+ inload: Rogue Trader and Techpriest +

+ Rogue Trader and Techpriest +

+ Neyam Shai Murad and Daedalosus are characters from Blackstone Fortress: Escalation, and re-used in Combat Arena, which serves as a prequel of sorts. Both models were very enjoyable to paint, and were a great opportunity to play around with some different schemes and ideas. I've always loved ranks of uniformed troops, but the more I paint figures like this, the more I see the appeal of rag-tag bands. +

+ The basing is unfinished. I'll be doing all of the figures from the set in one fell swoop, to make sure it's coherent. Other than that, they're complete. +

+ Nayam Shai Murad, Rogue Trader +

+ Daedalosus, Technoarchaeologist +

+ Neyam Shai Murad +

+ The Rogue Trader's a great figure, though she has quite unusual composition – the masked face gives her anonymity and character, but makes it a less obvious focal point. There's also a lot of framing and extension going on with the cables, skulls, pistols and flaring coat. In planning the scheme, I wanted her to look wealthy but deadly, a sort of sci-fi Anne Bonny. To this end, I avoided a really ostentatious colour scheme, instead going for tastefully subdued to let sculpt's baroque weirdness and over-the-top nature really speak for itself. +

+ (And then I added bright red and white feathers, because muted and tasteful is all very well, but she is a Rogue Trader, after all!) +

+ To adapt to this, I chose to make the brightest points the leg-blade (I thought this was a cool sci-if touch that visually explains 'space pirate') and the feathers in her hat. The eye then travels up the length of the leading leg – note the use of cool white (silver), warm white (ivory chasing) and neutral white (breeches) to create some variety without sacrificing the overall hue. The eye is then led up the neckerchief thingie before resting on the head. +

+ I've made the studs on the front silver, on the advice of PCRC buddy Lucifer216 – a nice touch that breaks up the ivory; thanks for the idea. For comparion's sake, you can see the original ivory version in the top pict-capture of this inload. Subtle, but striking. +

+ I included the ivory on the mark and weapons as a way of suggesting opulence and wealth. A warm colour, It also echos the bone of the servo skulls, helping the piece to feel cohesive. To complement the warm yellow-tinged ivory, I used some of its complementary (purple) as a subtle glaze on the armour. +

+ A little freehand ensures that the mid-reloading six shooter has holes for the bullets to go into. +

+ Perhaps my favourite part is the worn leather of her coat. I was tempted to do something more flash, but in the end decided a weather-beaten but comfortable coat would reinforce the privateer-like feel of her character. +

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+ Daedalosus +

+ I was rubbing my automanipulator claws together with glee as I approached this figure. The Adeptus Mechanicus are a huge favourite of mine, and this sculpt has almost everything I love about the faction. +

+ In terms of scheme, I wanted to nod back to my Braun VI Skitarii – a long-lamented army which I lovingly converted and painted a decade or so ago – with the use of purple and green accents. I have moved the robes from the red of the originals to a rustier orange. Less Christmassy, I think. +

+ With such complex sculpts, it's sometimes hard to know where to begin. I painted the whole figure using a similar recipe and techniques as the Iron Warriors of Officio Monstrosa [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. This gave me a metallic figure; and it was then a case of overlaying the fabric, skin etc. with the appropriate colours – in effect, a form of negative painting. +

+ The orange-red was an experiment. I painted it a mucky pink first (a mix of Vallejo white with a touch of Dark Flesh) to ensure the silver was properly covered. Once dry, I overlaid it with Gryph-Hound Orange, one of the new Contrast Paints. This gave a nice clean starting point, which I then highlighted further with creamy additions to an orange paint. I pushed the shadows further with sepia ink and granulation medium, too. This added some subtle visual texture, and generally dirtied him up so the robe went with the beaten-metal appearance of the techy bits. +

+ After the fun I'd had with the astronomical/astrological freehand on the Word Bearers recently [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I couldn't resist adding some similar 'circuit diagram'-style embroidery on Daedalosus' robe. There's a hint of the Necrons to this type of design, which I thought fitted nicely with the idea of a Technolarchaeologist without banging you over the head. +

+ I think it's very easy for the 'tech' part of techpriest to get emphasised, but the appeal to me of the faction is the mysticism and ignorance of the setting, so I've left the metals mostly fairly dull – with the exception of the tools themselves. I thought that precious technology like his pistol and tool belt would have religious significance, so would be especially carefully maintained. I gave these an addition highlight and some gold detailing. +

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+ Still to go to complete the set are the remaining two adventurers and the servitor. I've got an additional servitor because I love the figure (in fact, you can have a sneak peek of the twins by looking at the opening panoramic pict-capture of this inload), and so my Combat Arena will be especially deadly! I'm looking forward to getting a game in at some point soon. +

+ Next up: the psyker. +