Clan Masters - Bespoke Helmar Leaders

Generally I'm 'not bad' at completing miniatures projects - I manage to paint up game-ready gangs and skirmish forces in a timely manner. However, I am also regularly guilty of over-ambition. I might make a gang of 10 figures, but acquire the material to make 10 more which sit unfinished long after I've completed a campaign with the first 10. This pair of figures is a pretty extreme example - when I was originally planning my Helmawr gang at the end of 2019, I decided I wanted some unique character figures. So I commissioned John Pickford to sculpt me a leader and a champion. He created me a pair of wonderful characters  in early 2020. And I only got round to painting them a few weeks ago. Better late than never I guess?!

Painting My Own Sculpt - the Interplanetary Merchant

The merchant's quarter was a hectic kaleidoscope of colours, smells and sounds. Traders hawked their wares from brightly coloured stalls - fruit, vegetables, exotic furs and refurbished tech. Nomads haggled with alien stall-holders, starship crew on leave jostled against menial robots.

 

 

 

Teaching Myself to Sculpt - Embiggening a Spacefarer

Over the course of the last 10 years or so, I've done dozens of conversions. Some have required minor gap filling, whereas others have needed completely resculpted elements. But I've never considered myself to be able or willing to sculpt a full figure from scratch. But some taunting and encouragement (mainly from theottovonbismark) prompted me to at least give it a go.

 

Donated armature gratefully received

 

A kind person over at the Oldhammer Sculpting Facebook group donated an armature and some corks. I already had the requisite sculpting tools, clay shapers and a micro-scalpel, so all that was left to so was to decide on the subject matter.

 

After some deliberation, I elected to upscale a character from the old 25mm Citadel Spacefarers range - the Interplanetary Merchant. Why select the Interplanetary Merchant as my first sculpt?

 

1. I figured that I might be able to do an approximation of the character, being a relatively uncomplicated and forgiving shape.
2. I was frustrated that the excellent and characterful Spacefarers range is just a fraction too small to be compatible with Rogue Trader figures.
3. He's just the sort of character who might see use amongst my other Rogue Trader civilians.



The Interplanetary Merchant. Pics courtesy of David Wood.