Sunday 21 December 2014

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM13 Owl Bear and Ral Partha Personalities & Things... 01-040 v1 Were Bear


I’ve not posted as much as I’d like to – pressures of work, ferrying kids around and Christmas in general has put paid to that – but I have been painting, so over the next couple of days I’ll be posting shots of what I’ve been working on.

These two were originally part of a Wood Elf HOTT army, which spiralled dreadfully out of control. I ended up with enough figures for 3 armies (!) and eventually had to cull some units to make up 2 very distinct armies. Unfortunately these guys didn’t make the final cut, but I thought they’d hold up really well as standalone figures for wilderness encounters.
The Owl Bear is an early Asgard figure, and as a consequence the sculpting is VERY coarse – the claws in particular were just stalks protruding from the paws, and what is going on with the eyes?!? Still, it definitely has a lot of naïve charm, and invariably provokes a “WTF is THAT” response every time it hits the table – not bad for a figure that is nearly 40 years old!

The Ral Partha Were bear is a wonderful sculpt – really well detailed, with a terrific pose, full of energy. If I had a criticism, it is that it would be all too easy for the base to snap – Ral Partha metal was on the soft side.

Both of these figures were a pleasure to paint – a simple base coat of brown, then a dark wash, then dry brushing for the highlights. The Were Bear in particular benefitted from this. The Owl Bear needed a bit more work around the eyes, which are REALLY crudely sculptured – just holes poked into the figure! The bases are simply flock and a few stones and artificial grass.

Pleased with both of these!

3 comments:

  1. I own the owl-bear (one of the first monster i bought in the 80's when playing D&D) and could not agree more with you :-) imho it is one of the best owl-bear ever sculpted, very scaring and charming !

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  2. I *love* the owl-bear as a sculpt - when D&D I always found the line drawings from the Monster Manuals uninspiring, but this sculpt somehow manages to make it look sinister and fun at the same time. Not bad at all for something that is really very primitive!

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  3. I like them both, though the displaced eye bugs me on the Owl Bear.

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