Wednesday 23 July 2014

Irn Bounce and Johny Savuka - Rogue trader warband

So this is the last episode about my rogue trader warband : Space Roger and his galactic farers.

Our 2 new members today are some classics amongst classics :

First in line we have Mario, a space dwarf clad in a carapace armour/space suit. The paintjob is totally not original since it is a straight copy of what I did for all the other members. Beige trousers, red armour and corroded equipment was the recipe. Mario has a few more details with a strange M device on his shoulders, helmet and backpack. I don't know what it stands for but I've decided that this was meant to mean Mario. Come on, a little red guy with pipes on him must be named Mario (he's a dwarf so he has at least a moustache on top of that) you know it makes sense.


I have to say this model was absolutely delightful to paint, very neat and precise and it proved a very quick and enjoyable one to paint.




The sculpt really is a good synthesis of a dwarf with the size, the plated armour and horn looking device on the helmet and of a retro-futuristic robot. A perfet combination, far from the space bikers that came afterwards.

For me he is the missing link between this :

and this :


 

And it also enables me to have one more model from the first release in this warband :


The model only gained his Irn Bounce name afterwards (note that 4 models of this picture are in Roger's team) :


Now, I started saying I had 2 new models to show, so beafore riot arises and people start screaming, here is another one.

The other member I added to this team is Johnny Savuka. Johnny is a crocoman which was freed from slavery by Roger and which in turn gave his loyalty and life to our poncy Rogue trader.


Johnny comes from a strange planet where ritual dances include throwing your foot high in the air to stomp it violently in the ground. Whenever Johnny does that, you immediately have all the other members rushing to check if nothing bad happened or of they have not been hit by ennemy fire. Most of the time, they get back to their post asking him to warn them the next time he's dancing in his room...


Do I have to tell you this model is a Judge Dredd Klegg ? Probably not, you're all knowledgeable and full of ressources. This means I don't have to tell you they're a bunch of space mercenaries appearing in the Judge Cal Arc :

Nor do I have to tell you that 2 models were released for them  :


I like the left model better because he looks more civilised and less savage which helps to integrate him amongst humans.

I have seriously no idea how those 2 little rockets of his are supposed to lift his weight but they look good and help integrate him amongst other space dwellers I think.



As I'm typing these words, the estimeed Axiom just released his own interpretation of the model (well a couple a days ago) and I thought funny to see we were working on the same model :

From Magpie and Old Lead

You may wonder why I chose to put these 2 fellows in the same post, well, they were the last 2 so there was not much of a choice but here is another answer : They have the same pants and gaiters (oh and I actually learnt this week what gaiter meant and I found it so funny to see a Klegg wearing some...). Proof :


I just love a good back to back picture (You got my back Mario? Sure thing Johnny ! You and me against the rest of the world !).

So here it is in its entire glory, the complete warband of Space Roger and his galactic farers. Only thing missing now is a galactic vessel for our adventurers to roam space with. I have some ideas about that which should see the light of day after summer.

"To infinity, and beyond!"

22 comments:

  1. Great looking crew. I love the vibrant colours. I'm jealous of your models (particularly the space skeleton, which I have always liked).

    So, Sensei this year, is it Rogue Traders next year then? It'd be a great excuse to start collecting. ;-)

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    1. Thanks Chris. I have to say I love those models too an dI picked some favourites to make this little gang. I don't know what next year will be made of (don't even know if i'll be part of it yet) but I can tell you these boys here are making it to BOYL this year and they may very well join in the confrontation fun !

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  2. Nice. Thats my favourite sci-fi crew for quite a while. The Klegg and the Squat are brilliant additions, they fit in brilliantly.

    Im not keen on the height of the backpack on the gent with the contacts (cant remember his name), but that really is absolutely the only thing that I have even the slightest issue with. This crew is exceptional.

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    1. Thanks a lot Cheetor. I had terrific fun painting these guys and I am looking forward to giving them the appropriate space ship as a cherry on the cake. I may want to add a robot like those I shoed from the fallout range because It would enforce the retro sci-fi look and a robot in a crew is never a bad idea.

      I think with the more exotic additions, the human characters take a little more depth and singularity while they look a bit plain on their own. Mayb eSpace Roger could use some more detila to make him stand from the rest but I like to have "Normal humans" sometimes, not overpowerful heroes like the inquisitors of today, shooting heavy weapons single handedly.

      I have to say I agree on the height of the backpack with Oldwaorld Jack or "Zan Kieff" as I named him. I only realised this with the photos unfortunately because the model is really bent towards the front which means on the painting table it didn't look as silly. I had glued it a little more down too an dthoght it would b eenough. I will probablychange this after Boyl if I remember it.

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  3. Great looking band - the colour scheme brings them together perfectly! Johnny looks great - the flash of green adds a nice additional dimension. How do you paint so smoothly BTW?

    Fancy a face-off between Grigor and Johnny? Johnny has a nastier bite, but I think Grigor might be meaner ;)

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    1. Thanks a lot Jon. You have a miniature painted by me so you must know it's actually not that smooth ! ^^'
      My usual recipe though is generaly basecoat, light wash, dark wash ni recesses, and then I highlight from basecoat to a very bright version of the base colour. To highlight I use very thinned paint (almost glazes) to build the highlights until I'm happy.
      The green is a good contrats I think. I was worried about him looking like a christmas decoration but it's OK. I actually paintd his throat and the inner parts of the hands in a beige tone to make it a little better looking. It doesn't show well on my pics though.
      A fec to face with Grigo is very likeley since Space Roger may very well end on the confrontation table ;). Johnny is a placid and quiet alien really, he doesn't bit emuch and he barks even less !

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  4. What a great looking ensemble. I always imagined the kleggs as bigger minis. I love the Johnny pun.

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    1. The Klegg is indeed a it bigger than models of the time but "Zan-Kieff" (Oldwolrd Jack) is definitely the biggest (hence the pun in his name).
      Glad someone notices my poor attempts at name puns from time to time ;)

      Thanks

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  5. Excellent little crew you have there. Mini choice and painting are exceptional. I can easy imagine them having their own strip in 2000AD.

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    1. Great compliments ! Having a cross over with Judge Dredd and Space Roger would be really funny.
      I'm glad I managed to take those classics amongst classics in another place.

      Now, let's get working on the squats.

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  6. Wow! I've never dabbled in sci-fi but this here is tempting me; in fact I still don't really know what rogue trader means (obviously not an unwanted competitor of Citadel, as I always thought it was!) Love the croc guy in particular - so crisply painted, looking forward to seeing them all at Boyl 2014!

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    1. Rogue traders are the heroes of Mankind who travel through the whole galaxy to spread the word, trade with alien civilisations, discover new areas in the galaxy. The fact warhammer 40k was named after them in its 1st edition actually means a lot about how the game was meant as a RPG more than a mass combat game as it is now.
      Rogue traders have been replaced by inquisitors who now have only the word spreading and witch hunting goal. Very sad in fact but the book remains and the models too so we can still build such warbands and get our sic-fi/space opera fix !
      Thanks for the compliments, these beauties paint themselves really. Age has not diminished their quality at all.

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  7. This crew looks spot on, JB! I did attempt to comment on your lovely Ventolin Pirate but for some reason it never came up on your comments. Was only thinking about how great a Klegg would look in a pirate band and there he is! Don't blame me if I copy you come the time I assemble a gang. Really impressed with everything you have posted up in recent times. Keep it coming!

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    1. Blogger comments have been erratic for me too lately...
      The Klegg ws not intended at first but I got this model in a trade and thought it would make a great addition. Now I see he looks well adapted to his life in space amongst humans !
      Fell free to use my ideas, I'd be interested to see your take on such a them actually. NOthing like seeing the same model painted by various people just to see things I would have wanted to think about myself !
      Thanks for the kind words Ed.

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  8. Oh, what a crew you have mustered here! Full of charm and personality! It looks like you are getting GW Red Era back! :D

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    1. Aha, very good Suber, I hadn't thought about this ! It's not real proper red era since the weapons are not red and the bases are not goblin green but there is something for sure!
      I'm getting away from red for a time, I'm going to work my blues for a while now.
      Thanks a lot.

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    2. Great work on all of these chaps JB, I've never seen that original Squat look so good to be honest.
      Everytime I see that Space Skeleton I think of the Heavy Metal movie.

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    3. Thanks Bruno, you are right ! Lats time I saw th eHeavt Metal movie was about 10 yeras ago but I have vague memories of undead ! Must check that film again now.
      I'll soon have more squats to present to you.

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  9. That Space Dwarf is one of my favorite sculpts of all the RT minis. Your warband looks better and better with each mini added - nice work!!
    /Hans

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    1. Hi Hans !
      The space dwarf really is a good sculpt indeed, I was surprised by how crisp it is. I think you presnetd us a WIP version of it in yellow right? We want to see it !
      Thanks for the kind words, there will be a slight break because of holidays but I'm coming back at full speed soon ;)

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  10. tres belle figurine j'adore les nains et je ne l'a connaissais pas elle est est trop bien !!! sinon belle peinture comme d'habitude :-)

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    1. Ce n'est pas n'importe quel nain puisque c'est le premier sorti pour Rogue trader ! Une figurine splendide que j'ai adoré peindre, pleine de détails et bien foutue.

      Merci beaucoup !

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