The Velsen Sector: KrautScientist's INQ28

[apologist]

This fantastic project goes from strength to strength – it's wonderful to see the late, great Wayne England's atmospheric artwork brought to life like this. :)

[Dosjetka]

The angle of the head on your latest model is a bit off, in my opinion. Otherwise, fantastic stuff. I love those Wayne England illustrations so I'm looking forward to seeing what's next! :tu:

[BubblesMcBub]

These last 2 characters are cool!

[frankendoodle65]

I'm still not entirely convinced by the pose, but the resemblance to the artwork is definitely there and the paint job looks great- you've really captured the mood and atmosphere of Wayne England's work. Looking forward to the next one! (or you could get back to the Eternal Hunt, I'd be pretty happy to see their return!)

[KrautScientist]

Again, cheers for the feedback, guys! :)

 

@ Apologist: Cheers, man! As I've told you before, your work is a continuous inspiration to me, particularly for my INQ28 and 30k activities, so that's high praise indeed! :)

 

@ Chaplain Dosjetka: If by "a bit off" you mean it's not completely true to the artwork, then that was a completely conscious decision: Much as I love the art, the angle of the head makes it clear that the ganger is aiming (and firing) downwards, which is something I did not neccessarily want to reproduce on the model, mostly because it would look kind of silly when the model's actually standing on the floor. I also think the angle I have chosen makes the guy seem slightly more sinister, but that's a matter of personal preference, of course.

 

@ Bubbles: Cheers, mate! :)

 

@ frankendoodle65: You seem to be aiming at the same issue as Dosjetka, albeit from the exaxt opposite direction ;) So as long as both of you are complaining, that could mean that my solution was perfectly viable ;)

 

I will return to the 4th assault company eventually (as it happens, I have a conversion I want to pull of for a community challenge in April, so yeah), but for now I am really having a blast with these INQ28 characters, and have been trying to get a successful secondary log going here. It seems less popular than the chaos one, though, I will say that much...

[Kordhal]

Its really great to see your Inq28 here as well! You manage to convey a really nice central theme for each of the warbands, and I look forward to what you come up with next for Ordo Scriptorum lot!

 

Keep up the great work :D

[BubblesMcBub]

So whats the plan for you inq28 projects now?
2 inquisitors maybe xD

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, guys! :)

 

@ Bubbles: Oh, you're right -- I'll have to post those two Inquisitors I made for you soon. And then send them off ASAP, so their future stories become yours to tell! :)

 

Before that, however, let's stick with the Ordo Scriptorum for a bit longer, because my head is on fire with possible ideas, tidbitz of lore and possible narrative arcs. First of all, though, I've made some additional - small - tweaks to the bureaucultist:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just minor stuff, really, like tweaking the glow on the red areas a bit and cleaning up some minor mistakes.

Seeing how I've been taking so much inspiration from PDH's Ordo Scriptorum warband, and given the fact that we agreed ages ago that Peter's Inquisitor Inson had been Redactor Orlant's interrogator at one point, I really couldn't resist trying to build a younger version of Inson. Thanks to direct feedback from PDH, I think I've come up with a pretty cool younger version of his original model. Take a look:

 

 

On the left is Peter's original model for Inquisitor Inson, on the right is my take on Inson as an interrogator. Here's a closer look at the conversion:

 

 

 

 

 

As always, let me know what you think! :)

 

[Stercus]

That’s a good conversion. I used the same body myself to make a rogue trader a few years ago, it’s a great model to work with. Is the bionic leg from the skitarii?

[Augustus b'Raass]

I really like the younger iteration of the Inquisitor! Impressive that you managed such a lose resemblance, even though it's the same basic miniature.

 

I also have a question about the bionic leg: It struck me as more sophisticated on the younger character than it is on the original, older iteration. At first, it struck me as a bit strange -if not easily explained away - and then I thought "why give the younger guy a bionic leg at all? Wouldn't that be the golden opportunity to show the difference in period? I mean, it's cool that his laspistol ot upgraded to a bolt pistol, but how could would it be that we saw him before and after whatever tragic accident that led him to requiring a replacement leg?! :D

[KrautScientist]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

 

@ Stercus: Thanks! Indeed, it's a leg from the Skitarii Rangers.

 

@ Auggs: Good thinking, buddy! Here's the funny thing, though: My first version of the character had both (the beginnings of) an organic left leg and a less ornate version of the bolt pistol:

 

 

But then PDH informed me that his background character featured pretty specific information about where and when Inson lost his leg, and he already rocked an augmetic replacement by the time he became an Interrogator in the Ordo Scriptorum. By the same token, his bolt pistol was confiscated by the Arbites when he set foot on Terra, and was only given back to him after he obtained his full Inquisitorial rosette.

 

I wanted to honour Peter's background for his character, so I grit my teeth and replaced the leg and pistol. Peter suggested the Skitarii leg -- as for why it's sleeker and more sophisticated than the version on older Inson, I'll leave PDH to work that one out My take is that it maybe needed to be replaced by a more comprehensive prosthesis after further injury? Or maybe the original augmetic ultimately didn't take well?

Edited April 8, 2018 by KrautScientist

[hushrong]

I love the young version Inson. Was the body from the ark fleet commander? I cannot remember the official name but he has a sword peg-leg I think.

[Vairocanum]

Very cool model! Loved seeing your 30k and 40k versions of the same character so excited to see a model for INQ28 too! 

[KrautScientist]

Cheers, guys! :)

 

@ hushrong: Quite right, it's the body from the Black Ark Fleetmaster. And while there was already a peg leg, it did seem a bit to Dark-Elf/Dark Eldar-y for this character ;)

 

@ Vairocanum: Cheers, mate! Doing different versions of a character like that can actually become slightly addictive ;)

 

 

So let's look at something slightly different for today, as BubblesMcBub rightly pointed out that I hadn't shared the following models with you yet. So what is this about?

 

Last year, Bubbles was amazingly generous enough to let me have most of the Death Guard models from the Dark Imperium boxed set, and as a way of paying him back for that great kindness, I promised to convert some models for him. I already sent him a converted Iron Warriors champ late last year (I think...?!), and Bubbles also wanted me to build him an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor.

 

Now it did take me a while to do this, both because I wanted to come up with something cool, but also because I couldn't quite decide which general approach I wanted to go with: A massive, towering monodominant Inquisitor of the "Suffer Not The Alien To Live!" school of thought? Or a rather more subtle, sneaky and shadowy Inquisitor who is not above using the odd Xenos artifact himself? Both are pretty cool angles, and I realised in the end that the only right way was to actually build both ;)

 

So here are the - mostly finished - Inquisitors I built for Bubbles:

 

First up, the hulking monodominant Inquisitor:

 

 

 

 

Now this guy is actually a refurbished model of sorts: He began his existence as a champion for my old, kitbashed Legio Custodes army, but with official Custodes models now available, he wasn't likely to be used for his intended role anytime soon. I rather liked the kitbash, however, which is why I made some changes to him (adding a different sidearm, backpack and shoulder pad) to make him look even less Space Marine-y. And I think that, after a final round of minor cleanups, he should work as a fine puritan Inquisitor for Bubbles' collection.

 

The second guy, on the other hand, was built completely from the ground up, and represents the more subdued (and maybe ever so slightly radical) side of the Ordo Xenos. Take a look:

 

 

 

 

The Inquisitor uses a Genestealer Hybrid body, because I felt the retro-futuristic spaceman vibe of the suit fits the Ordo Xenos rather nicely (it is also heavily reminiscent of the kind of industrial design you see in the Alien films, which is another great match. I gave the Inquisitor an AdMech sword, because its very sleek, modernist look seemed like a good fit. And he's also wielding a Harlequin's kiss, to show how he's definitely not above making use of Xenos artifacts.

 

So here are both models:

 

 

I am pretty sure they would have a lot to discuss, should they meet during their work...

 

So I think I'll be shipping these off to Bubbles soon, and then their stories will be for him to tell. Until then, as always, let me know what you think! :)

[Dragonlover]

That wizard head goes really well on the Cultists body. Did you have to build a neck in?

 

Dragonlover

[Midnightmare]

Loving the guy with the stitched up face and stub gun, so grimdark!

 

Also, Robot #9, very cool. The palette used works perfectly for him/it :tu:

[Delta.Skies]

Cheers, guys! :)

 

@ hushrong: Quite right, it's the body from the Black Ark Fleetmaster. And while there was already a peg leg, it did seem a bit to Dark-Elf/Dark Eldar-y for this character ;)

 

@ Vairocanum: Cheers, mate! Doing different versions of a character like that can actually become slightly addictive ;)

 

 

So let's look at something slightly different for today, as BubblesMcBub rightly pointed out that I hadn't shared the following models with you yet. So what is this about?

 

Last year, Bubbles was amazingly generous enough to let me have most of the Death Guard models from the Dark Imperium boxed set, and as a way of paying him back for that great kindness, I promised to convert some models for him. I already sent him a converted Iron Warriors champ late last year (I think...?!), and Bubbles also wanted me to build him an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor.

 

Now it did take me a while to do this, both because I wanted to come up with something cool, but also because I couldn't quite decide which general approach I wanted to go with: A massive, towering monodominant Inquisitor of the "Suffer Not The Alien To Live!" school of thought? Or a rather more subtle, sneaky and shadowy Inquisitor who is not above using the odd Xenos artifact himself? Both are pretty cool angles, and I realised in the end that the only right way was to actually build both ;)

 

So here are the - mostly finished - Inquisitors I built for Bubbles:

 

First up, the hulking monodominant Inquisitor:

 

 

Now this guy is actually a refurbished model of sorts: He began his existence as a champion for my old, kitbashed Legio Custodes army, but with official Custodes models now available, he wasn't likely to be used for his intended role anytime soon. I rather liked the kitbash, however, which is why I made some changes to him (adding a different sidearm, backpack and shoulder pad) to make him look even less Space Marine-y. And I think that, after a final round of minor cleanups, he should work as a fine puritan Inquisitor for Bubbles' collection.

 

The second guy, on the other hand, was built completely from the ground up, and represents the more subdued (and maybe ever so slightly radical) side of the Ordo Xenos. Take a look:

 

The Inquisitor uses a Genestealer Hybrid body, because I felt the retro-futuristic spaceman vibe of the suit fits the Ordo Xenos rather nicely (it is also heavily reminiscent of the kind of industrial design you see in the Alien films, which is another great match. I gave the Inquisitor an AdMech sword, because its very sleek, modernist look seemed like a good fit. And he's also wielding a Harlequin's kiss, to show how he's definitely not above making use of Xenos artifacts.

 

So here are both models:

 

I am pretty sure they would have a lot to discuss, should they meet during their work...

 

So I think I'll be shipping these off to Bubbles soon, and then their stories will be for him to tell. Until then, as always, let me know what you think! :)

This is dope, I think I plan on using genestealer legs and scout torsos for my acolytes. Not fully sure yet.

[grailkeeper]

I think the Inquisitor still looks a little bit like a marine. Could you maybe greenstuff a hat onto him?

[frankendoodle65]

Wow both inquisitors look great! Particularly fond of the first one, I certainly wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley. I almost agree with grailkeeper that he look very much like an Astartes, but I think a suitable paint job should sort that out - after all no space marine would be caught dead with leather boots! 

[hushrong]

Sweet inquisitors! I like how the puritan is large and in charge while the radical looks sneaky a ! Something about that just gives off the personality they would have.

[KrautScientist]

Cheers for the feedback, everyone! :)

 

@ Dragonlover: Haha, caught me red-handed there, mate: I'll still need to build a neck because there's just a hole there right now ;)

 

@ grailkeeper: Hmm, what kind of hat were you thinking off? Personally speaking, I don't really see the character as the kind of guy who would be wearing a hat with all that armour, but I am at least willing to listen to suggestions ;)

 

@ frankendoodle65: I actually think he does have quite a few features that move him away from the classic Marine look: The shoulder pads are pretty different, as is the backpack. He also lacks the bell-bottom greaves Marines have. As you say, I think the right paintjob will sell him as "not a Marine" -- for instance, take a look at my Inquisitor Arslan a couple of pages back: He uses a very similar build, and I'd say he really doesn't look like an Astartes.

 

@ Midnight Runner, Delta.Skies & hushrong: Cheers, gents! :)

 

 

 

So here's another update, from the slightly weirder side of the 40k universe -- and also a bit of a pleasant surprise for myself, because I didn't expect to be able to tackle this particular project quite so soon:

 

Back when DexterKong and me came up with the Velsen Sector as an asventuredscape, I realised that I wanted a Banking House as one of the political players in the sector. The inspiration for this came from Joe Abercrombie's First Law series (and from his other books set in the same universe), where the banking house of Valint & Balk has a finger in each and every pie, and happens to be one of the most insidious influences present in the entire setting, always playing both sides, so the bank always wins. So I came up with House Mandelholtz, or The Mandelholtz House of Imperial Finance, to quote the full title, Velsen's own banking house. I see them as one of the sector's big movers and shakers, and like any good evil banking house from history's great dark hall of fame, they get to throw around their weight a lot. If you've seen the series Taboo and remember the way the East Indian Company gets protrayed in that series, THAT'S what I want House Mandelholtz to feel like ;)

 

Anyway, the Mandelholtz board of directors is a shadowy assembly, and very few people in the sector actually know who holds a stake in the house's businesses. Which lends itself rather beautifully to all kinds of Inquisitorial dabblings. But I did want one character to serve as a chairman or speaker of the board for House Mandelholtz, and I realised pretty quickly that I wanted this character to be female. Dexter and me kept exchanging ideas on the matter, and he basically suggested to base the character on a grimdark version of Maggie Smith in her role in Downton Abbey:

 

 

Which seemed like a pretty brilliant idea to me. There was only one problem: I kept drawing blanks when it came to figuring out how to actually build a model for her -- especially given the lack of proper female modeling options in GW's catalogue. So the idea went back on the shelf.

 

However, when the Triumvirate of Ynnead was released, I knew I had my base model for the conversion: Yvraine. But picking up the entire boxed set just to get my hands on the model seemed a bit extreme, even for my standards.

 

But then fate intervened: Last week, I was given the chance to snap up an Yvraine model from ebay for a pretty okay price (much, much less than a Triumvirate of Ynnead would have cost me, in any case), and the model arrived on my doorstep earlier today, so I got to work right away.

 

Now the problem was that the model was in a really rough condition. Just take a look at the base Yvraine came on, and you can probably guess what I was looking at here:

 

 

That's right, the previous owner used LOTS of glue to assemble the model. At the same time, the different parts had been put together really poorly, and mould lines abounded -- but that's what explained the price, obviously. And if nothing else, the model's deplorable condition actually made it easier to start cutting. So I carefully sawed through all the glue and did my best to separate the parts once again. And when I was finished with that part, I got creative. And here's what I have now. Meet the Baroness Mandelholtz:

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Grimdark Maggie Smith" remained my basic design outline, although the character grew a bit more grotesque during the conversion process: I wanted to make her look like rejuvenat treatments had really taken her as far as possible, but had also taken their toll on her physiology.

 

 

 

 

There's still a fair bit of fine tuning to be done here, but I wanted to share my initial proof of concept with you, so please let me know what you think! :)

[BubblesMcBub]

well thats a really cool model!

[Sagentus]

Really is a cool looking mini. Really liking this thread kraut, always nice to see something different

[Krakendoomcool]

The aristocrats and bureaucrats of the far future. Your really needling into the lesser seen side of 40k here.

 

You’ve got something very unique on your hands there. Fits the brief.

[Subtle Discord]

"We are not amused!!"