Warhammer commander Perry Amundsen by day works at a Masterton bakery but by night has been fighting a gold medal-winning Armageddon campaign.
His hard-won victory came while centre stage during the Cosplay (costume contest) at the fanzine Armageddon Expo in Wellington this month.
His outfit an Ultramarine Honour Guard from
the game Warhammer 40K was mostly constructed over five months from fibreglass but also includes a modified crash helmet with eyes that light up blood-red, a cape made from a curtain and other ingenious touches including a bolt-gun with a pistol grip fashioned from a shampoo bottle.
His mother Daureen, who must help him don the costume and disrobe, was as pleased as her 27-year-old son when he won the $50 prize as Best Technical Costume although she was weary from the six-hour wait to hear the announcement on the day.
Mr Amundsen said he has played the game for years and has also built his own gaming board after battling alongside a small but dedicated Wairarapa group dedicated to the Warhammer philosophy of "never flinching from duty terrible though it may be".
He said another Cosplayer at Armageddon that came close to besting his skulls, jewels and blades was a woman dressed as an elf from the World of Warcraft universe.
"The costume's not real easy to walk in especially up or down steps but there's no chaffing.
"I only won $50 at Armageddon but it was more about the honour for me, not the money."
Mr Amundsen now plans to retire his warrior garb and there is a chance he may sell it online to a fellow Warhammer fanatic "somewhere out there" wherever duty most terrible calls.
