Last Mini of The Month

Grenadier Elf  with Big Horn!

The Fae Queen's Kin take on the might of the undead.
(A Mixture of Grenadier, Prodos and Warmonger Elves
vs. Classic Citadel and Fornlorn Hope undead) 

Yes, juvenile I know.  Finished off the the painting of one of the two repaired Grenadier Elves. This is an original 1990's figure which has sat broken in the bits box for the better part of two decades. I just need to actually play some games with all of these painted figures. Once again showing with a bit of patience (& Green Stuff) it is possible to make repairs and improvements. 

A better look at the tartan pattern. 

First attempt at tartan. I probably need to have a look at a painting tutorial to get the order right. definitely a painting skill mini-challenge. 

Beauty & The Beast

My two favourite figures that I painted this month was the Blood Rage troll and a Warmonger Elf.  Both great sculpts. I had a chance to try painting skin tones over a larger area on the troll and it was a good opportunity to try painting skin in a mixture of colours. The elf was a bit the other way and try and get some smaller details right like the two tone flowers and blending the skin on a smaller figure. 

Good vs. Evil

Picked out my next two figures for the duel mini-challenge. Both Classic Citadel AD&D high level figures from the 80s. In the left corner - The Very Definition of Lawful Good. The Paladin, and in the right corner - bring the chaotic to evil. The Chaotic Evil fighter. 

One Month Tally

All the figures painted in May. After last month's army building with work on the Dryads, Wilde Hunt and Fungoid Shrooms. This month has been much more about  characters and starting a small core unit of elves. Included in this is the second of the scratch built/sculpted forest spirits. 

WIP

A few bits and pieces on the work bench at month end. I have a couple of goodies on order, but I want to finish most of these before starting anything new.  The Warmonger Elf (Far Right) will be the Fae Queen but still needs dome serious back up. 

Rob 

Time for Another Elf

 Holly - Captain of the Winter Guard

The next one my Warmonger Elves to be finished. Unlike the other ones, she is fully armed and armoured. Ready for battle! Would make an interesting Elf Paladin. She was  fairly straight forward to paint with head to toe in armour. 

Holly taking a Wight & his bodyguard at dusk.

I have decided that the Fae Queen needs four Captains for her forces. One for each of the seasons. So first off, the Winter Captain. Clad in her Mistletoe armour and armed with a magick sword 'Winter's Kiss'. 

Rob 

Legolas Moonlights at Orc's Drift

 Acceptable in the 80s

I painted up Legolas to use as Fembreth - Elven Warrior of the Grand League (they did have a warped sense of humour at GW in the 80s). One of Ferndale Snart's patients at Orcs Drift. He's not one my favourite figures from the Lord of the Ring's range but he will do a fine job helping Ferndale evacuating the wounded.

Original 80's enamel paint job

It seems to becoming a bit of theme with using original paint schemes as a basis for the updated paint scheme. This is not an original paint scheme by me, but certainly fits the style of painting I was doing back in the late 80s. 

Rob 

Elven War Scout

Time for Some Elves 

Got some of Warmonger elves for a recent birthday. So I have been taking a bit of time to paint them. I quite pleased with how she turned out. I have been trying to take a bit more time to try and improve my skills. 

The figures are very nicely sculpted by a chap called Shane Hoyle  and remind very much of Mark Copplestone's style. But they do come on the smallest bases imaginable and so seem need the 2-part epoxy glue in order to stick to the bases. Normally I can get away with a hot-melt glue. 

Looking to forward to painting the rest of them. I also got one of the elves from Warmonger's Revenant Elves for the Fae Queen.  This one is sculpted by the excellent Mr Copplestone. 

Rob 

The Fae Queen's Champion & Spider Keeper

Fae Characters  

Blue Maeve - Killer of Dragons

 

The Queen's Champion

'Blue Maeve, the Fae Queen's champion. As gift for killing a troublesome dragon (& collecting various important magical parts). Maeve was rewarded with the 'Ice Shard' a spear with a  magical ice crystal which freezes its targets upon contact. Usually seen leading from the front when the Fae Queen goes to war seeking out worthy opponents to best and enhance her already fearsome reputation.'

Very laid Back!

Progress continues on characters for my Fae army. I will have to switch back to painting some more units but at the moment I am enjoying painting the characters. This is a Faerie from the current Ral Partha range. A very nicely sculpted figure which took the ink washes well. If I have one compliant about this figure is that she leans back (and obviously has a lot of weight from the wings on the back). To compensate,  I mounted her on a bigger base. But I think I will have to make a even bigger  one as she balances on the flat but on a wargames table may be a bit unstable. 

Grog the Spider 

Looking for his Spiders 

'Grog the Spider or ‘Spider King as he likes to be known’,  rules the forest goblins and keeps a few giant spiders. Grog is smart enough not to call himself the Spider King within earshot of the Fae Queen as she would have his ears (literally) as a reminder to all that she does  not suffer any rival to her ‘royal’ status.

Like all goblins, he has skilled hand and when he can be bothered ‘or forced’ can make any number of useful and interesting objects. His favourite possession is his talking two-handed axe ‘Great Reaper’ which he made from bronze stolen from the hill dwarves. Great Reaper is a much more reliable at keeping watch than any of Grog’s goblins.  He also keeps a number of giant spiders which he uses for hunting and as guard spiders. '

Another one of the modern Ral Partha figures. I plan to use him as the leader for a unit of spiders and goblins later. 

Rob 

Tom & Goldberry

 Classic & Modern Sculpts

Welcome Home!

One of the sadly lacking features of the 80s Citadel Lord of the Ring sets is great number of missing characters like Goldberry. Whilst there are many Aragorn and Gandalf  figures, they are missing interesting characters such as Galadriel or the Goblin King.  However, the modern range has made up for this short fall. 

Goldberry awaits Tom's return

I think the modern sculpt of Tom Bombadil lacks the spirit of Tom from the books, however the classic of sculpt makes up for in spades and seems to capture the writing,  like the drawing of Tom  by Jaroslav Bradic. Now I have a Goldberry figure to go with Tom. 

Tom Bombadil by Jaroslav Bradac

Rob

Saving Lost Figure(s)

 I Know This Is completely Unnecessary

Green Stuff Work done

These are figures that have sat broken in the lead pile for a long time.  At some point in the past I managed to break the feet off of a couple of Grenadier Wood Elves in an identical way. I don't remember doing it but I assume I must have been trying to separate them from the wooden bases as they were still partly attached.

I know that I could get replacements from Fornlorn Hope at a very reasonable price but I still want to fix them. After an unsuccessful attempts to glue the figures back together,  followed by an equally unsuccessful attempt to pin and glue the legs. I moved onto option 3 - Green Stuff.

Ready for Painting

Having decided to replace the feet with Green Stuff. This turned out to be relatively straight forward. I started with two small balls of Green Stuff directly on the stumps, which were then flattened. I then fashioned the feet from a small sausage shaped blob of Green Stuff which was then pointed at one end. Finally to make sure they were level, I stood the figures on a flat surface which I had coated with chalk dust to stop them sticking. This bit worked Ok. I then stuck them onto the base. Unfortunately the standard bearer  still fell over whilst drying. So will have to try again with him. But the horn blower moves onto the painting stage. 

Rob 

Talisman Sprite

 It isn't One of Mine

This post is a bit more Oldhammer with the Sprite figure from the 80s Talisman Range. I have a few of these figures now and had some back in the day,  I recently bought this one off eBay. When it turned up I liked the old school vibe and decided not to repaint it. It didn't come with a tab or base. So I had to rebase it. Which was fine as I could match it in with the other Fae.  I think she will make a great sorceress for the Fae. She is painted in colours that match the original one in White Dwarf and the Talisman game.

The Talisman card for the Sprite
(I am not sure who is the artist)

Rob 

Duel No. 4 Alternative Ending

Who's That On My Bridge

Having lost the first draft of this post, lets try again. It didn't take to long once I started painting the Lone Wolf Bandit to realise that I hadn't removed enough of the original paint. I decided to abandon, my painting attempt and return him to the paint stripper. I tend to wait for a number of figures to be done together.  So he will wait for another day to be painted. Rather than stop, I picked another figure off the lead pile. I chose a low level female cleric from Citadel's 80s AD&D range. 

The troll has already featured in several pictures in my Fae army.  But started as a repainted figure choice for my wargames bingo. So not much more to say about him.

As she arrived

What she should have looked like

When I bought the female cleric, I  didn't check any trusted sources (such as my prized 3rd Citadel compendium) so didn't notice she had a deformed leg. Once she arrived and I checked her over it was obvious she wasn't kneeling but was deformed.  Now I have seen a few damaged or deformed figures in 80s Citadel blisters before so I still think she is a genuine 80s figure. It didn't take long to remove the leg and replace it with a plastic leg from a spare figure. 

Well Prepared for any adventure

The adventurers take on an Orc Warband 

Rob

All I need is a Bridge

 Time For the First of the Heavy Hitters

This troll is big enough to be used as a giant rather than a regular troll. The figure was really enjoyable to paint with a very nice level of detail, great design and  with well defined casting (printing?). The figure is resin and would have been really heavy if metal.

I believe it is from the Blood Rage game. 

I started the skin tones with Khorne Red in the recesses and working up to a lightened Deathclaw Brown. Followed by a Sepia wash. The next stage was light dry brushing with Deathclaw Brown / Kislev Flesh and further Sepia washes. The idea behind scheme is that troll has scarred and sore skin patches (which contributes to his bad temper) and that such a big skin area cannot be just one uniform colour. 

Basic Skin colours before the first wash.

Highlights of Deathclaw brown and Kislev flesh. I ended up taking him off the base to get at the hard-to-reach bits. The overhang of the arms in front of legs is nearly impossible to paint whilst attached to the base. So, he got pulled off the base.

The hair was painted dark green and washed. Ready for the first highlighting. Warplock bronze on the metal parts followed a wash with Nihilakh Oxide.  The loincloth was a mixture of Kislev flesh and Dryad Brown. If I was painting again then I would thin down the Nihilakh Oxide as I think it is a bit overpowering used neat on these small areas. 

I ended up removing him from the base
as I just couldn't get the legs properly.

Just prior to work on the hammer head. 

I will count him as my monster on my Wargames bingo card.

Rob 

Captain of the Guard

 Finished with a 20 year Gap

This figure from Grenadier's Fantasy Warriors Fighting men range has been my General (Or Warchief in Fantasy Warrior terms) for over twenty years. But I never thought he looked finished. I forgot to take a picture before the finishing touches so you just have to trust me on this one.  

He had a plain green tabard which just needed something to bring it out. So a couple of washes and touching up wear and tear from twenty years of use. I can finally call him finished. The painting on the face is probably one best one that I think I have done.   Like many of Grenadiers figures of this period (mid-90s) this one was sculpted by Mark Copplestone and it is up to his usual high standard. 

Rob 

It's Starting to Look Like An Army

Round Up Month One (April) & A Bit 

As far as my Fae army is concerned it has been a productive month with progress made on several units and a couple characters completed.

Arrayed for War

The Trees are Alive!

Rank & File

Figures I made for this project.

Figures I bought for this project. 

1. Fungoid Shrooms - Completed (14 Models - Old Citadel / Kings of War / Scratch Built). This unit is finished for the moment, Although there is only 14 models, it does cover an area of twenty 20mm bases. So I could choose to use as a twenty strong unit (For non-competitive games). The notable features are the first scratch built figures and the 30 year old Citadel troll. Cost of Figures £2 (x2 kings of War Spectres used as Spore Zombies). I am not counting the troll as I have had him over ten years. The Kings of War figures were out of the bits box, so technically I didn't buy them for this project either. 
2. Dryads - In Progress (18 Models - Citadel). Again I have added a couple of scenic elements to two of the 2x2 bases. So again could be used as a unit of twenty. I have another four Dryads but not sure if I will keep them for this unit or use them some where else such as a scenic feature. I intend this to be led by different character possibly the stag's head druid with the fox familiar. Cost £19 for the 22 Dryads. So about 90p per figure. 
3. Wild Hunt - In Progress (13 Models - Unknown). One of the loft 'Freebee' units as so far all of the figures in this unit have come out of the loft. A quick unit to paint. Not sure if I will fix the wisps of mist or remove them yet.  I need to decide on a leader. Either an Emerald knight and a hound master or a Spirit (Reaper miniatures do a nice Animal Spirit). Cost Nil (So far)... 
4. Giant Spiders - To Be Started (3 Models - Pound Shop). I have three Pound shop spiders queued up to convert and paint. Similar to the one I did for one of chaos warbands (see previous post). Cost <50p.
5. Forest Spirits - In Progress (3 Models - One Finished, One In Progress & One to be Started - Scratch Built). The Lesser Ent is built  and the Fungoid Giant is in progress. For the third forest spirit I plan to make an earth elemental.  Cost Nil.

Characters

Figures that I reused or got out of the bits box for this project.
 They have decided to join the Fae cause.

Prodos Games Fae (Which I liked enough to buy the set)

1. Druids - Completed (2 Models - Ex Grenadier). A pair of Mark Copplestone's excellent Wood Elves from his Grenadier days. Very clean sculpts which paint up well. Bought from Fornlorn Hope. Cost £5.25. 
2. Fae Warband - In Progress (2 out of 6 painted - Prodo Games). Bought this group on an impulse from eBay. I particularly liked the female elf warrior with shield and spear which I thought would fit in very well the look I was going for with the Fae. Plus at about £1 per figure this wasn't going to bust the budget. Cost £6.16. 
3. Hobgoblin - Finished (1 Model - Ral Partha). Another really nicely sculpted miniature. Unfortunately I don't know who sculpted him but he will become the leader of a small band of goblins and giant spiders. Cost  £5. 
4. River Troll - Finished (1 Model - Reaper Miniatures). A Christmas present, so again technically not bought for this project but I think he is selling about £7. I just asked for this miniature because I liked it. One of the purposes of this project was to paint figures I liked but within a theme.  Cost £7. 
5. Hedge Wizard - In Progress (2 Models - Old Citadel). This is the old Tom Bombadil from the classic 80's Lord of the Rings range. I did do a bit of touching up on the foot figure which I had finished last year. But the mounted figure has been a 'waiting to be painted' stage since then. So a nice excuse to finish the set. Cost - I think I paid about £8 a couple of years ago. 
6. Goldberry - In Progress  (1 Model - Citadel). I bought the modern Tom / Goldberry set when I couldn't get the classic Tom Bombadil.  The Tom figure was already nicely painted so I just rebased him to match in with my existing collection. But Goldberry wasn't needed for the scenario. So was sitting  in the lead pile. Cost - I think I paid about £8 a couple of years ago. 
7. Dryad Hero - Finished (1 Model - Reaper Miniatures). Another one of those impulse buys. I thought she would make a great leader to the forest spirits. Cost £5.25. 

So not bad progress for about 5-6 weeks. The plan is to finish off some more of the in progress stuff as well as a couple of scenic items. So about £35 spent so far but with plenty of scratch building and re-using of old figures. I have managed to dent the lead pile a little bit. Plus I nearly forgot I also painted up one fox.

Fox about Town

Rob 

Accident & Emergency at Orcs Drift

 Ferndale Snart & Beli

As always there is a fox about town.

Second one from my occasional (grand) plan to complete the Orcs Drift scenario with 80/90s figures. This  time the druid Ferndale Snart and Beli (Dwarven patient suffering from shell shock). I have chosen the excellent Druid from the Talisman range. Again this is a figure I got as a birthday present back in the 80s , lost and rebought a couple of years ago (there seems to be a theme developing here...). The other connection is that this is a figure design based on a drawing by Gary Chalk. 

Gary Chalk - Ferndale at Orcs Drift

The original Gary Chalk Talisman Druid drawing

Ferndale is a druid, hired to carry out medical duties for the army of the Grand Alliance but has a drink problem (this seemed Ok in the 80s). But this is probably a nod to the film Zulu with Jack Hawkins's character Otto Witt - the dunkard priest.  He provides the heavy duty magical support for the beleaguered defenders of Orcs Drift but this comes with a price as he is trying to get his patients away to safety during the course of the scenario and is a pacifist. So only has defensive spells. 

Rob