Leading the Choir - Astropath Mother Cantor Mechthild

Over at the Ammobunker Inq28 forums, Commissar Molotov is running a monthly competition with the aim of getting folks motivated to make and paint something new. January is the first round, with a theme of Primus inter Pares - First Among Equals:

With it being the first month, it makes sense for the theme to be about being 'the first.' This might be an Inquisitor, on the brink of embarking upon his career - or a hoary old veteran hardened by a lifetime of horror. A Priest leading hordes of zealots, or an experience veteran leading a stormtrooper kill team. It could be an Imperial Guard veteran, the leader of a hab-stack kill-gang. Perhaps is might be wise to consider who the 'equals' are: perhaps your character might simply be one who takes a lead role in certain aspects - a wizened scribe who serves as one of his master's most favoured servants.

After some consideration, I realised that the obvious gap in my collection is a senior astropath. In the novel Blind by Matthew Farrer, there are several hierarchical ranks of astropaths mentioned - the one that seemed obvious to represent a senior astropath is that of the Cantor (or choirmaster). Very definitely a first among equals.

I turned to my box of unused figures and turned up this Bride of Frankenstein I picked up at Wargames Foundry from their £1 cabinet of miscellaneous figures. You can see I had already made a start in adding the archetypal Astropath's cane:

After a hair-ectomy, and a new sculpted headpiece, the figure was starting to have a really simplistic, nun-like appearance that fitted the character.

 

If you're thinking that the headpiece looks familiar, then you might be right - I loosely styled her headpiece after this genestealer cultist illustration by Tony Hough:

 



Detail from one of Tony Hough's fantastic genestealer cult illustrations.

 

Mother Cantor Mechthild has served in the ranks of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica since she was 11. She was renowned across the sector for the clarity of her transmissions, and invaluable ability to harmonise with other Astropaths to jointly send transmissions further and more clearly than each would be able to achieve alone. Now, elevated to the rank of Mother Cantor, she conducts the harmonies, controls the discords, gently directing the choir to swell or fade. Through her, the communications of the Imperium are elegantly controlled and secured, while her Astropathic choristers kept safe from incursions from the warp.

 

 

I kept the painting very simple with Mechthild as her character is akin to a senior nun. The only nod to decoration is the astropathic eye symbol on her shift dress.

 

Unfortunately, the Bride of Frankenstein isn't as elegantly sculpted as some of the other Astropaths in my collection - the folds on her robe look a bit blobby and unrefined when compared against Jes Goodwin's iconic Astropath Yerl sculpt (far right below). That said, I'm more than happy to have another Astropath added to my choir!

Mother Cantor Mechtild assembles her choir for a transmission.