The Deadly Assassins (Part 1)

Deadly.

In my recent post regarding Secret Weapon Miniature's conversion rings I used four Imperial Assassin models as an example of how their conversion kits work. They turned out well and I intend to acquire more conversion rings!

My unpainted model of the Imperial Assassin 

I have collected Imperial Assassin miniatures since I started playing 40K. When I first saw the Doctor's Warhammer 40,000 miniatures way back in the last days of '88, one of the stand-out models in the collection was his Imperial Assassin, the bad-ass one that looks like a ninja. He hadn't painted it yet. The previous owner had only ink-washed the model, and it looked like one of the stained miniatures that used to be in the catolog section in the back of White Dwarf. Even in this state I thought he was awesome.

The Doctor's Imperial Assassin painted back in 1989

 Eventually the Doctor painted the model in a camouflage scheme, leaving the gun as it was. I can bear witness to the efficiency of this camo-scheme: in a few classic Rogue Trader games we had that bastard actually truly hidden on the table before springing out and kicking all sorts of ass. "Hiding" was actually a rule in the early editions of 40k, and the terrain we used back then was mostly clumps of moss to represent heath. This model excelled at hiding in that stuff. So much so that us players would forget about him for hours.

The Doctor's assassin. Painted in 1989. 

Also I also fondly recall a big game back then when he lost a fight with a genestealer and was implanted with a genestealer embryo. Ah, fun times.. It was a very epic game! Seriously we were playing Apocalypse-sized games way before anybody else was but that moment alone stands out as the (hilarious) highlight from a 6 way (it could have been more) all day-long and well into the night, Rogue Trader game!

I think the Eversor  inherited that short sword

Yes, GW used to sell miniatures with slotta-hex bases!

Anyway, I eventually managed to track down a model of my own (in the '90s he was sold over here in the States along with an Inquisitor model, the one that looks like he has VW Bug for a chest) as he was a somewhat vital model in the early days of 2nd ed 40k. In time I tracked down all the original Rogue Trader-era Assassin models, and here they are in a flossbox along with some other Imperial Agents.

Having fun identifying all that! 

In this box we have 2 sets of the Assassin temples, each set being a unique pose with exception of the Culuxus. The last model of the middle row next to the Calidus is the Space Eunuch, whom I always thought would make a great Inquisitor or Inquisitorial Agent. Next to him are 2 female assassins, one with a sword and wearing light robes and one being a horribly sculpted woman armed with needles and wearing synthskin outfit. That last one is probably the precursor to the Calidus Assassin design concept  and is mostly interesting due to it's scarcity.

The 4 deadly assassins with their converted Secret Weapon bases.

The Assassin models in the Secret Weapon post have been on my table, off and on,  for years now and I have been tinkering on them slowly (barely at all, to tell you the truth). The bases have been fully converted and I think they came out great.  Inspired by that post I have continued to tinker away on them, and here is how things have progressed:

Completed Eversor!

The other night, I had a burst of inspiration and I just went all-out on painting the Eversor and I was able to knock it out from start to finish! Knowing my precious free-time was very much fleeting I didn't even stop for the typical progress photos, I just concentrated on finishing him! I will talk more about this model in part 2...