Data-Scrivener

I’ve had this model for a long time, at least five or six years but possibly longer. I’ve been meaning to get him painted up as part of my underhive civilians collection (not to mention the fact that any Inq28 collection that doesn’t include him is really missing a trick) but what finally pushed me into action was spotting the Data-Scrivener in the House of Artifice book. Each gang in Necromunda can now take a range of hangers-on; these being the servants/assistants/allies of the gang who live in their hideout and enjoy the protection of the gang, but don’t generally get their hands dirty with any actual fighting.

Data-Scriveners are the futuristic hackers who specialise in stealing data from the hive’s ancient cogitators and manipulating them to suit their purposes. There are pretty strict rules about misusing technology in the Imperium but down in the underhive rules are there to be broken. The Van Saar, being tech-wizards to put the finest modern nerds to shame, have a habit of “liberating” whatever they feel like from the cogitator cores which regulate all the systems required to support life in the hive, and then using it against their enemies.

Because I want to include him as a hanger on to my Van Saar I went for a colour scheme that tied in fairly closely with the rest of the gang.

That said I didn’t to make him look so much like a Van Saar that I couldn’t use him in other roles, he’d still make a fine addition to an Inquisitor’s retinue, an Imperial Guard command post or the citizens going about their business in the hive depths. Hopefully he could even join another gang as their Data-Scrivener without looking too out of place.

Of course, having been in my possession for ages without seeing a lick of paint, he’ll be another contribution to the Neglected But Not Forgotten challenge being run by Ann’s Immaterium.

A Princess Of Mars

This is one of the first models I planned to tackle for Fembruary and so it makes sense, in the topsy-turvy way I go about my hobbying, that she’s one of the very last to be completed. Back when Lady Olynder, the Mortarch of Grief, was first released I worried that she’d be a difficult creature to paint and commented that I felt like I was the only person on earth who didn’t really like her. To be honest there were plenty of moments whilst actually painting her which didn’t help to change my mind. Much like the Khinerai I painted earlier in the month the whole model is prone to moving around every time a brush touches it and despite my attempts to anchor her a bit more solidly both she and her handmaidens pushed my patience to the limit at times.

That said however I still enjoyed painting her a great deal, even if she did make me grind my teeth and swear more than usual, and I’m happy with the end result so all’s well that ends well. Rather than paint her as the Queen of the Nighthaunt I used her as the basis from which to convert a tech-priestess for my nascent Adeptus Mechanicus collection.

With a conversion of this type there’s always a temptation to keep adding things but to me the simplicity of the original Lady Olynder is one of its great strengths and I wanted to strike a balance between maintaining that whilst adding just enough to tie her into a futuristic rather than fantasy setting and make it clear that here we have a representative of the Martian priesthood rather than an ambulatory bedsheet. For those who’re unfamiliar with the base model I used here’s the studio version from Games Workshop as a comparison.

As well as the Princess herself I had a lot of fun with the two little handmaidens. Strange though it may be to say I think there’s something quite cute about these two, and they offered an opportunity to play up the technological aspects without detracting from the simplicity of the core figure.

Finally here we have her, ready to command the soldiers of the Red Planet in their unending search for lost technology.

And there we have it, another model that could so easily have been left unfinished get’s pushed over the finish line for Fembruary. That’s not all either, tomorrow – once I’ve added a few finishing touches – we’ll see another agent of House Escher.

It Takes A Village – Part 4

Now don’t get over-excited, I’ve not managed to convert and paint up even more 40k civilians over the last few days (although I do have a few WIPs waiting for paint, and more ideas than I can shake a servo-skull at knocking around inside my brain and demanding attention). However when I went to pack away the latest additions, the butcher and the lady of purchasable affections, I realised that I’ve managed to complete a fair number of them now. Maybe not enough for a village quite yet, and certainly not the entire population of Hive City, but perhaps enough for an underhive holestead and certainly enough to justify a group shot (I know it looks tiny but give it a click and you’ll get a proper view).

As we hurtled wildly towards the end of 2020 life beyond our hobby is keeping me busy enough that I suspect I won’t manage many more posts before the New Year. That said I do have some Blood Bowl players near to completion so all being well you should at least see those pop up in the next few days.

It Takes A Village – Part 3

Today it’s time for two more civilians to join the populace of the underhive. First up, a butcher. If you fancy a rat on a stick for dinner and can’t afford to buy from the local Corpse Grinders (or they’ve degenerated into a cannibal cult) then this is the chap to visit.

I cannot for the life of me work out what the base miniature I used here is so please, anyone who recognises it pop a comment in the box below and I’ll credit whoever sells it (assuming it’s still on sale these days). To begin with he just looked like an ordinary butcher but a headswap for one from Anvil Industries and a backpack from one of GW’s Kharadron Overlords soon sorted him out.

EDIT: Thanks to caseyrog I now know I got this guy from Syr Hobbs Wargames and before I started chopping him up he looked like this:

Secondly, where hardship and deprivation is endemic the world’s oldest profession is bound to appear. Some people try to glamorise prostitution – and certainly this lady looks a bit more glamorous than most of my other underhive residents (in a grubby, Inq28 kind of way of course!). Suffice to say that my intention was not to play to that kind of disingenuous nonsense which likes to pretend that, despite the fact that the vast majority of women who find themselves in prostitution are extremely poor and the subjects of extortion, violence and abuse, that somehow it’s all terribly jolly, liberated and sophisticated. It isn’t, they’re tossers, moving on!

On the other hand Necromunda is a game and the real world is quite grim and serious enough without making the things we do for enjoyment into exercises in handwringing bleakness. The aim is to have a little fun and not take everything too seriously so glamorous prostitute it is!

This time I did manage to find a picture of the unconverted model (alongside a couple of blokes who I don’t own but have the potential to be underhive citizens themselves perhaps).

She’s from Reaper’s range of plastic miniatures and, having heard a lot of people complain about those plastics I went into this project knowing it might turn into a fight. Well they weren’t wrong – Reaper plastics may be cheap but it seems you get what you pay for! I’d been considering getting a few more of their townspeople and the range of options (and yes, the wonderful “it’s like the last couple of decades of inflation never happened” prices) were a big part of the appeal. I might yet, but if I do I’ll be a lot more choosy and only from the metal range – which again is a shame because plastic is normally easier to convert than metal, and converting these is central to tying them into the underhive setting. The plastic  though was just too unpleasant to work with, paint didn’t stick to it easily and gluing on additional components or adding greenstuff took every scrap of hobby cunning I could muster to stop them just falling straight back off again. And yes, I tried things like cleaning it (don’t knock it – it works for resin), lighting incense, chanting ominously, all the usual tricks basically. I do have a couple of other Reaper plastic models I got at the same time (and for the same project) – I may or may not ever do anything with them now. Ho hum – at least they were cheap!

Anyway, I didn’t mean to end up moaning there, I’m still damn pleased with the end result on both of these. Again I’ve got lots more ideas for underhive dwellers and other citizens of the Imperium that I’d like to get around to so as soon as I do, I will!

Muties – Part 4

I reckon my mutie tribe could really use a bit of muscle, after all swarms of little gribbly dudes are all very well but mutants come in all shapes and sizes. Time for a big ugly to join up with the little uglies!

This chap comes from Mad Puppet Miniatures, who’s line of post-apocalyptic models would generally fit in well in Necromunda. Being mostly lumpen flesh his face tends to get a little lost against the background of the hump and although I did try to highlight the face up a little it hasn’t entirely worked enough to make it stand out in photographs. However as I write this it occurs to me that adding a red or purple wash to the hump might be a fine solution so I may well return to him at a later stage and try that out. Alternative suggestions are more than welcome however. For now though I’m calling him done. Oh and for those eagle-eyed readers currently peering at the pictures, he is indeed carrying a teddy bear.

He’s not ridiculously massive in comparison to the other mutants, just big enough to add a variety of sizes to the group.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago I’ve got a few more mutants knocking around which I’ll be adding to the gang at some point, as usual “watch this space”.

Muties – Part 3

Time to return to the very dankest depths of the Underhive today as we go in search of those most downtrodden of all Imperial residents – the foul and degenerate and/or unjustly maligned muties. As with the previous sets these were all based on the goblins from Games Workshop’s Lord of the Rings range, with the addition of various odds and ends from the bits box and a little bit of greenstuff. I didn’t go into any of these with a set plan, I just dug around in the leftover bits I had available and saw what I could come up with. Before we begin here’s a reminder, for anyone unfamiliar with the stock LotR goblins kit, what it was that I was working with.

And here’s the latest additions.

And here’s the three new recruits together.

With these three complete the mutie tribe is finally starting to look the way I want it to, a disparate clan of mismatched little monsters, individually weak but swarming from the shadows to prey upon the unwary (as usual just click on the picture to see a bigger version).

Needless to say this won’t be the last time we see these, I’ve still got a few more Goblin Town residents waiting for me to decide what to turn them into – and then there are a few more beasties that might well tie into this project nicely. Watch this space!

It Takes A Village – Part 2

The problem with the Underhive is some people seem to think it’s a place to go for a nice day out. You’ve got gangs running around shooting the place up, Inquisitors strutting about like they own the place, xenos lurking in the shadows and don’t get me started on the Chaos cults! And what none of them seem to get is that some people are here to do a day’s work. They seem to think the corroded pipes, pools of toxic gunk and ominous piles of skulls just happen by magic…

You may recall that long, long ago (back in July of last year) I started working on a project to assemble some hard-done-by civilians to populate the grim depths of the Necromundan underhive – not to mention any Inq28 goings on. Necromunda is now blessed with several scenarios that feature hapless hive inhabitants and yet my population of civilians still remained rather paltry, I’ve had plenty of ideas but none of them have made it to completion. However with the lockdown ongoing I found myself looking for things to paint and my eye fell on these three workmen who’ve been waiting for attention for quite some time. Once again I’ll be counting these towards the “Paint The Crap You Already Own!” challenge being run by Ann’s Immaterium, as all three have been knocking around for quite some time and getting them finished makes it feel as though this project has finally started to achieve something.

The other reason I decided to tackle them was to explore what I hoped would be a new and easier way to paint orange. I really like the look of my genestealer cultists in their orange overalls but there’s no avoiding the fact that it’s been a lot of hard work to paint and that keeps putting me off from tackling any more. These however came together in no time flat using the recipe of an undercoat of Jokaero Orange, a coat of Gryph-Hound Orange Contrast Paint, a quick highlight with Jokaero Orange and a final highlight with Fire Dragon Bright.

The models originate from the mechanics in the CP Miniatures range, a real goldmine for a project like this, with the addition of heads from Anvil Industry and various Games Workshop gubbins. Here’s a picture of the unconverted models courtesy of the CP Miniatures website.

Whilst I was working on them I spotted this little servo-drone which has been waiting for attention for even longer – I assembled him back in 2017 when I was working on the Chapel project and he’s sat unloved ever since. I’ve never been entirely sure what to do with him, he’s kitbashed entirely out of odds and ends and he never felt quite finished to me, as though something was missing that, if I could only identify it, would make the model complete. Whatever it might be I still can’t quite put my finger on it and I was about to dump him back into the box of shame when it occurred to me that he might work well as a robotic assistant to my underhive work crew.

Here’s the whole crew ready for an honest day’s toil (no working from home for them unfortunately!). Hopefully they’ll make it through their shift without being shot by accident in a turf war or the ongoing battle for the Emperor’s soul…

Gun Of A Preacher Man

I decided to use the lockdown to sort through some boxes and stumbled on this crazy old preacher. He dates back to several years before the start of this blog and may well be my very first dip into the weird world of Inq28. He’s not perfect by any means but I think he holds up fairly well even now. Quite why I decided to paint his robes in a natty blue of course is anyone’s guess!

I’ve often seen other bloggers use a glimpse into their past hobby endeavours to mark milestones, something I generally intend to do and then forget all about until the moment has passed. However a week or so ago I made my 600th post here – surely an opportunity for this old man to get his moment in the sun. Plus, he’s a man for the times. Global pandemic eh? Look at him, he’s not going to take Nurgle’s bullshit!

Muties – Part 2

It wouldn’t be the dark corners of the 41st Millennium without a few muties scurrying around, suffering deprivation, being oppressed, demanding rights and turning dark thoughts to the darker powers that lurk beyond the veil… Some of you may recall that back in April I finally got around to painting up some of my long-planned tribe of mutants, models which I converted over several years based on the Lord of the Rings Goblin models. Here’s a reminder of how they look.

Now at last we have three more, ready to join the tribe.

This one is actually the very first one I made – alongside the chap in the death mask from the previous set – but in the mixed up world of miniatures I only got around to painting him now. He has however had a few tweaks since he was first built, mostly to take advantage of new components as they came along – with the poxwalker tentacle being the most obvious addition.

This one is one of my favourites from the whole group, a very simple conversion but there’s something chilling about him that makes me think of the worst excesses of research conducted unmonitored in crumbling asylums.

A face to give you nightmares if ever there was one!

Here’s a cheeky groupshot of the three newcomers.

And here’s the whole tribe gathered together, ready to spring out upon some unsuspecting ganger or inquisitor.

That’s not all however. Whilst I was about it I also found myself thinking about the other scavenging creatures which might be found lurking in the gloom of the Underhive. Giant rats appear to be the most prevalent form of life on Necromunda (even more common than muties!), and are probably pretty common everywhere else in the Imperium as well, so adding one to my collection of verminous critters seemed like a wise move.

I was also looking through my Chaos Space Marines collection and my eye fell on this old familiar that I painted a couple of years ago. With retrospect I don’t think I did a great job on it so, on the grounds that there’s no time like the present, I popped it back onto the painting desk and gave it a quick freshen up.

And there we have it, a few more verminous scavengers ready to sneak and plot in the deepest shadows beneath the hives. Speaking of which, the end of the month is approaching and I really need to crack on with some Skaven!

 

It Takes A Village – Part 1

…to raise a ganger… Or, for that matter, an Inquisitor.

The game of Necromunda is set upon a hive world, with almost the entirety of the human population crammed into cities far larger and more crowded, not to mention more violent and squalid, and anything found on Earth today. The setting may have a great deal in common with post-apocalyptic fiction with its planetwide irradiated deserts and domes full of crumbling machinery but it is in the massively overcrowded metropolises that the vast majority of people live – and by extension that’s where all the action happens. As a result I’ve been keen to create some hapless civilians with which to populate my stretch of the Underhive – downtrodden unfortunates just trying to go about their business when the bullets start flying once again.

Officially most of the people on a hive world live where they work, in the huge manufactorums, with block after block of habs crowded up against grumbling, fume belching engines. The Underhive itself, and the crawl spaces, waste domes and labyrinthine sprawl of decaying shafts and tunnels that lies hidden within and around the walls of these factories, should be relatively sparsely populated – but on a world as overcrowded as Necromunda even that will still undoubtedly  equate to a vast number of people. Even if those who find their way into these liminal spaces are only a fraction of a percent of the hive’s population there will still be plenty of them. What’s more, people gather only where there’s something worth gathering for, a useful resource or a meeting of tunnels or trade-routes – something which in turn will attract gangers looking to seize whatever it is for themselves, or deny it to their rivals. Indeed, although I was first drawn to this project as a spin-off from my Necromunda gangs it soon occurred to me that wherever one goes in the Imperium, a few generic civilians would go a long way, and thus this would tie in nicely to any and all of my Inq28 plans as well.

The first of these civilians are now ready, coming in the form of these three monkish characters courtesy of the first Black Crab Kickstarter. One of the greatest strengths of the Inq28 scene has been the encouragement of, and reliance upon, converted models – many of which have been startlingly creative and evocative. It’s rare to find something which suits the aesthetic from the word go so when I spotted these I just had to snap them up.

Of course I really must get on with building up more of my Underhive terrain collection so that they have somewhere to live (not to mention all the muties, Inquisitors, cultists, gangers, scum and whatever else I think of).

Needless to say these three won’t be populating the hives and back allies of the Imperium alone, plenty of other civvies are on their way – so watch this space.