Jalara, Assassin - Marduk

I enjoy coming across random challenges and contests on Instagram. They often prompt me to paint a mini that has been sitting around for years. This time it was the "Fabulous February Females" challenge.

I have dozens of cool female miniatures in the queue, so it was hard to pick. I settled on 'Jalara' from Tin Man Miniatures. She is from their Barsoom style setting... which usually implies scant clothing. Not sure if she is a proxy for a character from the John Carter series.

I also recently painted up the latest miniature from Hydra, the leader of the Imperial Faction... Marduk.

Jokaero 40K Xenos Acolyte

I painted up a Jokaero for the 'Inq28th' in February. I was pretty thrilled when GW released this guy many years ago... little did we know he would herald a bunch of Rogue Trader era stuff coming back into modern 40k. Also, I was never willing to spend a bunch of money on the old version!

Almost done painting all of the metal 2000s Inquistion acolytes and followers now. Just a bunch of gun servitors and the metal Stormtroopers!

Palansi Half Breed - Cobalt-1

Cobalt-1 is one of my favorite ranges. They're hard to get a hold of these days, which is a pity as they have a wacky Rogue Trader vibe. I'm going to try to work one or two in every time I prime something, so that I get the ones I have painted up.

Here's a 'Palansi Half Breed'... the Cobalt-1 rulebook doesn't really say anything about him. 

Rogue Trader - Reaper Chronoscope - Xenos Servo Skulls

I acquired a Reaper 'Chronoscope' Time Chaser a few years ago... the plan was to use her as a Rogue Trader. This was before GW released their three plastic ones :)

As is often the case, the mini sat in the lead pile for years until the right time came along, which was a 'Fabulous February Females' painting competition on Instagram. I forgot to take a WIP shot of her, so I ended up painting another mini for that comp.

I had come across a bunch of  Photoshopped images by artist Steve Payne a few years back, which seemed to have a 40k vibe to them. He was taking paintings of Russian generals and shopping in an actor's face. I added a Sigourney Weaver of my own :)

I glued the prints to some magnetic sheets and added some frames I printed off on my Mars2.

I also try to make a new servo skull each month for #servoskullsaturday, a little initiative I started which challenges me to post a servo skull every second Saturday.

Imperial Noble - Artel W

 I acquired a 'Judge' miniature from Artel W Miniatures a few months ago. He was primed and ready to go at the end of 2021 but I didn't want to rush painting him as he's pretty detailed. 

 

 

I imagined him as a doddering and potentially inebriated Imperial Noble, using his lineage to curry favor and spread his family's influence. I used some decal from Forgotten Chapters, along with some freehand.

I based his color scheme, and the scroll he is holding, on the Earl of Squanderfield in "The Marriage Settlement" by William Hogarth. He's using his family tree to seal a marriage contract involving his rakish son, so that he can get the money to finish his grand mansion in the background.

Warduke

When I saw a fan sculpt figure representing Warduke on an Oldhammer miniatures Facebook page, I knew I had to have one. I had the action figure as a kid (which went missing), and ended up replacing it with another a couple years ago. I'd had him on the backburner for a few months and he ended up being my first finished mini of 2022.

Looks like the sculptor went off an old drawing rather than the action figure, but still super cool :)

Mal and Droyt - Unsavory Relic Dealers

Two ne'er-do-wells I kitbashed a couple months ago. Mal and Droyt take advantage of pious fools by selling them 'genuine' relics of Imperial Saints.