Portraits of the Crew of The Ace of Spades 01

As I put the final touches to the next scenario of my The Ace of Spades Campaign, I thought I'd show you some portraits of the crew of The Ace of Spades. The old adage of "a picture is worth a thousand words" certainly holds true. One of the biggest drawbacks of posting a long running campaign online is that the PC and NPC figures never change. I could, for example, describe what clothes Kimberley is wearing on a particular day but the outfit might be very different to what is represented by the figure. So, too, could the weapons and equipment she carries change from day to day. There is no way round that. The 28mm scale figure of Kimberley will always look the same no matter how I describe her in my prose.
I am trying to get round this problem by using different figures to represent the same character. For example, I have just sent away for 12 space suited female figures to represent the crew when they need to venture into a area without breathable oxygen, like outer space or a planet with a methane atmosphere, etc. I only bought 12 because Celeste doesn't need a space suit. I also have old versions of some of the crew that I sculpted many years ago. They may appear at some point. My original sculpt of Kimberley is one I'm very proud of - it's based on the picture of Kimberley from the box art of Space Opera second edition.
Anyway, I have been trawling through Google Images for suitable pictures of the 13 crew members of The Ace of Spades and have found some stunning images that I want to share with you. I'll present them in alphabetical order by Christian names. This post will cover Celeste to Katja and the following post will focus on Kimberley to Storm.

Celeste - Assassin - Age Unknown
Of all characters I had to find pictures of, I knew that Celeste would be the most difficult. She is an android who is unique and her past is shrouded in mystery. I knew that I'd never be able to find a picture of an android that looked exactly like Celeste does, but this picture to the left of here came very close. The purple highlights reflect the usual colour of her armour. She has chameleon skin, so in theory, she could be any colour. The illustration has her firing a large weapon that appears to be part of her right arm, just as Celeste is configured. The head is totally wrong for Celeste but that is my only criticism and it certainly wasn't enough of a problem for me to not include this portrait. It is dynamic and full of movement and perfectly captures how I imagine Celeste being in a firefight.

This next portrait was a much closer match to what Celeste looks like, even though the colour scheme is wrong. The face, in particular, is a good match to the figure I'm using for Celeste. However, her right arm was just like a normal human arm. So, using my artistic skills I added Celeste's disruptor pistol attachment to her lower arm. I am more than pleased with the result. The illustration is not an exact match to the figure, but it certainly comes the closest thanks to my adding her inbuilt weapon. My only criticism of the illustration is that her breasts are too small. She's very flat-chested, whereas my Celeste is a lot bustier.

When I saw this image, my first reaction was that it was such a close match to Celeste that I had to include it. Yes, there some obvious differences -  the head in particular, and the inbuilt pistol is a different design - but the similarities outweighed them, in my opinion. Celeste most certainly could appear all black using her chameleon skin. She did when she took part in the hostage rescue mission on Breuse. I look on this picture as an early prototype of Celeste. Perhaps her makers wanted her to have a more human looking face and so changed it. Or maybe it's a helmet, although I can't think of any reason why she'd need to wear a helmet. Being an android, she doesn't breathe, drink, eat or sleep.

Danica - Scout - Age 110
Finding good pictures of Danica proved to be as hard as finding good pictures of Celeste. I could find loads of pictures of pointy-eared elf females but the problem was that they all had long flowing hair. Danica, however, is a Venetian, and all Venetians are bald. The only pictures of female Venetians were the ones in the N.E.W. rulebook and none of them were suitable for Danica. So, I had to get creative. This illustration to the right was almost perfect for Danica. She is armed with a katana and a slugger pistol, which closely matches Danica's long sword and phaser pistol combination. However, the illustration showed a woman who was clearly human and who was sporting a Mohican haircut. That was close enough for me. Once again, I used a Photoshopping program to alter the head. I first digitally removed her Mohican and then recoloured her skull so that she appears to be bald. Then I gave her pointy ears. Finally, I made her bustier, although not by much. Perfect! This is now a great portrait of Danica.

For this next portrait of Danica, I once again found a picture of a human female with a Mohican haircut to use as the basis for my Venetian scout. The Mohican haircut is easy to remove digitally as it shows a lot of skull. Once again, I digitally altered the picture by removing the Mohican haircut, recolouring her skull and then lengthening her ears. Although this shows Danica in a very static pose, this is how I imagine she looked like when she took part in the hostage rescue mission on Breuse. On that mission, Julia, Katja and Danica were wearing all-black Mesh Armour jumpsuits, which closely resemble the suit shown in this illustration.

Gwendoline Papillion - Nurse - Age 25
Ah, sweet Gwendoline! Finding good pictures to use for Gwendoline was very easy. This illustration to the left immediately caught my eye as being perfect for Gwendoline. I haven't changed anything on it, as I didn't need to. She is clearly some kind of scientist, or perhaps a nurse or doctor. Gwendoline is both a nurse and a scientist, so she fits the bill perfectly. This portrait shows her in a serious mood. She has her long hair tied back in a ponytail, which is something I think Gwendoline would do under certain circumstances, especially when working in the sickbay. Gwendoline doesn't need glasses but I think she suits them. Perhaps they're high tech polarised, day-night anti-glare glasses. This is Gwendoline in professional mode and I think it's a superb picture of her.

This absolutely stunning piece of artwork shows Gwendoline geared up for an exploration mission. She's in the process of slinging her phaser rifle (which she always keeps on Stun setting) over her left shoulder. The outfit she's wearing is so typical of the kind of clothing she would wear - stylish, sexy and just a bit revealing but also a bit quirky. The beanie hat is such a typically cute Gwendoline touch! The bare midriff and see-through top, showing her bra is totally in character. Gwendoline likes to make a statement, and quite often that statement is "hey, look at me!" If I saw her walking down the street looking like this I'd definitely stop and stare at her and wistfully wish she was my girlfriend! She has such a beautiful face and a personality to match. She doesn't have a bad bone in her body. Gwendoline is one of the nicest people you could wish to meet.

Once again, as soon as I saw this illustration, my first thought was, "that's Gwendoline!" And once again, this is Gwendoline dressed for an exploration mission. This time her outfit is even more sexy and revealing than before. This is an outfit designed to turn male heads and attract attention. Note that her phaser rifle has been fitted with a scope sight. At the time of writing she hasn't acquired this upgrade, but she will do soon. As the campaign progresses you'll see Gwendoline becoming a more proficient marks-woman but her attitude towards killing will remain the same - it is to be avoided if at all possible. She'll always prefer the Stun shot to the Kill shot.

Yet again, I was instantly taken with this next picture due to the fact that the heroine so reminds me of Gwendoline. Gwendoline has an uncanny knack of getting into all sorts of trouble. The fact that she is surrounded by a horde of space zombies should come as no surprise. What is surprising, however, is that she is being carried aloft on the shoulders of a pair of zombies. What's that all about? Is she being taken captive to face an undead necromancer or some such arch villain? Is she a sacrificial victim? Most probably. She doesn't look too happy here, so she's clearly in some sort of peril. Someone ought to make a film of it and call it The Perils of Gwendoline. I'd certainly go and watch it!

Speaking of The Perils of Gwendoline, let me tell you about how her character came into being. In 1984, there was a French film released called The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak, which was based on the erotic comic strip, The Adventures of Sweet Gwendolyn by John Wylie (note the different spelling of Gwendoline). The film was originally called Gwendoline but latter versions lengthened the title. I have no idea why!

From left to right are Gwendoline, Beth and an Amazonian.

The plot follows the adventures of sweet and innocent Gwendoline (played by Tawny Kitaen) in which she travels as a stowaway to the Far East with her sexy best friend, Beth (played by Zabou) on a mission to track down her father, who has mysteriously disappeared whilst on a mission to find a mythical butterfly. Rescued from a group of lecherous seamen by hunky adventurer Willard (played by Brent Huff), Gwendoline persuades him to make up their trio and embark on a daring adventure to the land of the Yik-Yak, a country ruled by a diabolical dominant Amazon queen and an army of female fetish-clad Amazonian warriors. There, Gwendoline must defeat the evil queen and prevent Willard from being forced to spawn a new race of female warriors - or face certain death!
This film is one of my guilty pleasures as I just love it! Sure, it is a cheesy piece of soft-core pulp fiction and totally ridiculous... but despite that, I fell head over heels in love with the character of Gwendoline. When I began my Space Opera campaign I based my character of Gwendoline on the heroine of this film. I gave her the surname of Papillion, which is French for butterfly and yes, in the film, she does indeed find the mythical butterfly. I have the uncut version of the film on DVD (running time of 105 minutes as opposed to the 88 minutes running time of the U.S. and UK theatrical releases) and it is one of my most watched DVDs. If you were wondering why I love my character of Gwendoline so much, this film is the reason why!

Jeanette Grey - Gunner - Age 28
This illustration of Jeanette is a perfect match for the figure I'm using for her. She is in almost the same pose and the face is identical to that of the miniature figure. It was a lucky find! What has changed is her clothing and armour and her weapon appears to be some sort of sub-machine gun and not a laser rifle. This is all good, as in this post I want to showcase The Ace of Spades crew in costumes and outfits that are different to that of their miniature figures. Seeing this illustration makes me wish she was available as a 28mm scale figure. She looks great.

This next illustration shows Jeanette dressed for a covert mission in a form-fitting armoured suit, night vision goggles and carrying her high quality laser rifle. Jeanette is still a member of the Bureau of Intelligence (BRINT) arm of the United Federation of Planets (UFP). The rest of the crew of The Ace of Spades are unaware of this fact, and have no idea that she is spying on them. Her mission is to keep close tabs on Celeste. This is Jeanette as a BRINT agent and certainly not as a gunner on an independent explorer scout ship.

The third illustration I chose really caught my eye. It shows Jeanette with her hair loosened. She usually wears it in a ponytail. I like how serious looking she is here. She is clearly on the alert, checking her surroundings for danger. Holding her phaser pistol in a two-handed grip is a good move and indicates she has had combat training. Her jumpsuit is not too dissimilar her miniature figure is wearing. Jeanette could very well appear in my campaign dressed like this.

This next illustration again emphasises Jeanette's military background. This is Jeanette in field combat mode. Once again, her hair is tied back in a ponytail. She is quite proficient with pistols but much better with rifles and here we see her with a sniper rifle. Whilst not as good a marks-woman as Julia, she is still a good shot.

Judith Kramer - Doctor - Age 31
This was another find where, as soon as I saw the illustration, I knew it was the perfect match for the ship's doctor, Judith Kramer. I thought it would be fairly easy finding good pictures of sci-fi female doctors but that didn't prove to be the case. Indeed this illustration was found under sci-fi civilians. Even so, I do think she looks like a member of the medical profession. Whereas Gwendoline is a nurse and an independent explorer, Judith is just a doctor. She spent 12 years at college and university studying medicine, followed by 6 years as a doctor. This exploring business she has now embarked on is all new to her. Indeed, she much prefers staying on board in the sickbay doing research than going off planet on exploration missions. Note, this changes in my next scenario, Alien Base where she is part of the scouting team. Judith is the oldest human on The Ace of Spades at 31. I think this excellent illustration reflects the fact that she is not as young as the others.

As I said, finding good pictures to use for Judith proved to be a tough challenge. Only after much searching did I come across this second illustration. What immediately attracted me to it was her short blonde hair, which made me think of Judith. The outfit she is wearing is ridiculously extravagant, almost regal like but there is no denying it is as classy as hell. Initially I wondered if Judith would wear an outfit like this but then I got to thinking, why not? Maybe she likes to dress up when off duty. She has to relax sometimes. Note she is still carrying a clipboard, so she hasn't entirely forgotten about work. I like to think of Judith appearing like this when she is visiting some prestigious research facility and she wants to make a good impression.

Julia Frostorm - Bounty Hunter - Age 28
Julia was another character for whom it was easy to find decent looking portraits of. Doing a Google search of sci-fi female bounty hunters and assassins brought up lots of interesting results. This picture to the right was the first one I found and to me, it just screamed out loud that this is Julia! I had to save it and include it here. This is Julia out in the field, stalking her quarry. Julia has had sniper training when she worked as an assassin, prior to becoming a bounty hunter. This illustration just captures the whole essence of Julia's character - the long dark brown hair flowing in the wind, the camouflage armour (which she sometimes wears), pistol in holster at her side and of course, the huge, deadly looking sniper rifle. She looks like she means business. I wouldn't want to mess with her!

When I saw this second illustration that I chose to represent Julia I could not believe how closely it resembled her 28mm scale figure. The costume is a very close match to that of the figure. The only problem with the portrait was that the head looked nothing like Julia. Anyway, I so wanted to use this picture for Julia that I decided to redraw the head. I'm really proud of how the head has turned out. It was copied from a photo of Donna Ewin (see below), my inspiration for how Julia looks. In this illustration, Julia has left her sniper rifle behind and is armed with twin disruptor pistols. I imagine Julia keeps her own arms locker on board The Ace of Spades filled with all kinds of weapons. She is most likely on a mission here that requires close in killing, which explains why she isn't armed with her trademark sniper rifle.

As I have said before, and as was proved in the Raid on Sterling scenario, Julia is an expert sniper. This superb illustration shows Julia holed up in a high vantage point as she takes careful aim at her target, who most likely is far away but still within range of her Transfarer R43 Fireflash Microwave Sniper Rifle. One shot, one kill, is Julia's preferred modus operandi.

This next picture of Julia is actually a photograph of former page three model, Donna Ewin. I include it because it was this very photograph that inspired me to create the character of Julia Frostorm. I could have sculpted a figure of Julia dressed like this but in a different pose. However, I had  a figure of a Citadel female fantasy fighter, which I thought would fit in far better for Julia. She was standing with her right hand resting on the hilt of a two-handed sword. I thought if I replaced the sword with a rifle, I'd have my figure of Julia. And that is what I did. Donna looks quite stern in this photo and so I decided to make Julia a cold-blooded killer who doesn't make friends easily. When I first played Julia in my original Space Opera campaign she was very much a loner. Now, in my N.E.W. campaign, she is slowly becoming more sociable as she learns the value of friendship. I have kept this photo of Donna for many years now, along with many others of her. Of all the page three models, Donna was my favourite. I used to write to her and always got a nice reply back. Her nickname back then was "The Body" and it was well deserved! Even now, when she is in her forties, she still looks amazing.

Katja Sondquist - Scout - Age 27
Katja was another character for whom I found it easy to find appropriate pictures of. There were lots of blonde, long-haired female sci-fi warriors in my Google Images searches, but only a few made me think of Katja. This illustration to the left was the first one I found that I thought most closely resembled Katja. What immediately attracted me to her was her figure - busty and curvaceous, just like Katja. That costume is extremely revealing and put me in mind of Vampirella's. Secondly was her choice of weapons - a foil and a laser pistol. Katja uses a laser sword and a phaser pistol (as well as a disruptor rifle) but I think she would be happy to substitute them with these two weapons. Katja looks different to the portraits in the next three pictures and to the figure I have of her and that is because in this instance she has tied her hair back in a pigtail. Actually, in the original illustration, the pigtail stretched all the way down to the back of her knees. I digitally shortened it.

This second portrait is closer to how Katja normally dresses for a scout mission. This time, she has tied her hair back in a ponytail, which I think suits her better than the pigtail. I am not a fan of pigtails but I do like ponytails. The rifle she has slung over her right shoulder is a good match for her Galactic Concepts KRH16 Starbird Disruptor Rifle that her 28mm scale figure is armed with. The armour plating she is wearing looks like medieval plate armour but will actually be some high tech metal of which there are numerous examples of in the N.E.W. rulebook. Given that it protects less than half of her body, I'd class it as some form of Light Armour. There is a photo-realistic quality to this portrait. The way the light reflects off her armour is incredible. My one and only criticism of it is that I don't like her boots. They look awkward to me. Flat soled would have looked much better, in my opinion.

Now we're getting closer to Katja's normal look, at least in terms of her hairstyle. At first glance it looks like she is part of a military team but this could just as easily be her when she served in the Survey Scouts prior to joining The Ace of Spades. I really like the look of her, although I'm not too keen on her being armed with that huge rifle. It looks like a rail-gun or an auto-cannon to me. Katja is not skilled in the use of heavy weapons, but that doesn't mean she couldn't use one. Apart from the rifle, I wouldn't change anything on this portrait. It's a stunning piece of artwork.

Compare the face of Katja in this portrait to that of the previous portrait and they are practically identical, even though they have been drawn by different artists. This was the fourth picture I found for Katja and it is my favourite out of the bunch. The uniform she is wearing is very different to that worn by her miniature figure, but it still has a lot in common with it in that it shows off her curves to maximum effect. I love the flash of cleavage and the bare right leg is a curious touch but one I like a lot, even if it is not wholly practical. It looks sexy and that's fine in my book. I do hope the straps holding her holster in place are comfortable otherwise I'd give her one word of caution - chafing! The AK47 with under-slung grenade launcher is an anachronistic choice of weapon. Perhaps she's operating on a planet with an Advancement Level similar to our present day (AL:5). (My campaign takes place in an AL:9 universe.) Maybe she has acquired the rifle from a foe she has defeated. It's as good an explanation as any for why she'd have such an old fashioned firearm.