybe exotic animal fur trim? A jeweled hem? Or, baroque style free-hand with an art nouveau inlaid stitching in it? I dunno, he just needs a more exotic and extravagant look is all.

EDIT: What about jeweled spurs and added metal detailing to his boots?

I think the military look comes from those thingies on his shoulders, some exotic looking fur or even a simple paintjob (why am I thinking purple here?) can change that big time!

eye patch + smoking.


its the bad ass

The epaulets stay, again they are part of the reason I chose this as the base model and I think they add both to his swagger and to the buccaneer character I'm trying to get across with him.

Cheers,

Dante

Love the direction you are going with this.

I agree that a bionic hand holding the pipe/cigar etc would have been a good way to go. Adds to the 40k nature of the figure without too much extra work. Your hand is very well sculpted though.

If you want to add some more "color" to the coat, you may want to consider turnbacks. Seems like you could add that without too much chopping.

If you want to keep the epaulettes, why not add a fur trim? Makes them more of a fashion statement than a sign of rank

As for the gorget, you may want to consider adding an imperial eagle's wing to each side of the soul stone. I guess he does not do much trading with the Eldar then?

CMD, just noticed I hadn't commented on this one yet!!

Awesome work so far, you've picked probably the best starting point for a Rogue Trader in the entirety of the current GW and FW lines.

Very nice work so far and everything you've gone with exudes arrogance. Love it.

@Lasgunpacker - Cheers mate.

@GD - Thanks mate, glad the character I'm trying to convey is evident. As always, your input, along with that of everyone else who has posted, means alot and is of great value.

Ok, so I'm almost ready to start adding the paint to this fella now. I decided to leave the hair as is, I think it fits perfectly with the Clark Gable in "Gone With The Wind" type look I was trying to achieve with this guy.

The hand, while being an absolute bugger to create, has turned out just like I wanted it too. I initially thought I might be able to get away without using an armature for the fingers but after just managing the thumb, I realised it was going to be even more of a nightmare. Luckily I managed to find some of the thinest wire I've ever seen from the florist wire section of Hobbycraft. Fortunately it was just the right size to base the fingers on and literally not much more, being a FW model the scale is significantly smaller than regular GW proportions meaning fingers are half the thickness!

While I realise this model isn't fitting everyones desires and perceptions of a Rogue Trader, it is fulfilling the look I was wanting. Yes, it would be cool to do a really extravagant RT with funky bionics and whacky hair and attire but as Migs pointed out, it's not really my natural style. Perhaps I'll leave that to his incredible talents and imagination, or maybe if he would be willing to use his artistic talents (subtle shotgun like hint here mate!) to create a drawing for me of such a trader, then I could give one a bash as a sort of collaborative "Migsula and CMDante production"?

Anyway, as he is nearing the application of paint I've been looking for inspiration for pattern designs for the clothing. At the moment I'm thinking a deep, rich red jacket with some kind of swirly pattern design to the fabric. If you know the type I mean I would appreciate help finding reference pics as I'm coming a bit stuck as a result of not knowing the proper name for it!

More soon, hopefully with the addition of pics and less rambling!

Cheers,

Dante

well, I just want to say that he looks great. he may not meet everyones idea of a RT (i count myself in everyone), but he is what you wanted him to look like, and he looks awesome.

really, what more could anyone want?

cant wait to see this guy painted! you showing any work on him over at 40kforums?

Thanks mate. As with all things, its nigh on impossible to create something that will please everyone.

What do you mean by 40kforums?

Cheers,

Dante

I think he means 40konline?

Again, no idea what they are. Link?

Cheers,

Dante

CMDante wrote:
Anyway, as he is nearing the application of paint I've been looking for inspiration for pattern designs for the clothing. At the moment I'm thinking a deep, rich red jacket with some kind of swirly pattern design to the fabric. If you know the type I mean I would appreciate help finding reference pics as I'm coming a bit stuck as a result of not knowing the proper name for it!

More soon, hopefully with the addition of pics and less rambling!

Cheers,

Dante

Google "art nouveau". In particular, look for an artist by the name of Alphonse Mucha. His illustrations may help greatly in finding a "swirly" pattern for the coat. Good luck and I'm looking forward to more updates.