Grenadier Fantasy Lord 500 series 505 Old World Dragon

Question: when is a dragon not a dragon? Answer: when it's a Grenadier Old World Dragon! The next nugget to be extracted from the lead mountain was this rather strange creature:

- which on first impression is neither fish nor fowl... nor dragon! Still, out with the paintbrushes. Standard techniques used, Games Workshop paints and washes, then lots and lots of dry brushing. The base was created by gluing three 25mm bases together, and then covering with flock and some small stones from the garden. The rock that the beastie is crouched upon is part of the original sculpture.

I was actually very pleased with the way this one turned out - it is a lovely sculpt, very sinuous, something like a cross between a lizard and a cat - which is what I always imagined a dragon to look like. In fact I'm so pleased with it, here is another pic:

For a long time I puzzled over what this figure was supposed to be - it has no wings, and looks more like a scaled dinosaur or strange crocodile. That, and the name - "Old World Dragon" - were the clues. I think it's supposed to be a dragon from the early stages of the evolution of the species - it hasn't developed wings yet (another couple of million years should see that right!). I should imagine it would give your average T.Rex a bit of a run for its money with those scales, especially if it had developed fire breathing. Imagine your average caveman turning the corner and running into this chappie!

Having said that... unless you were running a DnD campaign set in a "lost world" where dinosaurs still roamed the earth (and they were popular in the early days of the game), I would see limited game play for this figure. It's a shame, because as with a lot of the later Grenadier sculpts, it's a lovely figure... 

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM27v2 Half Troll Chieftain

Asgard were one of the first manufacturers of fantasy figures, and as a consequence the quality of their sculpts varies from the dreadful to the excellent. The next figure to be extracted from the lead mountain leans more towards the better side of their sculpting, IMHO:

As with the majority of Asgard figures from the Fantasy Monsters (FM) range, you get a lot of figure for your money - however, that doesn't always mean you get detail in the sculpt, but this is one that I think they got nearly spot on. It was a pleasure to paint; mostly Citadel paints, and then a wash of The Army Painter Dark Tone Ink, followed by highlighting. 

You could argue that the figure falls foul of a common complaint about Asgard figures - the legs  look a little too short and thin, and the haft of the axe is way too thin for the figure to be used in RPG play on a regular basis before it would snap off - but on the whole I think it's a great figure. Very pleased with the way this turned out!