Wednesday 6 November 2013

SHOWCASE: Inquisitor Dias Lastrade

Hello world, it's been a while, since we last spoke I got promoted at work, realised its a lot more work than I thought and then went and got married, but I have finally found some time to actually paint a model! (I know!) Quite some time I built this inquisitor model to go with the 3rd company of my chapter, the keepers of the flame.

First a bit of fluff. Inquisitor Dias Lastrade was picked up by the ordo hereticus during a raid on a suspected cult headquarters. In truth the whole thing had been a set up to lure a puritan inquisitor into a radical's trap. In truth the orphanage was owned by a tiny faction of the ordo malleus. The children collected within the walls of the orphanage were special, each gifted in some way from the day they were born. Dias was a most unusual case, he had been born to everyone's eyes a normal, healthy boy only when he went for his first medical scan did the ordo become aware of him.

Dias had been born the perfect soldier against the warp, his bones, were marked with pentagramic wards, at first they believed it to be a tick, but in truth no surgery had been used, Dias had been born touched by the emperor, marked for some great journey in his name.

The puritan Inquisitor Luther Christos Benadictus, took all of the surviving children into his custody, but as not so kind to the the young inquisitor who had though himself Luther's better. Upon discovering Dias's unique quality, Luther immediately took Dias as one of his interrogators.

Dias Learned quickly and in just 30 years attained the rank of Inquisitor. His first act as an inquisitor was to lead a purge of the Spinica system. A small system overrun with heretics, mutants and daemon worshipers. This crusade was to be the making of Dias's career as an inquisitor, against all odds, at the heart of the system as only he had predicted, Dias found a daemon prince, a foul, unholy beast ruling over his corrupt and savage empire. Ultimately Dias defeated the beast, loosing his left hand and lower arm in the final confrontation. Mere hours later, a detachment of the 8th brotherhood of the Grey Knights arrived to aid in the beasts destruction only to find their work done for them and Inquisitor Lastrade near death.

Seven months had passed by the time Dias awoke aboard the Indomitable Wrath of the Throne. By his side sat Luther, his face ashen with worry. Dias had been saved by the grey knights and rushed back through the torrents of the warp to Imperial space. Emergency surgery had saved his life but the fight with the daemon had left Dias changed, the wards placed upon his bones by the emperor has completely disappeared, their energy expended in the battle.

For days Dias contemplated his future within the inquisition, could he continue, he had always been so sure of his own mind being incorruptible but now, could he be so sure? The question echoed though the psychic interlink of the grey knights still aboard the black ship. It was the grey knights who, after consulting with the council of terror and mars, approached Dias to offer him salvation.

An experimental surgery was performed, designed to emulate the black carapace of the space marines was inserted over Dias's skeleton. Into this carapace, was inscribed the Aegis, a secret held only by the grey knights. To replace his lower arm, lost in battle, the brother justicar gave up his own gauntlet of aegis encrusted power armour. Within this a bionic arm and hand were built and attached to Dias.

After this honour, Dias become one of the most active inquisitors in the ordo, leading crusades into the far reaches of the imperium, reclaiming fallen worlds and defending the worlds of the imperium. His last recorded engagement was on Brachov where he fought alongside the Keepers of the Flame to cleanse a key world of taint.

After this Dias Lastrade disappears from almost all records, only some know his final fate, an un-heroic death at the hands of a fellow Inquisitor's assassin, a crime paid for in blood, reaped by the combined military and political might of the Keepers of the Flame and the Grey Knights.

More Reading on Inquisitor Dias Lastrade - The Brachov Report

So, the model! I always loved this inquisitor model, adding the grey knights hand and sword was easy as this is a joint on the model anyway.


Now, it's been a while since I painted anything, so it's far from perfect, but overall I am very happy with the finished model. The only bit that a really dislike are the grey robes, the highlights are just too harsh.

I'm happy with the red, though a final highlight might have made it pop that little bit more. The white trims and the yellow sash really did test my patience, note to self, don;t paint white a yellow for the first time in months and expect a quick result.) I did however persevere with both and got quite a nice finish.

"Make my day punk,"
The model cuts one hell of a pose, simple but, well, a little threatening. I think that theme can be found across the entire model. Simple, minimal even but threatening none the less.

I think I am going to ease myself back into hobby stuff. I have some awesome single miniature projects lined up that should only take a few days each so, watch this space.