Blog: Rogue Heresy
Owner: fuljason
Author: Jason Fulford
Post: Rogue Trader RT601 - Pirates - Part 3
Hello, coming to the end of another Oldhammer project, the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader RT601 Pirates, my previous blog posts on this odd range can be read here Rogue Trader RT601 Pirates - Part 1 and Rogue Trader RT601 Pirates - Part 2. This post features some of the gems of this range, still odd miniatures but certainly some of the more desirable miniatures of the range like the beloved 'Sensei'.
I have included advert again for reference
First up we have we have Pirate 4 aka the famous Sensei and although the miniatures in the advert are unnamed he is the only one who isn't named Pirate on his tag, it clearly states 'sensei'. The Sensei concept first appears in the 1988 Realm of Chaos Slaves to the Darkness book on page 217 and there are some lovely illustrations that show various Sensei's which I included below, now you can see from the advert above the Pirate 4 paint job is something special compared to his counterparts adorned in gold armour and white robe, it makes me think was this odd bod pirate range which was released a month before the Realm of Chaos book hit the shelves was going to be originally part of something that was going to be a Sensei Warband range maybe before all the miniatures got their variants made up to bulk out the pirate range, at the time I believe Citadel were churning out miniatures for Warhammer 40,000 and needed to keep the momentum up but the Realm of Chaos books still needed work so maybe this Pirate range was down to that. The Sensei warband list appeared in Realm of Chaos Lost and the Damned on page 186 and if you look at the equipment for the followers I think this Pirate range could be an easy fit as a Sensei Warband range.
Now I always try and point out variants, well it could be Pirate 19, I tried really hard to pair him up with Pirate 19 because if you follow the pattern they come in two's (and one 3) and you can usually work out the original miniature and then the variant with all his donors, Pirate 19 below has very similar lower leg plates and leg spacing so the only candidate I am putting forward for now.
Paintjob I went for neutral tones pretty much how I like my home interiors done, he's not interested in looking flash like your archetypal pirate as he has a higher purpose so buff, medium grey, stone grey, khaki was the colours of choice.
I have painted and modified this miniature before the second I got it back in 1988 and here a shot of him with my 2021 version.
Following on we have Pirate 24, he is quite a portly fellow in a boiler/space suit unfortunately accentuating his obesity but hopefully he thinks his flash equipment will draw the beholders eye from his poor space diet, the helmet is an amazing sculpt with an eye augmentation, nice blaster and my favourite bit the power glove which is like an industrial machine, I think he is a later modification of Pirate 1 as some of the lovely detail on from Pirate 1 is obscured but still visible if you take a close look.
Next up is Pirate 1, his bloated appearance with roll of fat around his neck, this miniature always made me think of Baron Harkonnen and I'll always wanted to chop up another copy to get my very own 'floating fat man' as he was called in the Dune movie by the original Emperor, this pirate is totally Rogue trader era it's a totally bonkers sculpt, like Pirate 24 he is in his boiler suit and he is has some pretty expensive equipment, consisting of a Chainsword and arm replacement multi missile launcher. His head also ended up on Pirate 21 but I painted the fatty neck as a scarf on that one.
Following on we have Pirate 8, this is a cool miniature definitely a Pirate leader with his cigar hanging out of his mouth, two guns an Autogun and some sort of taser looking pistol and kitted out with a visor and body armour, I am still looking in the loft for his variant Pirate 2 I may have to trade him in to complete this project.
Lastly we have Pirate 19, now this is my long shot for a Sensei variant, it's all about the legs
I went scruffy biker style with this one with his head scarf, rosy drinkers nose and black leather waist coat, I painted angel wings on the back as a nod to Daryl in The Walking Dead.
Only 3 more to do, 2 in the stripping jar and one of them I can't find at the moment but on a plus note I found the original Pirate 20 without the visor the variant was shown in my last post and painted him, he'll be featured in my last post of this range soon Rogue Trader RT601 - Pirates - Part 4.
I have a ridiculous amount of drafts on the go so stay tuned, they will trickle out.
thanks for dropping in,
J
Continue reading at Rogue Heresy
Owner: fuljason
Author: Jason Fulford
Post: Rogue Trader RT601 - Pirates - Part 3
Hello, coming to the end of another Oldhammer project, the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader RT601 Pirates, my previous blog posts on this odd range can be read here Rogue Trader RT601 Pirates - Part 1 and Rogue Trader RT601 Pirates - Part 2. This post features some of the gems of this range, still odd miniatures but certainly some of the more desirable miniatures of the range like the beloved 'Sensei'.
 |
Rogue Trader Pirates part 3 |
I have included advert again for reference
First up we have we have Pirate 4 aka the famous Sensei and although the miniatures in the advert are unnamed he is the only one who isn't named Pirate on his tag, it clearly states 'sensei'. The Sensei concept first appears in the 1988 Realm of Chaos Slaves to the Darkness book on page 217 and there are some lovely illustrations that show various Sensei's which I included below, now you can see from the advert above the Pirate 4 paint job is something special compared to his counterparts adorned in gold armour and white robe, it makes me think was this odd bod pirate range which was released a month before the Realm of Chaos book hit the shelves was going to be originally part of something that was going to be a Sensei Warband range maybe before all the miniatures got their variants made up to bulk out the pirate range, at the time I believe Citadel were churning out miniatures for Warhammer 40,000 and needed to keep the momentum up but the Realm of Chaos books still needed work so maybe this Pirate range was down to that. The Sensei warband list appeared in Realm of Chaos Lost and the Damned on page 186 and if you look at the equipment for the followers I think this Pirate range could be an easy fit as a Sensei Warband range.
Now I always try and point out variants, well it could be Pirate 19, I tried really hard to pair him up with Pirate 19 because if you follow the pattern they come in two's (and one 3) and you can usually work out the original miniature and then the variant with all his donors, Pirate 19 below has very similar lower leg plates and leg spacing so the only candidate I am putting forward for now.
Paintjob I went for neutral tones pretty much how I like my home interiors done, he's not interested in looking flash like your archetypal pirate as he has a higher purpose so buff, medium grey, stone grey, khaki was the colours of choice.
 |
Pirate 4 Sensei - front |
 |
Pirate 4 Sensei - back |
 |
Sensei as illustrated in RoC SoD page 217 |
I have painted and modified this miniature before the second I got it back in 1988 and here a shot of him with my 2021 version.
 |
Old vs New paint jobs |
Following on we have Pirate 24, he is quite a portly fellow in a boiler/space suit unfortunately accentuating his obesity but hopefully he thinks his flash equipment will draw the beholders eye from his poor space diet, the helmet is an amazing sculpt with an eye augmentation, nice blaster and my favourite bit the power glove which is like an industrial machine, I think he is a later modification of Pirate 1 as some of the lovely detail on from Pirate 1 is obscured but still visible if you take a close look.
 |
Pirate 24 - front |
 |
Pirate 24 - side |
 |
Pirate 24 - back |
Next up is Pirate 1, his bloated appearance with roll of fat around his neck, this miniature always made me think of Baron Harkonnen and I'll always wanted to chop up another copy to get my very own 'floating fat man' as he was called in the Dune movie by the original Emperor, this pirate is totally Rogue trader era it's a totally bonkers sculpt, like Pirate 24 he is in his boiler suit and he is has some pretty expensive equipment, consisting of a Chainsword and arm replacement multi missile launcher. His head also ended up on Pirate 21 but I painted the fatty neck as a scarf on that one.
 |
Pirate 1 - front |
 |
Pirate 1 - side |
 |
Pirate 1 - back |
Following on we have Pirate 8, this is a cool miniature definitely a Pirate leader with his cigar hanging out of his mouth, two guns an Autogun and some sort of taser looking pistol and kitted out with a visor and body armour, I am still looking in the loft for his variant Pirate 2 I may have to trade him in to complete this project.
 |
Pirate 8 - front |
 |
Pirate 8 - back |
Lastly we have Pirate 19, now this is my long shot for a Sensei variant, it's all about the legs
I went scruffy biker style with this one with his head scarf, rosy drinkers nose and black leather waist coat, I painted angel wings on the back as a nod to Daryl in The Walking Dead. |
Pirate 19 - front |
 |
Pirate 19 - back |
I have a ridiculous amount of drafts on the go so stay tuned, they will trickle out.
thanks for dropping in,
J
Continue reading at Rogue Heresy
