'Eavy Metal Special: White Dwarf 125

The selected painted models in this post were printed in White Dwarf 125 and continue our exploration of old school style miniatures from the Bryan Ansell years of Games Workshop. Following on from my last post, we have a further assortment of chaos miniatures produced by the talented hands of the painting department. Though there are a couple of Khorne and Slaanesh models here, which look to date from the Slaves of Darkness era only with new bases and shields, the majority of the space was dedicated to Nurgle and Tzeentch, which is only right due to the imminent release of The Lost and the Damned. 

The Tzeentch stuff really is a riot of colour. If I remember correctly, the very name 'Tzeentch' was suppose to represent the sound of magic spells being cast, and their colour schemes really should represent the chaos of colour that magical spells would produce. They are made up of the raw essence of warp magic in their daemonic form. Orange, yellow and blue seems to predominate, and its probably worth taking note of these themes if you are considering an old school painting style like I do. 

The standout model here (and the term, 'stand out' doesn't really do the model justice) has to be Ivan Bartlett's Dragon Ogre Champion. A truly remarkable conversion, let along paint job and that banner! Certainly one of the best I have ever seen. The three shield motif is one that Ivan uses from time to time in other pieces of work, and I can recall seeing a Nurgle standard bearer in Bryan's collection that followed a similar design. One that I shall have to replicate one day, I think! 

Oh, and this was the model that inspired my retro basing style by the way. 

Now here is a model that needs no introduction... Ivan's War Altar of Nurgle. An immortal piece of converting and painting and a model that is very well remembered by the great number of people. Its probably fair to say that this model is one of the greatest pieces of fantasy modelling ever produced and is chock-a-full of great ideas. The rib cage, the huge wheels, the skeletal oxen pulling the creation along, the brass bell, the malicious crows in the branches and the brilliantly modelled tree. 

It makes you wonder what ever happened to a model like this doesn't it? Or the Dragon Ogre Champion for that matter!

Well, thankfully I can answer both queries...

Here's Steve Casey, the famous Citadel Collector, admiring one of Bryan's figure cases at Stoke Hall alongside Garth 'Warhammer for Adults' James. But what's that I can spy hiding away on top of the cabinet? 

Yes, the War Altar of Nurgle is safe in the Ansell figure collection, though we were so over awed by the Chalice of Doom we didn't ask to get the altar down. Hopefully, in future years we can get a closer look at this model and capture some digital images of the model as it deserves a proper investigation. Luckily, Steve Casey has done some work on chronicling this famous model on his personal blog, Eldritch Epistles, and his post can be found here.

Steve also goes on to report that the Dragon Ogre Champion is now in the collection of Orclord in the US. He has taken a series of modern photographs as part of his collection and they can be seen here too. 

The other miniatures of note in this issue have, largely, been seen before in various other publications. Paul Benson's distinctive painting style is the stand out piece here, though the simple but effective orc champion conversion by Kev Adams is very well known and was published wildly during the 1980s. 

A second page again chronicles well known models, though Steve Blunt's Nurgle Chariot is a fitting end piece of this article. Comparable to the War Altar, this is another iconic piece of conversion and painting work that many of you will remember well. 

We will be looking at this model in greater detail later on today! 

Orlygg