Rogue Quest Level 6: Human Paladin

Yikes! This post is ridiculously overdue - I've had him painted for 6 months but just haven't found the time or energy to write the post. Maybe it is because I've had so much fun with this project that I just don't want it to end? Even so, bearing in mind the project started for me in March 2016, this is definitely a lot later than I had planned!

Rogue Quest centers around building an adventuring party in the style of D&D or Warhammer Quest, but for the Rogue Trader Universer. It has definitely been one of my favourite projects since getting into the Oldhammer scene, and I highly recommend you check out these fantastic blogs where the idea originated!

LeadPlague 
Magpie and Old Lead
Leadballoony

For Level Six of my Rogue Quest project I had always planned to paint the RT era Inquisitor with Power Weapon model as my leader, and I knew I wanted him to be a Paladin.

Rogue Trader: Forces of the Imperium from WD118 (October 1989) - Credit Stuff of Legends for the pic/info

Not only does this conform to classic D&D tropes around which characters end up 'leading' adventuring groups, but it continues with my policy of having as many of my characters as possible also having some spell casting ability (he will be joining a Squat Bard, a Wyrd Beastmaster Druid, an Eldar Ranger, a Xenos Rogue/Psionic, and a Cybork Barbarian, the only one of the group without some form of casting ability in D&D terms)

The rest of The Unit waits for their boss at the rendezvous point, he's typically late...

However, once I finally got hold of him (and as JB from Leadplague noted, this guy is so Rogue Trader he has it written on his tab!) I was actually a little baffled by how to paint him up to both keep him in sync with the rest of the party, but also give him his own sense of character.

He got a grey base coat for his armour and then very nearly went in the stripper for me to start again. I just couldn't find my mojo to paint him, and the mould line in his head that I had tried and failed to do much about (I was too worried about smushing his already pretty smushed features) was really beginning to bug me.

It was only after I decided to paint the mould line like it was a metal plate in his head (he does after all have a bionic leg, so has obviously been in the wars a few times) and finally got some paint on his face that it clicked for me. He looked a bit like Patrick Stewart! The film and TV references suddenly fired across my neurons and I was painting him with renewed gusto! A character was at last forming in my mind. Bonus nerd points if you get all the quotes/references:




The exact circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Inquisitor Leondegrance Locutus Halleck and his young protege remain a mystery, but the report the data adept had complied included a number of interesting pict captures and audio recordings that had caught the readers attention.

**** COMMENCE FEED ****


**** 34.268.M41. Segmentum Obscura. Planetoid Borg2366 ****

The man in dark grey power armour approached the boy in the alley. The youth had fought viciously, and well, but he was done letting him play rough with his agents. This one had been marked for recruitment, and he could certainly see why.

Inquisitor Leondegrance Locutus Halleck extended his mind at the same time as he extended his hand. His quarry resisted the mental pressure, another sure sign of his potential.

Finally the boy slumped down against the wall.

"Resistance is futile." Halleck intoned. "Your life as it has been is over. From this time forward, you will service the Inquisition."



**** 164.272.M41. Segmentum Obscura. Ordo Xenos training facility, Planet Arrakis ****

Two figures in black body gloves duel with powered blades and blocky, shifting energy fields. The two clash repeatedly before the larger figure seems to lock arms with his smaller, quicker opponent.

As their fields fizz and spark against each other the blade of the larger, older man patiently breaks through the younger man's defences.

Halleck: "The slow blade penetrates the shield."

Aspirant Arturos: "Would you really have drawn my blood?"

Halleck: "If you'd fought one whit below your abilities, I'd have given you a good scar to remind you."

Aspirant Arturos [laughing]: "I don't believe you!"

Halleck [smiling wryly]: "You may test that assumption at your convenience."



**** 201. 272. M41. Ordo Xenos Fortress Monastery 'Excalibur' ****

Leondegrance: "I saw what I saw! The boy drew the sword. If a boy has been chosen, a boy shall be the new Master!"

Inquisitor Uryenes: "NO, I challenge that!"

Sir Ector, Vet. Sgt. Eagle Warriors, on secondment to the Deathwatch: "The sword has been drawn!"

Uryenes: [to Leondegrance] "Are you with us, or against us?"

Leondegrance: "Against you!"

L to R: inquisitor Leondegrance Locutus Halleck, Inquisitor Uryenes, Death Watch Vet Sgt. Sir Ector of the Eagle Warriors. This pict was captured just before the argument turned to what was the best colour to paint your bases, when things really got ugly!

**** 201. 272. M41. Ordo Xenos Stealth Cutter 'Enterprise' ****

The footage shows a handful of frames of grainy internal security footage before the pict cuts out, presumably as the ships stealth field was engaged.

Inquisitor Leondegrance Locutus Halleck [in command of the ship]: "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. Make it so. Engage!"

**** END FEED ****


"And there have been no confirmed sightings of either ex-Inquisitor Halleck or the ex-Aspirant Arturos Pendragon in the intervening years?" The man in the command throne intoned in a voice much softer than his hulking terminator armoured frame would suggest, but no less menacing.

"No my lord, only rumours of rumours. The most promising seem to indicate that he has gathered a team of operatives and works to his own purposes in the outer rim and beyond. Of the youth there are not even those scant tidings." The Adept bowed so low in apology its cowl brushed the floor.

"No matter. Now that I am Master of the Ordo in this sector we will soon hunt down our renegade brethren. The old Master was mistaken in not pursuing the matter as soon as I brought it to his attention immediately after the incident. I will not make his mistake."

Turning his attention back to the adept in front of him Master Inquisitor Uryenes smiled a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"You have done well adept. You may go back to your duties knowing you have served the Emperor's purpose."

He waited long moments for the adept to bow and retreat across the expanse of polished marble flagstones between the throne and the great arched doors to the audience chamber. As the booming echo of their closure subsided Uryenes activated his comm link.

"Lieutenant. Have your men escort the adept to the Apothecarion for mind wipe, and then send my Interrogator to me. You will be going on a little hunting expedition I think."
 

Rogue Inquisitor Halleck leads his team off on their next adventure across the stars!

So! Now we have a full party, a plot, and an ever expanding list of dramatis personae - some from my existing collection and others still to be cast (i.e. others which present an excuse to buy more minis!), and the Rogue Quest project turns out not to be finished after all! Huzzah!

Plans are afoot for more NPCs and bad guys, and a narrative game of some sort for these epic space faring adventurers is looming large in my mind.

Thanks for reading this far! Stay tuned for Space Skeletons and Zombie-Cyborg Ogryns in the next exciting installment of Rogue Quest! :D

Middlehammer Legacy Strikeforce - Project Completed!

Well, it is safe to say this project has more than met my hopes! It's been every bit as much fun as I thought it would be, I've been drawn back into the undeniable charm of Rogue Trader, and I've made some new friends along the way which is by far the best bit!

A huge thank you to everyone who took part, and those who supported us from the sidelines. This was always a hobby project not a painting competition and the background and character of the submissions was what was most important - and boy have these guys got some character! That said there are some pretty decent paint jobs in there too, and great to see so many conversions and kit bashes. Thanks again to everyone for getting into the spirit of the thing 😃

Here is the completed set of minis together, hanging out waiting for the transport off world:

The completed Middlehammer Legacy Strikeforce crew

Congratulations to George who won the prize draw, somewhat aptly as the group seemed to elect his characterful conversion of a Catachan Lt. (a Middlehammer classic imho) the defacto Boss Man of the Strikeforce - although just between you and me, I think the Ork with the power claw, yeah the shifty looking one... No! the other shifty one, yeah, well he might have his eye on the top job of this outfit if the Boss isn't careful!

Thanks again to Axiom for his advice and encouragement when I was kicking this thing off - looks like there is enough interest to do it again next year! 

If you are just tuning in and have missed all the fun, you can catch up on the background to the project here, and look forward to joining in next time!

Meanwhile here are the back stories for the nine members of the infamous Middlehammer Mercenary Strikeforce (with apologies to the original creators for any slight creative license taken for consistency across the group):


Mikael Igge Holmberg's Ork Brothers: Grog and Drog

Grog, Drog and Biter had gotten around the immigration laws on the space station by simply not bothering with them. They just sneaked out of the cargo ship as easily as they snaked aboard it. (I.e. by clobbering two guards and walking away). Now they were free to roam the Space station Aldenaar, the hub of commerce and adventure, time to get some contacts and find a new gig. The brothers had a long extensive career as bodyguards (not so successful) and robbers, quite successful (especially by robbing trustful people who hired them as bodyguards). 

But they wanted a real challenge, some big monster or hoard to get, perhaps a Space Hulk to plunder for tech and materials, so they could return to their small planet Scarus, a haven for ork meks, and have something to show for it. Grog was the better mek, and responsible for modifying the small ancient squat-tech power source to give power to Drogs bionic arm and adjusting it to be small enough to carry around. Thanks to the ancient tech Grogs arm was far superior to the other powerclaws out there. Sadly the same could not be said for Drogs “powersword”, sure it looked good, but the most power he had gotten from it had made them able to fry eggs now and then. Still it glowed with a spooky blue shine and sometimes that was enough to scare off the lesser ruffians that still roamed the seedier parts of the stations they usually frequented. Still, apart from the blue shine, the sword got hot, but did not hurt much more because of it. Unless they were on an ice planet, he rarely had any proper use from it. Still, they were alive and armed, had some credits in their pockets and some raw meat so Biter did not bite them. Life could be worse.

Ahh, there it was, Persephone, the bar where Grog knew he could find someone that could get them in touch with like minded adventurers (not too like minded mind you, it would be better if the brothers were the only ones ready to stab others in the back). No animals allowed?! Sod that, the brothers and Biter walked into the bar and took a booth…. and waited for the rest of the crew to arrive.

Both brothers are Ork minor heroes with a stat line that only differ in two places Grog is smarter, Drog is stronger. Grog also has an extra attack due to Biter helping out.

Drog wears Flak Armour (6*+), has a Powerclaw, and carries a Bolt Pistol

Grog wears Flak Armour (6*+), carries a Bolt Gun and a Sword with a 'Spooky Blue Glow' (counts as a Torch), and is accompanied by his pet Snappersaurus Squig, 'Biter' (+1A)


David Musgrave's Eldar Corsair: Il'yankas - 'Firebrand'

Extract from investigation into the death of Ordo Hereticus Interrogator Evander and the disappearance of the painblade Caleburn.
 
"Subject (designate - 'Firebrand') xenos species eldar; confirmed identification from pict recording [servo skull d11-2 06:12:16 - 06:14:03 320.882.M41] as part of corsair warband Reavers of the Rising Flame; partial match [87%] security vid from remains of independent trade ship 'Blessed Providence' Scarus sector, Segmentum Obsurcus152.903.M41; fleeting image [00:00:06] head cam Adeptus Arbites officer 0013652 Garcia during sacking of Wilhelmsburg 425.955.M41; (rambling discourse from savant Caractacus Mott, associate of Inq Vail Ordo Xenos) summary - subject wearing distinctive, mismatched armour. Identified as partial Tau 'fire warrior' body armour and parts commonly seen on sub-species kroot. Possible links with Faxlignae - Scintilla 260.993.M41; most recent sighting - space hulk 'Foreboding'. Sighted with number of subjects. Confirmed figures as unidentified humans [2], eldar [1], abhuman/mutant [1], orks [2], abhuman [1] - believed to be sub-species [DELETED - security clearance epsilon required].

Il'yankas wears Mesh Armour (5+), carries a Refractor Field (5+ field save), Shuriken Pistol, Powersword, and a Burning Brand (counts as a Torch)



 
David's Beastman: Kalus

"Movement.

At the far end of the service duct heat haze showed up the vague outline of one of the ship's security detail. Dulled where the carapace armour hid the target's body heat, the mutant's sight showed there was still plenty of room for the archaic rifle's poisoned shards to do their work.

Kill.

Motioning with his clawed hand he signalled the first wave of the warband through. A pair of eldar - alike in their grace and swift passage, different in demeanour; two brutish orks, followed by a man, stinking of promethium.

Little had changed. Underhive to the lower levels of a space hulk - mutie gang to mercenary - still following a paymaster and anyone who would tolerate him.

A grin crossed his bestial face - at least there would be plunder and good eating with this lot."

Kalus wears robes and has Toughened Hide (Counts as Mesh Armour 5+), has Vestigal Horns and Infra-vision, carries a Needle Rifle with double combat Blade (counts as two hand weapons, a Knife, and Blind Grenades.


Tim Henge's Ork: 'Enge da Mek

'Enge da Mekboy clearly the ork got the wrong bus and was one of the last of the crew to arrive at the rendezvous. He is a mek from the blood axe clan on a cultural exchange program. He has learned several classic terran dances and rituals such as gangnam style, uptown girl and the quick fit fitters. The group has banned him from "making improvments" to their equipment. He is armed with a knife and pump action bolter (I rolled a combi bolter/shot gun).

He has "std" ork mek stats with a cool and intelligence of 10

'Enge da Mek wears Flak Armour (6*+), and Cool Shades (Counts as Photchromatic Visor) and carries a Pump Action Boltgun (Fires twice per round), and a knife.


Pete Grange's Eldar Outcast: Ostrinus Irbrida

Ostrinus was a fighter pilot for an Eldar outcast group, the Alveare Reavers. The group while employing the normal corsair methods of piracy and smuggling to fund their operations, their main goal was to spread the word of the old ones, the creators, the true gods who will become the saviour of the Eldar. The Captain of the Alveare Reavers, was father and oracle to them all, a wise old figure who had seen more than some farseers, his love for all the crew was boundless, but nothing lasts forever….the Alveare Reavers are no more, Ostrinus will not speak of what happened, he doesn’t speak much at all, since he lost his place among his brothers he joins up with any mercenary crew hiring choosing to loose himself in the battlefield.

Ostrinius wears Mesh Armour (5+), and his Helmet (Communicator, Photochromatic Visor, Breathing Equipment), carries a Shuriken Pistol and a Force Sword. He has Psychic Mastery Lvl 1 and a Psi Level of 10. He has the psychic abilities: Telepathy, Hypnotic Gaze, and Steal Mind.


AVP Shaun's Ex-Squat Trooper/Exiled Noble: Harund Norgyr

Harund Norgyr is the fourth (of twelve) sons of the Lord Kjartan Norgyr, squat warlord and head of the Norgyr league. From an early age Harund was keen to distance himself from his hereditary status and instead enlisted in the military as a basic guild trooper. A natural with a lasgun and possessing his father legendary constitution it would have been easy for Harund to rise through the ranks to a command position. This was not the life Harund sought; he preferred the camaraderie amongst the rank and file brothers, drinking in the guild halls and bleeding on the front lines. 

As the years of service past a lingering discontent grew within Harund and was in turn reflected in the general populace of The Norgyr leagues. Where once the squats were an independent and honourable race of warriors and artisans they increasingly became nothing more than a vassal for the imperium of man. Entire strongholds of the Norgyr guild engineers were dedicated to reproducing once highly guarded STC’s for the imperial army and even battalions of Squat brothers were gifted as auxiliary to the imperial war machine. It was as if the very idea of the Squats was in danger of becoming a footnote in the annals of the imperium of man.

The final straw came when Harund found himself as part of an honour guard escorting his older brother Hakon to meet with imperial dignitaries. Harund like his fellow soldiers wore a full helmet and ceremonial regalia so was unrecognisable to his older brother. 

During the meeting one rather pompous and self-assured imperial asked a fellow officer:
“What are those Things?” pointing in the direction of Hakon and his honour guard.
“Those, those are squats!” replied the other, the disdain obvious in his voice.
The first officer chuckled a forced and humourless laugh.
“Really…I thought they were just short, fat imperial guard”
Harund could feel every member of the honour guard tighten their grips on their axes, each brother waited for the lord Hakon to unleash them upon these arrogant humans…..
But to their shock the order never came, Hakon just joined in the laughter like a whipped hound trying to appease its master. The squat lords of old would have bludgeoned these fools to death with their own recently liberated femurs.

Within two days of their return to the leagues Harund had packed a few personal belongings into a rucksack, armed with his trusty lasgun he left to seek adventure in the stars. The squats were doomed he thought, if that is how the rest of the galaxy sees us then we might as well fall victim to some calamitous downfall.

Harund wears Flak Armour (6*+) and Photo Visor, and carries a Lasgun and an Axe.


My ex-Imperial Guardsman: Hudd Paxton, Human Mercenary

Hudd Paxton grew up in Scottstown, a medium sized mass-agri settlement on Ridley's World. His family worked hard for the local Imperial task masters, and it was a source of pride when the young Hudd was drafted into the IG regiments being conscripted for the campaign to liberate nearby colony world LV426(b) from unknown Xenos infestation.

Poor Hudd has no idea what happened on LV426(b), his mind having been wiped by the Commisariat after the campaigns conclusion, a proces which unfortunately left him a little unhinged. He developed pyromaniac tendancies and a pessimistic outlook which eventually saw him 'accidentally' left behind by his battalion on a remote outpost after an unfortunate incident saw the units entire supply of Malted Recyclahol go up in flames, and the rest of the camp with it. Two days later Hudd looked up, having grown tired of watching the pretty flames, and realised he was on his own...

With his valuable skills as a combat technician Hudd soon hooked up with a band of mercs, his morality about what jobs they took a secondary consideration as long he was allowed to use his favourite industrial flame thrower. Now, if only he could stop himself trying to lick the promethium pilot light again...

Hudd wears Power Armour (3+) and Cool Shades (counts as Photochromatic visor), carries a Flamer, Frag Grenades, Long range Comms unit, and a Combat Technicians kit.


George Shepherd's Human Mercenary Fixer: Captain Shepherd

'Captain' Shepherd had led a varied career by the time he found himself in charge of this rag tag bunch of misfits. And who better to lead them than another misfit? He'd always found the company of other races more pallatable than his fellow humans, no need to put on airs and graces he found, they knew what humans were. Blood thirsty barbarians. Jumping from one orbital space port to another Shepherd has spent time with Eldar pirates, squat asteroid miners (who had kindly fixed hm up with a bionic power fist after a 'temporary breach in health and saftey'had regretably led to the loss of his own, and spent a short time as a middleman for an illegal weapons dealer and a clan of Blood Axe Orks - before that went tits up when the Orks finally ammassed enough ex-imperial hardware to raid the small moon where the dealer had his base and steal his entire stock...

Captain Shepherd wears Carapace Armour (4+), Cool shades (counts as Photochromatic visor), has a bionic Powerfist, and carries a Bolt Gun and a Knife.

The incident on the moon was a few years ago now, and it was after that he started to put the crew together and take odd bits of 'security' work. No questions asked. This last job had paid well enough but had brought some heat. The crew had made their own way to the small Industrial-Shrine world of St. Annes to try and shake off any official pursuit, and were now gathered ready to head to the next job based on the world of Ashford M20 in the far South East of the Quadrant, just off one of the major supply routes between the sector capital and the quadrant border. When the crew found they were being smuggled off world in shipping containers they were less than pleased, but Hudd assured them he'd taken all proper precautions to make sure they'd survive the transit intact. At least mostly intact...

The crew grumble at Hudd about the travelling plans while waiting for 'Enge da mek and Capt. Shepherd to arrive

Thanks again for stopping by, hope you have enjoyed reading all the backstories that we came up with for our crazy kit-bashed Rogue Trader 30th anniversary honouring mercs, and that you are inspired to join us next year!

Middlehammer Legacy Strikeforce: Stats and background

Howdy folks!

Well things are definitely progressing, the first of the Strikeforce minis have reached me from farthest flung northern Europe, and we've had more updates from David and AVP Shaun on their entires. I can't wait to see all these guys together and get them set up for a group shot!

So, next steps are to come up with names, backgrounds, and stat lines for these bad ass motherfunsters! I love this bit and I'm really looking forward to what people come up with for their various mercs 😀

Thanks again go to Pete Grange for helping out with this and bouncing some ideas around!

Rogue Trader Stats

The standard Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader stat line will be largely familar even to players of later editions of 40K, all of the familiar elements are there, the major difference being the additional range of 'mental' stats reflecting the more Roleplaying Skirmish Game nature of RT compared to later 40K. In addition to the familar Leadership (Ld) score, we also have Intelligence (Int), Cool (Cl), and Will Power (WP).

Example RT stat line

I've captured a few of the basic profiles, which I hope cover all the races/troop types that we have represented in the Strikeforce (so far at least!):

Now, tweaking to suit background and to make these glory hunting psycopaths stand out from the crowd is encouraged, and I think people should go with what best suits their idea rather than being bound too much by 'rules', but do remember stats can go down as well as up!

For example, Hudd Paxton, Human Mercenary, is going to have a higher S and BS than your average human, but he is a tad unstable so his WP and Cool stats are going to drop:

Hudd's back story

Hudd Paxton grew up in Scottstown, a medium sized mass-agri settlement on Ridley's World. His family worked hard for the local Imperial task masters, and it was a source of pride when the young Hudd was drafted into the IG regiments being conscripted for the campaign to liberate nearby colony world LV426(b) from unknown Xenos infestation.

Poor Hudd has no idea what happened on LV426(b), his mind having been wiped by the Commisariat after the campaigns conclusion, a proces which unfortunately left him a little unhinged. He developed pyromaniac tendancies and a pessimistic outlook which eventually saw him 'accidentally' left behind by his battalion on a remote outpost after an unfortunate incident saw the units entire supply of Malted Recyclahol go up in flames, and the rest of the camp with it. Two days later Hudd looked up, having grown tired of watching the pretty flames, and realised he was on his own...

With his valuable skills as a combat technician Hudd soon hooked up with a band of mercs, his morality about what jobs they took a secondary consideration as long he was allowed to use his favourite industrial flame thrower. Now, if only he could stop himself trying to lick the promethium pilot light again...

Hudd Paxton, Human Mercenary and semi professional fire eater

Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for more updates on the motely crew that make up the Middlehammer Legacy Strikeforce!

RIP Bill Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) - "Game over man. Game over."

Middlehammer Legacy Strikeforce: Hudd Paxton - Human Mercenary

Hello all, and apologies yet again for the delayed updates on the Middlehammer Legacy Strikeforce Project.

Grandfather Nurgle continues to single me out for attention. I can only assume he wants me for an aspiring champion becuase he is working really hard to defeat the best efforts of modern medicine. Bastard...

Anyway! After some chat on the Middlehammer fb group, and continued illness of myself and a couple of other participants the deadline has now been extended right up until the end of March, with entries to be with me by first week of April, and the draw for the lucky winner taking place in second week of April.

I've had another few updates from participants since the last post, so in additon to my human merc, Pete Grange's striking Eldar, we now have Mikael Igge Holmberg's bruising Ork brothers and their pet Snapasaurus (not the official biological name - it is possibly some form of previoulsy unidentified Squig!) - and we've seen grainy black and white security cam footage of a group of Muties, and a Mohawked Merc with a Tommygun! I've also heard rumours of a couple of Squat ex-guilders on their way to join the group!

Big thanks to everyone for their efforts so far - it has been great to recieve your updates and encouragement!

Here are some snaps of Igge's Orks to go with the pics of Pete's Eldar from my last post.

Igge informs me the min-T-Rex is an old orky extra bit from the Foundry - I love it!

These two are great - there's something about the bright orange hat that reminds me of Jayne from Firefly!

Hudd Paxton - Human Mercenary

So I was looking for some inspiration for my Human Merc with Flamethrower, and I was starting to lean towards the 80s Stadium Rock idea. Then something sad happened. Bill Paxton, an actor who appeared in many of my favourite movies growing up, had passed away aged just 61!

Private, 1st Class, William Hudson: "Stop your grinnin' and drop your linnen!"

Suddenly it all clicked into place. For those who don't know Paxton played one of the most iconic characters in the movie Aliens - Hudson the cynical Colonial Marine squad leader. The work of HR Geiger is well known to have been an influence on the development and some of the imagery behind Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader; the Colonial Marines from Aliens definitely had a touch of the snark about them like the human renegades from the banner picture; and it would be an homage to Bill Paxton and the character of Hudson.

I give you Hudd Paxton: Human Mercenary. 

Not the best lighting I'm afraid, not showing the blue tint on the glasses, or the rust and corrosion on the flamer as clearly as I'd like.

Bag straps need to be brown, some more detail on the comms back pack needed too I think...

A better shot of some of the corosion and rust on the Flamethrower

He's still not 100% finished, but I've done enough for a meaningful update, and he is back on course to be finished before the deadline at least!

I've had a bit of trouble getting an orange I was happy with, but also had some depth to it, but washes of plasma red and chestnut inks have helped, as have highlights of mixed Troll Slayer Orange and old school Sunburst Yellow.

Still some more detail to do on the bag straps, and I'd like to add some detail echoing the graffiti on Hudson's chest plate on the Orange Shoulder pad, but that might prove a stpe too far, so we will see how it goes.

Bill Paxton as Hudson - note the graffiti on the chest armour, which ties in really nicely with the RT Human Renegade.s

The bandana is not a Hudson trade mark, but it does tie in nicely with some other Aliens characters, as does the oversized Flamethrower, both of which remind me of the Smart Gunners, Vazquez and Drake.

Colonial Marines Vasquez and Drake armed with Smart Guns - the psycho sexual interplay between these two characters is an under appreciated element of the film imho.

It was the flame thrower that was giving me most grief though. I really didn't want to go for the classic dirty gun metal look, and had been trying to use non-metallic paints for metals, but once I thought about the flamethrower from the original Alien movie it again all clicked into place. The dirty industrial plastic look and rusted metal was perfect, so I set out recreating it as faithfully as I could.

Here you can see the original movie prop in detail. Image from the AVP Wiki.

Here you can see a less knackered version of a later model (from one of the Aliens computer games I believe), but it doesn't have the same character for my money. The gas canisters (made from a pair of Cadian IG binoculars) have been painted red and white, but I'm probably not going to add any warning signs for fear of making the model too busy.

A later evolution of the same model flame thrower as seen on the AVP Wiki.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering what Hudd Paxton keeps in his webbing, this is a good example - a picture of Hudson's technical kit from the Aliens Movie - image, as per all of the Alien/Aliens movie images in this post, taken from the AVP Wiki.

Hudson was the combat technician for his squad, and I like how this emphaises the different roles that marines have to play in combat - much the same reason I choose to include the comms style back pack on my human merc.

Anyway - apologies again for the lack of regular updates, but hope you enjoy seeing progress so far!

The project has a few more weeks to run and then we will hopefully get all the entries together for a group shot before they head off to their new home (where ever that might be!)

Thanks for stopping by and stay tund for more updates :)