Inquisitor Jaq Draco (Part 1)

by | Aug 4, 2021

 

Hello. Welcome to my Inquisitor project for this year's Inquisitional Conclave. To sum up, the goal is to paint an Inquisitor, or any model that is part of an Inquisitor's force, by the end of the month of August. 

Close-up of Draco from the Chaos Child cover. 

I intend to base mine off of Inquisitor Jaq Draco from the old Ian Watson Inquisition War series.  I was tempted to paint him black in a faux Death Watch scheme and call him an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor, but the temptation to paint him like old Jaq was too great. 


I found this model a few weeks ago while assessing my old Cadians, and he was in with a box of unopened blister packs I forgot I had. As you can see, he's easy to forget about since he was packaged backwards! When I opened him up from the blister I was surprised to find that the foam backing was disintegrating in a crumbly dusty mush. This is something I have never seen happen to a blister pack before and it made me glad to free him from that. 

The disintegrating foam.

A weird side effect of that foam disintegration is that it seems to have somehow stained the Inquisitor's face a darker color. A weird curiosity that will no longer matter by month's end. 

Draco's new base.

The two best color references (and the word 'best' is truly strained here) of Inquisitor Draco is the original cover of the Inquisitor novel (also used on the cover of White Dwarf 129 -and the better reference, thanks to the larger size) and the original cover to Chaos Child. Both show Draco in red Terminator armor, but each painting shows that these are both different suits. You can compare and contrast them below:

White Dwarf 129




Chaos Child 1st edition.

The Chaos Child cover is a strange one but it does give you a better look at Draco's scorpion facial tattoo. I am not sure yet how, and if, I am gonna tackle that particular detail. And a back banner... well, I'm not 100% opposed to it, I am more concerned about long-term storage. We'll see how things shake down. Also, the miniature was clearly an inspiration for these pieces as Draco doesn't have a bionic leg. I am not committed enough to this project to convert a leg back on him. Besides, I think I prefer that bionic leg anyway. 

That's it for this week, we'll see how far I get by next week.  Also, feel free to send me a WIP shot of your project, as I would like to share other folk's progress on their Inquisitors in a post this weekend,  Thanks again!