Grenadier Fantasy Lords box set 6004 Monsters of Mythology M1 Chimera

The Chimera was, according to Greek mythology, a fire-breathing creature composed of the parts of three animals – a lion, a snake and a goat. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that ended in a snake's head. 

Next from the Lead Mountain was this gem by John Dennett. Initially I was a bit underwhelmed - it looked a bit ridiculous to be honest, and I have always thought a Chimera was a weird idea for a monster anyway. You can see why a lion or a snake would be feared, but a goat!?!

As soon as I started to paint this up, I appreciated what a well sculpted figure this is – lots of detail, which really came to the forefront with a wash and then highlighting. The figure itself was a pleasure to paint – yellows and browns for the lion, a red and yellow design for the snake, and grey with white highlights for the goat. Simples!

I was really pleased with the final product – it’s a great figure, one of Grenadier’s best IMHO – very dynamic, and for once it gives an idea of how the Chimera might work as creature in D&D. You have the fire breathing lion with claws and teeth to drag down and savage adventurers, whilst the snake watches out for any one trying a stealth attack at the business end of things!

And the goat? The goat acts as a lookout whilst the lion and snake sleep - as soon as it sees or hears anything, it bleats and wakes them up!

Very pleased with the way this one turned out!

Grenadier Fantasy Lords 500 series Classics 532 Iron Golem

As soon as this came out of the Lead Mountain I thought WOW – what a great figure! This is a serious piece of metal, both in size and detail – I’ve posted a picture of a Grenadier Wood Elf druid next to it, and later Grenadier Elf figures were a decent size, but this simply dwarfs it (if you can ever dwarf an Elf… interesting idea ;))

The figure itself was a joy to paint – I used gray car primer as the base coat, then a coat of Army Painters Dark Tone all over, followed by lots and lots of highlighting with silver. The base is simply modelling sand.

I think this is a stunning figure – everything about it, the detail, the pose, just works. Imagine your party of adventurers wandering around a wizard’s treasure room and then finding this chappie guarding it! This is one of the best Grenadier figures cast IMHO. 

Very pleased with the way this turned out!

Hinchcliffe Fantasy (FA) Range FA10 Armoured Centaur

And next up – another relic from the late 70’s/early 80’s. Hinchcliffe were only of the earliest figure manufacturers – pre-Asgard -  and went through several changes of ownership. I believe they’d owned by Hinds now. As with all of the very early manufacturers, the quality if the sculpts often left a lot of be desired – they were primarily designed for wargaming use, with intention that you had lots of units looking pretty much the same, and keeping them simple to paint. When D&D became popular, Hinchcliffe took the same approach with their Fantasy range – a lot of their figures were very crude and not very detailed. 

When this sculpt got extracted from the Lead Mountain, I was NOT enthused. I mean – look at the back legs – it looks more like a grasshopper’s legs! And the length of that sword arm – has the centaur been stretched on a rack?!?! Ah well, out with the brushes…

I have learnt that the trick with painting a lot of the early mini’s is to keep it simple. With that in mind – dark brown for the horse body, leather for much of the webbing and the basic armour, red for the cloak and plume, silver for the sword and helmet, followed by soft tone wash. So good, so far. It was only when I started to highlight the figure that a lot of detail really came out – I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. The base is simply green flock.

I still have major issues with the figure though – I mean, LOOK at that tail! Shouldn’t that be dangling off the back of a werefox or something? I can’t see it getting too much table top time – I have other centaur figures more suitable (mostly as part of a HOTT Wood Elves army), but I am quite pleased with this one – I really didn’t think it would turn out as well as it did.

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM75 Giant Spider

The sun is out, and that means – I can varnish my figures! The weather has been foul over the last couple of weeks – just day after day of damp, misty weather that means any attempt to varnish would just end up with the figures looking as if they have frostbite. I have been painting in the period, and completed several figures – it’s just that I’ve not had an opportunity to varnish them.

First up, a giant spider from Asgard. This is a splendid figure with an unusual pose; I don’t think I’ve seen any other spider sculpts with the front legs reaching up and out, as if to tap the back of an unwary adventurer. It’s a decent size too – certainly big enough to scare even latter day sculpts – and the quality of the sculpt is pretty good for something from the early 80’s!

The paint job was surprisingly easy; base coats of yellow and brown, Army Painters Soft Tone wash, then dry brushing for highlights before picking out the white spines on the back. Nice and easy! The basing proved slightly problematical; the base of the figure was round, and too big for a 25mm square base, and too small for a 40mm base. In the end I compromised with a laser cut MDF round base, and then used sand to cover it. The skull is simply a GW plastic skeleton head added for scale.

Pleased with the way this turned out!

Grenadier Fantasy Lords 500 series 528 Mounted Grim Reaper

The sun is shining, which means that I get to spray the varnish on the latest nugget extracted from the Lead Mountain - a rather odd but rather well sculpted piece from Grenadier. The figure comes in two parts – the rider and horse are one piece, whilst the hands and scythe are another, more flimsy piece, secured in place with superglue. Once primed, it was actually a very simple piece to paint; a base coat of matt black, dark gray dry brushing for the cloak and the horse, then white to pick out the bones for the Reaper, with deep red leather for the barding. Simples!

I like the sculpt – it’s a dramatic pose, and it painted up nicely – but I’m not sure it will get much table top time, or even who it was aimed at. It’s not a standout figure IMHO, so I don’t think it would serve as the centre piece of an Undead army – and opportunities for the appearance of the Grim Reaper on horseback in D&D sessions are frankly limited. In addition, it sits somewhat uneasily with a lot of other Grenadier figures - as it is mid-period Grenadier, it is more finely detailed than the early ones, and smaller than the later  ones. These are probably the reasons why it didn’t sell that well, and why it appears to be a fairly rare piece – I’ve never seen another one, other than the versions still in blister packs on Lost Minis.

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM71 Bugbear

Had a bit of time on my hands, so I’ve been able to finish off another nugget extracted from the Lead Mountain. Next up was this overlooked morsel from Asgard; as any followers of the blog will know, I am partial to Asgard sculpts ;)

No two ways about it; this is an odd looking sculpt. Bugbears are generally viewed as larger, more intelligent goblins – hence the green skinned paint job – and the actual sculpt of the head, arms and torso is fine, lots of detail there, whilst the club is suitably menacing. But what is it wearing??! It looks like a boiler suit! And as for those boots… very dapper, and totally incongruous! The clothes are just totally out of keeping with the rest of the figure. However, I understand that in later editions of D&D, bugbears could be player characters, and I’m guessing that the figure was designed for that purpose – otherwise, if you put this figure amongst a horde of goblins (even Asgard goblins) it’s just going to look right out of place.

A pleasure to paint though – standard goblin green for the skin, blood red for the hair (just for contrast) and then a light khaki colour for the boiler suit, with leather for the boots. Apply washes, then dry brush. Simples!

I’m fairly pleased with the end product, although I can’t see it getting much table top time. From what I can make out, it’s a fairly rare piece (although I understand that Viking Forge still produce it, along with a lot of the old Asgard range) – I suspect it didn’t sell well because it is such an odd looking critter.  

Reaper Dungeon Dwellers 1246 Troll

Next out of the lead mountain was this sculpt from Reaper. I was NOT enthused; the figure seemed very clumsy, with little or no detail, and the pose seems very static. It looked and felt more like a toy figure rather than a fantasy miniature. Still, we must do what we can.

The first job was trimming away an inordinate amount of flash lines from the mould; this included drilling out a brand new eye socket where the original casting hadn’t been successful! After that, a coat of primer, followed by more trimming… it was a long job to be honest.

The paint job was comparatively simple; GW putrid flesh for the skin, then standard browns and leather for the fur loin cloth and belt/bag. Picking out the skull dangling from the figure’s hip showed just how coarse the sculpting was! After that, just a matter of picking out any spots/boils/veins in red, followed by a wash of Army painters Dark Tone, and then highlighting. The base is simply flock plus some stones and bark from the garden.

To be honest I’m not happy with either the figure or the paint job – as a sculpt it is just too clumsy and toy-like to see much table top time, and whilst I’d picked what I thought were suitable colours for a troll, I suspect the figure might have turned out better if I’d used brighter colours. This one may get moved on fairly quickly via a certain auction site…