Grenadier Fantasy Lords series 1 120 Winged Folk (2 of 3)

These two fellows came as part of a job lot that I acquired from a well known auction site:

I'm very pleased with the way he's painted up; the figure is well detailed, even if the posture is a little stiff. The outfits are vaguely reminiscent of the Hawkmen in the dreadful 1980's "Flash Gordon" film, although fortunately the figure doesn't have the bulk of Brian Blessed, who played the leader of the Hawkmen... how did the producers ever expect anyone to believe that something THAT size could ever take flight! 

There are two other figures in this set - a swordsman and a bolas thrower - but unfortunately I don't have them yet. Back to the auction site...

Grenadier Monster Manuscripts Vol X MM81 Talos

In Greek mythology, Talos was a giant man of bronze who protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders, by circling the island's shores three times daily. This is the Grenadier take on him, circa mid-80's:

As with many of the Grenadier figures of the period, it's quite crude - the pose is slightly unnatural, but then I am guessing that was the intention of the sculptor.

The figure was fairly easy to paint - Citadel Tin Bits, then a black wash, then highlights of gold. Due to the height of the figure, the base was a one solid plinth of metal, which I've tried to disguise with stone blocks made out of Milliput, inked and highlighted.

From a gaming perspective, I think its a good figure - it makes an ideal metal guardian for stalking any number of dungeon corridors - but ultimately it suffers from comparison to the classic Ray Harryhausen animated Talos from the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts. Now a scale figure of that by Grenadier would have been something to behold!

Archive Mythology 602 Young Male Centaur with Bow

Most of the figures I've got are stored in in a pile of plastic boxes; when I want a new figure to paint, I go to the top box of the pile, close my eyes, and pick a figure at random from the box, then put that box to the bottom of the pile.

This time, I picked a really old figure manufactured by Archive in the late 1970's. I have to be honest, when it came out of the box, my heart sank. It wasn't even a figure I'd actively gone looking for; it had come as part of a job lot of other figures I'd won on an auction site. Still, once out of the box it was a case of doing my best with it:

I'm not happy with it on lots of levels. The horse parts are OK, but the human part is incredibly coarse - just look at the proportions and moulding on that arm, and the face! And  check out the cord on the bow - you could use that to fire a ballista! Figure sculpting has come a long way since the late 1970's. The figure was also on an integral plinth-like base, which has been disguised with standard flock and Milliput boulders.

I'm still not especially happy with the paint job - although the horse parts painted up quite well, none of my usual shading/highlighting techniques seemed to do much to conceal the basic faults with the human parts of the figure.

The other thing I was thinking whilst painting this was, "why was this figure produced?" I'm guessing it would have been for use in ancient Greece-like D&D adventures, but I couldn't think of too many scenarios where you'd want/need a teenage centaur - surely you'd use a more generic war-like adult centaur. This one looks and feels more like a toy rather a serious gaming figure.

Anyhow, rant over. Figure done, and consigned to the painted pile (and probably bound back to the auction site from whence it came!).

Grenadier Action Art Series 8003 Mythological Creatures 8003g Unicorn

Grenadier released four large boxed sets complete with acrylic paints, paintbrush and painting guides, probably with the intention of attracting youngsters into the hobby. The paints and paint brushes were not great, but the miniatures were of a good standard. This figure is from the 8003 Mythological Creatures set:

I think it's an attractive figure, with good proportion and movement - it really looks as if it is starting into a canter - although the head does look a bit strange, to be honest! The figure is in a totally different style from the other Grenadier unicorn I've posted here (see my second post in the blog). The figure was comparatively easy to paint; a base coat of dark grey, then several layers of dry brushing. The eyes were enchanted blue mixed with white, and the horn is just dry brushed silver. The base is simply flock on PVC glue. Simple but effective!

Grenadier Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 5002 Monsters Yeti

I'm fairly sure this figure also dates from the early 1980's, same as the Djinni - the style is very "AD&D 2nd edition":

Initially I wasn't enthused about the figure - it looked clumsy, and there were a number of issues with it. What is it doing with that boulder? It doesn't look like it's going to throw it. Also, it's a big hairy ape man that lives in the snow - so why does it need a loincloth? Either it has got localised alopecia, or it is shy about exposing its naughty bits. And bearing in mind that the last thing it would want to do is draw attention to itself on the white slopes, choosing to wear an item of clothing that might stand up against the snow seems a very odd thing to do, unless the loin cloth were white as well... but then that would make for a very dull figure. Hmm.

In the end I painted the loincloth a dull brown - assuming that it has been taken from some slaughtered adventurer - and then highlighted it with various lighter shades. I was pleased with the outcome; the cloth looks as if it has a layer of ice on it. The figure itself painted up quite nicely - basically lots of drybrushing - whilst the base and the boulder had a faint blue ink wash to suggest ice. The stones on the base are Milliput, again with a thin ink wash. On the whole I am pleased with this figure, considering I had such low expectations of it!

 

Grenadier Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 5004 Tomb Of Spells Djinni

I think this figure dates from the early 1980's, when Grenadier had the franchise for TSR's AD&D game - I think they held this between 1980 and 1983. The figure itself is similar in style to the  illustrations used in the AD&D 2nd edition "Monster Manual":

I had my doubts when I started this figure - the styling is quite naive (but then most of the Grenadier figures from that date were), and the main "body" of the figure is actually lopsided. I'm guessing this was to try and give the impression of the figure still forming from mist. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out - with the use of inks and a bit of drybrushing, I think it came out quite well. I'm especially pleased with the terracotta jar it is escaping from! The tiles on the base are Milliput, and conceal the original Grenadier base.

Asgard Fantasy Monsters FM50 Large Wolfman

Asgard Miniatures was founded by Bryan Ansell in the 1970's, before he went on to found Citadel. They did an excellent range of fantasy figures, including this rather strange Wolfman:

The thing about Asgard miniatures was the sheer size and scale of them in comparison to their competitors. Even allowing for the fact that this mini is described as a Large Wolfman, just compare it in size to an Asgard Barbarian and a Citadel Amazon of the same era:

The other thing about the figure is just how strange it actually is. On the one hand, it's a Wolfman, and is covered with fur. So why the trousers and cloak, unless the cloak is to allow a certain degree of concealment when in the company of humans? And surely someone would notice something that big, especially with the hairy hands and feet. And it has no weapon - one assumes it relies on teeth and claws for that - yet it's carrying a whopping great shield. It's a very odd, almost schizophrenic figure, which I suppose mirrors the dual nature of the beast and the man in one form. You could definitely use it as some type of Werewolf leader or king.