Rainy bank holiday hobby

With gardening rained out, I got the chance to do some hobby today, in the form of converting an army standard bearer for my 3rd edition Warhammer Norse army. Here he is, alongside King Krakenwolf and his Valkyrie household.

Old School Inquisition

A while back, I showed a picture of my 'retro rebuild' Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, a conversion I made based on the old Rogue Trader / Realm of Chaos era miniature. 

The classic Inquisitor, and inspiration for my conversion....

The conversion itself.

And then, it was featured in White Dwarf, a fact I totally forgot about until I came across this picture while browsing this blog...

http://www.ozdestro.com/blog/white-dwarf-issue-6-its-chaos-time

So no one can say there's no old school in White Dwarf! ;-)

Cheers!

3rd ed Warhammer Norse

So then, a while back I started a Warhammer 3rd edition Norse army, largely driven by the fact that I first attempted this as a kid back in the late '80s when the original White Dwarf army list was published, but didn't get very far (Rogue Trader took most of my attention I guess!). However, this little collection, along with the box of various other miniatures I've collected for it but not yet assembled, has been glowering in an accusatory manner at me for the last few months, reminding me to carry on.

The army's mostly Foundry Vikings (including some ex-Citadel, which aren't yet assembled), Gripping Beast plastics (great for amassing a proper shieldwall!) plus the Reaper Storm Giant and various bits from Ral Partha Europe and elsewhere.

Then, recently, Gripping Beast released some new plastic Arabs, which got me thinking about doing a Warhammer 3rd Arabian army. They'd certainly be a nice match up with these Norse, perhaps fighting over some lost treasure in the Border Princes, where I'd love to set a campaign. Gadge has a 3rd ed Skaven army on the go and thanks to an unexpected but thankfully brief spell of unemployment, Evo has an entirely painted 3rd ed Dark Elves army which is a thing of glory, so there's scope for plenty of old school fantasy fun.

Or, I could get around to painting the last three unpainted Space Slann in my collection and sourcing the one that I need to complete it, or I could finish painting the Warhammer Quest set...or...

That's why I posted this really, in the hope that putting up a work in progress picture will spur me on to finishing them (as if...)

Cheers!

Painted Rogue Trader

And here's the Rogue Trader I kit-bashed last week. I think his face is the spitting image of Stephen Lang as Khalar Zym in the 2011 Conan movie, so he shall be named Lord High Admiral Lyng is his honour!

Rogue Trader conversion

I've always loved the Rogue Trader as a character type, and as such I'm always looking for miniatures to do it justice. I've converted a few over the years, and here's my latest effort.

He can be used in 1st edition 40k easily enough, as the random equipment tables can easily accommodate his power sword, needle pistol and whatever other toys might prove useful. In 6th edition 40k he can very easily use the rules for the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, as these also have access to the needle pistol, servo skulls and various other gear a Rogue Trader would definitely have, plus Inquisitors can be taken in lots of armies, representing his household troops.

I plan to paint him up in in traditional naval colours- dark blue coat, white uniform, lots of gold trim and the like. I'll post a picture once he's painted. After that I'll do some pith helmeted imperial guard painted in the uniforms of victorian era Royal Marines :-)

Rogue Trader Retro-Rebuild Ordo Malleus Inquisitor

Here's the finished retro-rebuild (I just made that term up, maybe it'll go old school viral!). Hopefully there'll be more along soon (Inquisitors are like that, you wait for ages for one then loads come along at once...)

New old stuff

So, I like the old stuff, and I like the new stuff, but often for very different reasons. I love the creativity and character of the old Citadel Miniatures Rogue Trader Adventurers for example, but the more modern miniatures are technically so much better - after all, the skills of the veteran sculptors and the standards expected of news ones have moved on 25+ years, and casting methods have advanced too.

 If only I could have the old stuff, but made to a modern standard. Here's my attempt at just that, taking this classic old Realm of Chaos Ordo Malleus Inquisitor...

And, following an expedition deep into the bitz box, recreating it with this result...

He's being painted even now, in the same style as the original 'Eavy metal example above, so I'll post the result once he's done and then maybe have a go at recreating a few others of my Old school favourites.

Cheers

Andy