He who makes a beast of himself...

Greetings all.

This post will be a lot quicker than it probably should be, as it represents a bit of a milestone in terms of painting output. I have just finished my 100th model of the year! He's quite a beast too... 

You may recall that at the start of the year I made the resolution to paint at least 100 models before the year was out. Well it's only part way through September and I've already achieved that goal! Pretty pleased with myself right now, I must say. I'll list out everything that I've painted so far at the end of this post. Before that though, I should probably show off one of the rarest models in my collection: Space Minotaur, Knossos.

Though not the sharpest tool in the box, Knossos has the brute strength to solve a great many problems. Part of Emeric's abhuman mercenaries, he can always be found where the fighting is thickest. Usually he'll be pointed in that direction by someone else, just so he doesn't end up wandering off when he sees bright colours. Knossos and his brethren aren't  exactly the sort of creatures employed by most Inquisitors, but their sheer savagery and low upkeep suits Emeric perfectly.

Knossos has quickly become one of my favourite models in my entire collection. Partly due to his rarity, and partly due to the ridiculousness of a Minotaur, IN SPACE. I gather that the two space Minotaur models (yup, the other one will be joining the gang soon) were released for a very short time through mail order, back in the late 80s, and are pretty hard to get hold of these days.

Now I mentioned that I've painted 100 models this year... They are:

4 plaguebearers 

Misfortune familiar 

6 Nurgling bases

4 screamers

4 Flesh hounds 

10 pink horrors 

3 plague drones

30 daemonettes 

Count luthor

Ramtut 

Wilhelm Chaney

Chaos assassin

9 cultists 

Beastman cultist

Flamer cultist 

2 cultist demagogues

Prescience marker

8 bloodletters 

Tzeentch daemon prince

Ambull 

Inquisitor 

Jokaero 

Beast trooper

Unreleased scavvy 

Assassin 

Tech priest 

Adeptus Arbite

Astropath 

Ventolin pirate 

Space Minotaur 1

Phew! Hope that list makes sense; it was just copied from the list on my phone. Pics of everything are all over the blog though!

I need to go now, to wolf down some dinner and prepare Emeric's crew for some investigation work in the lower levels of the hive. Rumours of some potent archaeotech hidden in an abandoned facility have been whispered. Unfortunately those rumours have also reached the ear of Rogue Trader Arturo Lamina, so recovering the tech might not be as straightforward as originally expected...

Breathe the pressure: Ventolin Pirate

Greetings all.

Completed another member of the gang! Today they're joined by the Ventolin pirate and hired gun, Glaxo.

Glaxo hails from Ventolin, a planet wasted by many years of chemical and biological warfare. The remaining population are forced to wear all enclosing suits to protect themselves from the deadly environment. This tends to mean that the inhabitants are as tough as they come, and Glaxo is no exception.

Another characterful model from the early days of Rogue Trader. This is one of the excellent adventurers range, every model of which is pure gold.

As usual, comments welcome!

Message in a bottle: Astropath

Greetings all.

Speedy progress continues on Emeric's retinue! The merry band are now joined by a more conventional Imperial agent, the Astropath Ericsson:

Despite being a powerful psyker and mutant, Ericsson is one of the more "normal" members of Emeric's entourage. Astropaths are essential for any servant of the Imperium travelling far beyond its borders, and it is no different for Emeric. The Inquisitor values the elderly sage's wisdom, almost as much as he values his powerful psychic talents.

Another unmodified RT era beauty, painted in the limited palette of the rest of the warband. This time I emphasised the green, to reflect the "uniform" worn by Astropaths.

Comments welcome of course!

Police brutality: Adeptus Arbite Enforcer

Greetings all.

Another henchman joins Emeric's warband today, this time an Enforcer:

Enforcer Assante is one of several such individuals under Emeric's command, charged with administering the Emperor's justice to those who defy him. His devotion to duty is such that any order will be carried out, no matter its savagery. As Emeric makes use of extreme measures as a matter of course, Assante's skills are of particular use.

This model is another RT era classic, sculpted (I believe) by Jes Goodwin. I'm quite fond of the early Arbites, so might pick up a few more to accompany him. As with the rest of the warband, I used the same palette to maintain coherency.

Comments are welcome!

Red planet blues: Tech Priest

Greetings all.

Progress continues on my inquisitor's band of deviants. Most recently I've managed to finish the renegade Tech Priest, Gogol:

Gogol is something of a radical amongst the Martian priesthood, in the sense that he is experimental and progressive in his methods. This is something of an anomaly on Mars, so Gogol found himself quickly inducted into the ranks of the Runic Priests, an order that prizes free-thinking and intuition. Unsurprisingly, such an individual is of great use to a radical inquisitor, and so Gogol found himself requisitioned to Emeric's service.

The model itself is a lovely Bob Olley tech priest, again following the same palette as the rest of the warband, though with a greater proportion of red to signify his Martian allegiance.

Here are the gang so far:

Comments welcome!

Silent treatment: Imperial Assassin

Greetings all.

Added another member to Inquisitor Emeric's crew, this time it's imperial assassin "Reno":

Obsessed with inciting conflict across the galaxy for the betterment of mankind, Inquisitor Emeric makes great use of Reno's talents, assassinating religious and political leaders to stir up violence and ensure the strongest come out on top. Reno is unswerving in his loyalty to his master, and once activated, will complete his mission, or die in the attempt.

A man of few words, he isn't exactly the life of the party. Often refers to himself as a "cleaner". No one is really sure why.

This guy has to be one of my favourite models in Emeric's retinue. Such a great sculpt, and clearly paved the way for the later assassin models. I went with a tan bodysuit for him, partly to tie him in with the rest of the gang, and partly because back was just too obvious...

Comments welcome of course!

Dunston checks in...

Greetings all.

I've been beavering away, getting some good work done on my RT inquisitor warband, but I also painted up this little guy as a bit of a distraction from the grim darkness of my radicals:

This lovely fella is a pretty rare RT Jokaero model. He's not part of my inquisitor's retinue (the whole alien hating thing causes an issue there...), but will instead form part of my Rogue Trader's crew (my next project). I envisage my Rogue Trader relishing in his freedom to explore and trade with aliens, keeping a menagerie of strange and exotic creatures. Dunston the Jokaero is one such creature. He uses his ingenuity to improve and embellish my Rogue Trader's personal arms and armour, leaving the mechanicus contingent to focus on tracking down lost relics from the dark age of technology, as well as reverse engineering xenos artefacts (for the good of the Imperium, of course).

Hope you like him, I'll be adding some friends to his group soon.