This latest post is something rather special. While I was compiling my Borders Princes army a few months ago and studying the 4th edition Warhammer Empire army book, I was reminded how good the John Blanche illustrations were, my particular favourite being one of an Empire hero. I thought how great it would be to create a conversion based on the drawing. Quite a tall order I thought, as he was pretty unique and couldn't find a figure that resembled him that closely.
Then I thought how about commissioning somebody to create one for me! Another tall order really, I thought.
Then after being pointed in the right direction, I got my wish. And here it is.
Sculpted by the immensely talented Alessio Cisbani of Wolfbane Art, this has come out as true to the original drawing as you could possibly get. Additional credit to Chris Nichols for the excellent job of casting him.
The original green
And the original artwork
For obvious reasons it's been sculpted for personal use and not for commercial purposes.
I must say I'm more than delighted with the result and it's exceeded my expectations. The detail on this figure is gorgeous, particularly the intricate lion carvings on the sword. If you are looking at going down the commissioned work route, I thoroughly recommend Alessio.
Obviously this particular paint job is a display piece only but having cast a number of copies I'll be definitely using others for warbands and in time having one in the army.
