Inquisitor 28: Magos Explorator Hiram Zeiss

Here’s another model I built for the retinue of Inquisitor Antrecht. It’s also the first model I ever built for Inquisitor.

Magos Explorator Hiram Zeiss

Magos Hiram Zeiss has always been a treasure hunter of sorts, but in his case, the treasure in question is knowledge. Educated on Mars, Magos Zeiss quickly displayed a thirst for knowledge that even his senior Mechanicus priests found slightly disquieting. Additionally, all attempts to keep his questing mind contained within the confines of a Mechanicus Forgeworld proved futile. Magos Zeiss was thus elevated to the rank of Magos Explorator and inducted into one of the Explorator fleets  constantly scouring the galaxy for lost knowledge from the Dark Age of Technology. It was during this quest that Zeiss and his team came under attack from a Xeno-cult on the world of Varunth Minoris, and the Explorator party was nearly wiped out. It was only through the intervention of Inquisitor Antrecht that Magos Zeiss survived. He has been a member of the Inquisitor’s entourage ever since.

It would, however, be very naive to think that his association with Antrecht is based on some kind of gratitude: Aloof and emotionless beyond measure, Magos Zeiss has simply realised that the Inquisitor’s highly unconventional modus operandi is very likely to lead him to all kinds of forgotten places and, by extension, to many caches of forgotten knowledge as well.

In his pursuit of knowledge, Hiram Zeiss has gone further than most members of the Mechanicus, and it is his relentless quest for things some would say were best left forgotten that have alienated him from his fellow Magi. At best, the techpriests of Mars regard him as a wayward child. But there are also those who think that Magos Zeiss is walking a very dangerous road and that his quest had best be ended before he ever reaches the end of it…

Let me start off by saying that I think that there is a severe shortage of Mechanicus models. Sure, you’ve got the Enginseer and a FW Magos, but apart from that, the Mechanicus doesn’t get much love from GW, which, in my opinion, is pretty hard to justify: Those guys are just oozing the gothic madness that is Warhammer 40k.  So it was clear to me that one of my Inquisitor models would have to be a Magos. Once again, I was drawn to Phil Kelly’s models for inspiration. It doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to see that I was quite heavily inspired by his Magos Demitri model when I built Hiram Zeiss.

The base for the model were a WFB Empire flagellant body, head and right arm. I think that the tattered robes are a very good fit for an obsessed Magos on the run. I added a respirator and bionic arm from the Cadian Command sprue and cobbled together some kind of servo harness from a couple of bits. This piece of equipment helps him on his quest for knowledge by providing all the tools you might need in dark and abandoned places, i.e. a chainblade and some kind of plasma cutter. The upside is that the tools can also be used to tear through any competition if need be 😉

Looking back on it now, it might have been better to go for some believable Mechadendrites instead of the clunky backpack, but oh well…

All that was left were some finishing touches: The head of the chainaxe (a nod to Phil Kelly’s Magos Dimitry) came from the Khorne Berzerkers and the original (bare) feet of the model were replaced with feet I cut off an old Space Crusade android. This was supposed to show that Hiram is a bit more augmented under the hood than you might initally suspect.

When painting him, going for red robes was a no-brainer. I did however try to make them look threadbare and stained. For his skin, I went for a bloodless, dead look. The rest were various shades of metal and rust. I did also try to add a (fairly primitive) lighting effect to his plasma cutter.

All in all, I wanted him to be clearly identifiable as a Mechanicus model, but at the same time to look somewhat unkempt and frayed around the edges. Just the right appearance for a rogue Magos who is obsessed with his quest for knowledge…

So there, my second INQ28 model. Hope you enjoyed the ride 😉 C&C are always welcome!

Thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!