Monday 21 July 2014

The space skeleton - Rogue trader warband

Today we have 2 new members for Space Roger crew and they're no average guys.

First one is a favourite of mine, the space skeleton.


As you can see I painted this one with bright red colours to fit with the rest of the gang and because  traditionnal white space suit would have looked funny with the bones, offering too little contrast. You can also note I opted for a rather dark bone tone because I wanted our little friend here to look quite old, hence the brownish bones and the very corroded wrench.


This skeleton is one of the oldest members of Roger crew. His name is Brook and he has been the lead mechanic on board since he first met Roger.
One trait summarizes Brook : he is stubborn (and ill-tempered, a dreadful combination). He just won't admit anything, he will never come back on his word, he will never flee or turn back. He is desperately stubborn. Though this particular trait proves very tiring for the whole crew, Roger does appreciate his mechanic and copes with his atrocious mood like it is nothing.
It is to be noted that Brook Stubbornness is in part the reason why he is a living skeleton.

Years back, Roger and the then young and muscled Brook landed on a feral world where a huge part of the crew was abducted by an evil sorcerer. This sorcerer killed a good part of the crew to reanimate them with unholy spells. When Brook woke up, he started to complain like he always did (and does) and the sorcerer realized that this particular being was so stubborn he wouldn't even admit he had been killed and resurrected. An epic argument rose between the necromancer and Brook which resulted in Brook smashing the evil man' skull with his gigantic wrench.
Since then Brook has never admitted once that he no longer was the muscled youth he was then and that he is now only a pile of bones. This tremendous willpower of his maybe the source of his salvation.
It is not rare to see Brook lifting weights and exercising just to "stay in shape" and while all the other crewmembers but Roger laugh at him, Brook doesn't intend to change one thing in his habits.



"- I tell you, he is still lifting weights as if he was going to grow muscles, that's insane ! 

- Let him be, he's nuts...

-HEY ! I HEARD THAT ! IF YOU TWATS WANT TO STAY FIT LIKE PILES OF BONES THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM ! I LIKE MY MUSCLES AND LADIES DO TOO !

- yes, Brook, whatever..."



"- SOD IT ALLAEL ! Just how many times will I have to tell you to fill my oxygen tanks with the rest ! You think I can breathe in Space? Or maybe you think I don't have to breathe ? For the emperor' sake !

-Alright alright Brook, whatever..."

"You like my booty huh?"

 I have to say that once more, this character is inspired by One piece's Brooks (that's th e4th time I'm quoting this manga as a source of inspiration here) which happens the undead musician of the hero's crew. I thought an undead mechanic was cooler though :


 The miniature is one of the limited releases and it dates back from before Rogue trader if I'm correct. I got it in a poor shape for 99p in a mislabeled sale on Ebay and I'm very happy to have been able to remove the horrible base the previous owner had built with tons of Milliput (the model's feet were litteraly drowned in it) :




Our other new member is Zan Kieff, he is based on the famous Oldworld Jack model and I love him a lot. I unfortunately had no spare rogue trader backpack to give him so I gave him a space crusade one which works just as fine.

Since I wanted to show Roger's crew have been roaming space for ages, I gave him rusted and corroded equipment, to show though the gear seems worn-out, the wrew members are still engaged in their mission.


You might be asking yourself why the eyes are painted white ... well they're not, theyv'e been painted silver to represent contact lenses. the eyes on the model are waaaaaay to big and I couldn't find a way to paint them a satisfying way. I then remembered contact lenses are a common equipment in Rogue trader so I gave him a pair and it makes him look better (oh and it does give him a osrt of Morpheus look à la Matrix...).

The model is way bigger than the rest of the crew but I think it's just because Zan was born on a factory planet where people are way bulkier than average humans...


And here is the traditional group shot with only 2 members missing...



20 comments:

  1. Loving the skeleton. Excellent.

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    1. Thanks, I have to say he is a very lovely model and an absolute joy to paint. Getting him for dirt cheap was just icing on the cake !

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  2. Love the skeleton. But love the backstory even more.

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    1. Ah thanks, that pleases me even more ! I just had tons of fun imagining his little background story. A guy being so stubborn he wouldn't even aknowledge his own death ! It was also a way to bring back a part of the multiverse thing with this story, Having the crew set on a medieval planet with sorcerers is funny I think.

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  3. That Zan Kieff is one of the first models I ever owned. Nostalgia-gasm.

    Loving the space skeleton too.

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    1. Oldworld Jack really is an iconic model of that era isn't he?

      Thanks !

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  4. The Skeleton is great, but the whole crew is coming together exceptionally well.
    Are you bringing these guys to BOYL? I hope so.

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    1. I have 2 models to add on top of these yet. The 7 will come with me along the sensei gang and other delights. They will probably be engaged in the confrontation game at some point.
      For once I am quite satisfied to have the overall result looking excatly like what I expected. At the end of the week, I'll be able to cross "retro space dwellers warband" off of my "to do " list.

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  5. Fantastic looking group you have there....I understand by being upset by the lack of oxygen...but you think he would be upset by being given a wrench for a weapon! haha.

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    1. That wrench is like an extension of himself... he feels incomplete without it. Imagine yourself without a guitar, if I were to practice Kendo without my sabre I guess I would feel the same way...
      In the next and final batch for this warband there is a miniature I'm sure you would like !

      Thanks Blue

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  6. I love the skeleton's backstory.

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    1. Cool ! I always find a model without a little background i slike a model without a proper base or varnish. It doesn't take much to make it right. I have a great fondness far that kind of silly characters and tehy always end up being painted far more quickly than the rank and file...

      Thanks.

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  7. Great additions to the crew. The skeleton is the stand out figure for me - a more interesting sculpt and I love the way you've painted his visor. The back story is great - I never really managed to work out a reason for a space skeleton...but you've done the job!

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    1. Thanks Jon, I agree the other humans look a bit plain with him on the side but I like that. Just like in Star trek or Starwars where you can always see unnamed humans working but yo uonly care about th eklingon or the guy with a light sabre !
      I'm sure an eternal champion fan as yourself would have thought of the multiverse as a good explanation !

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  8. Excellent, I really like the way you have painted the Skeleton, loving the rust on the wrench.

    Again, as with Roger, Old World Jack/Zan's equipment is great. The rust on the backpack is a nice idea, and thecontact lenses idea is a brilliant one. I might use that idea whe nI get around to painting up some Rogue Trader humans at a latter date. The lenses explaination also explains the guy in the artwork on page 126 of the Rogue Trader Rulebok, something that had puzzled me for a while.

    Look at you Rogue Trader crew is inpsiring me to do something similar, although I do have too many other things to do at the moment.

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    1. Thanks Lee, someone notices Oldworld Jack at last !

      The contact lenses seems to be the explanation for the blank eyes of the guy in page 126 (what a memory you have!). Hi smask makes me think of world burner don't you think?

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    2. Yes it does, very much like World Burners mask, well spotted!

      I am really enjoying your posts on the crew. It has got me thinking in the back of my mind about doing a smll force of mixed models based on 'Crangor's Buccaneers, Claw Nebula Pirates' list in the Book of the Astronomican. That list has Humans, Eldar, and Squats, and I am sure I could smuggle (like a good priate!) a few of the humanoid models in as stand-in's. Then, like you have done, paint them with general unifying theme and colour.
      All this will have to wait though, I have Skaven and Samurai to do!

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    3. Well I 've found that getting a fistful of models that go together well and painting them in a unified style is very rewarding. I will keep this approach for a time between units for my chaos renegades I think.

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  9. I keep on saying the same, but your imagination is a resource of inspiration for all of us! I love the results there and the whole story! :D

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    1. Since you 're not short on imagination yourself, this is a great compliment !
      For these warband, I jus tpick th emodel that I think go well together and then the story and paintjobs come naturally really.
      That's good to hear people like the little backstories as well. That fuels me up for the rest !

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