Restoring the Space Marine and Ork & Eldar Paint Sets

One of my few original things from the 1980s that has survived. Multiple house moves, university, marriage, divorce and its still with me... sadly no painting guide though. 

The dwarfs may have delved too deep and too greedily, but that isn't the case here at Orlygg's 1960s bungalows. I've struck it lucky while sorting through the tatty boxes of stuff from my former life. No lead, but a stash of paints including my original Space Marine paint set. At least I think it is...

Bought upon release along side the Big Box Game 'Space Marine' in 1989, I think that both were birthday or Christmas presents that year. The paints look untouched since I splodged colour on those classic sprues so many years ago. It may have been part of my wider Citadel collection but seems to have been separated and hence survived. Or I may have bought it on eBay back in the glory days and forgotten about it. It seems odd it wasn't stored with the bulk of my collection.

As you have no doubt noticed, the colours have settled somewhat and leave the pots discoloured but all the paints seem workable with a good shake. Bolt Gun Metal has separated and gummed up, but with a little stir it seems useable enough. This surprised me, as '80s GW metallics are notorious for partially solidifying, leaving only a watery slop behind. But the rest of the colours are there, though whoever was deriving the names of paints had clearly given up here. We have Terracotta and Blood Angel Orange (base and highlight for Blood Angel figures), Salamander Black and Green (again, base and highlight), Marine Dark Blue and Ultramarine, and finally Blue Grey and Space Wolf Grey. 

I wrote about these paints back in 2012 on this very blog and judging by the page views and spam comments Youtubers have been looting the information for years.

Polystyrene instead of the plastic paint tray? A change of approach for the final few sets. 

Alongside my old paints was an empty box. The Ork and Eldar Set originally belonged to a school friend who kept all of his modelling stuff in a blue toolbox. I liked the cover image and so it was given to me to save it from the bin. No recycling in those days. Not sure how it came to be paired up with my older paints but its great news to us. 

Chris, like Ian before him, has been so generous.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Chris was kind enough to wing a load of older paints my way. You can see what he sent unpacked in the image above. There was loads of stuff in there with much of it still very useable to the likes of me. There were a few pots from the original Colour and Monster sets, the surviving ones have been placed into storage but there were a large number of colours from the Space Marine sets and by chance the Ork and Eldar one too. 

I've also received a donation of older colours from a colleague whose son was into GW too. Trial and error comparisons has resulted in what I believe to be a perfect match. We have Tin Bitz (incredibly alive and well), Hawk Turquoise, Go Fasta Red, Ork Flesh, Bleached Bone (though it seemed to have darkened considerably on the inside of the pot), Fire Dragon Crimson, Snake Bite Leather, Striking Scorpion Green and Bad Moon Yellow. 

Storage, it seems to me the paints that lie on their sides have lasted and those standing up have separated. Hence why I am storing them like this.

As I mentioned, there are loads of pots now held in storage. Some of which I have no idea of yet exactly what they are. I am pleased to have back some of the older inks too, including Shadow Black. It seems at some point in time the Expert Set colours were rebranded and what were once just referred to as just colours were given suitable GW style names. Shadow Black was, obviously just Black, Chestnut became Skaven Ink, Green became Waaagh Green, Brown was Rust Brown, Blue became Vortex Blue, with Firestorm Yellow, Lava Orange and Plasma Red to follow. 

I didn't know this, and as I've said several times over, researching these colours has thrown up stuff that is new to me. I have no idea why, but I find it all rather fascinating. 

But hidden amongst Chris's old paints was a real treat. Three pots from the Metallic Paint Set. I've never even seen these up close. I did an internet search and found very little about them -I know when the Youtubers haven't bothered when all of the first hits are mine! (; - but a chap called Alex was kind enough to post a picture on a well known internet forum some years back. I've pinched his picture for our reference.

With the little we have to go on, I am guessing we have Glistening Green, Amethyst and Beaten Copper? Word on the street was these paints were pretty dire but they have survived admirably despite the passing of the decades. I'll be testing them out when I find something suitable to paint with them don't you worry. Let me know if you used these back in the day...

I'll be popping up to the storage room later to sort through Ian's foundry paints to see if there are any near matches to the Space Marine and Ork and Eldar sets (especially that Bleached Bone... I was saying how much I missed it) but before I go I'll share my first quality find of a commercial nature.

Got this little set at a fairly local Retro Store. They were bagged up alongside some other bits and bobs I'll get to in another post and were labelled 'Warhammer type figures'. They were obviously vintage Citadel to my eye and I said so, but the store owner was a self confessed '90s 40k guy and had no clue what they were. A glance at the tabs told me they were LotR figures of some sort and were part of the old Citadel licensed ranges of the mid-80s. 

Five quid later and they were mine. The disinterest surprised me, but they don't have plasma guns it seems. With a new bathroom to buy and install in the next month or so, money is as tight as ever here, but for a fiver a willing exception was made. 

They are of course the ME82 Hobbit Personalities Set. Lovely figures all and they have totally distracted me from my Easter blogging and painting plans. They are currently in a Dettol bath and will be based and painted in the near future. The examples on Stuff of Legends are magnificent so I will be basing my far inferior paint jobs on those. 

Orlygg

Famous Familiars: Homonculus and Mystery Imp

Yes, I am back that soon! We had an unexpected afternoon together so it was spent out in the garden with Citadel paint and cross-stitch (obviously not together). Feeling rather inspired and keen to give my new paints a whirl, I set about working on the two remaining Famous Familiars I found recently in an old box of art materials. 

I know, I know... the bases are not great, an ill timed gust of wind blew superglue and sand all over the place just as I was finishing off the models. But they will have to do until I buy some modelling files and clean them down. I've also forgotten my old recipe for doing bases and have been experimenting with various combinations to get a uniform look. After all, I might one day manage to retrieve my original collection of painted figures and I'll want them all to match. 

Looking back at the photographs, I can feel that I am improving. Both figures were painted in single sittings with a break in between. I've been finding getting consistent colours a challenge, especially when highlighting but I can see the improvement before me as I type these words. I've reduced the amount of white to create highlights... boy do I miss Bleached Bone!

The red on the hat and shoes of Mystery Imp I am most pleased with. They took about ten minutes to complete and use Red Gore as a base, highlighted with Blood Red and Hobgoblin Orange. Proper old school shades right there. His cloak is Worm/Imperial Purple highlighted with a little white. The green tail poking out from under his robe was also a quick little paint- here I used my proxy Goblin Green, followed by Bilious Green and Sunburst Yellow as a highlight. Long term readers will know I like to work fast and get figures finished in a few hours.

The very same recipe was used to paint up the body of the Homonculus. With Worm Purple highlighted with White to finish his long hair do. I'm disappointed that the photographs don't capture his barnet as I was able to pick out the strands of greasy hair with a little effort. Another improvement over that first godawful skeleton. 

Working with all three classic paint sets means I have access to a lot more colours and can use many of them in conjunction. The brown bag didn't come out as well as I hoped and I've got a dwarf figure cleaned up from the 'orrible lot Graham sent me recently next on the painting table to try and get my head around leather. 

All in all, a fun and constructive afternoon. With Easter around the corner I'm planning to get some decent hours in over the next few weeks in the hope that my skills improve further. I've also got Chris's paints to sort through and use too. 

Until then,

Orlygg

Ogroth Darksoul and paints, pots and more paints...

 

I am sure that you've heard the news about sad Paul Sawyer's death. His era in charge of White Dwarf was excellent. There was just so much hobby content under his watch and White Dwarf was a proper magazine that took a good while to read through. I enjoyed the famous 'Tale of Four Gamers' that inspired me some years past to create an army with friends. In fact, it was his departure from White Dwarf and the rather rapid decline of the magazine (remember the Giant issue?) that ultimately lead me to collecting the older '80s era stuff in the first place. 

I've spent a large part of the day in my garden making the most of the spring sunshine. I set myself a challenge while I was out there... to paint Ogroth Darksoul using Bilious Green within a time limit. I gave myself two hours and this is the final result. I'm not to sure about the finish on the shield but he has a zany charm about him and trying to use such an archaic colour from the '80s was fun too. 

As I said last post, I am trying to move away from the same old tried and tested colour schemes that chaos warriors get lumbered with. 

I'm pleased with the way he looks but I'm still struggling with technique. I can't seem to get up to speed with huge gaps between painting figures. I'm doing much, much better with the eyesight now though, thanks to those lens so everything sloppy you see here going forwards is entirely down to my declining skill level. 

As you may have guessed, the Monster Set is now out and seeing action. With my next figure, I am going to branch out and include the Creature Paint Set again. I am truly living the 1988 dream. 

Chris got hold of me to say he had a few old pots of classic paint gathering dust and did I want them? As an enthusiast who enjoys working with decades old paint I jumped at the chance but didn't expect the sheer number of pots I found to be in the box. Thank you Chris so very much, you and so many others have made a real difference to my life and I thank you enormously. 

Also included was another sprue of my beloved Skeleton Horde which I hope to build over Easter. With so many paints now in my possession I should be able to do them some justice (I hope). 

Chris... I salute you,,,

Here are just a few of the colours that been donated. I'll have a proper sort out shortly and we can have a little look how I've fared so far creating the painting line-up of the mid to late 1989s. There are a few mysterious shades in there I am not so sure about and I hope that you eagle-eyed readers might be able to identify them. 

More soon,

Orlygg

Ulvar Vileblood, Greetings from Texas and filthy goblinoids

Hello everyone. It has been a long two weeks for me. Parents' Evening took its toll on our free time here as did the needs of my children. As I said before, I am now Robert De Niro most weekends, so you'll see me taxi-driving around East Anglia ad nauseum. 

A week or so ago I was chatting with Stuart about the Warriors of Chaos project and he was arguing a case against just going for the same old same old colour schemes. He supplied several old Dragonlord paintings from the Dragonlance fluff as examples, though it took some time until I could really have a go at putting his advice into reality.

You can see the finished result above. Ulvar Vileblood is a tricky figure to photograph so apologies for the slightly blurry image that opens this post. The image I took inspiration from is below.

Originally, Ulvar had yellow greaves matching his shield and helm but the figure seemed to lack a final touch, at least to me. So I repainted the legs with Red Gore and highlighted with Blood Red with increasing amounts of Sunburst Yellow. I made full use of the blues from my newly restored Monster Paint Set (thank you again to all of you dear readers involved with that) to work up his armour, a process I enjoyed immensely. This was largely due to the lovely Spring weather we had yesterday which resulted in me spending several hours outside with 'My Favourite Miniature' while she cross-stitched. 

So what do you think of him?

I am in two minds. I like the brightness of the figure and the simple look of the colours however, it seems a little too Marvel for me to be totally sure. Ulvar looks like he could be strapping on a jetpack and chasing down some Infinity Stones with Robert Downey Jr. The finished miniature doesn't sit alongside my more recent work either all that well either due to the more comic book colours but as I've only finished a few miniatures my views could change in time. 

A few more completed figures from the range will give better context.

I also heard from Mack since last post, who was kind enough to send me four more skeletons from the Horde. All the way from Austin Texas too... Mack, thank you for your generosity in sending these over as I believe that I have all I need to finish that initial project come the Easter holidays. He included this little note that made me smile and the sight of the armour pieces from the Skeleton Horde sent me racing back to 1989 for a heartbeat or two. A priceless moment in time.

Mack, I salute you!

Thanks to Mack's generosity I should be able to build a few armoured champions to lead the shamblers or perhaps do something more interesting with the single plastic skeleton horse Bree sent me a few months back. 

Graham F emailed me a while back to confess he had a shameful collection of old figures in appalling condition that he was never going to paint. They were mine if I was willing to clean them up and restore them as I did with the liche and the wizard. When Graham said they were in a bad way he wasn't wrong. They arrived last week in a sealed plastic box that had leaked something out into the wrapping. They stank to high heaven of ghastly chemicals, stale cigarettes and off cat food. They were stuck together with some extremely sticky residue too. I dried them out in the sun for a few hours and dunked them in the Dettol. I'll update you how well they turn out next post.

Yuck!

Despite their shocking state, thank you Graham for your kindness. I salute you too!

Finally, 'My Favourite Miniature's' younger child wanted to have a go at painting a figure yesterday. He had shown quite a bit of interest in what I had been doing along our old window sill so I gave him an old Stormcast Eternal. He was very happy to try out a classic Woodland Green shade from nearly forty years ago and wanted to show you all. So here he is...

Orlygg

Original Citadel Paint Sets, Warhammer First Edition and Researching Ulvar Vileblood

 

It has been a busy time for old Orlygg. The dreaded duo of work and family commitments has reared its ghastly head and kept me from my true occupation: the collecting and painting of little lead men from the 1980s - or those figures that share the peculiar 'style' of those times. 

Even so, I've been able to spare a few moments to start researching the Chaos Warriors I plan to paint in the near future. There really isn't much out there online about the early Specialty Sets( which reminds me of the days when I first started this blog with WFB 3rd edition) However, I did come across this lovely old advertisement in the back of the Second Citadel Compendium showing a little more history of the Citadel Colour sets I find so wonderful. I must say, despite years of research I've never seen this 'Paint Set 1' ad before nor had I ever seen any surviving examples for sale. Judging by the photographs, the bottles match that of my trusty Citadel Colour too. 

Though, weren't those John Blanche pieces painted with enamels? 

So I had a little explore of what we used to call the 'World Wide Web' and had a lovely time discovering all about this obscure little range. Starting with the ad-infested nightmare that is the 'Games Workshop Wiki'  I found some clearer images, though the accuracy of the site left much to be desired. No wonder those Youtubers produce so much dross about the history of GW if they rely on sites such as this. If you dare to click on the link I have provided you will 'learn' that the Space Marine paint set was released in 1986 - a full year before Rogue Trader was even published, and the two early sets that pique my interest arrived in the world in 1988!! Nonsense obviously.

Still, I didn't know that my beloved paint sets were released in 1984 so it was good to have that confirmed. Interestingly, there is a little painting guide in the Second Compendium written by a young Kevin Adams that is worth a nostalgic read. 

Still, I managed to get two decent images of the boxes there.

 

Chancing a look at the 'BIN hell' that is eBay these days, I found a seller with the second set. Just the empty box mind you. But it gave me a chance to look at the set in more detail. There were several Set 1s for sale too, as can be seen here so perhaps that set was more popular back in the day. On the reverse side of these boxes are a full colour description of the paints inside and as I suspected, they match the Colour and Creature sets we all know and love here. 

As you will no doubt agree, having these pictures in my possession will help me match those remaining shades I don't have access to at the moment, namely Shining Gold, Red Gore and Ghoul Grey. A true Brazen Brass from this era still eludes me so if any enthusiasts out there have a pot hidden in the depths of their collection please let me know and take a little snapshot for old Orlygg. As my Chaos warriors date from 1983, I can now say for certain that the shades in Citadel Colour/Creature paint sets are 'legit' colours for our purposes. 

Having matched my favourite paints to the earlier '80s, I've found myself increasing intrigued by First Edition Warhammer. Having always assumed it was rubbish and that preslotta was crap it seems I have missed out on a wealth of interesting ideas, art and miniatures. How wrong I was in my arrogant youth when my drawers (furniture ones) hung heavy with slotta-based classics to dismiss the era. Still, it leaves a whole wealth of material to explore and pore over in the coming days. I've spotted a slightly mislisted (though totally 'preloved') copy of WFB1 online and I've put a sneaky bid on it. I'm sure that 'My Favourite MiniatureTM' won't mind me a 99p indulgence away from our quest to save up for a loft conversion. At least, I hope not...

On to my appointment with one Ulvar Vileblood. And what a wonderful name he has too. With a name like Vileblood one would imagine him to be somehow poisonous or diseased. Perhaps that will give me a little inspiration when it comes to colour schemes. Again, having a look online there really wasn't much out there to go on save the soLegends example and some wonderful work done by a fellow blogger by the name of Mars-Miniatures who painted the whole set in 2017. 

        

Both have a metallic theme going on which I think I will avoid as my paints aren't brilliant in this regard. At the moment I am rather stumped at how to approach these figures... one thought is to chose a basecolour as a theme and work around that. Then again, I'm a big fan of red chaos warriors so maybe a scarlet and black scheme would suit the figure? As I said earlier, with a name like Vileblood perhaps a venomous green is more apt?

Choices, choices...

Before I go I'll leave you with this... I love the strapline 'Citadel Colour: Fantasy Reality'. This was obviously meant to be part of the branding of the paint range and its a shame they dropped it as I kind of like it. It also goes to show, that after decades of collecting, writing and blogging about '80s Citadel/Games Workshop there are still fun little facts to discover. 

Orlygg

Co2/1d White Wizard from 1983

 

A quick post today for the start of a brand new month. March has arrived, the fields are full of hares happily hopping here in Essex and the sun shines down on a hapless hobbist who is trying to take a decent snap of his wizard.

An extraordinary turn of events for someone who a few months ago didn't even own a paint brush!

In the end, the sun was too bright to get a decent snap so I retreated inside and used the rather ancient textured wallpaper in the front room as a backdrop. I really need to get around to printing some more scenes out like I had years ago.

Trouble is, I'm just too busy at the moment to spend any quality time with my beloved miniatures. This weekend I have my teenage children who required me to be Robert de Niro (a taxi driver) and ferry them around to their social lives. Even so, I managed to get the based finished of this lovely little figure.

He has taken me long enough as well. He was started a week ago during half-term week. He also stands as the final figure to be painted with my recreated 'Citadel Colour' set. With my next project I plan to upgrade to the monster set and try and improve the way I paint and shade different colours. 

I've picked the first two figures for my next project already. I've just cleaned and based them up, though I plan to do a little research on these early figures before I start work. I'm intrigued to see how enthusiasts painted them back in the early '80s. And of course, how more modern fans of old '80s preslotta have treated them in more recent times. 

Until then,

Orlygg

Famous Familiars: Walking Book and Stilts

 

Hello everyone... I've been busy painting those two old figures I found in the attic and I am glad to say that I have finished them. There is still one more to go, which I've started but not yet finished from the little cache I uncovered so hopefully you will be seeing that figure soon. 

I know, I know that the picture above isn't the best snap. I took it with my phone out in the garden as normal but I think my photography skills aren't like they once were, especially compared to the images you see below. In the future, when we have clearer skies I'll take some better snaps for posterity. I'm glad I photographed all of my work years back so I have a clear record of what I achieved now that my old painted collection is no more. 

The Old Orlygg was a pretty decent painter, though at the time I didn't feel it. Funny that... wish I had the same grasp of colour and skill with a brush now.

I painted the Walking Book first and I was pretty pleased with how the feet came out, though my flesh mix was too pale in the end. I really need to stop adding white when I highlight... its such a bad habit that results in washed out highlights but I guess its something I need to relearn over again. I ruined the look with the sand basing, so for future models the sand is going to be glued on the figure before work begins to try and avoid that pitfall. 

The Walking Book's pages pleased me, I was able to freehand lines to resemble writing quite easily though I miss my inks of yore when doing this. Watered down '80s paint doesn't quite have the same vibrancy. I might come back in the future and rework this model, especially the base and the toe nails.

Stilts was a different story, in fact he was a revelation. Something just clicked in me when I was painting his body and I felt that my old Realm of 80s style was suddenly back. I messed up the hooves somewhat with the basing and that certainly needs a little rework when the third familiar is ready to show to the world. But what do you guys think? Has progress been made from that initial plastic skelly?

Its nice to look back at my old work to learn some lessons. For the next figure I need to work on three areas:

1) Sort out the basing first and looking at these old figures has reminded me of the yellow wash I used to put over the top of a base to tone it down. That is a pretty quick fix. 

2) Stop using white as a highlight. With the Monster Paint Set mostly restored there are some nice alternative shades in there... though I might just bite the bullet and look for something more modern in Ian's astonishing gift. 

3) Attempt a deeper colour vibrancy through careful mixing and basecoating. I'm pretty sure I achieved that with Stilts. Its funny, thinking back all these things used to 'just happen' without much thought. The green flesh I'm so pleased with 'just happened' with the Stilts figure too. 

Armoured Mite and Daemonet are two big inspirations for the next figure. I was pleased with the metal mace on the Liche and love how I produced such a dark, greasy look with the Mite. I'm pretty sure it was Chainmail with lots of black and blue washes with two layers of highlights. Basecoat and bright silver on the edge work. This is how I'd like to get my armour and metals looking in future. I love the blue and purple of the Daemonet - clearly white hasn't been used to produce any basecoats here... boy it really is a bad habit (: I'd like to work with purple (the Monster Set has a lovely shade) and maybe try to get a better red look too. 

Daemonette, Beastling and Toad were other figures I once had. Again, there is lots I'd like to relearn here. Looking at Toad first, it notice I've used spot colours to provide contrast to the green skin... something I would love to try again... I remember as I type that back then I used a lot of colour harmony with the paints I mixed up. Certainly something to add to my list of improvements. Hair is also foxing me, and the White Wizard I've been working on certainly shows this. Looking at the Beastling its now obvious I need to go darker with my shading (too much white again, methinks) and try and pick out the look of the hair rather than what has been sculpted. Finally, Daemonette. Looking at her I'd say more red in my flesh mix. I've already tried this with the White Wizard so we will see next post how things go there. 

Phew... lots to achieve next month. 

I'll leave with my old Creeping Claw. If memory serves, this was a speed paint. With a rotting flesh base by the looks of things. At the time, May 2020, I wasn't happy with the result. Now I'd dearly love to be able to produce something like this. I guess I'm having nostalgia for nostalgia... how funny...

The next chance to paint will probably be next Saturday morning, so expect more from me next weekend.

Until then, all the best everyone.

Orlygg