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…