The First Rogue Trader Miniatures: Part 3

This is the third post dedicated to Citadel's first Warhammer 40K miniatures. I, of course, am not the first Oldhammer fan to take up the challenge of painting the rare miniatures in the RT1 range, and I'd like to pay some tribute to those who inspired me.

There are at least three others who have painted the full set of 14 miniatures:

• In 2018, Jason Fulford at Rogue Heresy completed the range and presented his superb work. I love his imaginative colour choices and the way he paints faces. My particular favourite is his rendition of the "Ground Combat Trooper" (aka Abbadon). The blue-glass faceplate is a masterstroke.
• Goblin Lee finished his set in 2015. His work nails the authentic feeling of Rogue Trader. Highlights for me include his "Dark Elf Space Trooper" and the "Imperial Bodyguard" (get a load of those pants!).
• Giuseppe Chiafele's work on this range is archived at the Stuff of Legends. If you haven't seen it before, take a long look! Giuseppe is a professional and it really shows. I very much like the way he painted all the Imperial Troopers with the same colour scheme -- it's a nice change from the mercenary mishmash that I (and most other painters) employ when tackling the range. I wish I knew whether Giuseppe did these minis on commission or whether it's from his personal collection.
• Then, there's Axion's work at Magpie and Old Lead. I don't think he's done the complete range, but some of his work on individual models is not-to-be-missed. Check out his exquisite work on the "Piscean Warrior" or the "Space Goblin".
• Finally, check out Dave Stone's version of the "Piscean Warrior" - a strange, deep-sea paintjob that I just love.

Now to my own work. Here are the last five miniatures from the RT1 range...

First is the "Pirate". As I've mentioned before, this is a reworking of "Cedric", a fantasy C01 Fighter from 1986. Both were sculpted by Bob Naismith. Personally, I'm sad there weren't more adaptations from the fantasy line to Rogue Trader - it adds a Buck Rogers-esque flavour to things. I really love this miniature for the dynamic pose and quirky details.

And now the original Space Elf: the "Dark Elf Space Trooper". This miniature is like a piece of concept art showing the first rough ideas for the Eldar. With the small head, huge backpack, and narrow legs, he (or she?) resembles a hornet. I took the trouble of creating a triple view of this miniature because it's hard to capture the strange dimensions of the sculpt by Bob Naismith. Although it is flawed, I wish there had been other miniatures made in this line so that the ideas could have been developed more fully. In the event, responsibility for the Space Elves was taken from the veteran Naismith and given to fledgling sculptor Jes Goodwin because the management at Games Workshop thought that Space Elves wouldn't sell.

The "Imperial Heavy Trooper" would later become "Faststar John" in the RT7 range of Mercenaries. He's another sculpt by Bob Naismith. I've got a deep personal attachment to this miniature because it was one of the first painted Rogue Trader miniatures I ever owned as a kid. My older brother painted him. He gave him to me after I agreed to go out and buy him some fried chicken.

The hits keep on coming! We've already had the first Space Elf, and now we get the first Space Ork miniature -- known in this range as "Space Orc with Blaster". At this early stage of the game, not only were Orks simply called Orcs, but Bolters were called Blasters. Space Orks wouldn't deviate too far from this original mold -- the mishmash of gear, the spikey helmet, the heavy boots and the metal shoulder-pads all started here. (I'm giving you a triple view so you can catch all the orky details).

And finally, the last miniature in the range: the "Imperial Heavy Infantry", also known as "Space-Dout Sam" in the RT7 Mercenary range. I'm lukewarm on both this miniature and my paintjob. In another sign that this was very early days in the world of Warhammer 40K, he appears to be carrying an M16.

If you know of anyone else who has tackled some of these miniatures, please post about it in the comments. I'd love to see some other versions. Thanks!