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Stellar model. Worth the wait.

 youwashock wrote:
Stellar model. Worth the wait.

Thanks!


So, now she’s been completed, here's a little painting WIP of the Hard Girl from my oils experiment.

In pic 1 her hair is lacking definition:



Pic 2 shows the palette:


Pic 3 shows the darkened oil wash - I applied this thick wash over gloss varnish to the hair, dried it somewhat with a hair dryer, then using a clean brush and white spirits, cleaned the dark wash from the upper surfaces to regain highlights.



Pic 4 shows the results after one application - ultimately I went back with another oil wash and then carefully dry brushed GW Uthulan Grey over the upper area and some edges, but in this case I’m calling the oils successful - despite the drying time.


The previous post shows the end result - I also did a brown and purple wash over the pants, with the same clean-up routine to keep the wash under control.

Thanks for looking!

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One hundred years before today…

On a glass platform suspended above the desert, Illyria watches the pre-dawn illuminate the Rust Yards.

In her black-metal hand is the precious Warrant: freedom freshly inked on ancient paper, stamped with the Imperial seal.
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Beside her stands the Inquisitor whose life she saved a year ago.
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Illyria’s father had been starship crew, retired into the Administratum of the Winter Hive; tales of intergalactic adventure, wondrous planets and exotic xenos fuelled Illyria’s young imagination, as unknowingly the creeping lung rot seeping through the ventilation from the sump-gas pools slowly killed her parents. On the day her father died - a week after her mother, and a week before Illyria’s twenty third birthday - Illyria decided no matter the cost, she would escape Hive life to the stars. Her parents had owned their small hab, so she had a place to live, though it was borrowed time now; every breathe in Winter Hive was killing her. She found herself a job at the docks driving mech-loaders, started looking for ship-crew work, though the story was always the same: no-one wanted to hire an inexperienced girl with no spacer skills. Her search for escape grew more and more frustrating, until the day she saved the life of a stranger.

Walking home from the docks, she turned a corner and - snapshot image: ghost-light smouldering off a golden sword cast aside on the deck plates; a dying woman in blood-drenched gold armour straining to reach the fallen sword, intestines trailing from her like tentacles; and the creature that had done the damage rising above them both, wreathed in fire and shadow and the stench of the warp.

A moment’s non-decision, a tableau of weird; a point in time where fates are changed.

Because she had no reason not to, Illyria stepped forward and picked up the sword.

At the time, it only cost her an arm.

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Desert wind catches the long tails of the Inquisitor’s coat, reveals the sheathed ghost-light sword.

(Ever since she touched it, Illyria hears its whispers in her dreams).

“So,” the Inquisitor says. “The Warrant is yours.”

Illyria nods. “Your debt is repaid.”

“Let me be the judge of that.”

Scattered across the desert in front of them are ten million abandoned starship hulls, surrounded by ten billion scattered starship parts. Overhead, Rust Mechanicus factory-platforms drift, cyber-tentacles and servo-claws reaching down to pluck treasure from the junk, those parts evolving into engines, weapons and hulls back up on the platform decks.

Across the local sector, the Rust Yards are known as the place where broken things are reborn.

The Inquisitor says: “Choose.”

Illyria frowns. “I don’t understand.”

“A Rogue Trader captain is useless without a ship; so choose one.” Before Illyria can say anything, the Inquisitor holds up a warning hand. “However; don’t thank me, Illyria of Winter Hive - one day you may regret picking up my sword.”

At the time, as Illyria flexes her new bio-mech arm and dreams of her own ship that will take her away from the Hive and this world, she thinks she understands the Inquisitor’s words well enough.

It is only today, the day of the assault on the hive of Skovarax, this day a century later - the day she loses her face - that Illyria Winter understands the true price of saving Inquisitor Kallatar.
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Magnificent.

Awesome!

Nice story to go with the figures.

Cheers,

CB

youwashock wrote:Magnificent.

Mellon wrote:Awesome!

Captain Brown wrote:Nice story to go with the figures.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks All!


When you don't seem to be making progress, make bases...

Doing a lot of minor fiddle bits on a few new models gets me frustrated because at times you just can't see real progress being made - so to keep the mojo high, I often just make bases!

The Necromunda bases are nice but you know by now I can't leave any model unconverted, so this:



Became this:


Which then became this:


More to follow - thanks for looking!

Good job on getting the squad finished. Look great.

 Dr H wrote:
Good job on getting the squad finished. Look great.

Thanks Dr H!


Something new is coming...

Having taken the better part of four years to complete both the Ordo Xenos and Rogue Trader crews, and with the Ordo Hereticus crew almost ready for paint, I was recently writing fluff vignettes when the inter-linked story took off on its own in a direction I'd not ever envisaged - but am now really excited by.

I'll do a fluff reveal in a bit - after the Witch Hunters - but here's a little taste of someone new - the Hoplite:


She's so far made of a Melusai torso and the leftover head from one of the Splintered Fang.

I've forgotten to take a pic of the new left forearm, it's from the Witch Elves banner bearer, but it's now a spear.

The spearhead started life as an old Blood Angels sword:


Which - after much faffing about with knives and files and brass and a hacksaw and metal files and epoxy became this:


Need to fill in the teardrop and file the brass a little, but I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Thanks for looking!

That's very nice. I'm just working on some custom Amazons so interested to see where you go with this.

This has the makings of greatness.

inmygravenimage wrote:That's very nice. I'm just working on some custom Amazons so interested to see where you go with this.

youwashock wrote:This has the makings of greatness.

Thanks guys!



Completed four of the five (possibly six) bases for the Witch Hunter retinue:



One of them was for the Witch Hunter Interrogator, a very lazy conversion to be honest:



After she stared at me accusingly for a few weeks from the 'to be painted' shelf, I ditched the whip and went for a second (bigger) gun, and some quick-load magazines:









It was then noted by a few 'other' forum members that both weapons looked like they were drum-fed, rather than curved-mag fed - which is how it reads visually.
I've seen others make some nice models with the Escher sculpts but I just don't seem to be able to with the base models - so after looking at the lazy conversion from the previous post I realised she was going to have to be reduced to a blank canvas.
(this is a 2nd body - the original still exists):



The coat is gone too - but let's move on!

Made a new weapon arm:



Made an addition to the rear armour section to hide some over-exuberant knife work: 



And then added the left arm, which brings us to the basic concept:



The over-shoulder weapon is going to be a sort of power pole-arm/axe, the gun-arm will be aiming with the head aligned...

It was about now I realised there were two distinct concepts going on here (from the same base model) - so the on-the-shoulder axe lady above has been shelved, and I'm back to detailing the coat-and twin-gun lady - new head inbound.

Any and all suggestions are always welcome!

In addition, as part of my (currently secret) post-Witch Hunter project, a certain character will be holding the weapon (in pic below) down by their side, and you don't have your finger on the trigger when you do that!
So, took the two bits here:



Cut and combined them to make this - safety first!



Next I cut the hand off the arm and slotted a pin through the hand into the weapon to make the lower section of the grip - but I forgot to take a pic, so until next time...

More to follow.

Always cool to see the creative process at work. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

 youwashock wrote:
Always cool to see the creative process at work. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

Cheers!

So:

I realised there's two distinct concepts going on with the same base model, so decision made - the Witch Hunter Interrogator will be wearing the coat.

Of course if you've been following along for a while you know nothing in my modelling is ever quite that simple...

You see, since I'd adapted the coat from its proper Escher to fit this one with the straighter stance, it didn't fit over the right shoulder properly... and so this happened:



Which then meant this had to happen:



Milliput paste to the rescue!

Note the weird emblem is gone too - might be a nice space for some freehand... if I ever get around to painting them 

Just an FYI- Delaque arms work pretty good with Escher torsos.

And if you cut their weapons right, they marry up perfect with Van Saar weapons.

It's nice to see someone making something for =][= and it's not one of those Blanchitsu models that just looks gross and stinky.

 Adeptus Doritos wrote:
Just an FYI- Delaque arms work pretty good with Escher torsos.

And if you cut their weapons right, they marry up perfect with Van Saar weapons.

It's nice to see someone making something for =][= and it's not one of those Blanchitsu models that just looks gross and stinky.

Thanks! - Good to know about the Delaque arms!



HEAD SHOT!

Made a new head for the Interrogator.
Took the goggle-mask head from the Genestealer Cult Brood Brothers and cut away the gas mask portion.
Then cut free the lower half of an AoS Witch Elf face and mashed the upper and lower together:







Came out pretty well I think!

I might add a hair-tail later but for now she is done.

Onwards:

Getting a Riddick vibe now. Very interested in the next model. Curious what is going to stay and what is going to go.

 youwashock wrote:
Getting a Riddick vibe now. Very interested in the next model. Curious what is going to stay and what is going to go.

Thanks youwasshock!


You might have to wait a while, as I'm jumping between projects at the moment... hence:

Assass][n-Executioner - W][P

Away back - after completing the retinue of Inquisitor Kallatar - I posted this bridging piece of the story:

Ordo Sicarius

At the time it was only an introduction for the Rogue Trader Captain Illyria Winter and her crew, but the idea of an Assassin-Inquisitor and a little band of murderers took hold, so I did some work on Imadeus back  here:

The Undecided

While Imadeus hasn't progressed much further (soon to be rectified, hopefully) I have done a few simple changes to the excellent 'Knosso Prond, Death Cult Executioner' model from the Rogue Trader boxset, to create the start of an Assassin-Executioner - one rung up the Ordo Sicarius training ladder from an Assassin-Apprentice.

Took the leading arm and head of Knosso and this warfan from the 'Warcry Cypher Lords Thrallmaster':



Sharp-eyed readers will note the warfan is held by a left hand, so I cut it off carefully, reduced the fan by one blade, and added a random right hand from the Melusai kit:



It sounds so easy when you type it it - but it wasn't...

Connecting that hand to the cut-away forearm of Knosso was also not an easy thing, but eventually I managed it - also cut off one of her weird triple Leia-buns, and added a pony-tail from a Sisters of Silence head - here she is so far:







There is a thumb on the back of the fan, it's currently hidden by that black-goop which is Loctite Instant Adhesive 481 - usually I only use for bonding metal to styrene, but here it has strengthened the tiny wrist joint.

I also shaved off those grenades on her left shoulder armour, which meant some repair work where the white styrene strip can be seen - I have also damaged her left arm down near the armour-plate, and her left breast, all of which will need a sculpting/sanding fix too (sigh).

The pod-shaped unit on her back will get a little mod, and I'm going to do some mods to her head, just unsure exactly what yet - I don't like her eyes, so possibly some form of vision-tech maybe wrapping around from the side of her head, and will fill in the love-heart symbol on her forehead too.

As always, thanks for looking!

You really are a mad wizard

You know, Prond might be one of the nicer female sci-fi minis GW has done. Helmet is a bit goofy but her dimensions and pose are both real solid - also that Infinity-style muscle fiber / ribbed venting butt

Excited to see the end result!

Nice bit of microsurgery on the fan. Made a neat model even better.

Lamby,

Conversion seemed to have turned out well.

Cheers,

CB

Nice work on all the things.

inmygravenimage wrote:You really are a mad wizard

Boss Salvage wrote:You know, Prond might be one of the nicer female sci-fi minis GW has done. Helmet is a bit goofy but her dimensions and pose are both real solid - also that Infinity-style muscle fiber / ribbed venting butt
Excited to see the end result!

youwashock wrote:Nice bit of microsurgery on the fan. Made a neat model even better.

Captain Brown wrote:Lamby,
Conversion seemed to have turned out well.
Cheers,
CB

Dr H wrote:Nice work on all the things.

Thanks inmygravenimage, Boss Salvagw, youwasshock, Captain Brown and Dr H!




Inspiration is a strange thing.

Found this image on Pinterest - 'Commando' by artist Jomaro Kindred:



Not very Inquisitor or 40k, right?

Apparently, my mind disagrees.

Take an Eldar jetbike, some Atalan Jackal bits, some brass and styrene tubing sizes various, some pins, some Superfine milliput (and apparently some cat hair, too).

Add the two-sword-wielding Warcy Corvus Cabal femme, swap out her sandal-wearing legs for some Harlequin thigh-high boots.

Mash it all together with a lot of different glues and swearing, and you get this:







Of course, her name is Harley, right?

Couple of W][p pics - not many cos I was in the zone.

That's amazing. Glad you went with the inspiration.

Love the work in here, and none of it looks like bad Blanchitsu. Inquisitor is one of those games that needs TLC, and could use a revisit from GW at some point- maybe at least some WD love.

Got two warbands, one of which is "A Deathwatch Marine" and the other is an Inquisitor and her Retinue. Sadly, the Inquisitor was lost on a recent outing and I'll have to replace her. Since it's been a while since our group played, I might pitch the idea that she went missing. Bring her back all beat up.

Fantastic bike!

Also great job on the assassin, you've improved an already pretty great mini.

Wow Lamby, exquisite conversion for the bike.

Cheers,

CB

Nice bike.

That bike is crazy good