Saturday, September 5, 2015

Johann Tzel - Reliquarist

Here's my latest Pulp40k model, one I'm quite proud of!
I've had this Reaper figure kicking around for ages. I bought it with Pulp40k in mind. With all those phials and needles I thought it would be perfect as an inquisitor's offsider - an expert in interrogation and persuasion.
However, I was planning a sci fi version of Pulp Alley's Perilous Island campaign, and the first game calls for an archaeologist. At the same time, I had some 40k artwork with some strong similarities to the figure. I got snipping and gluing, and this is what I came up with.
 A skitarii backpack, with a bionic eye for examining relics. The 'arm' for the eye is from the Kataphron battle servitor kit (a gold mine for bits). The eye itself is from a tempestus scion (stormtrooper to you and me).
And here he is, finished.
I'm really happy with the way he turned out. He looks like he belongs in the 40k univese. He echoes the artwork without slavishly copying it.
He is from the batty, quasi medieval end of the 40k universe (the bit I love!). He is a reliquarist - an expert charged with the task of establishing the authenticity of venerated relics. You can see he sports his own treasured possession - the shin bones of St Regelus the Martyr.
 And he's hard at work, examining the supposed bones of another long-dead saint.
Bonus points for anyone who can figure out the historical figure Johann is named after.

10 comments:

  1. Wow, that's the real deal! I really like how you solved this one, bravo! Regarding the name, I'd bet for Tetzel, the indulgences seller, but I'm not sure if that was what you had in mind :)

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    1. Thank you! I'm really happy with the way he came together. And you got the reference. Relics, indulgences: it's a loose association, but it's the one that sprang to my mind.

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    2. :D I believe you got quite a charming character there, all the stuff you added works perfectly.

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    3. Thanks, I had it sitting there for quite a while even when I knew what I wanted to do with it, just trying to work out which bits would actually achieve what I wanted. The Kataphron servitor kit is an absolute gem for this kind if stuff!

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  2. Great job! Love the references, will steal this one for myself.

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    1. Glad you like it! And feel free to steal away. I know I've knicked more than my fair share of ideas from others!

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  3. What a brilliant conversion. I've started a strange band of miniatures myself for no readily apparent purpose really, much to the annoyance of my significant other.

    On the archaeologist's name. He's not named after the cleric Johan Tetzel is he? The once inquisitor of Poland.

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    1. Thanks Mike. They are a fun genre to work on: lots of room for quirky details. Do you have photos of your stuff up anywhere?

      And yes, named after Tetzel. The idea of a relic 'authenticator' brought up all sorts of echoes back to the pre-reformation Catholic church.

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  4. I do but mostly on Facebook though I am encouraged by some of the comments to perhaps start a blog of some sort.

    All the best.

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    1. Let me know if you do go down the blog route: always interested in seeing others' work!

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