Ral Partha "All Things Dark And Dangerous" 02-940 Skeleton Giant

Not had too much time to either paint or post this month - I've either been away on business, or else I've been ferrying kids around to look at universities - but I have managed to finish this magnificent beastie off:

It's a sculpt by Julie Guthrie, and it's just fantastic. Everything about it is quality - the pose, the detail on the armour, everything. I was looking for centre piece for an Undead HOTT army I am working on, and when this came out of the lead mountain I know it was perfect for the job.  It is a seriously big bit of metal - look at the size of it compared to the GW zombie!

This was a pleasure to paint - base white, with red for the remnants of clothing, and then a sepia wash from a company called Lavado, which gave the bones a suitably grubby look and which really brought out the detail. After that, light dry brushing and picking out highlights. Simples! If I had one criticism of the figure, the base was rather thick - I suppose it has to be to support something that big! - but I think I managed to successfully disguise it beneath a layer of PVA glue, gravel and static grass from 4ground. The figure is on a 60mm x 40mm base for use in HOTT.

  
Really pleased with the way this turned out!

Asgard (Viking Forge) Fantasy Monsters FM74 Water Elemental

This next sculpt is a bit of an oddity, in every sense of the word. Originally I thought it was an Asgard FM74 Water Elemental, but I’ve since found out that this is a re-issue by Viking Forge – with some extra bits added on. You see the original here, and then compare with the version I’ve painted up. As with many of the bigger Asgard sculpts (this figure is nearly 70cm tall!), it has terrific presence, and the pose is dynamic – it really suggests something lurching out of the water to surprise the unwary adventurers. Set against that are the usual complaints about Asgard figures – poor detail on the hands/claws, weird proportions (just look at the size of the tail compared to the rest of the figure) and a tiny base that means the figure topples over VERY easily. More on that later…

The first thing was to stabilise the figure by gluing it to a standard GW cavalry base, followed by the use of Milliput to suggest waves and water. After that, various shades of green for the body, cream for the shell breastplates and armour, and then pink for the conch helmet. This was followed by shading and then the usual dry brushing to pick out detail, whilst I also dry brushed the back fin, the scales and the tail with silver to suggest glistening water. The eyes were filled in with red to try and give it a vaguely threatening appearance. As for the water base – that is just a blue/green base, with various washes, and then a white dry brush to suggest foam.

It’s an OK paint job, but I am vaguely dissatisfied with the figure as a whole. IMHO I don’t think the additions made by Viking Forge are an improvement – the conch helmet is vaguely ridiculous, as is the shell breastplate. Where the Viking Forge sculpt really fails is on the spear and the net to catch unwary adventurers – the original Asgard sculpt had them as separate accessories, whilst Viking Forge has made them integral parts of the figure. And they are fragile – the spear in particular is incredibly thin, and the original spear head was so fragile that it fell off and refuses to stick back on, so it has been replaced with a GW plastic spear head. As for the net… the figure comes on a really small base, and as soon as it falls over – the net breaks off. I've had to use superglue to re-attach it at least five times. This is just really bad design IMHO, and probably accounts for why the figure didn’t (and presumably still doesn’t) sell well.

Can’t see it getting too much table time to be honest – it is such a weird sculpt for a water elemental, and there are far better figures to use in a dungeon party encounter. One for the Asgard completists only, methinks…

Grenadier Fantasy Lord 2nd series 015 Battle Cyclops

And a new posting for a new month! The next nugget to be extracted from the Lead Mountain was this chappie from Grenadier. To be honest, I was not enthused - whilst I think a lot of the Grenadier sculpts from the 2nd series are fantastic, there are a couple that are so-so... and this was one of them. Still, out with the brushes - all the usual base colours, an Army Painter soft tone wash for the flesh and a dark tone for the metal, and then highlighting. Simples!

Whilst the paint job came out OK, I think my issues are mostly with the figure itself. It doesn't look especially menacing, and the proportions are a bit out - the legs look too small for the rest of the figure. And I'm not entirely sure what its purpose is - presumably it was meant to be the centre piece for an Orc or Goblin army? I don't think I'm alone in this, as it rarely turns up on e-bay, which suggests it wasn't a big seller. It might get some table top time as a guardian figure for treasure rooms, but to be honest there are lot of other (and better) figures suited for the job.

Trolls and Ogres: Hinchcliffe/Garrison, Ral Partha Wizards, Warriors and Warlocks E902 Ogre and Asgard FM41 Mountain Troll

A bit of a mixed bag this time around. The vile weather has meant that whilst I’ve been painting, I’ve not had opportunity to varnish the figures I’ve been working on until now. As you can see, for once there is a bit of a theme going on, as the last three figures from the lead mountain are all Ogres and/or Trolls:

On the left, we have an unknown Ogre. I think it is Garrison, or possibly Hinchcliffe, but I can’t find him in the catalogues anywhere. Anyone got any ideas? I know its late 70's, but there is no indication of manufacturer on the base.  Although it is a very simple sculpt, I think it has terrific energy – you can imagine the impact that would have on an adventuring party! I also think the detail in the face is really good for a late 70's sculpt, genuinely unpleasant, considering that the rest of the figure really isn’t that detailed. Not the greatest figure to paint – aside from the face, very little to work with, though I think it turned out OK. I can see this one getting quite a bit of tabletop time as a generic Ogre for D&D encounters!

In the middle… a Ral Partha Ogre with truncheon (!), from the original Wizards, Warriors and Warlocks range. It was missing its original weapon, so it has acquired a plastic mace from a GW Chaos warrior. Ral Partha sculpts were light years ahead of other manufacturers, and this sculpt illustrates why. Just look at that detail, and proportions – fantastic! This figure looks like it could have come from the more recent LOTR films – not bad for a figure nearly 50 years old!  It was a pleasure to paint as well – a gray skin base colour, then an Army Painter dark tone wash to bring out the detail. Fantastic! Really pleased with the way this painted up.

And then… on the left… an Asgard Mountain Troll. Oh dear. Bear in mind that this was produced at the same time as the Ral Partha beastie… you can see why Asgard went out of business. I think some of the Asgard sculpts are excellent, and really hold up even now… but this ain’t one of them. It’s dreadful – coarse, misshapen, out of proportion, badly sculpted… sheesh. It did give me an opportunity to try out the colours for a Winter Orc army I am going to start on, and I was quite pleased with the way the shading came out… but you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s year. To be honest this is the worst figure to be extracted from the Lead Mountain, definitely the worst figure Asgard ever produced, and it has got absolutely nothing to recommend it IMHO… one for the collectors of the Asgard series, and that is about it. This might get passed on VERY quickly…

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM99 centaur with bow and FM100 centaur with spear

And a final update of the figures I've been working on this month. Again, these were originally part of a Centaur HOTT army that got too large, and these guys didn't make the final cut - but I've kept them as separate figures for D&D purposes. 

The one with the spear is what I would call a "traditional" Asgard sculpt - a bit coarse and lacking in detail (especially around the face!) but still with a lot of energy. The one with the bow is a reworking by Asgard of a figure from their Barbarian Personalities range - if you look at this picture of BP7 Arflane the Archer, you can see that they've taken the upper body, attached it to a horse torso and then modelled a cloak and belt to conceal the join. Whilst I can admire the re-use, IMHO the figure does feel very static compared to the "traditional" sculpt.

Both figures were a pleasure to deal with - mostly woodland shades as base colours then Army Painter soft tone for a wash, followed by highlighting. The bow centaur is a more detailed figure, and benefitted most from this, whilst the spear figure didn't come up as well as I would have liked - the lack of detail on the figure really didn't help. The bases are simply flock and artificial grass.

Pleased with both paint jobs on the whole, but to be honest I can't see the archer getting too much table top time - but his friend with the spear will!

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM44 Djinn

Next out of the Lead Mountain  was Asgard's take on a Djinn, emerging from a bottle.

Initially I was not enthused - the figure is quite flat, and the base of it emerging from the bottle is very thin. I can imagine that a lot of these snapped and were discarded. As with all Asgard figures, detail on things like the hands is very poor, and the base is far too small for the rest of the figure, causing it fall over with alarming regularity. With that in mind, the first job was to fix it to a plastic base to give it stability, and then use Milliput to make the base look like a rough stone floor.

The Quran says that the Djinn are made of a smokeless and "scorching fire", which guided the paint job - a base coat of yellow, graduating up through orange to red, and then a wash of dark red, followed by dry brushing. This really brought out the detail of the figure, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it brushed up! The stone floor was simply base gray, a wash of Army Painter Dark tone, and then highlighting.

It turned out quite well, considering I had low expectations of it - it is certainly a very dramatic figure, as if someone has inadvertently removed the stopper from the bottle and the Djinn has just burst out, stretching his arms after a couple of centuries confinement. He certainly looks pleased about something, and perhaps it is that lack of malevolence in the sculpting that is missing. Still, I can see this getting quite a bit of table top time, especially now that he doesn't fall over every time someone bumps the table!

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!