+ inload: Techmarine +

 + Brother Mirandola (Maltiel 4:01) +

+ As every tech-aspirant knows, every gun needs a gunner (unless you're one of those xenoheretics looking at Tau drone technology). Building on the completed quad-launcher in yesterday's inload, here's the accompanying techmarine, Brother Mirandola. +

+ Clad in modified Mark VI Corvus armour, Mirandola combines classic Rogue Trader stylings with modern touches. He's a good example of the guiding principles of the project: what would Rogue Trader-era designs look like if produced today? +

+ Today's inload goes a bit into the process I go through when re-imagining older figures. It's quite long, so I won't be offended if you just want to skim the pictures! +

+ Theoretical: RT-aesthetic, modern tech +

+ I think he's a good example of the principle that good ideas are timeless. The various tools, accessories and peculiar asymmetrical helmet of the original design immediately identify him as a combat engineer of sorts; albeit with a sci-fi aspect. Those sort of identifying marks are recognisable to everyone; they don't rely on any familiarity with the setting. + 

+ Hopefully the source figure is clear in my re-imagining +

+ The modern techmarine, in contrast, [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] hints more obliquely at their military role. The principle is flipped: high-tech fantastic details like the massive servo-claw and snaking mechadendrite cable are more striking and impressive than the rather drab and down-to-earth RT-era figure, but they're thus less grounded and gritty. The modern sculpt is sci-fi fantasy first, and engineer second; vice versa for the RT-sculpt. +

+ I don't think either is better, per se; but it's worth seeing how the designers have moved from having no internal design language to fall back on – hence the looser and arguably more creative aesthetics of Rogue Trader – to having a great well of depth to draw from and build upon. Today, Techmarines don't need to 'read' as real-world engineers so easily, because there's so much texture to draw on from within the setting. That allows the more unusual aspects to be played up – but it comes at the cost of being slightly exclusive. +

+ Lest that come across as unnecessarily critical of the modern approach, I do think that the depth of background allows the designers today to come up with some wonderfully creative stuff that has more implied depth. Sure, it's not so immediately recognisable, but if you are invested in the world, there are loads of details that have a language to decipher. It's more rewarding to analyse a modern sculpt than – say – a regular marine carrying a toolbox. +

+ Both approaches have merit; my point is not to convince you of your personal preference, but rather to highlight why I'm setting this army in the Nova Terra Interregnum, rather than the 41st Millennium. It's because this largely undescribed space allows me to explore the original aesthetic without conflicting with the modern. I want to demonstrate that it's possible to like both; and that there's no need to take sides. +

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+ Practical: Making decisions +

+ When 're-imagining' a piece, I spend some time working out what the key features are, what I want to include, and what I want to change. +

+ While Mirandola himself would definitely argue that old stuff is sacred, we're enlightened enough to know that sometimes things do change for the better! In creating my update of the original sculpt, I didn't want to make a direct translation of every detail. Not only is that reductive – I'm never going to be able to translate Mark Copplestone's skill and vision into a conversion – but it's also a bit dull. I want to be creative with my hobby and give the figure some of my own flourishes. +

+ For me, the key features of this marine are:

• Posture – suggesting a heavy toolbox, and an alert pose, scanning for enemies.
• Helm – the unique design is a perfect focal feature of the original.
• Toolbox and pistol – the angle of the wrists really explains what the marine is doing. Without the correct dynamics and angles here, it'll lose all sense of narrative.

+ I think any conversion that included those would be successful – and you wouldn't have to be rigid, either. It wouldn't hurt to have a plasma pistol in place of the bolt pistol, for example; or to swap the helm I picked for another suitably baroque and techno-gubbin-arrayed one. +

+ With the key features identified, I then worked out what details I wanted to include alongside them. I knew I wanted to have Mark VI armour. Even though I don't feel it's absolutely critical to the update (indeed, a Mark VII or Mark X version would be an interesting alternative challenge), I enjoy making Mark VI armour and felt it would help settle the figure into the broader army. +

+ I also wanted to include the tools at the below, though I was happy to vary the detail of these. In the end, I did replicate the drill on his left hip (right of picture), but updated the mobile keypad – very high-tech in the 80s/90s – to a touch-screen/haptic input, which I think captures the concept of 'high-tech' rather than simply duplicating the original. I'm fond of the classic figures, but fetishistically copying them can result in something a bit kitsch; and that sells the vision of the original short. Like 2000AD, Rogue Trader was partially tongue-in-cheek, but that doesn't mean that you can't have believably dangerous, unpleasant characters. +

+ Keen to include some details that used the modern design language to identify the figure as a techmarine, I replaced the sculptural 'clawed hand' shoulder pad with one that incorporated the Opus Machina. This is a modern touch that doesn't compromise the overall feel. Similarly, the original model has a weird cable-covered left pauldron that I simply didn't like. I replaced this with a studded Mark VI pad. These details of the original are examples of 'exclusive' design: unlike the toolbox, they mean nothing to those outside of the hobby. Therefore I could happily replace them with modern 'exclusive' elements. +

+ At root, this is a fairly simple conversion – almost a kitbash. You could very easily make something comparable without using a knife or greenstuff; so success is really about planning more than anything technical. +

+ That said, I wanted to have this marine in Mark VI, as mentioned above. To that end I did some trimming and sculpting ~ and I'll cover that in a future inload soon. +

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