Finishing & Starting Stuff

 Finished the Last Giak

So I have finished all of my current collection Lone Wolf figures, there are still a few more to get but their  'normal' prices means I will watch and wait. There are plenty of other interesting projects out there which my money will probably be spent on first.

So next up is the group shot of all the miniatures in my collection. 

The whole gang. 

This group has  taken over twenty years on and off,  so cover multiple types of my styles over the years. So despite the differences I quite like the fact they don't all look the same. One of other  perennial questions is around basing and certainly those recently painted figures were based to fit into current armies and groups. 

So on to the next projects.

Started Something New

Just completed the first of the Pixie Riders from Miniatures (oakbound.co.uk), a great little figure who fits in nicely to Fae army. I have another two to complete and hopefully will be start of light cavalry unit.

The Pixie leads the sprites into battle
(Playing around with the light)

Stuff in Progress

I haven't forgotten my Thistlewood project but fancied a bit of a change of pace. So looking through my buildings collections. I have done a bit of tidying up of my 30 year old buildings and started to build a few more to complete the ones necessary for the scenario. I can't do any further work on this house until I get some more coffee stirrer sticks!

Its the first time I have used egg box cardboard for the tiles and I am really impressed by the result. It didn't start out to be a crooked house but once I noticed it, I decided to work with it. A lot of old houses are not perfectly square and few odd angles are perfectly normal.

Progress on Buildings so far.

Rob 

Lone Wolf Gourgaz

 Close Up Shots

Rob 

Lone Wolf Nidnuks & Emerald Prince

Only One Lone Wolf Figure left & the Emerald Prince

Easy Prey?

So I have nearly painted all of the figures in my Lone Wolf collection. Only one Giak left to paint. Whilst I will keep an eye out for the remaining figures. The prices are usually beyond what I am prepared to pay so my collection is almost finished for now My Lone Wolf collection Picture.  Anyway the two Nidnuks have now been been finished. These Nidnuks  are small mouse men who act as scavengers in the Lone Wolf world. 

The figures are really small, only about 10mm high. So time for the small brushes!

Gary Chalk has done a couple of pictures (One shown below) of them for the Lone Wolf books. Which nicely capture the spirit of the characters. I am not sure that these sculpts quite meet the high standards of the drawings. Fortunately other figures in the range do a much better capturing the spirit of the books and Gary Chalk's illustrations. 

Nidnuk Chieftain by Gary Chalk

Finishing off Some Fae

After my Fantasy Warriors game, last month. I was inspired to finally get round to finishing off one my Fae units, The Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt was missing the leader of the hunt - The Emerald Prince. In the game, the Wild Hunt couldn't finish off the Grateful Dead A Finely Balanced Encounter and fight lasted nearly all game. So I think the leader of the hunt would have helped tip the balance in favour of the Wild Hunt. This just leaves the sprite unit from my original Fae army plan. Maybe I might get them finished before Christmas...

I chose a classic Mark Copplestone wood elf warchief  from Grenadier (via Fornlorn Hope). As with all of the elves in the Fae army. I have avoid going for 'normal' flesh colours, so as the name suggested I went all in with the colour green. Which was an interesting change to stick to a smaller range of colours. He looks a bit darker in the photos than in 'real' life but overall I think he fits the bill. However, I would of liked a couple of extra different greens. So I could do with a wider range of paints. It is always more exciting to buy figures but a few more paints is a must over the next few months.

Rob  

A Very Rotten Bandit

 A Bit of Rot and Rustling

Early evening rustling

The latest of my Lone Wolf figures has been the bandit. Unfortunately he seems to have suffered a bit lead rot. He was a figure that I purchased off of eBay already painted and sat on the shelf for a number of ears before painting.  He had the paint removed and I did attempt to paint him as part of the duel series however I gave up because at the time I thought was unremoved paint but I now realise was lead rot. Which was giving a rough surface around the recesses of the model. 

When I painted him the first time, I did think the paint removal (lead rot) wasn't great but it really showed up as I painted the model. Interestingly the figure was a very dark metal colour which i assume means the lead mix was bit off. As most my other figures from the same period are a much light metal colour. 

This is the only one of the Lone Wolf figures, I can't find the a Gary Chalk picture on which it is based. 

Pre Paint Stripping!

The paint was removed again, any light scraping to remove the remaining paint just damaged the figure.  So figure was cleaned with soap/water/old tooth brush and an loose material removed. Fortunately it  is still be mostly in the recesses. The figure was then  re-undercoated.  I decided to go for a darker scheme to try and hide some of the damage. Overall I am ok with the final result given the state of the miniature. 

After all this excitement! There is only one solution...

Rob

Flight From the Dark

 Lone Wolf Returns

I'm on a bit of a Lone wolf Miniatures roll, having painting  more figures this year than the last twenty years put together. So with Lone Wolf painted, I have four figures left, so I think its time to finish painting the rest. It would be good to get the rest of the set (& I will keep my eyes open) but the prices are just to high to justify spending that much on just four more figures. Especially when there are many other great Oldhammer figures for much less money. I am glad I got these ones when the prices were ok. 

I tried go for a colour scheme which fits a ranger. With a bit of dirt as he can't he too clean living in the wilds. The original drawing has a bit too much green, so I decided to limit the green to the cloak only. Using browns instead.  

Almost alone in the wilds

The Classic Gary Chalk Lone Wolf drawing.
Its is pretty clear to see the drawing
was the inspiration for the figure. 

A bit of mud on the cloak

Fighting off Giak raiders

My entire Lone Wolf collection

Rob

LW1 Giak Attack Finished

 After not painting these figures for years (decades), I sudden found the motivation to finish them. I know it was not many figures but they never seemed to get to the front of the queue until now. It is probably because I am not rushing to finish an army at the moment. Just adding bits as they come along.

So the last two

Maniac Giak

Giak Warrior

Gourgaz was the first to be painted (in the nineties) a and I would like to have another go at him as my painting style/skills have changed significantly. But I am not going to strip this figure But I might be able to get one more...

Anyway with the Giak Attack finished, I have a few other Lone Wolf figures left to paint and in particular Lone Wolf himself. 

Rob 

LW1 Giak Attack (Very Slowly)

Taking My Time

Finished Giak No.4 from the 1980's Giak Attack Boxed set. I have had this set since from at least the Nineties but have never got round to finishing it. I have managed an odd figure every now and again. So they all have widely different painting styles. But at this stage I plan to keep them all different. The banner guy has sat half painted for at least a year, so it was finally his turn this afternoon. I even painted both sides of the banner which is always a bit of  a strain for me. 

Thirty Years of Progress...

Gourgaz Attacks

As a small reward, I plan to finally paint Lone Wolf himself once I have completed the last two Giaks.

White Dwarf 59 November 1984 - The One with the Troll & Female Magic User 

Cover by Peter Andrew Jones

She doesn't seem to be carrying much equipment for a dungeon bash but this seemed standard for the period.  You may be wondering why I have posted this apart from its obvious charms. But there is a point, it is the first pictures I could find of completed Lone Wolf figures including Lone Wolf, Prince Penethor and the Giaks. The figures were included in the regular Tabletop Heroes section of White Dwarf written by Joe Dever & Gary Chalk. Back when White Dwarf only had two pages devoted to miniatures - one page of colour pictures and one page of painting tips and topics. Seems crazy now! 

Another excellent Gary Chalk illustration
which seems to be the starting point for the miniatures. 

Rob 

Duel No. 2 Part 2 - Clash of Wizardry

Vordak Finally Given a New Look

So I have finished the second of my two wizards for this duel. Vordak from Citadels 80's Lone Wolf range. He has been sitting on the shelf with same paint job that I got him with for at least a decade. I decided not to go down that the black 'Ringwraith' look but went for a mixture of greys and reds. The red was much brighter than I thought and he ended up with a Little Red Riding Hood vibe (Doh!). Also tried a different order to my painting by doing dry brushes to the base colour and then washing (In this case Nuln Oil) rather than dry brushing after the wash. Overall I am pleased with the look. 

I have already chosen the third Duel. Which a pair of pre-slotta miniatures: a dwarf farmer and halfling slinger. The dwarf has had a bit of a start/stop. His tunic and hat were my first attempt at using contrast paints and I wasn't sure if had over done it. However, I dry brushed over the contrast paint  and now think it looks ok.

Get OFF my land & leave my carrots alone

Rob

Old School Dungeon Bash

 Out the Loft

After painting up a couple of old school adventurers, I searched the loft and found my old dungeon floor plans. These seemed a much better backdrop for photographing these fearless dungeon adventurers. 

I was a fan of the British Dragon Warriors roleplaying game when I was younger.  Published as series of books. Book 5 - The Power of Darkness caused a bit of stir as it featured a Darkness Elementalist with the power to summon demons. This probably wouldn't cause much of a fuss today but seemed to be a big deal back in the day. But was withdrawn at the time. The books were a mixture of rules and scenarios with a distinctly British vibe. With Knights, Barbarians, Sorcerers and Mystics as the four main classes. 

Anyway, a few adventurers braving the dungeons deep.  The floor plans  and miniatures are all from Games Workshop / Citadel circa late 80's. A mixture of ranges: Lord of the Rings, Lone Wolf, Talisman, AD&D , C series Citadel and plastic skeletons.  Plus Juggo from 'The Magnificent Sven' scenario. 

Battle Royale

Attacked from all sides

Beware the White Hand Orcs

Don't throw a one on your morale test

Magic Ring don't fail me now!

Duel No.1 Part 2 - I Challenge you to a Single Combat

 Duel No.1 Part 2

Finished off the Citadel Lord of the Rings ME-53 Southron - Haradrim to complete of the first duel. With a sort of classic Lord of the Rings vibe. I used a lot more colours (Over a dozen) on the Southron than I normally do although he mainly looks purple / yellow.  This was an interesting way to complete a couple of figures that have been sitting in the pile for some time for no obvious reason except they didn't fit any particular niche.

So after a couple of fighters I have decided to turn my attention to wizards.  Both were bought in the state they are presented here. However, the Lone Wolf Vordak has been sitting on a shelf with my other Lone Wolf figures for best part of a decade. He really needs the paint removed before I start.

I might even finally paint Lone Wolf. 

Rob 

Wargames Bingo

 Wargames Bingo

Came across this on bingo card on Rob Hawkin’s blog (robhawkinshobby.blogspot.com) yesterday. So, I gave decided to give it a go.

Blank Bingo Card

Looking through I can fill three squares straight away.

1. Finish painting a model that’s been in your lead pile or remained unfinished for more than a year.

The Unfinished Prince Penethor

Probably the easiest one on the whole card for me. This model sat my lead pile for over 25 years and in  partly finished state for about 18 months. So this figure definitely meets the criteria.

The Finished Prince Penethor

He was finished as I was starting to get back into painting after 18 month break.

2. Paint a unit and add scenic bases for all the models (Scratch built or resin is fine; so long as it’s more than just sand and static grass).

The Mighty Zog leading the Greater Hobgoblins

This one and the next was pretty straightforward for me as I do the bases before starting the next models. 

3. Claim this space only if all of the “Finished” models in your army are based, too (this could be a freebie).

First 1000 pts Chaos Army

So three squares complete and twenty two to go...

Rob