Weekly Waffle #327 – The Captive Unleashed
6th April 2024
This week’s Weekly Waffle feels a bit of a come down after the last couple of weeks. As I mentioned last week I’ve come back with lots of new projects and I’m hoping some new skills. So it’s time to start making some use of those skills. I’ve not started any of my new purchases yet because I wanted to carry on working through some of my existing backlog that I had planned before going to Addepticon. But don’t worry the new stuff won’t stay on the shelf for long I just need to clear away a couple of these existing projects before it will start to filter through into what appears on the site.
I’m a big fan of Dan Abnett as a writer and the Eisenhorn novels are some of his best. It’s the way he brings to life a side of the Imperium outside of what you see on the table top that I really like. The day to day activities and the ministrations in the pursuit of power that take place in the background. Regardless of whether it is the halls of power or the darkest corner of the under-hive. If the Inquisition catch wind of it then you can expect no mercy.
Every Inquisitor has their own retinue made up of all sorts or characters from across the Imperium. From former imperial Guards Men and Arbites, to scholars, under-hive scum to phycrs to null staff. They can all be found in service to an Inquisitor and they will be used as needed with no concern for their own wellbeing. But far and away the most unusual member of his retinue is the daemon host Cherubael.
Cherubael is a daemon prince bound into a Daemonhost by Inquisitor Quixos and force to join his retinue. Following the Quixo’s execution, he was rebound and pressed into service by Inquisitor Eisenhorn. But even though he is bound and nominally in service to Eisenhorn he is still a daemon prince and is constantly plotting to escape.
Games Workshop do make a Daemonhost mini but I’m not really that keen on the sculpt. However the ‘Captive Unleased’ mini from Artel Miniatures to me really captures the essence portrayed in the books. Just hovering there tethered down by chains and bound with archaic scrolls. Ready to break free at any moment to reap havoc on an unsuspecting populace. That may be a little flowery but it is a very nice mini that really portrays the essence of a Daemon Host.
I’ve had this model, along with a few others, for a few years now but just never got round to painting him. Having recently painted up the Gregor Esenhorn mini I thought he now needed a retinue. And Cherubael is going to be the first in that retinue. I picked him first because I thought painting all of the flesh would be a good challenge, but I thought it was also something I was capable of doing. The model was a little bit fiddly to clean up but when together well. I did think about painting it in sub-assemblies to make access easier but couldn’t really find a way to do this. So it was build it all and just try and find a way to get the brush everywhere it needed to go.
I started off with a black surface primer and then a zenith highlight with a light grey. For the flesh I decided to try and keep things as simple as possible and used some Foundation skin tone paints that I have. I like these because you pick a base colour and then there is a shade and a highlight to along with it. You could absolutely mix up your own colours but his was just a way of taking that sept out of the equations. So that I could just concentrate on technique and trying to make things as smooth as possible. In addition to these colours I also had a pale flesh for a final highlight and I mixed up a purple wash to go over everything. My thinking behind the wash was go give the mini a colder feel to the flesh.
I’m not sure if the flesh does feel colder or not but I do like how the wash has worked. It’s helped to smooth out the blends and give just that something else to the skin tone. It’s not just plane skin tones so feels a little bit more ‘real’. The blending could be better I think there is room there to push both the highlights and the shadows but I’m happy with it what I have and think those are things I can think about for future projects.
The chains holding Cherubael down were simply done with metallics and given a wash to dull them down a bit. I didn’t go with rusting them up because I thought they would be constantly shifting about so would stay rust free. For the purity type seals I went with a bleached bone effect highlighted with a little bit of white but then to try and tie it into the flesh I also gave this a purple wash. I like how this turned out and it inspired me to do the wax seals in a lighter purple instead of the usual red. Just to make them look a little bit different. On the purple theme something that you can’t really tell from the pictures is that the eyes are also completely purple, even though they look black.
That just left the loin cloth that was guarding his modesty. I really didn’t want to add anything colourful here so just went with something similar to the purity seals and used a bleach bone with a yellow wash to give it that faded dirty look. I like how it’s turned out and does look like he is clothed in rags.
The base is just a standard Necromunda style but I decided to go with a 40mm version because I think the model sits better on this size. I don’t really have a game role this mini so was happy to just having something that looked good. It sits really well next to the Eisenhorn mini and I think it will look even better with the other minis I have lined up for future projects.
Overall I really like how this has turned out and I think I have continued to build on the things I’ve learned from pervious projects. Nothing major but I do think my confidence to try things is growing. Simply by repeating steps that have worked before but just pushing things a little bit with project. But what do you think.
For anyone who is interested in a good read I’ve put a list of the Eisenhorn books below. I’ve got this list from Track of Words so if you want to know more about each book have a look at the site. The books in bold are the novels with the others being short stories.
Pestilence (short story)
Master Imus’ Transgression (audio drama/short story)
Regia Occulta (audio drama/short story)
Xenos (Eisenhorn #1) – START HERE
Missing in Action (short story)
Malleus (Eisenhorn #2)
Backcloth for a Crown Additional (short story)
The Strange Demise of Titus Endor (short story)
Hereticus (Eisenhorn #3)
The Curiosity (short story)
Playing Patience (short story)
Ravenor (Ravenor #1)
Thorn Wishes Talon (audio drama/short story)
Ravenor Returned (Ravenor #2)
Ravenor Rogue (Ravenor #3)
Gardens of Tycho (short story)
The Keeler Image (short story)
Perihelion (short story)
The Magos (Eisenhorn #4)
Pariah (Bequin #1)
Lepidopterophobia (Medea Unbound) (short story)
Penitent (Bequin #2)
That’s all I have for you this week but rest assured I have more projects in the pipe line. With the mojo topped up following Adepticon I’m hopeful I can keep a steady stream of content heading your way for some time to come. I have no doubt I will hit a bit of wall at some point but I’m really enjoying my hobby time at the moment so I’ll keep doing these weekly waffle’s. Until next week I hope you all have a good week and may the hobby gods shine on you.
