+ inload: Badab +

+ Back to Badab +

+ A few inloads back, I showed I was working on casualties for Kill Team Clawthorn [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]; here are the first four dead/injured versions, undercoated and ready for paint. +

+ A couple of new marines have appeared, too. Being fairly anonymous, I'm not sure whether to add them to the Astral Claws or start a second Kill Team, perhaps Star Phantoms or Novamarines. +

+ While I was undercoating, I took the opportunity to spray a couple of individuals: a squat and Titan crewman (thanks to the very generous Omricon for the latter). +

+ inload: Order of Solar Ascendant +

+ Adepta Sororitas Order of Solar Ascendant + 

+ The Order of Solar Ascendant are one of the numerous Ordos Minoris of the Adepta Sororitas that maintain a presence in Antona Australis. +

+ Disposition +

+ Established during the Fourth Scallop Star Purges (M37.778–789), the Order venerates the Crone of Iocaste, an historical figure whose tale became conflated with a number of local folkloric sources. The Crone herself, Badam Kaur, was an eyeless and earless mutant; who nevertheless came to lead a minor Imperial Crusade against the forces of the Archenemy. Beatified in M39, the historical Crone – a divisive and thoroughly fascinating mass of contradictions – has become lost in the shifting sands of Imperial records; and is now venerated simply as Saint Iocanthe, a flawless beautiful and scrupulously virtuous being who was martyred during the end of the Hesiod Romantic Rebellion. +

+ The Order maintains a number of Missions, both in Antona Australis itself and the neighbouring Prodigium Os Sector, but its largest grouping is the Commandery based in the Sarum system. +

+++

+ Tinctures and Seals +

+ The Order of Solar Ascendant clad their followers in a split scheme; half their armour black as night; the other half bathed in the light of Sol, which the Order venerates as a symbol of the God-Emperor's beneficence. Their surplice-cloaks are the blue of the night sky, marked with symbolic star-markings that denote the Emperor's watchful eye over all of his worlds. +

+ As is perhaps inevitable, given the sheer size and exhausting weight of Imperial records, the Order's heraldry bears similarities to many other uniforms in Imperial records. This is far from exceptional. Of particular note, however, is the fact that the scheme is not merely similar, but identical to that of the short-lived Frateris Constantium – a formation that last operated in M35, during the Alien Wars of the Nova Terra Interregnum.

'The principal military force of the Nova Terran branch of the Adeptus Ministorum, the Frateris Constantium formed a mirror to the Nova Terran Army. Both were precociously well armed and equipped by their Adeptus backers, but where the NTA attracted the more puritanical, the Frateris Templar were swelled by those who sought ritual and reliability in a world of swiftly-changing fortunes. '

[+appendnote+: A number of ancient texts indicate that the organisation of the Frateris Constantium was the direct inspiration for the later Frateris Templar, under the infamous Eccleisarchs of later Millennia – +authorident: Unfortunus Veck+ +]

+ What significance this has – and if indeed this is naught but coincidence –has been the subject of Inquisitorial investigation by the aforementioned Unfortunus Veck during the Sun King of Cepheus affair. Records are currently cloistered for Scarlet-level Inquisitorial staff and above. + 

+++

+ Representatives: Callistus and Makemeet +

+ Sisters Callistus and Makemeet are typical Errant examples of the Order; trusted Battle Sisters that are deputised as bodyguards to important Ecclesiarchal representatives. They are tasked with ensuring the physical and spiritual safety of those under their aegis. Service as a Sororitas Errant-Solar is necessary to progress within the order; though outwardly seeking such promotion is regarded as sinful. An Ordinate of the Solar Ascendant must be nominated by her Superiors to such a task. +

+ The symbol of the Order is a rising Solar disc, bathing the unworthy world in the light of the Emperor. This pict-capture shows the star-patterned cloaks well. +

+ Sister Callistus +

+ Sister Makemeet +

+ inload: Blood Angels retrohammer Dreadnought +

+ Furibundus-Perfidium Dreadnought +

+ A real blast from the pa... no, wait, a beautifully executed fan-resculpt; an affectionate update of the classic Rogue Trader-era Dreadnought. I'm blocking in a few bits here and there, and thoroughly enjoying it. +

+ Painting is progressing fairly slowly as I feel my way around the sculpt. This is, I hasten to add, no fault of the sculpting (great) or casting (beautifully clean), but simply that it's fun to work on a model that updates a real childhood favourite. +

+ The image above it quite a good example of what layering translucent paint layers (I hesitate to call it glazing, as the layers aren't as dilute) can do. The lower half has a couple of additional layers of Vallejo's Flat Red; the upper part is just Mephiston Red undercoat. +

[+ACT=NOSTALGIAFILE: SPOOLING+]

+ Spot-On Models in Swindon was the only place I could buy models for many years (likely owing to the appearance of GW Swindon, it now specialises as a model train shop), and in amongst the racks of blisters from the likes of Grenadier, Marauder, Citadel and Old Crow was a second-hand area. +

+ Clutching a birthday fiver, I bought a Dreadnought from this stash, beautifully-painted in red. It got used as a robot for my Imperial Guard; turned up in Space Crusade games as a counterpoint to the ED-209 Chaos Dreadnought; and at my dogged insistence* once appeared in my (very indulgent brother's) Advanced Heroquest dungeon. It got boxed-up, uncovered, dropped, repaired, repainted into a quartered scheme – and then I lost it. +

+ A quick scale comparison shot +

+ Even through the mists of nostalgia, I can recognise that the original sculpt was fairly crude, but it's lovely to have a modern version. To modern eyes it may be blocky and unrefined, but it just absolutely radiates the Rogue Trader era to me. I'm delighted to have it in my army! + 


* Whinging.

+++

+ inload: Painted Terminator +

+ One long painting session later, and we've got a painted 'truescale' Blood Angels Terminator ready to make war in the name of the Great Angel and Emperor of Mankind. +

+ I started with one of the line troopers – if such a term is appropriate for a centuries-old veteran posthuman, clad like a walking tank. I used the same approach here as for the rest of my Blood Angels [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], with the simple substitution of Valljo's Flat Red for the mix of Merphiston Red and Vallejo Vermillion. +

+ I'm happy with the finished result, though may add a few honour markings. I'm slightly wary about losing the monumental feel, but he's currently looking a bit 'bog-standard'. +

+++

+ How big is a Terminator? +

+ Since writing the tutorial [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] – which has quickly became, and remained, the most viewed post on the blog – I've had a few questions about how big the results are. The base figures are expensive (particularly since the bits shops are now seemingly permanently bare!), so I think it's quite understandable that readers want as much info as possible on what the results should be like before they commit. Here are some pictures of them besides some other figures to give a better idea of size. +

+ If you do give the tutorial a go – or better yet, come up with a new species for the Alien Wars – please do pop it up on the + Death of a Rubricist + Facebook group, or use the #alienwars tag on Instagram. +

 
+ The Terminator (40mm base) next to a Primaris marine (32mm base). +

+ Dealing with some pesky Orks. +

+ Next to a baseline human (25mm base) – well, if Inquisitor Unfortunus Veck counts as baseline! +

+ ...and next to another work-in-progress; a Battle Sister of the Order of Solar Ascendant. +

+ What next? +

+ What use is one Terminator? Well, quite a lot, actually – but as you can see, his mates here demand attention too. +