Variations on a theme : Pilots for warhammer 40000

Today's is a symbolic post since it's my 200th ! I'm making progress for my model to celebrate the 200th follower of this blog (model has just been primed) so celebrations are all going well !

I'd like to come back on a bunch of models I painted in a rush for my Rogue Trader game at Octogône, 

I wanted to have a bunch of pilots as they make nice supporting models and good potential NPCs in games. I used them as objectives in our game and it was nice to see players interact with them !

The intersting part about this group is the model selection I think. I'm not very selective about models I paint in general, my fancy often goes to older models because I enjoy painting them more than I enjoy painting modern ones but I find nice ones everywhere, whatever the maker and whatever the age. SO I thought it would be fun to paint 3 versions of a same concept but with very different models to see  :

- If painting alone can tie different styles

- which kind of models I like most

First model is of course the pilot from the RT adventurer range :

Picture from Solegend

The pilot is shown in action with his helmet off and his hand on the headphones. His slightly crouched poistion suggest he is in the middle of action which is quite usual to see amongst models of that era. The sculpt is nice though it's not very refined and more on the caricatural side than anything.

The second one is a resin model from Blightwheel and he's a mecha pilot :

The style is clearly different with far more realistic body proportions (making the head and hands look very small). The resin also means the details are way finer than on any metal model and some of them are actually VERY fine (almost too much for me). I hadn't looked at the "official" paintjob prior to painting mine so the inverted colour scheme is a fluke.

Last model is a simple Kitbash in the vein of what you'd see in INQ28 communities where usual 40k concepts are pushed on the grimdark side by mixing imperial pieces with Imperial guard

Painting wise I obviously opted for a unified colourshceme as part of the idea behind that was to try and tie them together despite their obvious differences. I was compelled to using my usual Marine blue and off-white with red as a spot colour because I wanted a traditional marine vibe for them.

Some added checkers on the shoulderpads and the same leathers helped tie those models together I think.

The paintjob is clearly a rushed one as I did those in the 2 days prior to the event. Still, I think they play their part more than well and I think they do not look too weird next to each other (especially at tabletop distance). Without a surprise, the bulkier of all 3 is the plastic kitbash with modern pieces and the feat he's the only one with his helmet on doesn't help a lot...

As far as painting is concerned I didn't learn anything I didn't know, I'm still having hard time enjoying painting plastics (though I really do love kitbashing and resin models really are over detailed for my taste and skill. The metal model is perhaps not the best sculpt/cast around but it's like an old pair of slippers, you just feel comfy with those kind of models and there's something in the pose and character that immedaitely state what he is.

For once I have pictures of my models in action so even if I've already posted them, you can have another round !

The pilots being rescued by an imperial fanatic escorted by a robot

The pilots have decided they've had enough and that safety's their main goal now.

What's gonna come next ? I don't know... I'm working on my 2015 Orctober entry which is a little more challenging than the previous years, I'll have more models for the Champions of Law and I'm also working a some commisions I foolishly accepted !
I gues sno man should ever complain about having a full plate in front of him. Take care.