Grenadier Fantasy Lords 2nd Series 009 Titan

Titan: an enormous, powerful, and godly outsider. Though titans are supposedly of both chaotic good and chaotic evil alignments, the majority of them seem to be good, and hence, those are the ones which will be described here. In appearance, a good titan resembles an enormous (25 feet tall) humanoid, with perfect beauty and strength. They are hardy and muscular, but nonetheless extremely handsome/beautiful. Every aspect of them (teeth, hair, etc.) is also perfect.

When this nugget was extracted from the Lead Mountain, my immediate reaction was WOW – what a figure! It is fabulous bit of metal – large scale (look at the Grenadier-Copplestone Wood Elf next to it), and really well sculpted – lots of detail, and a great pose. I’d acquired this figure in job lot, and originally it had been quite badly painted, but I’d stripped that off and was determined to try and make a decent stab at it. 
With something this size, I thought the best thing would be to keep the paint job as simple as possible, so not to distract from the figure. The helmet, breastplate, shield and greaves were just base gold, whilst the tunic was white, against standard flesh tones. I went for a red plume on the helmet for a contrast against the gold and white, and also because the figure reminded me of the Spartans from 300!

After that – a wash of Army Painter Soft Tone, which really brought out the detail and gave the helmet, breastplate and shield a good polished bronze appearance, followed by lots and lots of dry brushing. I deliberately kept the base as simple and as cluttered as possible – it's just GW sand, inked over and then dry brushed.

I am very pleased with the way this one turned out!

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM75 Huge Spider - Unknown Barrow Wight - Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM96 Vampire Bat

Just a minor update of some miniatures I’ve been working on. First up, the Asgard giant spider - I'd previously posted it here, but I wasn't especially happy with the photos, so I've added it again here as part of a group. Oddly enough it looks far better at a distance!

In the middle… an unknown. This came as part of a job lot, and the base was missing or had been cut off, so I have no idea who the manufacturer is. I think it’s a barrow wight – the crown suggests that – but I can’t confirm it. A Lich maybe? I’ve searched for similar figures and found one other owner, but they have no idea who made it either! Any thoughts on who the manufacturer is gratefully received! The actual paint job was fairly simple – light green, then GW Beltain green, then dry brushing, with the face and crown picked out. The base is simply flock with a few strands of cotton wool to suggest mist! Whilst I was fairly happy with the paint job, I thought it did bring out how coarse the sculpting is – the face of the wight/Lich in particular isn’t that great. Still, I like the sculpt and the figure – I think it is very atmospheric – and I can see this getting a lot of table top time.

Lastly, the Asgard Vampire bat. Quite an easy figure to paint; browns and grays, then Army Painter Dark tone, followed by dry brushing. Simples! Having said that – I honestly can’t see it getting much table top time. It’s not a particularly dynamic figure – I think most Role Players would have preferred a figure in flight, rather than having something scrabbling along the dungeon floor. From what I can make out, it wasn’t a particular popular piece, and it’s fairly rare now. One for the collectors than the players, I think!

Citadel Advanced Dungeons and Dragons C34 Water Elemental

What’s this? A DOUBLE posting?!?! Well, seeing as the weather is good, I’ve taken the opportunity to varnish up as many figures as I can.

This was the next figure to be extracted from the Lead Mountain. I think this is a fantastic figure – fabulous sculpting, lots of detail, with a great pose. It really makes you realise how good some of the early Citadel stuff was. The hardest thing was building up the base so that it seemed like the figure was emerging from a pool of water – this was just white Milliput built up into waves.

The paint job was really easy – light blue base colour, then blue ink, then lots and lots of dry brushing in varying shades of blue, eventually ending up with white for the foam on top of  the elemental’s head and back. Simples! I usually give my figures a final spray of Dullcote, but I kept a satin varnish finish on this one, and I really think it helps give an impression of water.

Again, very pleased with the way this one turned out, and I can see it getting a bit of table top action – more than the Naga Spirit any how!

Grenadier Advanced Dungeons and Dragons large boxed sets 5002 Monsters Naga Spirit

Nagas spirits are the most powerful type of naga. They have a human head on a snake body and are akin to witches, among the naga races. They are even more mysterious and enigmatic than the others of their kind, seeking lost magic to a fanatical extent. They delight in causing suffering and death with the powers they possess.  

It’s been a while since I posted, not because I haven’t been painting – it’s just that the vile English weather has meant nothing but rain and high humidity for the last couple of weeks, which means no varnishing. However, I’ve had a couple of days of blue skies, so I’ve had opportunity to apply a couple of coats to the latest batch of figures.

Next out of the Lead Mountain was this early nugget from Grenadier. I was NOT enthused – as I’ve said before, a lot of the early Grenadier figures were very poorly sculpted, with little or no detail, and my initial reaction was that this one fell into that category. Still, out with the brushes.

It’s a simple figure, so I made a deliberate decision to keep the paint job simple – just two colours, red and yellow. I was going to go for black and red, but black isn't the easiest colour to paint, and I thought this figure needed all the help it could get. I also decided that I would have it rising out of sorcerous flames – after all, it’s a magic using spirit naga, so why not? – and the base was just white Milliput moulded into the form of flames.

The paint job was nice and easy – base reds and yellows, then a couple of Games Workshop washes, then lots of dry brushing, to bring up the yellow and also to try and brush in the gradual change from red to orange to yellow.  I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail that came up – obviously not as much as modern figures, but still pretty good for early Grenadier. The face of the naga didn’t give much joy, so I kept it simple and just painted glaring blood red eyes. Christopher Lee, eat your heart out!

I was quite pleased with the way this one turned out – I had very low expectations of the figure, and it came out quite well. Can’t see it getting much table top time though.

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.