Musings on Sigourney Weaver

The title is a little random, but it has been a while since I updated this blog and in lieu of available photos of miniatures (as I am waiting for my friends foot to heal in order to borrow her photography skills) I decided to write up a little piece on stuff I am working on right now and Sigourney Weaver.

At the moment I have my Cosmic Horrors nearly completed before I paint them (yes, I will actually do some painting!) and a small contribution to the massive community Pilgrym project. I've also been conversing a lot with Ana from Gardens of Hecate regarding aesthetics in miniature design and have a minor fantasy-based project in the works under the title of 'The Huntsman'.

However in the meanwhile moments, I have been working on my 'Ready Your Retinue' entries (I have February, March and April completed) even though they've yet to be photographed or even painted, but I hope to have some Grime Lights fiction ready to post alongside miniatures once I get pics of them.

Now, what does any of this have to do with Sigourney Weaver?

Well, during my childhood in the 80's, Sigourney Weaver was (and still is) a big name on the silver screen, often portraying strong female leads and was a huge role model for me growing up. Whilst working on Grime Lights the name Mejila Osu crops up as the Inquisitrix/Mistress of the cell/retinue I am building and in the first scene of the fiction piece I am writing, Tsuki Shōgatsu is meeting with Mistress Osu which got me trying to imagine what kind of woman she would be and the first name that popped into my head was Sigourney Weaver; a strong woman with an iron will, gravitas and a little alluring.

With that in mind, I wanted to make my miniature of Mejila Osu utterly unique. When I first started playing 40k, it was already a few years into its second edition and in the center on the of the rulebook, there was a few pages displaying various miniatures, including this one;

This was also at the same point I was reading the original Boxtree edition of the Inquisition War Trilogy, the covers of which depicted the eponymous Jaq Draco in Terminator Armour. So inspired, I decided that Mejila Osu would be one of those rare members of the Inquisition with an ancient set of human-sized Tactical Dreadnought Armour passed down to her. On my desk right now, I have one of those plastic terminators from the second edition of Space Hulk (which stands quite a bit smaller than their current contemporaries) which I am currently bedecking with lots of details to make it more like a unique piece of antiquity.

Now that I got her torso decided, I wanted to sculpt her head to look like Sigourney herself (not sure if I will be successful though) and originally I was thinking about using Ripley as she appeared in in Alien 3 (with the shaved head) to make her appear a little androgynous, but the Runtherd suggested that I use this photo instead;

Please watch this space to see how it all turns out!

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Grime Lights - Exemplar Tsuki Shōgatsu Part 2

Okay, so it's been about a fortnight and she is finally finished (well, painting not withstanding). I cannot say that she hasn't been a pain at times; her hair for example took me a couple of tries (and lots of squinting at the John Blanche sketch she is based off) before I was satisfied I got it right.

Sadly she won't be painted before January ends because I need her in her nude form for something afterwards, but I will get around to painting her up during February.

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Tsuki Shōgatsu has served as Exemplar under her mistress, Lady-Inquisitrix Mejila Osu, for half a decade now, having operated for another three previously as a capable agent. Exemplar Tsuki Shōgatsu epitomises the notion as 'first amongst equals' in holding her unusual title, as an Exemplar is not a rank of Inquisition acolyte, but rather is considered to be utterly trusted to lead a cell without direct supervision. Typically, Exemplars maintain a coterie of Inquisition agents as something akin to a head of household, ensuring their readiness for when their master or mistress may need them. Occasionally this can also mean leading them into the field directly to ensure the cell operates with flawless synchronicity.

Recently Tsuki Shōgatsu and her team has been sent on a mysterious investigation into the assassinations of an entire cabal of Inquisitors....

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I do intend to write some more fiction-bites as things progress, focussing on Tsuki Shōgatsu, her team and their investigation.

 

 

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Grime Lights - Exemplar Tsuki Shōgatsu Part 1

Two post entries in one day!

Perhaps I should explain a little more. Most of the miniatures I will be posting up here have already been built and have been hidden away from the world in my case because I've been too embarrassed to show them.

This new project, titled Grime Lights, is something new and a little different. For the last few years I've been lurking on Ammobunker's INQ28 section, reading with interest how others go about constructing figures and warbands, choosing themes and paint schemes, but I've been too shy to contribute or comment.

Anyway, for 2016, they're holding a year long project competition around building a member of a retinue for each month with the first being the theme of The First Amongst Equals, representing the 'leader' archetype. Now I will be attempting to join in with this, but I doubt I will post them on the Ammobunker forum itself (mostly because I'm still nervous about coming out of my shell), but I will show the progress here.

For Grime Lights I will not only be building the miniatures for the competition, but also designing a world around them. For this 'first amongst equals' I have taken a leaf from this anime series I've been watching recently, Noragami, and making an Exemplar who will be the head of a series of other inquisition agents, serfs and servants, working under a powerful Inquisitor.

Her name came from the Japanese translations of 'January', which will be a running theme for the other members (so I will be using a language beginning with 'F' for my February entry, 'M' for March and so on). Exemplar Tsuki Shōgatsu will be base on another John Blanche sketch from The Emperor's Will artwork book.

 

My parts for her arrived this morning, so I will reveal her completed form when she is finished later this month.

 

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