Preaching to the Masses - Archdeacon Konstantin

When I posted my first group of Ministorum figures a few weeks back, I mentioned that I was working on some other figures to add to the group. This latest figure is probably the most over-the-top, overtly 40k Gothic thing I've ever made, and I really enjoyed dialling up the religiosity levels! After all, if you've going to be an elderly member of the clergy of some seniority who has a duty to go on the streets to keep the congregation in line, then you most certainly would go out on a comfy tracked chair-pulpit decked with your favourite icons and lines of scripture!

Faith & Fury - Ministorum Band

For a whole host of reasons I'd never got round to painting up any Ministorum figures. A huge oversight really, and I would like to paint up some Adepta Sororitas squads at some future point. But for now I'm satisfying myself with a small group of high energy religious sorts with the aim of adding in a handful more to make a playable Inquisimunda / Necromunda / Stargrave group.

The Xenobiologist - Unreleased Rogue Trader Adeptus Mechanicus

Back in 2014 my mind was blown when Steve Casey showcased the unreleased Rogue Trader Adeptus Mechanicus figure on his Eldritch Epistles blog. The figure was from the collection of Bryan Ansell and I instantly both desired it and resigned myself to never owning it.

Happily I was recently able to acquire my own copy of the figure and wasted no time in painting it up!

A Cold Stare & A Steady Aim - Necromunda Bounty Hunter

The best thing about joining in with online hobby initiatives is that they prompt you to do something you hadn't really planned to do, and in some instances they result in something you couldn't have even conceived of. The #JusticeForGary painting challenge over at the Oldhammer Facebook group is a simple concept - paint up a figure that was sculpted by Gary Morley and he will pick his favourite (still time to enter as the closing date is 30 June).

I knew I wanted to paint something for Necromunda, and was leaning towards one of Gary's bounty hunters, but then I decided to see if I could convert some unique figures using 100% Gary Morley parts. I ended up with a bounty hunter and his lucky caryatid companion - created completed from parts sourced from Gary's figures plus a little bit of greenstuff to hide the joins!

There are many thousands of bounty hunters operating on Necromunda. Some specialise in tracking down criminals, others hunt down up-hivers fleeing social embarrassment. Still others delve into stranger places, seeking out vampiric psykers with life-leeching powers, shape-shifting mutants and hideous eyeless ghouls. Abrym Shasta specialises in the tracking of the strange and unexplained, accompanied by the blue-skinned caryatid Sound-of-Memories. Shasta says little and is seen infrequently, only visiting major trading posts or settlements to collect bounties in return for the heads of his quarry.

Gort Pack Beast

Every nomadic merchant needs some kind of large pack beast to carry all of his goods. I've been wanting to add one to my collection for a while, but hadn't hit on the right model. Luckily the trading pages over at the Lead Adventure forum provided, and I was able to pick up a lovely chunky beast.

Boring Rocks? Some New Scenery

I picked up a couple of pieces of area terrain from eBay recently. They're pretty basic - vaguely oval resin bases with a few rocks and some ground texture. The sort of thing I think I should be able to make in an afternoon with a few bits of MDF and some sand. Except I've not really been able to do it convincingly or robustly.

The two outcrop bases cost me less than £14 (eBay seller: dands-gaming) and took less than an hour to paint. I simply sprayed them with a stone colour over the undercoat, daubed some yellows and greys onto the rocks and added some washes on the ground. Everything was given a bone drybrush and then I added some tufts.

There's Nothing Worse Than a Squat With a Clipboard...

I have found it a bit tricky to get hobby time over the last couple of weeks, but I wanted to complete something to feel like I'm still actively hobbying! I figured the best option was to grab something quick and easy out of my WIP pile. The figure I selected was one I had converted in 2017 with the intention of using as a dwarf Blood Bowl coach. I never made or painted the team, but held onto the coach to repurpose as a squat storesman or similar.