Crimson Tears, Deathwatch and Inq28 Updated - 05/02/23

[KrautScientist]

Really looking forward to the INQ28 retinue! Those resin models are looking really promising, and I also love the pose you have achieved on the Wych based assassin. Maybe some tweaking of the facemask might be in order, though, lest it end up looking a bit too eldar-y?!

[Trixie]

That Flesh Eater is simply amazing, the other guys ain't bad but old Fleshy Mcnibble is my pick of the bunch !

[Vairocanum]

WOW that powerfist looks fantastic! Might have been a nightmare but it looks so good completed! Very excited to see some INQ28 stuff from you, love that assassin! Looking forward to seeing more!

[sockwithaticket]

Been a difficult couple of months for reasons I won't go into here, but I'm back and have finally added the finishing touches to my Terminator (leg highlights/tidy up and a little bit of metal work on the Storm Bolter). Also decided to finish up another shotgun-toting local law enforcement guy to run around with my last Inquisitor who picks up the best he comes across in his various travels throughout the Imperium. The guy had been sitting on my desk basecoated for a while staring expectantly... A shot of both ot them because I think it illusttrates one of the many things I love about Anvil; their humans, while not fully true-scale, are certainly much better scaled against marines than a lot of GW humans.







Speaking of Anvil, they posted this guy up on the webstore earlier in the week, so I placed an order along with some other bits and bobs I'd been putting off buying:



He'll be a henchman for a future Ordo Hereticus warband I think. He's stated as being available on the site for a limited time only (though no specific dates are given) and thereafter an event exclusive, so get him while you can. Gotta say, other than the standard bath for resin, he's going to need absolutely no prep work. Impressive even by anvil's standards.


Also started blocking in some stuff on the Kroot bounty hunter I mentioned previouslythe head and a portion of his torso are done to test out how I'm going to approach the scheme:



You might note that one of his seals has an ][ symbol, very deliberate; I imagine he'd have to have some sort of very high level sanction to be wandering around collecting bounties unmolested by local authorites. I've also tried to give him some varied equipment and accessories to imply he's travlled far and wide.


All the other Inq stuff I posted up previously has progressed no further than being primed at this point, but a blanket thank you for the positive reception they received. I certainly feel myself getting firmly on board the Inquisition train at the moment, so they should reach completion sooner rather than later. I know I usually reply to everyone individually, but since several comments are basically, 'those look cool, look forward to seeing them' I hope this suffices rather than writing variations of this multiple times.


NightHunters - thanks, brother. If they were less time consuming I'd do so many more fists, I do really enjoy the way they finish up.

Zebulon - wow, I know I don't have one of the longest logs on here, but I think there's enough that I'm both impressed at and flattered by anyone taking the time to look over everything. Thanks for the kind words.

Kraut - thanks a lot, your Velsen Sector log has massively contributed to my creative juices starting to flow on the whole INQ28 thing. What would you suggest with the mask? I have absolutely zero sculpting ability and I'm not really sure what I could do to it.

Trixie - thank you very much.

Vairo - cheers, man. Yeah, I'm pleased with how it came out in the end, always worth it despite the strain at the time.

 

[hushrong]

Great to see an update! The trooper and the terminator looks great. I do like how the anvil mini looks smaller next to a crouching termie. The painting on the kept Mercedes is also sublime! It’s flesh tones look great, especially on its back.

[Vairocanum]

Really clean looking white as usual! The future henchman will definitely look great painted up looking forward to seeing what colors you'll choose. The skin tones on the kroot look really nice, can't wait to see it completed!

[Augustus b'Raass]

Glad you're back :) Welcome!

Good looking termie and guardsman there. 

[Kierdale]

It’s very good to see you back!

[sockwithaticket]

Phew, glad that’s over for now. As many of you may be aware Europe’s been experiencing some sweltering temperatures of late and the UK, particularly the South East, by our standards, have had a pretty unprecedented stretch of very high 20s and 30s temperatures + humidity which has made picking up a brush, even with the aid of a wet palette, a real non-starter if you want to do anything that’s more intricate than base-coating. I’ve basically spent the last month and a half playing Darkest Dungeon instead, applying the odd spatter of paint to things if I happen to still be up in the wee hours when temperatures have been more manageable. That seemed to break last night and I managed to finally apply the finishing touches to my Kroot Merc.




Formerly traversing the galaxy with a Rogue Trader, Karok Norr's journey witrh the Inquisition began when it transpired, while in port on a major world following salvage missions aboard a Space Hulk, that members of the crew he served with had become tainted by the nascent tendrils of a Genestealer infestatation. Having become a wandering mercenary after his clan were eradicated by a chance encounter with Tyranid vanguard organisms, he joined -unbidden- Imperial Navy ratings in their purge of the infected with vicious enthusiasm. Witnessing his actions, the remainder of the crew threatened mutiny if the Captain were to allow Karok back aboard and so he was left at the port to fend for himself. Inquisitor Gerrit Jansen read the report of the incident and set a course. Previous experiences with the Kroot had left him intrigued by the species, particularly their willingness to align with a variety of species other than their own, even ones that are in open warfare with each other, and had duly set an alert on any reports citing the avian creatures.

Although used to the exotic, often multi-species retinues of Rogue Traders that regularly paraded through the port, the local population was tolerant of non-humans at best and away from their crews they were not warmly received. Karok, had taken to subsisting in the thick woods outside the port when Jansen arrived searching for him. In the end the the object of his search found Jansen first, stalking him through the glades trying to discern the interloper's purpose. Somewhat proficient in low gothic, Karok was able to convey the state of limbo he currently existed in and welcomed the opportunity the Inqusitior offered to leave the planet.

He has since proved himself a valuable fighter, but even more useful as a tracker whose skills can seemingly be brought to bear in almost any environment; from deserts to jungles to underhives, Karok has helped Jansen discover countless evasive persons key to his investigations. The Kroot displays his seals of sanction and merit prominently while on business within the Imperium both through pride and necessity. On many worlds he could be shot on sight or at the very least incarcerated simply for walking around, yet for all that he continues to work with Jansen for the Imperium's benefit, though that may not be his primary motivation, stateless as he would otherwise be outside of Jansen's band of operatives.



Hushrong - Cheers. Getting the skin right on the Kroot is an interesting adventure and precisely why I’ve taken a renewed interest in Inquisition stuff; a chance to utilise different techniques and colour palettes.

Vairo – thanks, buddy. Yep, the old fall back to help me find my groove is that white. I’m having a crack at the Deathcult Assassin at the moment and colour-wise I’m struggling a little as I don’t want to pick anything too redolent of Dark Eldar, but then I don’t want to go with mostly black either (too dull). Bit of a conundrum. I’m experimenting with very dark navy as the main colour for the skin-tight suit bits. Just need to think of an armour colour to go with it.

Augustus - Cheers, it’s nice to sort of get back into the swing. Over the last several years I’ve never really had many hobby dead-spots that didn’t come at my instigation, so the past few months have been somewhat frustrating. Completing a few models has definitely felt good.

Kierdale - Thanks, man. Good to be back(ish).

[hushrong]

 You guys have been getting hammered so good to see the weather change so our frater over the pond can get some hobbying in.

 

Nice to see the merc together and with more paint!! Everything is nice and crisp, like his beak and those seals. Against his dark skin those are super eye catching and look great. Speaking of the skin the blend you have for the color across the muscle tone is awesome!

[sockwithaticket]

Agent S -734



As befits an assassin, even one from the more visible death cult order, little is known about Agent S-734. They do not socialise with others of Jansen's motley assortment of acolytes and henchmen in what little downtime that exists between missions, opting to largely stay confined to quarters. The Agent’s usage is usual for their class with a focus on the elimination of prize targets, but Jansen will often utilise them as an observer cum bodyguard even in meetings and situations where conflict is not anticipated. The sinewy figure, when not engaged in athletic, acrobatic death-dealing is often taut and overly still in a manner that suggests barely supressed violence; Jansen has found the effect this has on a room to be conducive to the quick and focused conclusion of business, with a pleasing absence of threats or attempts to double cross. Not everyone the Inquisitor interacts with proceeds with such regard to their wellbeing, however, though few are given the opportunity to make such mistakes again once the Agent is unleashed.



Slightly better shot of the pad and the }{ symbol.


Was a bit difficult to photograph this one as the bodysuit is very dark and subtly shaded while the skull mask is very bright, trying to strike a balance between not washing out the mask and actually making the non-torso bits into something other than a blob of darkness. Little splashes of colour to keep things interesting, like the vials filled with exotic toxins and leg sash .

Also knocked this chap together while the INQ28 juices were flowing. Covered in gear because 'always be prepared'.


Not quite sure what I'll stick on his back, but I've been eyeing the Kharodon Overlord packs.

Started modifying this chap too. Will need few more bits to 40k-ify him further, but he's probably almost there; he was practically there from the start.




Hushrong – it’s all back to normal now, mate; hence my burst of productivity! Topping at out low 20s, plenty of cloud and rain. It was 16 degrees and pissing it down yesterday, I was loving it. Thank you for the kind comments.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Agent S-734 looks great, but his mask looks Aeldari. Is he a xeno mercenary, or was the mask chosen because it looks intimidating- maybe a trophy taken from an Aeldari corpse, to impassion xeno adversaries so they won't calmly observe the battlefield as they rush to avenge the mask's original owner, setting off mines and other booby traps in their blind fury? Edited August 13, 2018 by Bjorn Firewalker

[KrautScientist]

Excellent work on this latest update! The Kroot and Assassin are looking fantastic, and the kitbash with the Skitarii head is also looking rather promising.

 

I regret missing both your kind words and your question RE: the assassin's mask during the last update. The former are very much appreciated indeed! As for the latter, the assassin obviously looks great now, but if you wanted to make the mask a bit less Eldar-y, one idea I could think of (and that would still work on a finished model) would be to add a Cadian rebreather (from the Cadian command squad; there's also one dangling from the belt of one of the Poxwalkers, incidentally) over the lower part of the face for a more Imperial look. But hey, like I said, the assassin is looking great as is.

 

Looking forward to your next update! :)

[Jolemai]

Nice to see you back posting again Sock, you've been missed. Oh, and something crazy happened whilst you were away..

[hushrong]

Great update. The assassin looks fantastic and with an beautiful paintjob to boot! I love that its mostly bits from the elder race but it looks perfect for an inquisitors retinue.

 

The armored trooper is awesome! I got the KT box and had thought to maybe turn the GSC into some kind of stormtrooper trainee/neophyte to use with some other team. It's awesome to see it kitbashed! I had been thinking about mixing in some scion bits and had been wondering if their backpacks would look good or not.

 

 

Nice work on the inquisitor. I am assuming that's who that is with all that swagger and grim, judging stare from behind the brim of that hat. I seriously love seeing metal minis getting converted, especially nowadays when there are so few of them.

[Captain Mike]

I happened to open this on the first page and found you had deleted the first images and that I was the first comment, something about the black being flat!

 

I think it's a shame you deleted the first one cos the real joy of going through 7 years of entries was seeing your painting improve exponentially. It just keeps getting better and better and better, and your blends are beautiful. On top of that your models always have such character and uniqueness about them.

 

What I'm saying is good job, like em.

[Radiation]

Cool assassin! The painting looks great.

[sockwithaticket]

Inquisitor Stefan Vyke



An idiosyncratic character with mood alterations to match, by turns garrulous and taciturn, seemingly ungoverned by circumstances. A skilled sworsman, though far less prone to violent resolution of problems than many of his colleagues, prioritising the gathering of information and exploiting both the flaws and benefits of the Imperium's vast bureaucracy to stymie it's enemies. The diversion of an arms shipment here, changing a planetary governor's itnierary there; such actions are more oblique solutions than those employed by other Inquisitors and have less overtly demonstrable results than the military suppression of an uprising or summoning, indeed offering less opportunity for advancement or notoriety, yet Vyke is a strong adherent of the maxim that prevention is better than cure. Although a moderate who eschews violence unless necessary he does have an investigatory vice and that is torture. He retains a higher number of interrogators in his retinue than would normally be expected and trawling the archives of his exhaustive case notes would seem to indicate an incredibly high rate of expiration amongst subjects, even those from whom sensitive information was not necessarily expected to be extracted. Has been known to work in concert with fellow moderate Inquisitor Gerrit Jansen and the more puritanical Michiel van Graal.


I have been constantly on the verge of posting a WIP of this chap, but kept pushing on to do just a little bit more, just a little bit more and then he was almost done so I stuck it out and finished him off. One of Artel’s sadly now defunct sculpts I’ve not done much to him other than paint, but I did swap the absolutely miniscule head for something a bit less small that still scaled well with a body that’s far too slender to utilise any other 28mm heads in my possession. Thankfully this Malifaux Death Marshal one actually works quite well.

Also did a little bit more work replacing bits on Michiel van Graal to 40k-ify him sufficiently while retaining his original aesthetic that was so appealing in the first place.


Have kitbashed this mining servitor (arco-flagellant) from random Anvil and Kromlech parts too. Playing around with those has sparked off ideas for a pit-gladiator too… This Inq28 thing is a real creative rabbit hole, too many ideas and not enough time or focus!


Bjorn – thanks, Bjorn. The mask was definitely chosen to be imposing and also to tie into the ‘death cult’ aspect of the assassins you can take in an Inquisitorial retinue, not really into the bondage look of the official models. The Eldar overtones are purely the result of the bits used and my lack of ability to mask them more effectively, I’ve tried to get the paint schemed to do a lot of the work in that respect.

Kraut – Cheers, man, definitely means a lot. Hmm, of all the many, many bits I’ve accumulated, one of those re-breathers is not among them and I’m loathe to touch a finished model. I’ve got the same head to make a second DCA, given the other things I’ve got to paint between now and then I’ll likely be able to source a re-breather and give it a crack.

Jol – thanks, it’s nice to be back in the swing. That cryptic comment baffled me for good while longer than it should have done, I’m all caught up now. Nice one to all Sanguinius’ sons.

Hushrong -   Cheers, buddy. As I said, I was really hoping the paint work would do a lot of the work for me in reducing the overall elder-ness of it. I think the Skitarii, GSC and Flagellant boxes are pretty much the MVPs of anyone doing Inq stuff from what else I’ve seen around the web. Haven’t got any Scion packs to play with, but I’d certainly be interested to see that. Probably be more viable if you haven’t crammed as many other bits on as I have in that area. Damn straight he’s an Inqusitior, here’s a better shot of his super-judgy face:



Captain Mike – Thank you, for your kind words. Definitely cool to get a perspective from someone who saw me early on in my development as a hobbyist. I’m most pleased that you single out modelling aspect which I do work hard on.
Regarding the first post, to be honest the quality in that one is barely any different from my next post, so the progression is still there to see; I just got a bit annoyed with having to scroll through so many sub-par (by my current standards) every time I wanted to update the thread title.

Radiation - Thank you.

Edited September 7, 2018 by sockwithaticket

[Biohazard]

LOVE the assassin. The Inquisitors are looking great as well. I’ve never really taken to the whole Inq28 but it’s hard to argue against the caliber of the models that are produced for it. Looking forward as always to see some more of your work here bud :tu:

[sockwithaticket]

Cheers, bud. I think it's the creative opportunities that sell it. While there are certain things you can do with marines, there are also limits. My stuff is pretty standard modelling-wise, but have seen some insane stuff around the net, particularly on pinterest.

[Doghouse]

All round excellent stuff but I really like Inquisitior Vyke.

[Vairocanum]

Fantastic stuff! Loving all the new conversions but the "always be ready" guy from your last update is my favorite of the bunch so far. Very nice paint job on the inquisitor as well, definitely looking forward to seeing more!

[hushrong]

Yup. That is an inquisitors judgmental scowl! Vyke is looking righteous and the additions to Graal look great!

 

That mining servitor looks worrisome. I do like the 3rd party bits used with that head!

[sockwithaticket]

Okay, so this was a weird post to make. Ostensibly it’s nothing too special, just a couple of almost finished assault marines, however they mark the final bodies for the Crimson Tears 2^nd Company which I’ve slowly been working away on over the last 7 years (with frequent distractions).
I am now 2 helmets, 2 should pads and 2 jump packs away from the full 100 marines (plus a few auxiliary characters and vehicles).



Also made a start on my next hench(wo)man for Vyke:




Doghouse – Thanks, man. I think Vyke owes so much to Artel’s excellent sculpt, he was really fun to paint.

 

Vairo, - cheers, bud. Hope you're getting along ok in Japan.

Hushrong - thanks a lot. Yeah, there's some construction going on outside my building at the moment and I was just looking at things like the jackhammer going, that could do some serious damage if you could weild it as a weapon... boom, mining servitor idea popped up. Little bit of re-programming and heavy duty tools get put to work on squishy people/xenos.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The henchwoman looks great!