First Captain Sigismund - My version and thoughts on the model itself

Hi folks

Seeing the recent battle report pics with a few of my models unpainted has inspired me to do something about it! Funny what gives you motivation sometimes but in my experience its just best to go with it as I get so little time (often v late at night or before the rest of the household gets up!).

There was a reason why I had been putting this model off - one night when I was rushing I didn't check the temperature of the water I was using to bend the sword and inadvertently plunged Sigismund's legendary blade into boiling water. The resin sword became insanely warped (no pun intended!) and looked to me to be completely irretrievable - in short Sigismund went back in his box and I couldn't face going back to him for a while.

That was until Dave saw him on the table and suggested getting a hairdryer on the resin to straighten it. Well trying this was one of my best hobbying discoveries recently. It works way better than the dipping in water method; you can be more specific about what you want to do and also heat the resin more or less to get the right effect.

Once that was done I was away again. The model itself was simplicity to build, although I thought I had picked up all the mould lines but once again (keeps happening to me) I discovered a couple once putting the base coat on. I ended up scratching away at one then re-painting. The other I have hidden with a bit of battle damage!

Base - I used dry brushed leadbelcher over chaos black, then a little codex grey dry brushed on the rest of the armour. For the tracks a mix of leadbelcher, hull red (vallejo) and a mix of forge world rust weathering powder and larihman medium. I picked out a few details in gold to add a little contrast.

Character - Lovely to paint - great detail, the studs being my favourite. Main thing to mention is using an oil wash again. I airbrushed gloss varnish and then washed with Windsor Newton burnt umber and white spirit. Once everything else was done I airbrushed on satin varnish to take the shine away that the gloss varnish left. I love the effect i am getting with this. In general I have mirrored the Forgeworld paint job. Its not very original of me, but hell, I loved it so there you go.

I have given a lot of thought to the word 'Terra' that is written on the back a
nd considered lots of other words I think represent him. However, after reading about how he basically runs around the final battle of Terra, chasing down each and every Traitor Champion he can find and beating them, I think that this is one word he should rightly have on his armour. So thats staying too!

The verdict: This is one of the best character models I have worked on, in fact I think he is the best! The sculpt was reportedly completed by Keith Robertson (weird that Forgeworld no longer name the sculptors) who is also reported to have done...

- Phoenix Guard Terminators
- Gravewarden Terminators
- Salamanders Firedrake Terminators
- Salamanders Pyroclasts

So the guy is on a roll with his early Forgeworld career (nearly every other sculptor has done three times that, Will Hayes has done nearly 60 sculpts so Keith has a lot of catching up to do!).

I love the pose and his expression. There is great movement but his expression is one of focus and serious death dealing. His armour is bulky and obviously enhanced, but stays athletic to represent his reputation as one of the greatest swordsmen in the Imperium. The blade is also as thin and duelist-looking as it can be with resin. The blade is also super long which speaks to his great strength. As you can tell I love this guy. I even love the base he comes on so there is every chance I will field him on the big one!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, good luck getting your models on the table top in full and glorious technicolour!