The autosavant/lexmechanic WIP #3

Howdy!

Apparently, the autosavant character is evolving from a mere servitor into a proper techpriest!

I think that I've found a good place for the cherub. And a good place for another cherub too!
Moreover, his servo-arm is now finished - I've put scissors on it for him to cut his printouts when it's necessary. The chaos star on the staff was converted into something resembling the symbol of Adeptus Mechanicus.

I plan to make a few more improvements (including some cables here and there), but it's fairly possible that the model is nearly complete.
So, if you have any suggestions regarding the miniature, better hurry! Thanks!

The autosavant/lexmechanic WIP #2

Howdy!

I did some work on the autosavant character from the previous post. Slowly, the model is beginning to resemble my vision. The cherub was attached to the miniature only for the sake of finding a good composition.

I still have not decided what purpose will the mechanic arm serve. While I'm tempted to attach a chainsword or a plasma gun to it, perhaps the autosavant character should have a research-oriented utensils. Mayhap, some kind of magnifying glass or a telescope?

I also plan to do something about the arrows on the staff - it is clearly a Chaos-related symbol and that is probably not a good thing for a member of inquisitorial retinue.

How do you like the composition of the miniature? Should I look for a different place for the little guy or maybe it is ok? Thanks!

Edit: It was suggested to me that the current placement of the cherub is somewhat... disturbing! Don't be afraid - I'm already looking for a better solution. Cheers!

The robed advisor & a new autosavant/lexmechanic character

Firstly, let me show you the pictures of the advisor character with a new head - just as promised!

Brilliant Stefan (KrautScientist) from the Eternal Hunt suggested that this guy could be a sort of a personal confessor for inquisitor de Lorme. This idea really seems to fit my own vision of this character - that is, someone who doesn't serve any purely practical purpose (like, for example, combat, data analysis, dish-washing etc.), yet who seems to be highly valued by the inquisitor.

Secondly, I've started working on yet another model. This time I want to make a sort of an autosavant/lexmechanic character. Those autosavant characters are supposed to be a kind of human computers, who are able to perform multiple complex computations in a very short time. On the other hand, there was a time when the computing machines did not have any kind of visual display and the output information was instead printed or punched on paper. So I thought - perhaps this could be a way which my autosavant uses for communicating the results of his own computations?

A quick sketch to give you an impression of what I have in mind:

The idea is that for some reasons this autosavant is no longer able to speak and he has to print his thoughts on paper instead! This printed/punched output is supposed to be an equivalent of speaking, thus it seems natural that the tape comes out through the hole placed in the mouth area...
Even more, this is a strange world of 40k, so I think that there is probably some servo-skull or a cherub who's only purpose is to read the printed data and pass them on to the relevant persons. I'm not yet sure if it is possible to translate this idea into the model, but I'm already trying:

Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a comment! Cheers!

The Hound WIP (and something else)

Hello again!

Many months ago, I've posted this picture:

Later, this green torso evolved into this:

The hand is from classic WFB zombies, while legs are Cadian in origin - just like the barrel. And just a month or two later, I've started to paint it! It all happened so fast...

He is not yet finished, but I'm already very happy about it. His name is "Hound" - which serves as an explanation for the bone he is holding in his hand. He is just a simple bodyguard with brain implants (kind of a combat servitor, if you ask me), probably of a feral world provenance (as suggested by the good folks at the Ammobunker).

Oh, and there is yet another effect of me playing with BeeSPutty:

As you can see, it's not really a proper miniature. I've realised it when I started painting it. That's why he is curing his wounds after the head transplantation at the moment. More photos soon!

Thanks for reading and watching and for all your past and future comments!

Cherub WIP #2

Hello!
The cherub from the previous post is almost ready for painting. I've decided to use a kind of scroll/banner (not sure yet) to attach it to the base. It looks a bit strange, but I think that I like it.

And now - a bonus:

Inquisitor de Lorme - finished?

Greetings!
It took me some time, but I've finally managed to put the brush away and call Mr. de Lorme 'finished'.

Well, that is not necessarily true. I already see some areas that could be improved. Moreover, I plan to put another coat of varnish on it and one can never be too confident when playing with varnishes. Since 'tis very likely that I will spend more time on this miniature in the future, if you reckon that some part should get more attention, feel free to tell me! But as for now, I think I need a break...

Sorry for the light reflections on the next picture. It seems that I've used too much varnish there. It will be corrected!

Anyway, it was not an easy miniature to paint, but I've learned very much while doing it. It is probably worth noticing that some gold details were made using a gold leaf gilding technique. Not to mention many other new techniques that I've used for the first time here.
Now, all he needs is some company. Oh, and a display wood base... Thanks for reading, cheers!

Ecce homo: Inquisitor de Lorme character creation

In my last post, I've been muttering about converting my bird-mask resin cast into an inquisitor character for Inq28. My initial idea was to make him some kind of semi-Astartes - what was partially caused by the fact that the initial sculpture was made for an (renegade) Astartes character. Fortunately, I've seeked advice at the Ammobunker and those wonderful folks there told that the Astartes thing is not a good idea. Instead, I was encouraged to make an old school homo sapiens sapiens character. In turn, a different concept was excogitated, as pictured on the following sketch:

Using a pair of legs from the GW's Greatswords sprue, some other bits and many layers of putty I was able to translate this idea into reality. Again, fellows from the Ammobunker were really helpful during this process.

The semi-biographical background of de Lorme is yet to be devised, but I'm going to list some thoughts below to help you better understand what it is all about. Some of these were coined by the members of the Ammobunker community.
So:
First of all, he is a dandy; the mask and the wig are here for theatrical purpose rather than, for example, to cover some kind of deformation.
Obviously, he is rather a puppeteer than a fighter; that's why he is probably affiliated to the inquisitorial Ordo Hereticus.
His second name is Pantagruel. As for the first - I was thinking of Cyrano (as a kind of citation regarding the beak-nose). Cyrano is not really a name, but then again, mayhap it will become one in the next 38k years.
He's got a kind of aristocratic provenance. It is possible that he can trace back his ancestry to some semi-legendary person from pre-Imperial times (might be made up, though). Through millennia his family has acquired plenty of titles, mostly meaningless.
That's why his personal servo-skull basically serves two purposes:
Firstly, it is a kind of announcer that can list dozens of fancy titles and names, in effect introducing de Lorme to whoever is listening.
Secondly, the skull acts as a heraldic supported, carrying de Lorme's family coat of arms around.

This idea was an attempt to combine the characteristic type of Wh40k fandangles with the popular nobleman portrait composition with a coat of arms painted somewhere on the background (which in turn looks a bit like if it was hovering).

His right arm is a mechanical prosthesis.
The orb in his right hand is suppose to be a reference to two things. Firstly, it's form is based on the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from that marvellous movie that we all have watched more than once. ...And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O LORD, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy." The idea was coined by Jeff Vader from the Officio Convertorum. Since the orb he's holding now is a bit rough, I may swap it for the one from GW's Black Templars conversion bits.

Secondly, the grenade is there to show a kind of attitude that de Lorme sometimes use to deal with other people - in other words, it's a "give me what I want or I will blow up the whole place" type of attitude. This may be considered a reference to the Return of the Jedi or to the Dark Knight movie. This kind of action may be a sign that de Lorme have the nerves of steel or rather that he is just insane. It is not yet clear to me which one is "true".
In the other hand, he carries a walking stick - which is there to complement the dandy idea. The cane itself is made from a kind of thorn tree. I was fully convinced to that idea only after finding a similar motive in one of John Blanche's pieces from the Emperor's Will artbook. That being said, the initial idea comes from the old cRPG Planescape: Torment, where the protagonist came by a mysterious plant with thorns that could be somehow miraculously reshaped with thought. It is yet to be revealed if de Lorme's walking stick has this kind of unnatural properties.

So far I have no idea how to paint it. On the one hand, I am tempted to use a limited palette of colours, peat brown, red, burnt sepia etc. On the other hand, the whole dandy idea just cries for a plularity of vivid colours: blue, purple, yellow, violet and so on.

Moreover, I'm interested how those fragile copper wires on the servo-skull are going to behave. Transporting this miniature anywhere outside my flat is going to be a real fun! Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to it.
I hope you like the miniature so far. Thanks for reading and till next time!