Erserias and his misfits (models)

[seiterarch]

Well, I figured it was high time I got around to posting something more on the warband, especially with the conclave looming.

The first model to get finished (or rather, close enough to it) is the man himself, Inquisitor Erserias Calex. (Background and rules to follow in the other topic.)

This is my first go at a 54mm miniature, so it's a bit difficult to tell whether I'm satisfied or not.  The only thing that really needs doing before April is to finish off the marbling on the obelisk, but that's not a major concern at the moment.

[Dolnikan]

He looks very good, I really like the pose. Especially how he holds his left arm over his sword. His head also came out very well.

[seiterarch]

Thank-you. I was a bit worried half way through changing the left arm that the pose would just loook arrogant. Turned out not to be a problem. I suspect the permanent frown is the reason.

Seems like I may as well put some pictures up as I go through the process with the next one, since I plan on doing a lot more work in modelling on it.  So here are a couple of pictures of the model I'm planning to make Engineer Guthrak around:

(Third one just for comparison. I can't decide whether he's short enough for a Squat or not?)

It's Artillerex, Chicken Hunter from Scibor Miniatures.  So far, I've just removed the mohawk and beard, built his chin, chest and corrected an odd imbalance in his stomach muscles (along with quite a bit of clean-up work, the moulding quality was fairly atrocious).  The plan is to give him a chain vest, tasset and gloves, belts full of paraphenalia and a helmet (though I'm considering giving it an open visor of some fashion so the face detail isn't completely lost). A right arm might help too . I'm also not sure how I feel about the musculature at the moment, it just feels a bit over the top.

[Kaled]

The Inquisitor looks good.  I like the pose and the design of his gun. If I could suggest one thing, it looks like you could do with another wash or two to add more shading, especially on the metal bits and the gun.

For the engineer, just be careful when you convert him that he doesn't end up just looking like a dwarf in space. I would shy away from plate armour and chain mail, axes, hammers and other stereotypical dwarf items as much as possible and give him a flak vest and a custom lasgun or suchlike as well as some fancy bits of technology.

[Dolnikan]

The squat seems like a good base model and agree with Kaled, he should be more than a dwarf in space. So if I would armour him I would try to make it more 'modern'.  Is he going to get a new beard?

[seiterarch]

Thanks for the suggestions. More washes is always good, I've just done a few now. Part of the problem is that one of my mates spilled all my brown wash so I haven't been able to finish a couple of details off yet.  Another part of the problem is that I chose a poor selection of photos. He's shadowed working from a aource of light above, to his left and slightly in front of him, so forgetting to take a photo that shows the shading I've done was a mistake on my part.

As to the engineer, I'm not awfully certain why I was going to do a chain vest and tasset. The gloves are definately staying chain though (think butchers and other people working with cutting devices as opposed to battle armour). I think some sort of take on a welder's apron might fit best for upper clothing? As for weapons, I'm aiming for tools as opposed to actual battlefield equipment, so a pistol is probably the limit of what I can see giving him. (As for hammers and axes, he has a hamer, but it shouldn't be particularly big, and it's unlikely to look like a conventiional hammer.)
Whilst I'm thinking about it, I'm probably going to have to replace the feet too. Mokasins aren't exactly a good choice of footwear for dealing with machinery.

Beard-wise, I probably won't give him a new one. I got rid of the old one because it was silly and I wanted to put a helmet on.  He's still having a helmet, but I'm not exactly sure what it will look like (it was originally planned to be a full head affair, but the logistics of his shoulder blades make that a little less likely). If a beard will fit with the helmet, I might just give it a shot.

[Dolnikan]

An apron would be a very good idea, it makes him look more technical and less like a space dwarf. I also like the approach of giving him tools, perhaps even a backpack filled with spares? You copuld also give him a kind of deadly welding torch or the like.

[seiterarch]

Hmm, it loooks as though I'm going to have to strip the model down significantly and build it back up due to an interesting anatomical oddity that currently puts his buttocks about half a foot below his hips and a ridicculously large gapp between his legs. The latter, I suppose, could be put down to a difference in anatomy between Squats and humans, but the first is just sillly. In any case, fixing the first should rectify the other.

A backpack of some sort might be nice, could make the model a bit busy if he already has thingummies hanging all over him. A levitating backpack used like a servo-skull might be interesting though. One thing that has me a bit confused is wwhat colour the skin should be. Seeing that the race has been living in mines for millenia, would it be reasonable to do the skin incredibly pale? I don't know whether their skin tone is ever mentioned.

[Dolnikan]

Being pale would be logical. A flying carrier-robot like thing would reinforce the technical side of the squat and would help with his gear, that would be fitting.