Tuesday 12 January 2016

Archeo-Historian Henig Drosk

At the end of 2015 my Inquisitor, Henning Dirske, rather unfortunately failed to seize an important piece of Slann technology known colloquially as the Golden Phrogg. This was the climax of the Inquisimunda campaign that ran for most of the year. After the campaign, I decided that Dirske had been ejected from the Ordo Malleus for his rather irresponsible approach and significant collateral damage. Dirske was on the run, and feverishly hunting for an Eldar artefact (perhaps to try and win back his position in the Ordo that had rejected him).

Our group is due to start a new Inquisimunda campaign in a few weeks time, and although I've decided to use an Eldar warband, I really wanted Dirske to be represented under a new guise.

Grim-faced Archeo-Historian Henig Drosk recently arrived in the Tiberium system in search of ancient Eldar artefacts. He has swiftly made connections in the smuggling rings dealing in xeno-tech; often dangerous, often fake, definitely illegal. It is rumoured that Drosk is a man on the run - he has few credentials, he buys artefacts and information with cash or in trade. Some say he is in league with Eldar Corsairs...


I wanted Dirske's new persona to take some visual cues from the original Inquisitor model I used. Although flamboyant Inquisitorial trappings were out of the window, I used the same colour palette and gave Drosk a similar visual look to Dirske with the robed lower half. 
 
 
In becoming Drosk, Dirske has ditched his ostentatious fabrics and outlandish armour.

Drosk is made from 3 components. His lower body is from the Devout Cleric in the Citadel BC1 Adventurers Starter boxed set. His upper body is from the model below, which is an adventurer from the Zap! / Acropolis Future City range, now available from The Baggage Train (if you can find it in the largely pictureless webstore).

 
Finally, Drosk's head is from one of the Confrontation Tech gangers:
 
 
The initial assembly after hacking the pieces apart looked pretty promising:
 
 
 
 
So I greenstuffed some repairs, and covered the chain mail panels to turn them into something more like sci-fi armour.



I also kept the Cleric's books - I figured as Drosk is masquerading as an Archeo-historian, some suitable tomes would help with the cover story!



 

27 comments:

  1. Repurposing characters, now that is excellent ! Nothing like giving anothe rlife to a character you've gamed a lot with ! The comparison picture is excellent ! you really get the idea they're the same guy.

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    1. Someone mentioned doing 3-stage characters for the Rogue Quest minis, and this was sort of in my mind doing this guy. Glad you like him - I'm expecting him to be completely cowardly in game though ;)

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  2. That is a very nicely stitched-together miniature. I really admire the vision that's able to produce stuff like this!

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    1. That's very kind of you to say. I definitely enjoy the process. I find the key thing is actually having models in hand to compare and decide whether something might work, before starting to cut!

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  3. Very talented at mixing & matching very different minis into one coherent character.

    Well done Axiom :)

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    1. Thanks very much. Having plenty of options to choose from helps - I had 3 other robed figures I was considering for the legs before I went with Cleric.

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  4. I really miss working with the old lead miniatures, so I might have to start something myself.

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    1. I much prefer working with lead/metal to plastic. The cutting might be harder work, but it seems to suit me much better.

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  5. That is wonderful. There is a lot of storytelling in your conversions.

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    1. I like the story-telling part. I guess it's what keeps the figures interesting to me. Ironically, I paint more 'individual' figures than I ever did when I just painted armies. Weird!

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  6. I'm simply shocked. Wow, what a work! Congratulations, tons of charm!

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  7. He's brilliant mate - I love the transformation, (yet continuation), of the character, and what an inspired choice of bits... spot on

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    1. In theory, I could continue with this character in future. It might be fun :)

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  8. I love the way you can pick such disparate parts and combine them to make such unique and characterful minis. All power to your green stuff mate. Great stuff!

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    1. Cheers WP! It's the pleasure of an old school approach to converting - just rooting around with some lead figures and seeing what looks good... And then taking a deep breath before you start sawing!

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  9. That's a very smooth conversion, I like it a lot.

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    1. Thanks George. Paul Henni sculpted the Zap range and was based in your neck of the woods. I wonder if there are any figures still out in the wild?!

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  10. Thats a cracking little kitbash.

    Even more inpressive considering it is all old lead mini's.

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    1. Thanks :) The only really complicated cut was for the awkwardly shaped jacket.

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  11. Such a good conversion that you would not know it was one, which is simply the best sort.

    I love the idea of the character being used again in a new guise, and that he is actually lower in power and prestige makes it even more delicious.

    Are there any other gems lurking in that Baggage Train range?

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    1. Thanks! The continuation of the character was important. I like the idea that he's embittered by his disgrace :)

      The Baggage Train figures are interesting. By and large they are lower quality than RT figures of the same era, but there are some nice characters, even if the sculpts are clunky. I'll try and get round to a showcase.

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  12. Axiom ... the work on his face skin tones and all is simply SUPERB. Great stuff man!

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    1. Thanks very much! I added some grey to the flesh tone which gave a slightly aged look I think :)

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