INQ28 - Inquisitor WIP

He who allows the alien to live shares in the crime of its existence.

With Guardsman Vell complete, I have now set my sights on converting an Imperial Inquisitor of the Ordos Xenos. Fond memories of Dan Abnett’s Eisenhorn trilogy convinced me that I should convert an Inquisitor with a subtle undercover look, rather than an Inquisitor lord marching into full-fledged war against against Chaos, donning brazen power armour littered with litany papers and circled by servo skulls and mechanical cherubs. And while there is nothing really wrong with that, it portrays a different scale, one more inline with Warhammer 40,000, where you command huge armies and the individual gets lost amidst a sea of bodies. I want something more personal and individual. More espionage and intrigue than plasma guns and chimeras.

I chose one of the Death Korps of Krieg Commissars to use as the model’s foundation, primarily because of his fantastic trenchcoat (Thanks Simon Egan!). The trenchcoat is something I feel is easily associated with Warhammer 40k, but is strangely absent in the current range of models. While impressive, the trenchcoat is still unobtrusive and mundane, preventing the model from seeming ostentatious and garish.

The trenchcoat really captures the gloomy mysterious air that many of the Kopinski pieces did in the old Inquisitor rulebook.

The original commissar’s sword was just too cool to discard for the inquisitor.

Luckily, the model has a wonderful and dynamic pose, capturing him drawing a slender sword at his waist. This motion and action seemed appropriate, allowing me to keep it as Forge World intended. The first real course of action in the conversion was replacing his head (requiring the removal of the air filter/generator on his back) with one of the heads from the Cadian command squad. I really like the strong profile and the sullen look captured in his scarred face. I am not completely sold on his hair and am debating on removing it entirely, or maybe even replacing it with a different hairstyle. Maybe adding a tangle of tiny cables at the base of his skull?

Nary an alien or heretic will escape this Inquisitor’s steely gaze!

To move away from the commissar vibe, I removed the epaulettes on the model’s shoulders and added a shoulder pad complete with a motion-tracker. I am also planning to replace the model’s chest ornamentation with some sort of armor, maybe flak armor from a plastic Cadian guardsman.

I am calling this little shoulder mounted unit a motion-tracker, but it could serve as a whole host of different things.

I have also by toying with the option of trying to include an Inquisitorial “I” somewhere on the model (maybe on his sash…). However, with the undercover, secretive avenue I am aiming for with the model, I am not sure if him brandishing his seal of office is too much?

Feel free to leave any comments or thoughts about the model! Also, if you have any suggestions or there is anything you would like to see on the Inquisitor…

-Harlon Nayl