Useful Bits for =][=

[Lucidum]

Hello all, the screenname is new but I had an account here before. I thought I'd post a little on my personal insight into Inquisitor modelling using GW-only products. Although we only have a handful of 54mm models available to us as =][= players, there are many GW bits out there that can be usable at the Inquisitor scale. So here goes:

Pouches- pouches and bags work for inquisitor no matter what scale they're designed for, as varying sizes of pouches and bags can be found in the real world too. Space Marine, Imperial Guard, and Ork kits all contain pouches, as do the Fantasy Bretonian Bowmen and men at arms boxes, and many of the Empire kits which an enterprising player can use to represent extra magazines for their character's weapons, pouches containing auspex or combat drugs/stimms, etc. (On a special note, one of my favorite pouch bitz of all time is included in the Ork Nobz box. It's an open pouch revealing two cigars ^_^)

Ammunition- the best place to go for dakka is the Ork boyz kit, which has no less than five different bullet belts, including a pile of spent shells and a stream of them meant to be ejecting from the gun as it is fired. Although these are scaled for 40K, the game system's 28mm "heroic" scaling means that these shells are ideally sized as realistic bullets for the 54mm range.

Books- an inquisitor's best friend, books come with many of the 54mm models. There are of course smaller books to be found in the 28mm GW ranges, these can be found in the Dark Angels bitz sprue, the Dark Angels ravenwing bitz, and the fantasy Empire Flagellants box. Scrolls can also be found in some of these, which are similarly useful.

Lanterns and Censors- the lights of the Imperium and religious censors are quite prevalent in the gothic wierdness of Warhammer 40,000. Lanterns can add interesting character (and lighting opportunities for intrepid painters) to your models. There are lanterns in the Cities of Death terrain, the Fantasy Empire Steam Tank kit, the Dark Angels sprue, and the Black Templars sprue. Censors can be found in the Dark Angels sprue, as well as the occasional skaven fantasy box (the new screaming bell/plague furnace comes to mind). These religious symbols are especially appropriate for ecllisiarchy characters or particularly devout inquisitorial operatives.

Skulls- Skulls are literally everywhere in the imperium. Nearly every 40K and many fantasy kits come with skulls. These may be a bit small in size to represent actual skulls from deceased enemies. However, the tyranid genestealer skulls found in the Genestealer box and Space Marine Scout kit can be used for many occassions. The human skulls from many kits however can be used to adorn a soldier or inquisitor's wargear decoratively or symbolically.

Mutations- The mutant is one of the most hated of the enemies within the imperium of man. Mutation runs amok in the human gene pool, so much so that the Inquisition is often dedicated to eliminating it. To represent mutation, whether from chaos influence of genetic deviation, on your models, you can use the 54mm-specific chaos henchmen bitz (the only bitz pack still avaiable for Inquisitor ~_~) or the Quovandius model. If you want a bit more variation however, or a larger warband of mutants, the Chaos Spawn box offers you a massive wealth of possibilities, with the limbs and mutated appendages all appropriately sized more-or-less for the 54mm range. Also in this range is the fantasy Skaven Rat Ogre kit, which gives you some interesting buboes and tumorous mutations that work great for the Inquisitor range.

Well there you have it, a bit of insight into modelling for your Inquisitor creations. Feel free to add your own input, and try out some of these ideas in your efforts. Enjoy.

[precinctomega]

It's worth taking a look at BitzBox.co.uk, where individual bits from plastic sprues can be seen and bought separately.  There are very few plastic sprues that don't have several items that work perfectly well at 54mm.

R.

[MarcoSkoll]

While I made extensive use of a bits box well equipped from 10 years of 28mm gaming in my recent project, the models I did were done to a much more natural proportions than your typical GW 54mm model.
Namely, things like 7.5 heads to the body, rather than the typical 6 heads of a INQ model, and generally just more slender as a whole. While they were a great scale (in my opinion at least) for what I was doing, I doubt some of the things I was doing would work as well with a Heroic scale model.

For example, Kai's Hellpistol looks alright on him - but his hands are 28mm Marine hands (bulked out a little with GS). Try putting that same cut down lasgun into a 54mm hand, and it would just look tiny.

So, a few of these things would better served "40k-ing" a non GW 1/32 model (which tend to be more realistic proportion-wise), but if you can make it work, then go for it.

[Lucidum]

To add to my hopefully growing list of usable bits from the 40K and Fantasy range for Inquisitor....

New Ork Deff Dred and Killa Kans- these new kits have a wide array of larger weapons, as well as many mechanical armatures and plates, much of which isn't too ramshackle to be used as mechandrites for the adeptus mechanicus or other factions. The many additional bits on this kit, some of which look like they can be used as power cells, generatorum units, and other suitably techno-gothic machinery can make valuable additions to an =][= model.

New Venerable Dreadnought- this new model for Space Marines includes a few (I suspect) =][= scale armour plates. In addition, it has a large array of additional bits that include purity seals, medals, and other things which work well at either 54mm scale or WH40K. Also with this model are several head pieces shaped as Space Marine helmets. I don't know if anyone's seen this model up close yet, but I was thinking these may be bigger than 40K helmets, and possibly suitable for the =][= space marine...

[Swarbie]

Not to mention the "ornate powerfist" part. Maybe a bit too big though, I'm not sure . . .

[MarcoSkoll]

Also with the Venerable Dreadnought are several head pieces shaped as Space Marine helmets. I don't know if anyone's seen this model up close yet, but I was thinking these may be bigger than 40K helmets, and possibly suitable for the =][= space marine...

Based on a reference of the Inquisitor Space Marine helmets I have next to a dreadnought, the VenDread heads may be a little smaller, but I think they'll work.

[Kasthan]

The Ven dread space marine heads are normal 28mm space marine heads. I've held the sprues and seen it.

Sorry to bear the bad news.  (But the Weapons look quite versatile)

The Killa Kans weapons are ace, loads of stuff for Inquisitor

[MarcoSkoll]

The Ven dread space marine heads are normal 28mm space marine heads. I've held the sprues and seen it.

Damn, they looked bigger. Fair enough.

[Heroka Vendile]

The Forgeworld Ven Dreads probably a have close-to-large-enough helmets however.