Standing on the battlements of Terra, Sigismund was charged with the forlorn hope. He was to meet in battle and vanquish any enemy command personnel. Lords, Warlords, chieftains, the demonically warped remnants of those he once called cousin, the Black Templar became unto death itself.
My earliest memory of Sigismund was a short story in a White Dwarf. I’m not sure if he was mentioned in earlier iterations of the game, but this was my first taste of the Templar Lord. It was set just before a battle and Sigismund contemplated the change in livery. He no longer wore Dorn’s gold, but the Emperor’s Black, his personal champion to take the field and kill enemy commanders. It was the prelude to the battle with Khârn, before he would become known as the betrayer.
The story was promoting the limited edition Emperor’s Children miniature. You have to understand that these types of limited edition models were rare at the time. Games Workshop didn’t have the manufacturing might to dedicate to a single one-off piece. This miniature was rare, and special, and had a huge sword.
The legend of Sigismund has expanded with the mythos of the Heresy. John French’s wonderful portrayals of the character have given a substance to the man, where there were only snippets of lore.
This Sigismund is part of my private collection. Every layer of armour has been painted in painstaking detail. Each segment has received a chip, a laceration, some minor imperfection from the thousand, thousand wounds inflicted upon him at the siege. And yet, peaking through the murk and the grime, you can still see the rich lustre of his plate, his purity undimmed.
The aim was to show a battered Sigismund, but still vital, still energetic. The industrial carnage of his base was heavily weathered, with ochre weathering powder applied for contrast.
If you would like a series of tutorials from PDF to videos showing you how to paint this type of black armour click below. Or if you would like a bespoke commission of the Templar lord for yourself please get in touch!
2 Responses
Great work with the paintjob! And I have one question. The original miniature is bald, as he is also depicted on all the latest book covers. But you gave him blond hair. I assume you sculpted this yourself. Are there some old arkwork where he has hair? You mentioned the old White Dwarf short story, so maybe there are also some other old sources you got your inspiration from, to make him appear like that?
I can’t remember exactly why I sculpted the hair on him. Very, very vaguley I recall a conversation with one of the Forge World staff (writer or sculptor) about how characters can change. They can grow hair, cut it, grow beards, so if it’s mentioned in one book they have facial hair, and not in the next, it’s not an inconsistency – they simply shaved it! I’m not sure if I sculpted this before or after that conversation – but that’s my weak defense of sculpting his hair hahaha!