2D to 3D - A rogue trader with panache !

This is a bit of an unusual model today. Not that the style, inspiration or genre are particularly original for me but it's just that I'm not used to base my whole work on a single illustration like I did here.

But why did I do that ? That's a fair question to ask.

Once again, it's because I was tempted by another of my WIPster colleagues namely Axiom. You might remember the excellent eldar pirate he built, based on an illustration from the Rogue Trader Rulebook. Well as soon as he had published it many of us decided to do exactly the same and that's how I ended up with the project of creating a Rogue Trader from scratch.

Gathering all the bits I needed for this one proved to be a long haul so after getting plastic bits from an online bits store (Just couldn't find proper lead donors and just couldn't get myself to chopping old lead either) I finally managed to get my hands on the perfect lizard thanks to my muse Christian B.

Just look at that guy colours clashing everywhere, eye-catching patterns and with his stupid fashion items. Even his pet lizard looks stupid.

Of course I had to adapt some elements and the padded jacket might have been an unfit choice to start from. I think the puffed shoulders work fine even though they're different and the long feather looks even more stupid than the original so that's all fine by me.  Funny thing is, I had to totally imagine the back of him so I went with something simple that carried a little more martial vibe that the original (who just looks like he's gonna crumble under his own weight).

So here's how it started (you might recognise the model on the far right from an earlier post).

The neck wasn't right though and I simply couldn't fit collar with the original design so I changed (and added )a few things :

You can see I'm no pro when it comes to pushing putty (not that I'm one with a brush but at least I'm a bit more confident) so I tried to keep things simple. The many additions meant that the sculpt was quite intricate which would make the painting stage... challenging (some lessons must be learnt the hard way).

For some reason I went with a bright red on the gas cannister when I could have chosen something a little more subtile but it felt a little more Rogue Trader to do things like that rather than rely on colour theory and good taste...

For some reason, I just find funny to portray him behaving in combat just like he's taking his lizard for a walk in the park. I like to think he's quite skilled but that he finds displaying his aptitude to be perfectly vulgar and without style (even though he will draw his pistols when the time has come).

I have a full post in mind to tell you all about this guy's backstory and character so I won't go into details right now, suffice to say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and that he's kept some pretty good contacts that help him in his missions...

He may have to make allies where he can...

More about this guys soon then as I have a little something to give him yet, I'm trying to make the best of the little painting time I have right now.

Everything should be a little more comfortable after April though ^^'