Asgard FM22 Oriental Troll with Two-Handed Mace

There was a period in the early 1980's when the RPG hobby got interested in Oriental folklore and mythology - as a consequence, most of the main manufacturers started producing samurai and ninjas, as well as a whole host of unpleasant creatures for them to battle. Next out of the lead mountain was one of Asgard's offerings for the genre.

Now, Asgard sculpts generally fall into two categories - good, or awful. This is one of the good ones. I think it is by the same guy who did this - possibly Jes Goodwin? 

The figure was pleasure to paint - a nice clean sculpt, and no flash to clear - and as with all Asgard figures, keeping it simple really helps. Basically the only contentious issue was the skin colour - I normally avoid blue, as I find it a difficult colour to shade well, but the use of GW ink washes really helped here. A few highlights and then - done!

I am really pleased with the way this one turned out - I think it holds up really well for a figure that is nearly 35 years old - and my only regret is that I can't see it getting much table top time. To be honest I don't buy in to the entire Oriental genre within D&D, and none of my campaigns have that flavour. A bit of a shame really :(

Unknown Air or Wind Elemental

And now a bit of a mystery item. I know what it is - it's an Air or Wind Elemental - but apart from that, I know nothing else about it. It has no base markings, no tell-tale clues on the styling of the base to hint who might have produced it... nothing. I've checked on Lost Minis - nada. Even Google Images turned up zilch. So - if anyone can identify this, please let me know!

Regardless of the manufacturer, I think it's a terrific figure, really well sculptured and with tons of energy and character. And look at the size of it next to a late Asgard Dwarf King! The only criticism I have is the casting - it is of hard alloy (not lead like a lot of the early sculpts I own... hmm... bit of a clue there) and it had a quite prominent casting line right down the centre, which took a lot of time to file down. 

Once that was done, the paint job was easy - gray primer, then GW blue wash, followed by lots and LOTS of white dry brushing. Simples! As for the base - I wanted the effect of it rising and moving out of a cloud, and then leaving a trail of vapour behind it. That is simply cotton wool, pulled out into a form that suggests swirling and movement.

 
I am pleased with the outcome of this one - minimal effort for a good result. I can see this one getting LOTS of table top time!

Ral Partha Personalities And Things That Go Bump In The Night 01-003 v2 Balrog

At the same time I was working on the Asgard Lizardman I bought a job lot of badly painted and broken figures from a certain auction site, and this was one of them. Originally the figure was in a shocking state – someone had painted it black with what looked like industrial strength tar, and the sword was missing - but once I’d cleaned it up I thought I’d see what could be done with it.

The missing sword was replaced with a plastic Ork blade from 40k, and then out with the brushes. It’s very early Ral Partha, and whilst some of their early figures can be a bit coarse, this one didn’t disappoint. As usual, keep it simple – base coat of red, then a dark red ink wash, then lots of and lots of dry brushing before picking out highlights with a yellow/white mix. The base is just sand with a brown ink wash, then dry brushed with red and orange to suggest hot coals. Simples!

I really like this figure – the pose reminiscent of the very early Minifigs goblins, which I always liked – and the ink wash brought out a surprising amount of detail, though I did have to use dark red paint for some shadowing where the shoulders and arms let the wings. Even the sword and the flame whip painted up reasonable well. Not bad for a figure that is nearly 40 years old!  The Asgard Dwarf King is again in the picture for scale, and also to illustrate the difference in quality between Ral Partha and Asgard right from the very beginning. Very pleased with this one – I can see it getting a decent amount of table top time as the guardian of forbidden treasures…

Asgard FM38 Giant Lizardman

Next out of the Lead Mountain… something from the realms of badly sculpted figures. It’s an Asgard, who produced some fine figures in their day, but some absolute stinkers, and this is one of them. It’s not as bad as the Asgard Troll, but it’s close. 

It’s a giant Lizardman, with an enormous chopper. I was not enthused. The pose is pretty awful, and it suffers from all of the major problems that the larger Asgard sculpts have – coarse sculpting, and no detail. Even the facial details were rough – badly defined lips, no tongue and just a few teeth. Sounds like some people I know. Still, we must do what we can. As with all of the early sculpts – keep it simple, yellow for the under belly and then green for the main body, followed by an ink wash… which really brought out just how coarse the sculpture is. Oh dear. Even several layers of dry brushing couldn’t salvage this one. The base was a bit easier – just sand, then wash, whilst the reeds are bits of old toothbrush painted green. 

I gave this a good shot but to be honest I’m not happy with it. I know a poor workman blames his tools and all that, but there wasn’t a lot to work with on this figure in the first place. And I mean, LOOK at it – it looks like it's about to swagger into a fantasy bar room and pose like John Travolta in the Saturday Night Fever era. No wonder the Asgard Dwarf King I’ve put in the picture for scale looks worried. And it’s not as if there is a great demand for giant Lizardmen in any of the D&D sessions I run. Can’t see this one getting much table top time!

Ral Partha "All Things Dark And Dangerous" 02-940 Skeleton Giant

Not had too much time to either paint or post this month - I've either been away on business, or else I've been ferrying kids around to look at universities - but I have managed to finish this magnificent beastie off:

It's a sculpt by Julie Guthrie, and it's just fantastic. Everything about it is quality - the pose, the detail on the armour, everything. I was looking for centre piece for an Undead HOTT army I am working on, and when this came out of the lead mountain I know it was perfect for the job.  It is a seriously big bit of metal - look at the size of it compared to the GW zombie!

This was a pleasure to paint - base white, with red for the remnants of clothing, and then a sepia wash from a company called Lavado, which gave the bones a suitably grubby look and which really brought out the detail. After that, light dry brushing and picking out highlights. Simples! If I had one criticism of the figure, the base was rather thick - I suppose it has to be to support something that big! - but I think I managed to successfully disguise it beneath a layer of PVA glue, gravel and static grass from 4ground. The figure is on a 60mm x 40mm base for use in HOTT.

  
Really pleased with the way this turned out!

Asgard (Viking Forge) Fantasy Monsters FM74 Water Elemental

This next sculpt is a bit of an oddity, in every sense of the word. Originally I thought it was an Asgard FM74 Water Elemental, but I’ve since found out that this is a re-issue by Viking Forge – with some extra bits added on. You see the original here, and then compare with the version I’ve painted up. As with many of the bigger Asgard sculpts (this figure is nearly 70cm tall!), it has terrific presence, and the pose is dynamic – it really suggests something lurching out of the water to surprise the unwary adventurers. Set against that are the usual complaints about Asgard figures – poor detail on the hands/claws, weird proportions (just look at the size of the tail compared to the rest of the figure) and a tiny base that means the figure topples over VERY easily. More on that later…

The first thing was to stabilise the figure by gluing it to a standard GW cavalry base, followed by the use of Milliput to suggest waves and water. After that, various shades of green for the body, cream for the shell breastplates and armour, and then pink for the conch helmet. This was followed by shading and then the usual dry brushing to pick out detail, whilst I also dry brushed the back fin, the scales and the tail with silver to suggest glistening water. The eyes were filled in with red to try and give it a vaguely threatening appearance. As for the water base – that is just a blue/green base, with various washes, and then a white dry brush to suggest foam.

It’s an OK paint job, but I am vaguely dissatisfied with the figure as a whole. IMHO I don’t think the additions made by Viking Forge are an improvement – the conch helmet is vaguely ridiculous, as is the shell breastplate. Where the Viking Forge sculpt really fails is on the spear and the net to catch unwary adventurers – the original Asgard sculpt had them as separate accessories, whilst Viking Forge has made them integral parts of the figure. And they are fragile – the spear in particular is incredibly thin, and the original spear head was so fragile that it fell off and refuses to stick back on, so it has been replaced with a GW plastic spear head. As for the net… the figure comes on a really small base, and as soon as it falls over – the net breaks off. I've had to use superglue to re-attach it at least five times. This is just really bad design IMHO, and probably accounts for why the figure didn’t (and presumably still doesn’t) sell well.

Can’t see it getting too much table time to be honest – it is such a weird sculpt for a water elemental, and there are far better figures to use in a dungeon party encounter. One for the Asgard completists only, methinks…

Grenadier Fantasy Lord 2nd series 015 Battle Cyclops

And a new posting for a new month! The next nugget to be extracted from the Lead Mountain was this chappie from Grenadier. To be honest, I was not enthused - whilst I think a lot of the Grenadier sculpts from the 2nd series are fantastic, there are a couple that are so-so... and this was one of them. Still, out with the brushes - all the usual base colours, an Army Painter soft tone wash for the flesh and a dark tone for the metal, and then highlighting. Simples!

Whilst the paint job came out OK, I think my issues are mostly with the figure itself. It doesn't look especially menacing, and the proportions are a bit out - the legs look too small for the rest of the figure. And I'm not entirely sure what its purpose is - presumably it was meant to be the centre piece for an Orc or Goblin army? I don't think I'm alone in this, as it rarely turns up on e-bay, which suggests it wasn't a big seller. It might get some table top time as a guardian figure for treasure rooms, but to be honest there are lot of other (and better) figures suited for the job.