The Festival of Christophorus - Steersman's Honor

Excerpt from Esoteric Pilgrimage Destinations of the Gothic Sector, Volume 7, by Adept Matthias Laetorius.

"The sixth day of the Festival of Christophorus is ‘Steersman’s Honor’.  On this day, Navis Nobilite display their chapterhouse’s relic in the primary forum. Their conveyance bears an image of Holy Terra, wrought from Terran metal. This symbolically shows their role in spreading humanity from humanity’s home planet.  For the populace, this display is a fraught one.  Navigators are feared by most humans- and particularly the Ophatrans, who believe warp spirits cling to void travellers.  However, the chance to see the sculpture of Terra compels them to observe, and many pilgrims faint from the joy of being near a physical piece of Holy Terra.”  

 

 

40K Adventurers - Navigator - Forge World - Astropolis - Trolls Under the Bridge

While I was rummaging through my box of Astropolis miniatures in search of the Squat technicians for my previous entry, I rediscovered some of the other weird figures in that range. Some of them struck me as being useful for Navigators or their entourage, and I decided to tackle the 40K Adventurers Navigator for the succeeding project entry. As usual, I wanted to make a group of it, so I painted all the navigator types in my collection. 

First up, the official GW Navigators. 40K Adventurer (1988), Forge World Horus Heresy Navigator (2014), and Espern Locarno (Blackstone Fortress, 2018). Espern was already painted, back when I did the Blackstone Fortress set.

I based his color scheme (and the group overall) on two of the Judith and Holofernes paintings by Lucas Cranach. 

 

 

 

I purchased this miniature from Trolls Under the Bridge a couple of years ago, and he patiently waited until now to join his fellows.

Lastly, we have the four Astropolis miniatures that I felt fit the theme. They could be full fledged Navis Nobilite, or perhaps tech-adepts that specialize in the psychic wards and force fields that protect the Navigator from the effects of the Immaterium. I gave one an Adeptus Mechanicus cog stripe to reflect his training. I absolutely love the one with the optometrist 'phoropter'. Such a weird and characterful idea. The two with tablets have decals from the excellent Forgotten Chapters Kickstarter.

All in all, I really like the miniatures in this group- although I feel that the sculpting styles do create a bit of disparity and they don't mix as well as some of the other strange pairings in my collection.