Tuesday 5 May 2015

Professor Barossus, Tutor to the Marcisa of House Ulanti


Professor Barossus has been in the employ of House Ulanti for decades as a retained tutor to the noble sons and daughters of the House. The Professor is an exceptional scholar in ancient Terran history and advanced warp physics, however his primary role is to educate the wealthy and the privileged on mundane topics such as etiquette, Imperial Gothic dialects and trade and commerce.

Currently the Professor is responsible for finishing the education of Anamuria, the petulant Marcisa of House Ulanti. As her personal tutor, he is one of Anamuria's constant attendents, along with her personal bodyguard, Eduardo Murat.

 

Professor Barossus began life as a 1985 Citadel C01 series Fighter. My initial conversion involved the removal of a bow from his left hand and the addition of a few tech pieces (left hand and hanging from his belt).


After finishing the painting, I decided that he wasn't rooted firmly enough in the Rogue Trader universe. He also didn't really scream 'tutor' at me. To rectify both of these issues I added the little servo-skull carrying the holo-board display.

Hopefully the addition helps reinforce the sci-fi nature of the figure AND the narrative. I can just imagine him displaying complex equations for the Marcisa to solve.

Anamuria struggles to identify the trends on the data displays set by the Professor.

I think the three figures work pretty nicely together. The Professor and Eduardo have a visual link through their headgear, as well as the colours of their outfits. They also make a nice frame for the more delicate and paler Anamuria.


I'm certain House Ulanti will be a subject I'll revisit in the very near future!

23 comments:

  1. Wonderful ! The servo-skull was definitely needed and it really sets the character in teh rigt direction. Very nice to see this little group !
    Any chance you've already scored House Ulanti's most famous member ? ;)

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    1. Thanks JB. I'm with you - the servo skull was needed, and I'm really glad I put it on :)

      I don't know who Ulanti's most famous member is though :P

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    2. her ?

      http://www.solegends.com/citcat1998/1998P281-02.htm

      She's an outcast though so you probabaly don't want to deal with the (costy) problem child of the family ;) (she's a great scupt though)

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    3. Ah, of course! I hadn't even thought of Mad Donna. I guess there's a black sheep in every family ;) Clearly I need to track a copy down at some point!

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  2. Seriously Jon, this is one of your best projects to date.

    Wonderful.

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    1. Thanks Paul, very kind of you to say so. It's been a bit of a distraction doing these figures as they weren't on my plan for this year. But saying that. I've enjoying sparking off with them, so it's got to be a good thing!

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    2. Getting the balance right between flights of fancy and other more planned endeavours is critical I find. If I dont want to paint something, then in many respects its better not to do it than to risk a demoralising slump in output.

      Plus occasionally you can end up with exceptional little projects like this. Im going to have to steal that servo skull with scroll idea, unless you incorporate something similar into a range of miniatures before I get around to it :D

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    3. I guess the old adage about variety being the spice of life holds true. Steal away on the servo-skull idea - I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to do it (although maybe not many have done it with blue images on a black background).

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  3. Great work. A convincing looking character, with a lovely paint job.

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    1. Thanks very much :) The original figure is such a quirky sculpt, it was fun to turn him into something interesting.

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  4. Excellent - a wonderful group. The professor manages to be both striking when alone (due to the yellow colour) but also unobtrusive when in a group due to being largely one colour.... if that makes sense. Either way he looks great alone and in the group :)

    Warburton

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    1. I confess, that's all just down to happenchance rather than planning! Although I'm a firm believer of a limited palette to tie models together, however unrealistic it might be!

      Glad you like him (them) :)

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  5. Extremely cool. The subtle conversions and the delicate paintjob make this one bright on its own. Great work!

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  6. Great paint job, but the servo skull addition is what makes it! Otherwise he could just be some sort of tech, or AV fanatic.

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    1. Thanks, you'll note that I followed your paint scheme recommendations :)

      The servo skull seems to have been the critical addition for most folks - funny how a seemingly

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    2. It's the skull AND the scroll that works for me.

      It lends narrative and animation to both that piece and to a lesser extent the entire trio.

      I'm like totes gonna steal the idea.

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    3. Holo-board cheetor - it's a holo-board ;)

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    4. Well, I was not going to mention the color scheme ;)

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