The 2023 Inquisitional Conclave.

 The time has arrived. 

This year's secret location, in an orbital station somewhere close to the Maelstrom, has attendees arriving slowly and cautiously to it. 

Voidsmen by Da Mastacheef

The first shuttle arrived, and when the doors opened these chaps spilled out, securing the docking bay and roughing up the concierge servitor. They heralded the arrival of this guy:

Inquisitor Wyrd, by Da Masta Cheef

Unlike most of Cheef's characters this guy doesn't have a name yet so I'm calling Inquisitor Wyrd. Anyway, after mind-probing the station's staff, he led his entourage into the Conclave Chambers. 

The next shuttle arrived, spilling forth a motley assortment of henchmen and archo-flagellants onto the deck. 

The Baddie Team by Zzzzzz 

Here is Zzzzzz with the details: 

The central character here is the demagogue: she is part of a select coven hunted by the OH.  She is flanked here by two close combat bodyguards with ceremonial flensing knives from the Grox herder enclaves of the northern parire: they've brought their traditional tribal tools to use as weapons in their new religion.  There's also her principal muscle, Xondar, who as you tell from his stature, was once even a giant amongst Space Marines.  Anyway, he's long turned to the ruinous powers and sometimes manages to cause a plague zombie or two to come into being, but he has no real control over this and it's not something to rely on.  There are three more cultists with a variety of weapons, including Xondar's bolter, which he can no long use, because plot armour.  The last member of this team is Sav.  She is a chaos aligned astropath.  

Sav and three cultists by Zzzzzz.

And some arcoflagellants.  These were glued together two years ago on a child free break in Somerset, but only painted and based now to have something for the conclave.  I'll post them on Devos IV, but not until the middle of September.

Arcoflagellants by Zzzzzz.

The station security team was a bit weirded out by that lot, but they were getting used to the flamboyant and eccentric styles of Inquisitors and their followers. So into the chamber they shuffled. 

From an antechamber, bedecked in overpriced swag, emerged the Inquisitor who goes by the call sign Alpha. He looked around the room suspiciously, as an Inquisitor of Ordo Hereticus is likely to do, before taking his seat at the conclave table. 

Inquisitor Alpha by Neverness.

Quote by Lord Inquisitor Torquemada Corteaz

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Despite opening the entries up to include Imperial Agents, very few people participated this year. (If I missed you let me know and I will edit you into the post. ) Shall we see what happens next year or give this thing a rest?

Inquisitor Alpha (Part 3)

 

Inquisitor "Alpha".

This guy was more challenging than my initial assessment of the model led me to believe it would be. There are odd wires and minor details I didn't catch until I really started working on him. And whatever the hell is going on with his gun arm confused me throughout the process. 

I finished the cape by using Folk Art Baby Blue*. Then a thinned layer of White Scar before highlighting it with a thick layer of White Scar.  Quite a bit of the blue shows through but creates a nice contour effect  which is what I was going for. 

The gold was finished by using the '90s era Citadel Colour Shining Gold. It's still the best gold color I own. It's perfect and I will be lost if I ever lose it. 

The sword was kept intentionally dark. I liked the contrast and juxtaposition of having the main focus of the model be a dark and sinister looking blade. 

The 'writing' on the scrolls and parchment was done using a Micron.  A very small tiped Micron. 

And that's essentially it; he is done! 

OK, so we only have a few days left in the month. If you are intending to participate in the 2023 Inquisitional Conclave you have until September 1st to get your images and links over to me. I am planning to post the Conclave on Sunday the 3rd. 

*For the record, this color has never been used on any of my Space Wolves models. Seriously. 

Inquisitor Alpha (Part 2)

 Just a small update showing the small amount of progress I was able to make on this guy since the last post. 

This top picture shows the progress just past the basecoats stage. I used Contrast Paints on his clothes and skin. I was, again, less than impressed with Spaces Wolves Grey Contrast Paint. This time I used it on his cloak and robes, and I just hated it. I used Catachan Flesh on all the armored bits. I sometimes like to use a dark brown as a base for gold as it gives it extra depth. I painted over that with a classic from the '90s: Tin Bitz. 

Here we are at the early stages of the mid-coats. Retributor Armor was applied here and finally the gold is beginning to come together for me. Model Color Azure was painted over the Contrast Paint on the clothes which I think is now starting to work the way I visualized it. I generally dislike Vallejo paints as I find them to be too runny for my style but this one worked out for this situation. 

Alright, a short update indeed. Remember, the month is flying by fast and the Conclave will gather on the first of September. So if you want to be a part of it this year there is still time! 

Inquisitor Alpha (Part 1)

GW stock photo from the blister pack.

 I have selected my Inquisitor for this year's Inquisitional Conclave. This year I went for this generic Inquisitor.  He looks like he might be fairly quick to paint (famous last words, right Blood Axe Orks?), and he is often the cover model for the Imperial Agents. I decided to name him Alpha, who was the mysterious Inquisitor that my players worked for in the Dark Heresy game I ran about 10 years ago. 

The 25mm base. Yeah, not feeling it. 

This miniature is a white metal miniature, and I was relieved to find him locally last week,  and even more relieved that he wasn't in Finecast. He comes with a basic 25mm base, and as you can see from the stock photo and the one I took above, he just spills off of the thing. So I decided to put him on a 32mm base. And he's still a bit big for it, but at least now I have room to add stuff to it. I cut a slot into the base and accidentally shattered it. No problem really, but I did have to wait for it to glue together. And for some reason the bolter was being difficult about gluing into place also. I had to balance it against my exact-o blade for a while while the glue cured. 

The gluing.

Here he his glued together and looking like he was born too soon and missed out on the 'Tactical rock" craze of the previous decade (who are kidding, it's still a thing!). 

Rocking a new base. 

I wanted a small stack of skulls on his base. Inspired pretty much from the classic Blanche Sisters of Battle art. I'm even planning on putting red Xs on their foreheads. 

Skulls for the Golden Throne!

Ok. Just waiting for the TN  humidity to be on my side so I can get him primed, and then it's on to the action! 

Inquisitional Conclave 2023 (Kick Off)

 Is it that time of year already? Dang! 

A  Blanche work for your inspiration. 

Well this is the fourth annual Inquisitional Conclave.  The rules are simple: 

The rules (more like guidelines really); all you have to do is obtain for yourself an Inquisitor miniature or any Imperial Agent model and throughout August, paint it up and send me your a pic of the finished miniature and or a link to where you might be sharing this online (a blog, Instagram, whatever). Also, please leave a comment below announcing your commitment to this challenge (this is not required, but it does provide motivation to the rest of us). 

Inquisitor Draco, my 2021 Conclave Inquisitor. 

You're not just limited to an Inquisitor specifically, you can paint members of their retinue to accompany the one you might have painted for a previous Conclave or any Imperial Agents your Inquisitor may requisition. A good gauge of this to check out the Imperial Agents index cards, but you're not limited to those. Heck, the more Blanchitsu you getz the better! 

And Inquisitor and retinue from 2020 by Da Masta Cheef. 

You can message me directly at neverness92@gmail.com, and send to me either pics or a link to your own blog (Instagram, whatever social media platform you prefer). Of course, I'll post my own updates here as well. We will kick this off on August 1st, with the Conclave itself (the post where all the final finished pics are showcased) to happen on the weekend of September; I will know more as we get there. That should be plenty of time for most of us -I hope!

Now I got to figure out what I want to paint... 

And figure out who gets a Mohawk this year. 

The 2022 Inquisitional Conclave

 

At the secret asteroid stronghold deep in the galactic south, a number of ships transition from the warp into realspace. After identification codes have been traded, and vetted to every party's satisfaction, smaller vessels are launched toward the base. 

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Wezley Sharlz Vinderthoff the III was the first arrive with the bombastic flare of one of his station. A chorus of servo skull vox casters played orchestral music with all the pomp and pageantry one expects from this distinguished Inquisitor, but being the first Inquisitor to arrive ment that none of the others could actually witness this grand arrival.

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Wezley Sharlz Vinderthoff the III. By Da Masta Cheef.

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Tibadaux was the next to arrive, whipping her slower servitor attendants along.

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Tibadaux. By Da Masta Cheef. 

She was followeded a motley retinue if Throne Agents although it seemed unclear who they answered too. Nevertheless they arrived and were ready to receive their next orders. It's assumed that Inquisitor Othias may have sent them in his stead.

Just a Retinue. By Da Masta Cheef 

Fresh from the Devos IV campaign an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos, dressed suspiciously like a xenos, arrived with his retinue. The Inquisitor declined to declare a name, instead flashing a rosette and proceeded to the meeting chamber. 

An assortment of agents by Zzzzzz 

The final shuttle was revealed to be hosting Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus, now sporting a big mohawk, who took to the meeting chamber some haste. It was a fairly small gathered this year, but there were enough characters here to proceed with this year's agenda. 

Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus. By Neverness.

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Ok, that was a fun one. This year was a low turn out, but those of us who did this had some fun doing it. A few folks reached out to me to say that they weren't able to get their Inquisitor done on time for a variety of reasons or hope to participate next year instead.  It's  a cool to me, I do hope we get more next year, but regardless I have enough Inquisitors to keep this up for a few more years. 

If you enjoy these kind of challenges the next one coming up that I intend to participate in is Dreadtober. I think I got mine already figured out too...

Inquisitional Conclave 2022 -Week 2

 

I wish there was a miniature of this model by John Blanche. Anyway, welcome back to the Inquisitional conclave. Some progress updates by our contributors so far:

Da Masta Cheef has completed one miniature so far, 

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Tibadaux

He has a retinue in progress as well, but more importantly he has finished another Inquisitor also. Da Cheef has been an active hobbiest this season. 

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Wezley Sharlz Vinderthoff the III. 

At first I misread "the III" as "the ill" and I couldn't help but to wonder what foul warp affliction Da Cheef was making this guy suffer through...

Over on Devos IV Zzzzzz was whipped out a Throne Agent with a bit too much Xenos influence. And an impressive and esoteric retinue to accompany them. 

All is not as it seems...

And I made some progress as well on my model. 

Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus WIP.

Over on Twitter danvers-rfw started a Show Me Your Inquisitors thread that has some interesting miniatures that I think you should check out. 

And that's all the updates for this week. I might not have an update next week as I will be heading to the "local" Warhammer store to order the store anniversary Inquisitor model. It's always a bit of a day trip to go down to Knoxville. 

Meanwhile if you wish to have your Inquisitor join the Conclave there is still plenty of time to contribute.  

 

Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus (Part 2)

 Progress continues on Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus. Or my interpretation of her anyway. 

The black armor she wears was painted using Abaddon Black.. I am either going to paint her like the example GW uses on the packaging or using the scheme I use on my Dark Eldar. Either way,  I feel like her armor is based off of the Dark Eldar's  design, so I feel that's the direction to go in. I painted her Mohawk using a Magenta Ink that I have had since the '00s. It was a flip-tip lid and amazingly it hasn't dried up. Anyway, I thinned it out a bit and used it like a Contrast Paint to get the effect I wanted. Actually most of this model was painted in Contrast Paint ad this stage. The bones, including the wraithbone of the Shurikan Catapult, was painted using a Contrast Paint called Skeleton Horde. I absolutely LOVE this color! 

The dark areas of the cloak was painted using a thinned Dark Reaper. Then the whole cloak was washed with Space Wolves Grey Contrast Paint. It was an interesting look, but it's not quite how I wanted it to turn out, so I will be doing a bit more to work on this in the middle coat stage. 

The lil' dragon was painted using a Militarum Green and Warp Lightning Contrast Paints. It's an interesting effect so far. 

Progress shall continue soon! 

Inquisitional Conclave 2022 Week 1

 

Here we are at week one of this year's painting challenge (paint an Inquisition model in the month of August) and we haven't got much to show you just yet. Perhaps it will be a small gathering of Draxus miniatures this year?

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Tibadaux.

Da Masta Cheef has been working on Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Tibadaux. She is also joined by a eclectic retinue which he is also assembling along with her. 

Lord Inquisitor Draxus. 

I am working a Draxus model as well, but I am keeping  her as Draxus but with a few tweaks. Most obvious being an Escher Mohawk. 

Inquisitor with bodyguard?

A mob of archo flagellants.

And ZZZZZZ has sent an Inquisitor team but with no details. Keep an eye on Devos4 to see how this project turns out.

Ok, so this wasn't submitted to us, but I did stumble across this insanely inspiring piece by danver-rfw on Twitter that you just got to check out:  Lady Eleanor. 

That's all for this week, let's see what we can knock out next week. Remember, anyone can join in, just send pix or a link to me either at neverness92@gmail.com or via of FB group. 

Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus (Part 1)

 It's August, which means it's time to engage in the annual tradition of painting an Inquisitor. This year I decided not to raid the archives to select one of my old museum-worthy miniatures to finally paint, but to go with one fairly new. And by new, I mean this decade.

Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus.

The miniature I selected was Lord Inquisitor Kyra Draxus. She came out in 2020 towards the end of Warhammer 40,000 8th edition as part of  the Psychic Awakening event. (By the way, despite owning a few of those books, what the heck was the ramifications of the Psychic Awakening to the 'plot' of the ongoing  Warhammer 40,000 narrative?)

The sprue and the  necessary construction guide.

Anyway, I had a version of this miniature in China cast. But I discovered that I already had it in plastic so I gave it to Da Masta Cheef. I was ignorant to the complexity of this miniature until I started to build it myself. It is unnecessarily complex for a monopose figure. Cheef vented about this on blog as he is building it for his August Inquisitor as well. 

Mostly built.

One change I decided to make was to add a Mohawk from the Necromunda Escher expansion pack. I had to trim off the attached scalp to better align it to her head, but with a little persistence I was able to make it work. 

The other part of the dragon. 

You might have noticed that the dragon wasn't fully assembled. That's because I think it's going to be a challenge to paint this model already without that thing's coiling tail being in the way. I primed the model this morning and I hope to make some progress on it by next week.  

Inquisitional Conclave 2022 kickoff!

Welcome to the 2022 Inquisitional Conclave!*  The rules (more like guidelines really); all you have to do is obtain for yourself an Inquisitor miniature and throughout August, paint it up and send in to me your progress updates. Or you can just send in a pic of the finished miniature. Whatever works for you.  The conclave itself,  where I show off the final pieces, will be in early September. I'll get the actual date locked down as we get closer to the end. 

Inquisitor Greyfax by Siph Horridus.

You're not just limited to an Inquisitor specifically, you can paint members of their retinue or warband to accompany the one you might have painted for a previous Conclave or any Imperial Agents your Inquisitor may requisition. You can use existing GW models, 3rd party ones, or go nuts on a kitbashing spree. It's open 

Inquisitor Tharok Radron by Floyd.

You can message me directly at neverness92@gmail.com, and send to me either pics or a link to your own blog (Instagram, whatever social media platform you prefer). -Whatever you want to do. Of course, I'll post my own updates here as well.  Again, the Conclave itself (the post where all the final finished pics are showcased) will happen in the first week or weekend of September; I will know more as we get there. That should be plenty of time for most of us -I hope!

Inquisitor Draco, by Neverness. 

If you need some ideas or just want to see what happened in the previous conclaves check out 2021 and 2020's conclaves. Please spread the word and let's have some fun! 

*if you came here today expecting Art Monday, sorry but the 1st of August this year happens to be on a Monday. We'll pick it back up next week.