Catachan Devil
The creepy crawly kicking off my Alien Flora & Fauna project is a Reaper Frost Wyrm that I mined from COMs Reaper Bones mountain. I very quickly painted it to represent a classic death world predator from the Rogue Trader 40K era.
Catachan Devil as depicted in Rogue Trader
(image from http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/)
The Catachan Devil is the 40k death world poster boy: a vehicle sized insectile jungle predator. The concept predates the Catachan Imperial Guard by a number of years (about six or so I think). An official miniature to represent the creature was never manufactured.
Like most of the creatures described in the Rogue Trader bestiary section, players were expected to represent the model with something suitable that they had to hand rather than an officially sanctioned model. Many of the interstellar terrors described in the RT bestiary are renamed and slightly re imagined D&D creatures, as they were the most commonly available passably sci-fi miniatures available at the time.
Catachan Devil as shown in 3rd edition Codex: Catachan
Even so, I doubt that Rick Priestley and co planned for the devil to be represented by a miniature quite as large as the Reaper Bones model shown here. A model this size does fit with the tank-destroying descriptions in the background though and is a fun pulp sc-fi monster for a bunch of adventurous space types to have to deal with.
I was quite pleased when I spotted that the Reaper Ice Wyrm model looked quite a lot like the illustration of the devil in Rogue Trader. Its not a 100% match (and it doesnt need to be either) but it is a lot closer to the artwork than might be reasonably expected. Which is a bit of a fun.
Reaper Ice Wyrm (rear) and GW Necromunda Milliasaurs (front)
As I was quite pleased with the very quickly applied painting scheme that I used on my Necromunda milliasaurs back in 2011, I decided to apply the same quick technique to this model. That finish is very quick to paint (a couple of hours in front of the TV on a weeknight) and quite insectile looking.
Turnover is important with these NPC type models so the devil didnt get the same sort of attention that one of my Inquisitors or whatever would have got – expediency is key here – but I reckon that it looks pretty good all the same. It also ties the milliasaurs to the devil which in turn retcons the milliasaurs as catachan Devil young (or “Devilspawn”). Having a matching set of giant bug larvae suggests all sorts of fun scenarios to me.
The trouble with camping…
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2013, 40K, Alien Flora & Fauna, Bones, Bug, Reaper Miniatures, Rogue Trader, Sci-fi |
sho3box 
That looks fantastic! It’ll be no joke for the RT retinue that thing jumps out on!
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Thanks WP!
Its a satisfying large model alright. While the entertainment value of a Wandering Monster type generating a TPK is questionable, I do hope that the devil here manages to notch up a kill here and there.
I mean, look at it. I f that showed up in a movie a number of supporting cast would get bumped off, possibly even a co-star.
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These look awesome!! And your Reaper Ice Wyrm and GW Necromunda Milliasaurs would make the PERFECT Nothing beast and wretches proxies for Malifaux!
I have been hunting for some for a while since the LE boxes sold out! Yay!
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ThanksCG!
The Ice Wyrm is available in metal (pricey) and “Bones” plastic (a lot cheaper, but its a bit like working with plumbing fittings). The model shown is Bones plastic. Its hard/impossible to properly clean the mould lines from, but for big monsters like this its cheap, light and easy to assemble.
The milliasaurs are OOP for quite a while now. I dont know if they can be bought cheaply or not. They have some charm though, if that is the right word for man sized carnivorous centipedes.
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I want! I think this is a case of the proxy exceeding the artwork. This is a much more apt devil IMO. Size wise devils are supposed to be small to huge so the sizing is perfectly fine.
I think that she does look a little like she is doing Jazz hands! Ahhhhh!
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Very kind TOVB. I did get a kick out of the moment when I looked at the figure and made the Catachan Devil connection – serendipitous.
Its interesting that you referred to it as a “she”. Its the young that imply that I suppose.
It is a satisfyingly large model, just the thing to put a speed bump in the path of some smug holier-than-thou Imperial types. Whether it bursts from the undergrowth, hurling eviscerated bodies left and right while crying “Somebody stop me! Chaaaaahhhh!” and performing its signature “jazz talons” move remains to be seen.
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Dare I sing it….
Folks, here’s a story about Minniepede the Moocher
She was a red hot hoochie-koocher
She was the roughest, toughest frail
But Minnie had a heart as big as a whale
Hidee hidee hidee hi
Oh oh oh oh
Hee dee hee dee hee dee hee
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
CHAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhaahhhhh!
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Y’know, its Chaka Kahns “I Feel For You” that goes through my head from this model. As in its a “Chaka – chakachakachaka – chaka kahn Devil”.
Its my wifes fault. Any time that I have mentioned anything to do with Catachan in the last twenty years (more times that I probably should have in other words) she has responded by singing that poxy song. She finds it very amusing.
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Really nice stuff!
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Thanks Barks!
Return on time spent on this miniature is quite high. The paint job was quick, but its appropriate and good enough (TM).
Job done 🙂
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I love the scheme you’ve chosen for it! The frost wyrm was the figure I was most looking forward to from the Bones Kickstarter! I had the exact same idea for it’s use in 40k skirmish (and post-apoc, Necromunda etc.) – http://instagram.com/p/eNFuBlGbSo/ – ran out of spray whilst priming him, should have it painted soon!
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Thanks Chris. The paint scheme was quick to apply but quite effective I think.
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Also, the Oxidation Beast looks like a perfect 40k fauna – I’m planning on getting a few to use for this sort of thing! There’s also some nice giant centipedes in the Horrorclix line – I have 3 re-based and repainted for this!
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I have had my eye on those Horrorclix for years but the last time that I checked they were a little pricier than I was expecting. I probably have my space centipede needs covered with the four above anyway now 🙂
I have three Bones oxidation beasts in the queue for this project. As rust monsters are the obvious inspiration for the RT ferro beasts thats the role that they will be used in.
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Oh, I’m liking this one! I’ll have to dig this one out of the Bones pile and paint it up now. Your scheme is also pretty effective, I wonder if I should crib it as well…
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Thanks Azazel.
Lean, tall, angry, multi-purpose, thick wih nostalgia, annoying while sleeping outdoors and quick to get from start to finish – whats not to like?
But enough about me. The Catachan Devil worked out well too.
Black undercoat, white overbrush/drybrush, Baal Red wash all over, thinned Tamiya Clear Red all over, teeth/claw/eye details, gloss varnish, base, ready to perform imaginary miniature eviscerations.
Thanks for the feedback!
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