Friday 18 December 2015

Rogue Quest Level 12 and a half: The Fighter - Vitifer Vostro Goedes

Although the Rogue Quest project came to an end last week, after 12 weeks of alternately working on models with Asslessman over at Leadplague, I see no reason to stop adding to the adventuring party. I didn't do a Ranger or a Fighter after all!
 
And then I acquired this rather sad looking figure:
 
 
Yes - the figure above is a Maniac ganger from the Citadel Confrontation range. He should have a head and was designed to be completed with plastic arms. Sometimes a figure in a partially adapted state can prove pretty inspiring, and almost immediately after receiving the figure, I started delving in my bits boxes for suitable heads and arms. After some careful selection and assembly, I ended up with the figure below:
 
 


At the back of my mind, I wanted to include the figure as a fighter in my Rogue Quest party, so I decided to make him laden down with gear - just like any self-respecting adventurer would be.

 
 
The figure is a real mix of parts. His head is from an old chaos dwarf of all things, while his arms are modern resin parts from Victoria Miniatures. The goggles are also from Victoria Miniatures (but soft metal this time). The gun is a plastic Citadel lasgun, while the backpack is from an old Alternative Armies figure.
 
 
I finished off a few details, added a cable or two, and repaired any damage with greenstuff, and he was good to go.
 
When the time came to paint the figure, I wanted him to fit visually with the Rogue Quest warband to date, so he got a blue tunic and yellow-brown trousers to evoke some of the colours used on the other models.
 


I also wanted to make a feature of the eye symbol on his helmet. The obvious link was that he was the personal guard for Mama Gijón, the party's cleric/astropath. If you've read the Matthew Farrer Black Library novel 'Blind', you'll be familiar with Vitifers - personal guards to astropaths, who summarily execute them at any sign of daemonic possession. I decided my fighter was going to fulfil this role.

In order to link him with the astropathic role, I added some green and gold detailing on his armour and backpack, which hopefully ties him to Mama Gijón.



Vostro Goedes has been the personal guard and Vitifer-elect to Mama Gijón for 17 years. It was he who led her to safety ahead of the destruction of their homeworld. A Vitifer's role is to guard against any hint of daemonic possession. Goedes often wonders if, after nearly two decades of protecting his astropath, he would be able to pull the trigger should the frail psyker's mind break.

Vostro Goedes watches over the elderly astropath.

For a figure that was entirely created out of random bits, and without any clear final vision, I'm pretty happy with the results. The figure has very much informed the character, even if it was suggested that he looks like an Asterix the Gaul character in 40k!

I see no resemblance!

See also:



13 comments:

  1. Nice work - I thought it was a bit of a lacklustre figure from the first couple of pictures, but the paint really transformed it. A real character!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you like him. Interesting that the unpainted figure didn't grab you - just goes to show how important the colours are.

      Delete
    2. I think the head in it's bare state looked incongruous - the paint really ties it in. Although perhaps looking at it in a photo is very different to seeing it in the flesh.

      Delete
  2. Brilliant - what a way to rescue a dead mini! Nice work mate, he looks ace :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The funny thing is, he was an extra alongside the figure I wanted to paint. Which I haven't even looked at yet ;)

      Delete
  3. Absolutely marvellous! I believe this one has quite a Moebius touch, that's wonderful! I love how he looks, top notch work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Suber! I need to look at more Moebius, I love what I've seen.

      Delete
  4. I love him, he's got the goofy look of any good RT model and he has nods towards many sources which is just perfect. Nothing wrong with having a bit of Asterix, obsolutely nothing;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Moustaches, odd hats and goggles are all RT compatible. The inadvertent Asterix look is a bonus :)

      Delete
  5. Love it, it is a great conversion, and the paint job makes it even better. The backpack is a bit mysterious in purpose... so it fits in nicely with the other Rogue Trader era figures.

    The use of Victoria miniatures bitz is interesting as well, will more feature in the future?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly hope to use more Victoria Miniatures bits. The arms are ideal for all my armless gangers. I've used the goggles and gasmasks quite a lot previously. I'm a fan ;)

      Delete
  6. Lovely work.
    Will this define the look of your vitifiers, or will they vary like the Astropaths that they protect/persecute?

    I imagine that vitifiers from the same station would have a uniform, but that the look would vary hugely across the Imperium.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm uncertain on Vitifers. I see this guy as an exception to the rule...his appearance is dictated by his background.

      I suspect future Vitifers will have more traditional green uniforms.

      Delete