INTRO

I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind for quite some time now.

When I first started collecting Warhammer 40k, there was always that one question that made me hesitate: Which army should I paint?

As I explored the factions—the Imperium of Man, the Xenos, and Chaos—two stood out to me the most: the Grey Knights and the Adepta Sororitas, better known as the Sisters of Battle. It came down to those two, and in the end, I chose to collect the Sisters of Battle—a decision I absolutely don't regret, as their models look amazing.

As I began diving deeper into their lore, I found myself liking them more and more—even if their concept is completely over the top. But that’s exactly what I love about them. The idea of women clad in ceramite power armor, wielding an awesome array of weapons, just hits the right chord. Backed by the immense wealth of the Ecclesiarchy, they're equipped with some of the best wargear the Imperium has to offer.

Unlike the Space Marines, the Sisters of Battle aren’t genetically enhanced. No extra organs. No superhuman physiology. Just determined, faithful women in incredible armor—and that’s what makes them truly badass.

Some Lore:

There’s one particular part of the lore that I really enjoy: the time when the Sisters of Battle were under the control of a man named Goge Vandire. He essentially tricked them into becoming his personal bodyguards. When the Sisters believe in something, they are incredibly hard to sway—and this story is a perfect example of that.

To keep it brief: Vandire was acting tyrannically, and the Space Marines eventually landed on Terra to put an end to the chaos. They initially believed that Vandire was only protected by zealous but ineffective Frateris Templar troops.

But once the drop pods landed, they quickly realized this wasn’t the case. The Sisters of Battle fought back fiercely to protect Vandire, and the Marines were shocked by their strength and resolve. The initial assault was halted, and the Space Marines were actually pushed back, suffering heavy casualties. What followed was a prolonged and brutal battle against the Sisters.

This madness only ended when Centurion Longinus of the Adeptus Custodes—the Emperor’s personal guard—sought out Alicia Dominica and her most trusted companions to speak with them directly. He tried to convince them to abandon Vandire, but things didn’t go exactly as planned.

There are a few versions of this story, but I really like this one in particular:

Sister Mina, who was Saint Dominica’s Champion, was a true force of nature. She fought the Custodes Captain-General for hours in single combat. Eventually, the Custodian declared, “Enough! I will take you to the Emperor himself.” And so, these six Sisters entered the Golden Throne chamber. No one truly knows what happened inside, but when they emerged, their hair had turned stark white, and they were filled with a righteous fury toward Vandire.

They marched straight into his quarters, dragged him out in front of the other Sisters, declared him a heretic of the highest order, and executed him by decapitation.

That part of the Sisters of Battle lore always stood out to me—especially the fact that Sister Mina was able to fight a Captain-General of the Custodes for hours. That’s just insane to think about.

Later, Sister Mina became the patron saint of the Order of the Bloody Rose and the minor order of the Thorn. She was known for her quick temper and deadly skill in combat. In the late 36th Millennium, Mina was martyred by a sanguinary Chaos Cult. It’s said she was ambushed during prayer at a shrine on Hydraphur. When her Sisters found her body, none of the cultists had survived. The shrine was drenched in blood—her own and that of at least twenty assailants who lay dead around her. A tragic end, but an incredible story nonetheless.

The contact with Alessandro Depaoli

Now that you’re all caught up on some of the lore about the Sisters of Battle and Saint Mina, it’s time to talk about how I met the creator of the Saint Mina model.

At one point on Instagram—call it luck, or maybe fate—I came across a post by Alessandro Depaoli, where he mentioned he was looking for more commission work as a 3D sculptor. I had already seen some of his previous work and really liked his style, so I contacted him right away and asked if he’d be interested in creating Sister Mina for me.

To my excitement, he was very interested! I told him a bit about the lore—who she was, how I imagined her, and how little existing artwork there is of her. I also shared a few reference images to help guide the design and give him an idea of how she could look.

These are the pictures I sent him:

Face examples:

Face and Hair:

Scars are a thing on these ladies so I found these 2 that i liked.

Hood / Armour:

Picture 1 (Left):
The armor looks really cool, but it feels a bit too masculine in my opinion. I also wasn’t a fan of the backpack design. However, I really liked the cloth details on the shoulders, and the fabric on the upper arms is exactly how it should be. The legs are the typical style you’d expect from a Sister of Battle.

Pictures 2–3 (Middle and Right):
The chest area and gloves are mostly leather-like, which I prefer—especially as shown in the middle and right pictures. I also really liked the fabric details in the middle image; they match my vision quite well.
The dark fabric section on the upper arm, just below the shoulder, is exactly how I imagined it.

Details!

Alessandro's Magic begins!

Now it was time to let Alessandro do what he does best—bring Saint Sister Mina to life using the references I had sent him.
The first thing he shared with me was the concept art.

Poses 1 and 2 were my favorites, and I had a hard time choosing just one—so I thought, why not combine both into a single pose?

In the following messages, Alessandro told me he had taken a deep dive into the lore, which I was very pleased to hear. He came up with the idea that the Sisters are heavily protected and shielded by the Emperor—something that’s true for many of them in the lore. So, he decided to focus on the theme of “shielding” in his design of the Sister.

While I did like the idea (even though it was still a very rough sketch), I had one concern: I wanted to be able to see the entire Sister.
Even though I knew the shielding was still in an early stage, I was worried that it might end up covering too much of the back and obscure some of the visual details of the model.

These pictures are lot more detailed and showing where its going. I liked the idea of the sister standing on a dead body. (rough stage)

A more detailed image followed, where Alessandro added backpack details, chainsword elements, and symbols on the chest, belt, and robes.

I really liked the idea of the dead body she’s standing on—but the question was: what kind of body should it be?
My first thought was a Khorne Daemon, since that would make for a brutal and fitting opponent.

However, Khorne Daemons are red in color, and since Sister Mina belongs to the Order of the Bloody Rose, which also wears red armor, I felt there might be too much red in the scene.

So, I thought—why not try a Tzeentch Daemon instead? The blue and purple tones would contrast nicely and better fit the scene.
Alessandro did some research and came up with the following concept.

THIS IS SICK ! love it, but ...

While I really liked the direction it was going, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the focus was shifting too much toward the scene rather than Mina herself. I wanted her to be the clear centerpiece, not overshadowed by background elements.

So, even though I appreciated the creativity, I asked Alessandro to remove the flying Daemon so we could clearly see the gun and bring the attention back to Mina.

There were also two details I started to worry about:

The belt symbol—while full of detail—felt like it might be a bit too much.

The kneepads—I felt they could use a bit more height and definition.

To help with this, I sent him a reference image of another sculpted Sister model I really liked.

So here is the updated sister with my requests AND the printed version 

This Sister is not for sale. She will only be available through my upcoming Patreon, launching in a few months, which will include painting guides. She will be printed by Tamer Widerspan to ensure you all receive the highest quality possible.

I’m also in discussions with Alessandro to create busts of the Sister for future workshops, where she’ll be available as a practice model. The bust will likely be produced in two, possibly three versions:

With the hood, just like the current full model

Without the hood, showing her beautiful hair

And last but not least, with a helmet—perfect for some extra metal painting practice

Lastly, I would like to thank Alessandro Depaoli for making this dream come true. You can find his work on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

If you’re interested in working with him, you can find his Instagram here, which I highly recommend.

Thank you!