Hobby Workshop Update

 

So the new central heating system is installed and working. It was an ordeal. Every room, every day. Floorboards up, dust, noise, leaks, mess... But it is done and working. We have a strange, clean heat in our ramshackle little bungalow which feels very different to the piping hot fossil fuel radiators of yesterday. The next project will be a brand new kitchen in March and April, so for a while at least things can begin to settle down back into routine. 

I enjoy one particular routine. Popping down the garden to my workshop. During the installation I uncovered several more boxes of my stuff. Nearly all of it came from my former modelling desk. I am now awash with every unfinished project from 2013-18. Plenty of 'unfinishables' there. Out of the blue, several carboard boxes were dropped off from my old life too. These were stuffed with magazines, a battered copy of 1989's Space Marine with most of the pieces intact and all of the models Bryan Ansell (and others) gave to me over the years. A neat stack of those white Foundry cardboard boxes full of treats. It was bittersweet going through them all again but I very pleased to have all those metal pieces of joy back. There is a fair bit of Citadel in there and loads of random Foundry delights too. The workshop is in a shocking state and everything is dumped in any space I can find. 

So much to do.

I found my old poster from WD100 if memory serves too. I've posted it up in the workshop for inspiration. 

Here's a shot of it's current state. I've organised everything in the boxes for proper storage later on. I've reused the former carpenter's bench and the old Co-Op shop shelf from the 1970s to be my main working area. Top shelf you should see a few old Realm of Chaos renegades, Bryan Ansell's Adventurers boxset and a pile of bits. Second shelf an assortment of Blandford Warriors, Militia and old scenery pieces. Third shelf, two of those old Britain's oak trees you can see on the Duke's wargames table in WFB3 as well as my paltry painted collection and some original Citadel brushes. Bottom two shelves are clogged with unfinished models from many ranges but mostly Foundry. My paints are all mixed up on the workbench and will eventually be sorted properly and laid out along the shelving. 

I have no idea where to begin!

A few posts back the famous Citadel Cottage was mentioned. I used the model at the front right as the backdrop to my plaguebearer. These are my surviving examples of that classic hobby project. They are certainly seen better days but I plan on fully restoring these once I can get myself in order. I'll probably respray them all in white and repaint the lot. The building on the front left needs a new roof too. 

Here's a close up of some of the odds and sods I've retrieved. I was pleased to get that Dragon Ogre back. I was just about to work on that model in lockdown when I discovered my services were no longer required. I was sure I'd left it on the bedroom window and would never get it back. It is a big temptation to start painting it as its a good sized chunky model for those of us whose eyesight is beginning to go. 

Big thanks to MisterC who sent me the long lost chariot wheel for the classic skeleton war machine. I had endeavoured to put this model back together this weekend but realised that the yoke part of the chariot is also missing! A small and vital part indeed but much easier to convert something suitable to replace it. I've ordered some florist's wire to see what can be done to complete this in the not to distant future. 

Of course, we must thank MisterC once again for his generosity to supporting my comeback into this wonderful hobby... so with out further ado... I salute you MisterC. Thank you once again and good luck with that Lichemaster project. Additionally, he sent me a couple more pots of paint you can see in the photo above. A lovely bright '80s Electric Blue and and previously unknown to me Ash Waste Grey. Again, many thanks and I promise to make good retro use of them. 

I did manage to repair these horses though. Both had been badly crushed and broken. I've reattached the head of one of these models and the rear leg and ribs of both of them. May the Dark God's bless the duo of liquid poly and superglue. I'll wait until the florist's wire arrives before putting the chariot base together. I plan on mounting it on a monster base for added strength. I was never a fan of whole model bases for figures like this.

We will await the postman. 

Orlygg

The Joy of Astrogranite: An interview with Pete Knifton

Graeme Davis, among others, shared the sad news today that another old school Citadel creative has gone. Namely illustrator Pete Knifton of 2nd Edition Bloodbowl fame. This saddened me as his distinctive, humorous style really set the tone of that game for me. I have many, many fond memories from my youth pouring over the often amusing illustrations from the BB rulebook and many of the supplements... my favourite being the goblin pogos I've headed this post with.

But as I grew older and my appreciation of that unique, peerless period of GW's history spearheaded by Bryan Ansell grew deeper and I started to connect the dots a little more. I started to notice that many of the artists who I had loved so much had actually contributed to Warhammer, Rogue Trader and beyond.

Pete Knifton was one such creative.

I am sure all of you will be familiar with this fantastic piece of work. The Pacification of Flotis III. This beautifully detailed illustration appeared in WD 113 and I can still remember being startled by how striking (and unusual) it was for the magazine at the time. Of course, I now know that Bryan was keen to try anything and everything and him being such a fan of 2000 AD he had a desire for a Warhammer comic too. Sadly, nothing would ever come for his vision though (as with many things he envisaged) GW did eventually produce such a publication.

This illustration is a fantastic overview of much of the early Rogue Trader Imperial Guard range from the 1980s. The 2000AD/Aliens style mash up that it was. I've always loved the range and foolish sold much of it off years ago... not that I'd still have it now of course. But I still consider it a very foolish thing to do as these models are fantastically imaginative. Very much like artists such as Knifton. 

A big draw to his work was the storytelling and humour so prevalent across much of his output. The comic book style, the macabre touches and the the schoolyard joking still resonate with me to this day. As I am sure it will do with you, dear readers. The image directly above came from an article from Jervis Johnson about different types of pitch to play across and helped illustrate the pitfalls. I love the improbably impaled orc head to the left... as it asks so many questions to the observer. How did the head get there? Was it the result of a particularly awkward fall? Or had the head been previously severed and was rather piquishly pushed down onto the spike? 

I guess we could discuss the storytelling in this piece for some time but let's move on...

To this funny little piece. I always loved this one with the grinning orc boy stomping the foot of the unfortunate Gouged Eye player. As I kid, we used to pinch tracing paper from the art-store in the back of our classroom and I can recall tracing this picture and amusing my friends with it for a while. 

Pete also illustrated some of the early terminator models put out before the seminal boxset and Space Hulk cemented their look. I seem to recall there were a number of issues when a series of different styles of model were released. I like the little Latin touch on the arm... translating into 'I will return' but a link to Big '80s Arnie's famous catchphrase perhaps?

Other illustrations of Knifton's didn't have such an impactful lifespan as his terminators. Here we see the MKXIV Bullock jetcycle which as seen many a fan sculpt over the years but to my limited knowledge no actual models. I loved the jetbikes in the '80s and even had a few. One day, when I'm flush with cash and time... I'll build myself a Rogue Trader army of Imperial Guard to make up for my youthful foolishness. 

Having followed many of the 'names' that graced the glory days through the decades I know that Knifton had a long a varied career. Working for Alternative Armies, drawing Transformers comics, painting front covers for thrash bands and so on... In the days when Facebook was just taking off and it wasn't a morass of AI lies, stupidity and posts about someone's cat it was easy as pie to connect with other people. Social media was much more trusting and immediate back then as I am sure you can recall. You connected with your friends and people who you admired... some times they even returned the interest. 

During my research phase ten years or go or more, I was lucky enough to share a series of random rambling chats with Pete Knifton and those conversations have simply sat in my archive unpublished. Having heard the sad news today, I though it appropriate to edit those chats into a little interview like I did in the old days to help celebrate and remember another important contributor to the world we all love.

So that's enough rambling from Orlygg, I'll hand you over to Pete Knifton so his story can be told in light of his recent passing. I'm sure many of you will have your own memories of his work for GW and the myriad other things he did. I have edited his words for clarity and punctuation as these conversations took place over Facebook messenger over a period of time. 

RoC80s: How did your artistic career begin? 

PK: I'd always liked drawing from an early age. I remember covering every scrap of paper I could find with drawings of Fireball XL5 and the Daleks. I used to go to the local printers and beg for cuts of paper. I was never one for copying pictures so I used to do my own versions of the characters I saw in the comics that I bought. Comics were very important to me as a child. At that time though, people used to say that comics encouraged illiteracy but far from it... they inspired me to read!

RoC80s: How much fantasy and science-fiction material was available to you then?

PK: There were loads of fantasy and mythology books out there. But for me it was my beloved illustrated encyclopedias. I absolutely loved them! Marvel and DC comics were more sporadically available in the '60s and I ate them up. I particularly enjoyed the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and of course, Batman! At one point I wanted to become a political cartoonist but the influence of comics was just too strong and I managed to miss that particular artistic avenue. I did a lot of practise sketching the faces and poses of people in the public eye though, which was most useful later on when GW would give us artists their metals models to provide art for. 

Pete Knifton attending a Games Day in the late '80s sketching for the unwashed hordes. Note the Batman T-Shirt and the cheeky pint and ciggies... an '80s zeitgeist. 

RoC80s: So how did you end up working at GW during it's creative '80s heyday?

PK: Well, as I read more and more I became increasingly interested in the book covers that I was seeing. Around sixteen years of age I decided to have a go at painting one. Massively derivative of Chris Foss (his science fiction, not that other more famous book) it looked okay and I was inspired to try a couple more. A year or so later, I read about an agency in London called Young Artists. I approached Jon Spencer and he took me on. 

The Art of Chris Foss which inspired Pete's early forays into art.

Shortly after that, I started selling covers for mainly German and French publishers. When Jon left Young Artists, his successor had a good clear out of the art stable and I was among that number, sadly. I was a rubbish freelancer and kind of drifted away from the artworld. I hadn't had any proper training and was entirely self-taught. I ended up spending most of my time building model robots for a couple of years. My interests in robotics and comics put me in contact with a guy called Ian Cooke. He suggested that I phone Games Workshop to see if they had any use for me. Which I did. 

Artwork that was used to illustrate the Combat Card games published in White Dwarf. 

RoC80s: What can you recall of you time in the famous '80s 'Design Studio'?

PK: In those early days GW was a rough and ready place. Free and easy. It was packed with hippies and rockers and creatures yet unidentified. But, boy, they could all paint, and sculpt and draw! John Blanche was, in those days, a great guy and gave me a commission on my very first visit to the studio. As it was situated only 10 minutes away from my flat I could easily drop off work and collect my cheques. Ian was still doing bits and pieces for White Dwarf and all the guys there were so friendly I used to drop in for a cuppa and a chat. I used to check out whatever Tony Ackland was doing. Of course, the Design Studio at that time was full of banter and was about as chilled as you could get. Things would sadly change later on but in those early days we had no idea about what would come. 

Pete's love of comic books shone through with his enigmatic artworks from the late '80s. 

RoC80s: So how did things change at the 'Design Studio?'

PK: When I started it wasn't corporate at all. It was Bryan's vision. He wanted us all happy and urged us all to just make stupid stuff up. He was so encouraging and we even got paid for some of it! There weren't really any rules as far as the creative process went. No lore to abide by. John Blanche used to ask me what I thought of ideas they were developing when I visited and he'd often ask me to do pictures based on what I saw. Much of the Bloodbowl and Imperial Guard stuff came out of those meetings and I was always very happy to do it. It was my dream job, freelancing for GW at that time and I was able to bring in my love of comic book art with much of the work I did. Taking the lead in the Bloodbowl artwork for it's second edition was one of the greatest times of my life. I was working with a bunch of mates and creating something so original. Sure, there were arguments, disagreements but they were never serious under Bryan's watch. 

The egos hadn't landed yet.

To conclude, we have lost another one of the greats who built the imagery of this hobby we love. Imagery that lesser creatives use to this day in the very corporate and safe worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. But there was a more vibrant age long ago, one with few rules and vast imagination. Modern painters and sculptors truly are standing on the shoulders of giants...

Pete Knifton was one of those giants.

My thoughts go out to Pete's family and friends. His work will be valued and appreciated for many, many more years to come.

Orlygg

Realm of Chaos Era Plaguebearer

 

Has it really been three weeks?

All is good with me here in Orlygg Towers. Work is gathering pace in the longstanding issue we have in replacing the central heating. We've been stuck with the smelly oil system that the house came with when we bought it two years ago. Amusingly, the boiler dates from the '80s itself and when it worked produced lovely back scolding heat when you lent back on the radiators. The kind of fossil fuel warmth that I can recall from my days reading WD against the radiator in my room.

Sadly, the whole system is well past its sell by date and will be ripped out next week. We have qualified for a government grant for one of these new fangled heat-pump so that will be installed. As with all schemes, there have been a mountain of hurdles to jump to get to this point. Hence the lack of hobby time. 

I did manage to get out into the workshop a few times. It is a lovely calming place to be and I've taken to listening to audiobooks in there. This plaguebearer was kicking about in a box and caught my eye. It was one of the very first models I ever painted. I must have got a blister pack of these figures early on and endlessly repainted the few that I had. 

I am quite happy with this figure though, and I had a lot of fun with him. I realise that my green paints leave a lot to be desired and I plan to stock up on a fair few Coat d'arms paints when I get the chance. I've spotted some of the more recent GW paints in hobby shops too, but there is never enough of a range for me to study in any depth. Next time I walk past a brick and mortar store I might have to pop in a see what greens there are these days. 

Eagled eye readers of this blog may well recognise the old Warhammer Cottage from White Dwarf fame in the background of this shot too. I've got a box of scenery bits back and found them amongst the surviving pieces. All of them need a good clean up at restoration session but I'm pleased to have them back. 

Speak to you all soon I hope.

Orlygg

Eric Umbrand Earthshaker and Ulher the Disciplined

 

A couple of new figures for you that I got finished over the last couple of weeks. I haven't been that productive (the wisdom tooth extraction area has had more woes) but I have very much enjoyed spending time in my little workshop sorting out my bits and bobs and tinkering away on a small clutch of figures. 

Eric Umbrand Earthshaker is probably the most 'chaos warriory warrior' you get hope to meet. He ticks all the motifs on the list of '80s chaos warrior tropes. Full plate armour, impressive weapon, inimitable helm and that Goodwin pizzaz that just screams Citadel quality. He is an interesting figure and he came from another small bag of bits recently returned to me. My old unpainted collection seems to slowly be making its way back, or parts of it at least, so I'm hopeful for more pieces in the future. This model had already been painted, presumably by my son a fair few years ago, but never finished. He'd painted it red and washed over rather sloppily with a dark ink wash. So instead of stripping the figure, on a whim I decided to just paint him using edge highlights to see where we got. 

It was a simple case of Hobgoblin orange, followed by Sunburst Yellow with a final highlight of the yellow mixed with a little Skull White. This little project gave me the chance to practice a little freehand on the embossed pauldron too, you should just be able to see a face despite my crappy camera. 

His weapon and chainmail was just drybrushed though I aged the grip and pommel with a little Hawk Torquoise as you might be able to make out. 

The second figure is Ulher the Disciplined and if memory serves me here is a Lord of Battle. He was much trickier than Eric and I spent sometime tinkering with how to make him look interesting. Just having a silver chap in full plate didn't look 'Citadelesque' enough for me. I matched his helmet to the golden guard on his two handed blade but that wasn't enough to bring the figure to life either.

In the end, I just painted the two pauldrons black and added white chequers. I freehanded the classic chessboard on the right hand side, obscured here by the blade of the sword, and detailed the guard on the left.

Obviously, I was struck by how similar the poses of these two figures are. Perhaps my subconscious selected something simple and comforting as I struggle onwards with a poorly face. I'm drawn back to my earliest memories of figure painting looking at the Skeleton Horde and Army (a project I very much need to resurrect- pun very much intended). In fact, I have found one of the very first metal models I ever painted in my new bag of goodies and he is on the table for tonight's session .

Speak soon, 

Orlygg

Hobby Workshop Update

 

A few weeks back I mentioned I'd begun work constructing the holy grail of many an enthusiast - a hobby room. Things have been able to progress since the council collected a considerable pile of detritus from storage. I've been able to house the log pile, our new bikes, tools and other house improvement gubbinz in one of the outbuildings leaving plenty of space in the old carpentry workspace.

I've swept it out. Boy, that was unpleasant. Forty years of dust and wood shavings in a combined space with little air flow was horrific. I had to keep quitting and leaving the space for a few days for it all to settle. The atmosphere in the room was like that of the deepest chaos wastes beyond Kislev. I'm never going to clear all of the dust from the space but have certainly made it more healthy. As you would have seen, I've reused one of the rugs left in the house when we bought it to cover the concrete floor. An old office chair is sufficient to seat myself on. 

I've got plenty of storage boxes taken from skips at school. They are lovely old 1970s wooden cabinets with plastic trays, some of which are quite substantial, all of which have decent plastic lids. Compared to the more modern equivalent boxes, these lids are like kevlar armour and will certainly withstand heavy use for the foreseeable future. 

My toplighting is good enough to work with but I've set up my old lamp for additional support. With my optivisor its now really easy and stress free to see the models I am working on. 

Here is the close up of my desk. There was an old wooden Co-Op shelf in the workshop that once held every imaginable type of screw and nail. Those jam jars of fastenings are now long gone and I plan to arrange my small but thoroughly retro paint collection on them for ease of access. Completed painted models will also be placed here to further inspire me. You will be able to spot a few recent figures in this shot if you peer carefully. I've got plenty of working space which is incredibly liberating (if a little overwhelming) after years of working in cramped corners of spare/living rooms. 

Owning practically nothing can be rewarding in its own way. Though, there will eventually become a time when the house is finished and I can start rebuilding a collection of something. When that day comes, these units and shelves can help keep things tidy. My old bureau (from which most of my original figures were painted) is still in my possession and will be moved out against the wall shortly to aid with this.  

Finally, I have this corner unit I scavenged from the original carpenter's workshop. It looks to be a 1960s kitchen cupboard repurposed with a long piece of MDF. I suspect it was once an additional workspace but thanks to the rewire it now has dedicated power and lighting. I intend to construct a simple battlefield in this space as scenery is something I can work on with minimal outlay. All of the Townscape buildings could be used or buildings from the famous Modelling Workshop WD articles. I doubt any games will be played here, it will purely be for storage, display and photography. But who knows...?

Well, there is my first update. There will of course be more over the months ahead as I make sense of the space. Any tips or thoughts of what else I could add or do with the space? I am sure some of you readers have some truly epic workstations out there I could steal a trick or two from. 

Orlygg

When the Paint Flows Freely...

 

Over the years I have spoken about unfinishable figures. The miniature Moriarty! Those models that no matter how hard you try, you just cannot get them finished. You persevere of course, even struggle to block in those base-colours and apply layers of highlights but it is all to no avail. Frustrated by your efforts, the model is abandoned and cast aside.

Well this post is not about one of those figures but its exact opposite. The perfect paintjob without a suitable buzzword to describe it. One of those figures that just paints itself. The paint flows freely and completing the model is just a joy. Every brushstroke lands perfectly and your colour mixes slide like silk across the surface of age old white metal.

This wonderful 1987 Daemonette of Slaanesh is just such a figure. Completed in just under two hours of glorious work and based this afternoon. My first figure back after my Summer of Citadel. A summer derailed by dental woes, asbestos discoveries and the inevitable return to school. I've forked out over a thousand pounds getting my wisdom teeth sorted (it turned out a great deal of bone was detached during the extraction and I've been left with a void in my maxilla) and determining the amount of asbestos my artex ceilings contain. 

Just imagine if that money had been invested in classic Citadel miniatures from the mid to late '80s?? 

I could have bought at least five models on eBay!!

Long term readers will know I was long a fan of Slaves to Darkness and the miniature ranges released alongside it. Despite this love I've never actually painted many of the daemon figures with much of my collecting and output invested into the mortal forces of Chaos. I had at one stage two sizable armies (one for Slaanesh and the other for Khorne) and a well painted Nurgle Warband to boot. As a youth, I loved the plaguebearer and nurgling figures and endlessly painted those in the tail end of the 1980s. I found this single lady amongst my big bag of warriors recently returned to me and decided a few days back to throw caution to the wind and just paint her. 

Obviously, pink was the base colour. I think it is Bronzed Flesh with a wash over the top of 50:50 Bronze Flesh and Red Ink. Her skin was highlighted by adding increasing amounts of flesh to that initial base. I gave her Bilious Green eyes, highlighted with Sunburst Yellow, over a Woodland Green base and Green Ink shade. Her thong (how often are those words typed on a Grognard's blog I wonder?) was Terracotta shaded with Brown Ink and the Gold was highlighted with Mythril Silver after a Chestnut Wash. 

No wanting the traditional 'pink and black' look (these models can tend to look like a liquorice allsort if you aren't careful) I gave her orange claws, inspired by the super imaginative and varied schemes I'd spied at Foundry last month. Now she's finished and looks suitably decadent I'm very pleased. Yes I know I used my crap camera again, MFM is away with her mother visiting family today and I wanted to get blogging again after so long away suffering. I'm not sure what hurt the most... the teeth or the wallet!

As I stated a few posts back, I was rather pedestrian with my miniature choices over the summer. But it was a journey that I feel I had to go on. I was finding it hard to paint to the standard I reached during the high tide of this blog, say ten years ago. Sight has been a clear factor (and I've now been to SpecSavers and am wearing my new glasses as I type - more money!!) but so was technique.

I had simply forgotten how to do it.

With this figure, I feel that I have finally reached my old style after all those years away. But do you, dear readers agree with me? 

Here's hoping that the paint is flowing freely for you all wherever you are in the world. 

Orlygg

A Summer of Citadel: F2 Fighter and Dwarf Engineer

Here are the final models from last week. It was too hot to do much today so I did a little prepping and basing inside. Time is running out for my Summer of Citadel and I must say I've enjoyed the process of learning to paint reasonably well again. MFM took me to the opticians after putting up with my moaning ( I really should listen to her more often!) for so long. Turns out that I do need my vision corrected. Should have gone to SpecSavers, Orlygg! My new glasses arrive later on this week so I'll be trying then out over the last few days of the holidays. 

This first model is from the F2 Fighters range and was titled Imperial Guard on release. I found him tricky to paint at first, though that was largely down to the colour scheme. He was originally all blue but the finished model didn't look sound on the battlefield. Something was missing... so I repainted the crest and matched the colour with the skirt leaving the blue on his helmet decoration. I kept the shield simple with a basic heraldry and a small tower motif. 

I've started toying with using black for weapons. With some much metal on the model already I decided to just paint the warhammer Chaos Black and highlight as normal with Mithril. With so much shadow created by the crest its hard to see in the photo above. Hope you dear readers think it works. 

There is our first figure for today. A rather dull name today but quite serviceable. I've just noticed that Basil the Good is a variant of yesterday's paladin. I've also got Dieter Muller in my Fighters Bag so expect to see him on this blog shortly, I fancy another go at a crest.

Hammer 2 isn't the most dynamic of names but here he is just the same. This figure confused me for a while as his tab said Town Crier. Obviously, the villager model was used to create this engineer variant and the tab went unchanged. He was a characterful and fun model to paint. For reasons best known to the dwarf community this chap is wandering around with his bulging belly sticking out. He was quick and easy to paint, though I struggled to interpret just what is dangling from his staff. Despite my best efforts, the only other model I could find of this chap was an eBay sale. Nothing painted I could steal ideas from. 

So I went for it being a carrot.

Quite why an engineer would need one. As I was working on him a backstory formed to explain my choice. He is obviously the engineer whose job it is to move the donkeys. Hence the old carrot and stick thing. 

Anyway, what do you think? 

Is it a carrot?

Orlygg

PS: Mike asked a while back how the Skeleton Legion models rank up alongside other C series skellies. Here's the answer.