Sunday 21 December 2014

Flesh for... - Rogue Trader Civilians

As my friend Willy Idol, would say :


But this is the future right ? Flesh for Rogue trader anyone ? OK, time for silly puns is past...

To give some company to my space metalhead, I thought I'd populate the streets of my rogue trader games with more civilians and unarmed characters just to add depth to it. They will probably be quite useful for story purposes in games I expect to play.

So here they are :



A pair of hookers to give warmth (and venerial diseases) to the mercenaries, thieves and other space brigands my games can lead me to play. But why hookers? Why another sordid concept after a drunk? Well, in all honesty, things were not planned that way at first...


I initially traded a couple of figures for a particular project I had in mind...


An elf cheerleader and a wood elf sorceress, both Jes Goodwin sculpts (who else for elves?) I selected for the parts in the red squares. Best thing of all, the trader which got me the cheerleader very kindly added a dark elf one in the package to apologise for sending the package late (another proof the oldhammer community has some brilliant members). I believe the trader thought I'd use the elf cheerleader for BloodBowl purposes and added a similar model. He just couldn't know this was intended for something else... Anyway, after hacking both the elf cheerleader and wood elf sorceress in 2, I quickly drybuilt what I wanted for my initial project. This lead me to realise it would be a little harder than anticipated... And I still had 2 halves and a complete dark elf cheerleader.

After sticking the 2 halves together I realised the result had some bohemian charm to it. The jacket looking like a perfecto with the robe underneath had that provocative look you could find in the 80's :



Well, removing the pom-poms was just the first part of the job, I had to give the model some fitting hands.


I opted for a provacative pose with one hand calling men passing by and the other making a little gesture of the index to invite some of her preys... The hands used are from plastic Imperial guards. I know they are a little (lot?) too large but didn't want to waste too much time and felt like following this creative flow... The result had the exact look I wanted for this kind of model, the painting would just emphasise all the existing traits.



Like I said, the jacket looked too much like a perfecto not to be painted black and this left little choice but to paint her shirt white to offfer a good contrast. The skirt was painted a vibrant red because I love painting red tis way and because it underlined that bohemian aspect I loved about he conversion.

The rest was just details and after some thinking opted for very light blonde hair to echo the famous queen of pop from above...


Next on the list was the Dark elf cheerleader ...

The model in itself was not one which had caught my eye before but it proved to be a very intersting and finely sculpted one :

From the CCM Wiki
Removing the pom-poms just like for her colleague was the first move but then I found her right leg to be too straight. A little cut behind the knee and a gentle bend after that and I had a far better pose.

Once again, a pair of hands stolen to some Imperial guard arms ET VOILA !


Her hair still looks weird in that context but I'm assuming this is just a way to make it bigger as it was the trend in the 80's...

Painting wise, I wanted to go somewhere else with this one. Part of the explanation is that I wanted them to look different to show teh streets offers different pleasures to night dwellers but another part of it is because I wanted to give some exotism to the scene...

You know, that kind of taste :

And as my mate Colin pointed early this week, Alejandro Jodorowsky's work with Moebius and Juand Gimenez is just so full of coloured humanoids :


And many other medias :

In the cases shown here the coloured skin is clearly the mark of mutation or different origins but for my space doll, I wanted to leave a doubt about wether this red skin could be just a make-up, or the sign of an alien origin or mutation, who knows ?

With red being the colour of passion and carnal pleasure, I opted for it as it also added a provocative look :




I do not want to dig their background because I believe such characters can use a part of mistery and are a bit better in a generic role, the symbol of what you can probably find in every space port of every world...


" - Errmm, excuse me lady, I have lost myself and errrrrm, was looking for the way to errrrrrrrm you know...
- Come on sweety, let's see if the legend is true about squats
- You mean that we've all been eaten by tyrannids?
- Well Just seeing you here answers pretty well, I meant the OTHER one...
- Oh...

- Oh please Darrell, will you please get the fuck out will you ? Some of us are working here !
- (headbangs and air plays guitar) Nanana ! RORK ON ! We're the coworks form HEEEEEEELLL !
- Hey douchebag, you heard the lady?, Now get outta here right now before I grant you another Asshole... man, does that guy have no pride at all? Can't he at least listen to some real bands? "


"- Erm, excuse me fine ladies, I'm just coming from a long trip through space and I could use some...
- Oh please, getta of here you monster freak, just put some pants will ya and go to some farm if you have needs, Jeeeeez !"


As you see life is a repeating thing... We're getting close to the end of this year and I will probably folow the example of my estimed comrades but I thinkI can manage to finish a coupl eof models beforehand so let's see what can be done before I'm getting stuffed with chocolates, gravy, alcohol and joy !

25 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Oh yes they are, totally not our league ;)

      Thanks

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  2. Space whores...wonderful. I like the pose on the blonde best, but the skin on the red girl...I'm not sure which I'd choose ;)

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    1. I somehow knew you'd love the Jes Goodwin one best ;)
      Don't let such trivial considerations ruin the pleasure, friends don't pay... Just take both you naughty

      Delete
  3. Those two whores are great (that's what he said!) but in all honesty they Re quite awesome.
    I'm so tired of seeing scientists/secretaries/construction workers being used as civilians. These whores are exactly what the average citizen would be seeing daily not scribes in neat robes we need more stim dealers, whores, amputated guardsmen, dog kebab peddlers etc.
    Well done sir

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    Replies
    1. I believe we're on the same page here. Those are exactly what I intend to add, dealers, dog kebab peddlers and street punks are axactly the kind I want to see on my table so expect to see some of those and more !

      Thanks a lot!

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  4. Excellent work JB! Both have a lot of character.

    I love the move to have a fleshed out gaming environment with civilians, rather than just two forces facing off.

    Your paint job does an amazing job on blending in the oversized hands (If I hadn't read this blog, I would never have noticed).

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    1. Cheers Chris !

      Now I want to see those Babies in Ferrograd and how the underhive scum will act around !

      Delete
  5. "O Roxanne, just look what standing under that Red Light has done to your beautiful skin and complexion!" Mr. ALMan, I've said this before, but you are so brave with your conversions! The idea, the sheer audacity and daring to chop off metal hands from a classic figure and replace them with plastic is breathtaking and almost beyond comprehension - but the result is brilliant!! Well done! I also really like the leg pose alteration in the former cheerleader model.

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    1. Thanks Private !

      I have to say I always relunctantly chop in old lead and always try to do so with "a plan". There was no way I could integrate those pom poms in the final model so did what had to be done.
      Glad you approve of those alterations, coming from men of taste such as yourself, it's a reassuring thought ;)

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  6. I like the your skill on the skirted babe, the transition between the waist is seemless.

    When I was a young dude I never had much time for "extra" minis....the civies. Probably due in part to my limited funds back then. But I have to say that I really like them now. It really adds to the whole aethstetic of a game.

    Great work, as usual, JB

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    Replies
    1. Same here, I used to be all about making armies bigger and all but now I just mean to add depth to my setting with characterful models. Terrain will have to be considered at some point too.

      Your work is really intersting for that and really gives me a view of what I'd like to do myself.

      thanks a lot !

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  7. I heartily approve of any additions to the Rogue Trader Civilians project JB and these two models will help to generate all sorts of in-game narrative I suspect.

    Regarding the red skin, I think that its best not to get too specific as to why she happens to be that colour, it could be because of all sorts of reasons. There is no need to explicitly state any reason for it: why paint yourself into a narrative dead end?

    Great work. Im looking forward to seeing more sci-fi civvies... plus more of the dystopian scum hole that they inhabit. Is that lamp post the first bit of RT scenery that you have posted up here JB? I hope to see much more :)

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    Replies
    1. You're right on all points Paul.

      These models will indeed help to generate extra narration (that's the plan at least).
      I think we're on the same page, the redskin can mean so many things it's better to keep this misterious without closing any doors.
      That lamp wasn't intended as a start for any terrain but looking for it I found so much pieces it felt bad not to consider expanding thins a bit (oh and that blue backdrop is getting boring) so yes, I hop to get on that route during 2015...

      Thanks a lot !

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    2. A small, photobooth sized street scene, possibly with a printed backdrop (maybe even the backdrop from that cityscape in the album cover that you posted up recently) might make a good project.

      It would be cool to see your corner of the RT universe come to life even further :)

      Delete
  8. That's some cool conversions! You are right, that jacket just screams the 80's.

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    1. Big hair and leather jacket? Yeah that's how I love my 80's future !

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  9. Fantastic work there JB. Well done. Will you be using them in a game?

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    1. Indeed, I'm fairly certain I can use them for "Do Rogue traders dream of electric goats", a game planned for BOYL15 and they will always come in handy on many other games as informers are other things.

      Thanks a lot !

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  10. Wow, I love what you did here! Civvies add a lot of depth and can be used in several different ways. I'm also in the same bussiness now and I believe you are doing a fantastic job!

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    1. Well I have to say you're no stranger to me doing civilians, I really like what you're doing with your setting and all and felt like diving in myself, I'll try to make some scenery too so I'll have to thank you for leading the way !

      Thanks a lot amigo !

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  11. Wonderfully innovative conversion work, JB. It reminds me of the splendid pieces that you see on Magpie and Old Lead. Not much else I can say that hasn't been mentioned above. Keep the good work coming!

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    1. Well it's only natural you see such a resemblance because I really love Jon's work and we both try to dig into how confrontation could look. Our game during BOYL and the one with Colin Murray and Cheetor/Shoebox also opened my eyes on what a game could/should be after somehow forgetting all the roleplay one could put in a game of 40k.

      Thanks a lot Edward.

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