Released as part of the Kill Team: Rogue Trader set Larsen van der Grauss is a Lectro-Maester of Adeptus Mechanicus, which means he’s a prospector charged with seeking out new sources of power for the forge worlds. There’s something wonderfully retro sci-fi about him, an aesthetic which runs through a lot of the Adeptus Mechanicus range but which really comes to the fore here. He’s also been sitting around unfinished since September of 2018 so he’ll be another submission to the Neglected But Not Forgotten challenge being run by Ann’s Immaterium.
A close up reveals not only the flaws in my painting but also freehand on the screen of his high-tech handheld gizmo (which I’m secretly rather proud of).
I’d love to see another boxset similar to Kill Team: Rogue Trader someday. Games Workshop have done some excellent sets recently but most of them have been made up of models that were already available, spiced up with a few extras which were given an early release through the boxset. The Rogue Trader set however explored entirely new ground, without any of it needing to develop into a fully released faction (not that I’d have minded if it had). The only comparable example I can think of in recent years (outside of Specialist Games of course) has been the Warhammer Quest games. Between them Blackstone Fortress and Kill Team: Rogue Trader really expanded a lot of the otherwise unexplored corners of the 40k universe and I certainly wouldn’t be averse to seeing more sets like this in the future.
Convert or Die 
March 23rd, 2021 at 8:34 am
Nicely done mate – he’s a cracking mini & you’ve done him proud! I de-cluttered mine a bit, but I had a blast painting him 🙂
March 23rd, 2021 at 3:09 pm
Cheers – yeah, he’s a fun one isn’t he? 🙂 A bit of de-cluttering doesn’t hurt the Ad Mech I reckon, they’re nice models but they are very detail heavy aren’t they.
March 23rd, 2021 at 8:30 pm
They do tend to be… Not a bad thing necessarily, just a bit more effort than I’m prepared to put in these days! 😂
March 23rd, 2021 at 3:31 pm
The retro sci-fi look is genius here, really nice.
March 23rd, 2021 at 10:04 pm
Cheers! I love the way he both looks very in keeping with 40k and as though he’s just stepped straight out of a retro sci-fi. The way they’ve used a style of sculpting that we’d normally associate with older metal models even though he’s made in plastic only adds to that I think. All in all a very clever piece of miniature design. 🙂
March 23rd, 2021 at 6:28 pm
A fun miniature; I’m glad you were able to get him done. 🙂
March 23rd, 2021 at 9:16 pm
On the positive side a lovely looking mini. On the negative side I need a new pair of glasses because I can’t find the flaws in the painting! 🤔
March 23rd, 2021 at 9:56 pm
I’m with you and John: I think it was well painted too. 🙂
March 23rd, 2021 at 10:11 pm
Oh come on – no-one wants to see their work quite as zoomed in as that! 😉 Glad you like him mate, and if it’s any help I’m told specsavers are still allowed to open!
March 23rd, 2021 at 10:22 pm
The way I see it if a figure looks good magnified by the camera lens then it will look shit hot to the naked eye. Thus sayeth Blind Pew. 😉
March 23rd, 2021 at 10:28 pm
Thank you! And thanks for running the challenge, he’d be gathering dust without it. 🙂
March 23rd, 2021 at 9:43 pm
He’s just brilliant! 🙂
March 23rd, 2021 at 10:29 pm
Thank you! 😀
March 24th, 2021 at 8:02 am
Fantastic mini! Lovely paintjob too. I love how Quirky some 40k factions/ characters look. 🙂
March 26th, 2021 at 9:05 pm
Cheers! Yeah, there’s a really unique quirkyness to 40k that’s a long way from the sleek, clean futuristic sci-fi we often see – and I love it!
March 24th, 2021 at 11:10 pm
This guy came out great! I love the sculpt as it kind of has all the best bits and bobs from Adeptus Mechanicus rolled into one mini. I wouldn’t say many 40k minis are charming but this one definitely is. Larsen is one that I would consider buying and painting if you could get it on its own but I would guess that is difficult since the box set was released a while ago.
March 26th, 2021 at 9:10 pm
Thanks mate! Yeah, charming is the perfect word to describe him – he comes across like some eccentric character, a quirky professor pottering around in the demented hellscapes of the distant future.
Worth keeping an eye out on ebay etc, for a while you could get spare characters from the boxset fairly cheap but you’re right, they do seem to be thin on the ground these days. Still, no harm in keeping an eye open, he’d make for a small and straightforward model to paint but I reckon you could do something spectacular with him.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:23 am
Lovely work.
Cheers,
Pete.
March 26th, 2021 at 9:02 pm
Thank you!
March 26th, 2021 at 11:52 pm
I like the mini, but the pose is a bit weird. Pretty static, and it might be hard to tell which way he is facing, across the table. Paints wise though, you knocked him out of the park. Love the colors and how you painted up the little details.
March 30th, 2021 at 8:34 pm
Thanks! He does have a very static, two dimensional pose but I think that’s deliberate, it harks back to the models from years ago that were cast that way and reinforces the vintage sci-fi aesthetic. At least, I assume that’s what the sculptor planned, maybe they just liked him that way! :-p
April 30th, 2021 at 11:25 pm
Lovely work, Wudu – and yeah, the pose/sculpt style is very old-school – reminds me of Jes’ stuff being so packed with detail as well. You really knocked this one out of the park, and you’re not wrong to be proud of that scanner-thing’s screen! 🙂
May 4th, 2021 at 8:36 pm
Thank you! Yeah, it’s very Jes Goodwin isn’t it, if he didn’t have a hand in it somewhere I’m sure the reference is quite deliberate.