Re: All things Rogue Trader and Warhammer 40K (May 2022: SPACE DWARFS!)

[3Fingers2]

Wow great character and definitely some squat squats 👍

[NotifyGrout]

Those minis are all kinds of nostalgic nice, but that add really takes me back 25 years.

Gave me a good chuckle and brings the message across perfectly; well done

This. The paint work is some of the cleanest I've ever seen- pretty much the opposite of mine 

[sir_shvantselot]

Blasts from the past and so much that is new with amazing paint jobs. Well done!

[eilif]

I know, swiftnick!  Primaris take about three times the time to paint as a Rogue Trader mk6 affair.  They're like Ogres when you're used to the old stuff.

But speaking of old miniatures...



I have poured every ounce of my heart and soul into sculpting a range of 1990s style Space Dwarf miniatures.  I have made the graphics as inhumanely retro as possible.

Sign up for the launch here!

Way more interested in these than the new GW Voquats.  Hoping they size up as well with originals as the pictures suggest they will.

[aliensurfer]

oooh nice

[Curis]

Here's the project details.  And @eilif – there's a scale comparison photo with loads of other manufacturers' Space Dwarf and Dwarf I had painted in my cabinet.

“In evil’s millennium, the squad-fate fell to Schiltron Toothcutter. The Rökthane’s commands combined metal and mettle so that worlds were won by iron arms and iron wills.”

– Hreddi Falsetooth, the Nethyrtruth Edda

I’ve taken to Kickstarter to produce a small range of resin cast 28mm scale Space Dwarf miniatures for collectors, modellers, painters, roleplayers and tabletop wargamers.  This Kickstarter will enable the figures to be professionally moulded for production, and vacuum-cast in high quality resin.

“HOLD THE LINE! BWAA BWAA BWAA BWAA!”

I’ve got a deep passion for the science fiction concept of squat and indomitable warriors heading out into the stars with an arsenal of hi-tech weapons.  I wanted to distill the essence of techno-fantasy metal mysticism into miniature form, and do it with an iconically 1990s twist.

Rökthane Schiltron Toothcutter

Schiltron Toothcutter, Rökthane of the Naudor Thronesworn, is a leader who has earned the respect of his troopers a dozen times over.  His far-sighted view of the battlefield gives his squad a significant tactical advantage – and many battles have been won by the relentless advance or unbreakable defence he inspires.  Famously Schiltron and his warriors defended the Nethyr Edge for 13 cycles, saving countless lives. 

Schiltron is armed with a customised binar-blaster, enscribed on the casing with his runic S initial, and clad in diamond-flak armour.

Röknaut Trooper with Wyrmboltr Rifle

Each Röknaut Trooper is a hero in their own right, respected throughout the galaxies as bloody-minded and unyielding in the face of any enemy. Not only are Röknauts experts in combat, but void travel, toxic environs survival and hardware maintenance.  Their extreme technical aptitude lets them operate where other forces have been destroyed by mechanical realities – and their adamantine-hard will lets them fight even longer still.

Armed with the iconic Wyrmboltr Rifle, and clad in diamond-flak, the Trooper is a bold icon of the Röknaut Thronesworn’s might.

Röknaut Trooper with Helstrom Autocannon

Those Röknauts with distinguished marksmanship are assigned heavy weaponry from the Röknaut armouries to support their squads. Capable of hefting a weapon on their squat shoulders that a human would need a tripod and a loader to operate as efficiently, these warriors are a redoubt on the battlefield, and many legendary figures from Röknaut folklore are famous for their excessive weaponry.

The Röknaut is armed with the deadly dual-barrelled Helstrom Autocannon, capable of obliterating opposing hordes with sustained fire, or rending a hole in the side of a battletank with a tightly focussed salvo.

Classic 28mm Scale

Designed to fit in with the miniatures of your youth, the Röknauts  are sculpted as a love letter to the 1990s, when miniatures were characterful chunks of awesome.  The miniatures are scaled to fit with classic 28mm humans – the Trooper with Wymboltr Rifle measuring 18mm from boot sole to eyeball. 

Left to right: (top row) Macrocosm, Mantic, Ontos, Heresy, Olley’s Armies, (middle row) Citadel, Iron Claw, Ontos, Citadel, Forge World, (bottom row) Nico, Citadel, Ontos, Citadel, Darkling Miniatures

What you will Get

Pledging to this project will get you a complete squad of five Röknauts vacuum-cast in high quality resin.  Supplied unpainted and unassembled.

The Iron Brotherhood in the ruins of Thrallfort-22

I love painting miniatures – it’s the primary way I engage with the whole collecting/painting/gaming hobby.  When the first Röknaut prototype arrived, I completely flipped out, whacked on some Savage Garden and entered a fugue state, only to emerge some hours later with the Rökthane fully painted.  I’m extremely biased when I say these miniatures are a joy to paint, so to triangulate if they’re fun-with-brushes I sent a set of advance castings to Oldhammer blogging supremo Jean-Baptiste.  He absolutely ripped through painting a whole squad of them in a magnificent weathered industrial yellow scheme. 

You can visit the project here.

Rök on!

[Lost Egg]

They look great Curis, is it just going to be the one squad or do you plan more for the future?

[Daeothar]

The forum needs a \m/ emoticon now! 

\m/  Rök On! \m/

[Curis]

Could never be just one squad, Lost Egg.  Röknaut reinforcements are coming any week now.

*********

Back when I was a kid, you could broadly divide robots into two types – the Transformers toys you wanted, and the offbrand Transformers-type toys that were available to buy here in the United Kingdom. I loved both.

While we were awash in the stories of the Transformers UK comic, Transformers Ladybird books, Transformers VHS cassette – the toys themselves were difficult to buy. The UK toy aisles were, however, awash with other companies’ robo-offerings – Grandstand’s Convertors, Bandai’s Robo Machine, Tek Toys’ Robo-Kats, MC Toys’ Moto-Bots, Tomy’s Super Alternators and many more. They seldom had any accompanying in-universe fiction, and sometimes not even a name! My imagination went into overdrive trying to shoehorn these pretenders into the official Hasbro Transformers universe, creating my own contrived space operas that justifed a steam train fighting an aircraft carrier.

"Mega Moto-Bot, my old friend! Optimus Prime needs you to urgently patrol this area which you may notice includes the Glasgow Transport Museum. Again."

Now my play patterns have evolved beyond simply ragging toy vehicles around the floor shouting their names and making explosion sounds and into sophisticated adult wargaming, I thought I’d resurrect some of the netherspace of non-canonical robot warriors and sculpt a gawky 1980s robot chonk. Presenting Autoborg, Robot Warrior of the Far Future.

Autoborgs strive their struggle to battle the wicked armies of the Deceivibots!

Okay, I may have missed the point by not engineering him to transform – or sculpting an accompanying vehicle mode. But I feel his Popeye style forearms and spindly strut thighs really evoke the spirit of a transforming robot toy. I was tempted to paint him in big slabs of bright primary colours to get across the toyetic vibe, but instead chose a striking camouflage scheme which is instantly undermined by big slabs of purple that really contrast against the sandy yellow colour of the base. Generation 2 Megatron eat your heart out.

Statistically speaking, he’s camouflaged against 60% of enemies.

If you’d like to fight science fiction wargames with your own Autoborg, he’s up on my Cults3D.

Ninjabread out!

[Daeothar]

Ooh, that is exceptionally cool!! 

The colourscheme is superb; adding contrast to camo is just the eighties vibe this model needs. No: is entitled to!

This does remind me I still have the entire G1 Transformers cast on both sides in metal to paint up...