Far Corfe: Rubber Ronny the Sewage Solutions Specialist

Rubber Ronny: Here to read your meter...

I was lucky enough to get into Games Workshops oeuvre right at the start of the 90's, a point where things like Hero Quest and Space Crusade were propelling its mainstream popularity to new heights and the resulting creative energy meant everything they came out with seemed to be gold.

But at the same time they were still selling off a lot of their older stuff, the things like Talisman, that were more traditional RPG-related fare, and so tended to get pushed to the periphery in their stores, so you could still pick up things like the Talisman Timescape minis for a reasonable price.

Talisman Timescape: The Village People of the Rogue Trader Era?

I picked up the indestructible plastic package and never really saw the wonder of what it contained back then, as it was just non-specific minis to my eyes, things to cut up and kitbash as additions to my IG and Space Marine units.

It's only been recently that I've really dug them out, tried to salvage them from my first fumbling attempts at conversions and wept at the damage I managed to do to such amazing old-school minis back in the day.

Unfortunately my Chainsaw Warrior was ruined beyond saving, and I'd already sold off the Archeologist and Tech back in the noughties for almost £30.00 a piece. But the Cyborg, Space Pirate, Astropath and Astronaut were still there and (mostly) intact.

I've already painted up the first two as members of my Underhive Scum gang (Boss Sass's Saggy Bottom Boys) and the Heapsters, so they'll have their moment soon enough. The Astropath is still awaiting a new paint-job, but the Astronaut just got out of rehab - so here he is.

My Auspex detects a blockage...or maybe a floater?

Don't attempt anything without the tube!!!

In my infinite early 90's wisdom, I lopped his head off and replaced it with a Space Marine Sergeant's from the RTB01 box, replaced his axe with a bolter (because nothing's cooler than a bolter, right?) and then stuck a combat knife, blade downwards, on his other hand so that he could become an officer in an IG penal detachment.

Needless to say I ditched all of that and stripped the miniature, then gave him a Bretonnian Man-at-Arms head which seemed to jive well with his other metal plates, removed his left hand completely and replaced it with an Auspex from a Techmarine and then sculpted him a little hood round the back to hide the join between the collar of the head and the original mini.

For some reason I've been really into the idea of characters in mundane roles recently, so this guy was painted to be a grimy technician type, grey on the metal plates edged with Leadbelcher to simulate where the metal has worn through and Iyenden Darksun on the suit underneath (heavily washed with Agrax Earthshade and then Nuln Oil) to simulate a rubberised jumpsuit encrusted with an accumulation of filth.

I actually love the fact this guy doesn't carry any overt weapons, as it reinforces the notion that he's simply a working NPC that might get caught in the crossfire at any given moment. I painted him mainly the same colour as the faeces macerators attached to the buildings on my Far Corfe terrain, so maybe that's his job, maintaining the toilets? I see him fitting in well with Prospector Pete and some other more average NPCs that I have on the painting table.

What do you think?

Did I do the Astronaut justice?

Do you remember the Talisman Timescape miniatures or have you painted them yourself?

Let me know with a comment below.