Restoring the Skeleton Army (Part The First)

 

And on a penny, life spins you in a different direction. It stops you in your tracks and makes you rethink a part of your life. Today was just such a day for me. Chris sent me a package and it contained the battered remains of the classic 'Skeleton Army' box from 1989 as well as another stash of old school Citadel Colour paints. 

To say I was amazed was an understatement. If truth be told, I received the package when I was out of class and supposed to be doing something completely different with my time. But I must confess spending a good ten minutes just pouring over the treasures Chris had sent me.

Chris, I am so, so grateful for this and it will seriously change the direction of this blog and my hobby time. For now, I have an actual army in embryo. Something to work with to get myself back on the table after beginning from nothing six months past. 

Chris.... I salute you and I'll salute you again!

This collage shows most of the contents of the Chris' package. The top half shows off the additions to my old school paint range with several unopened pots of Blood Red, a fairly standard paint that gets a lot of use from me. There are also more obscure tones such as Night World Blue which I confess I have never heard of before. Classic pots of ink were also found inside with some brown, red, purple and blue now in my possession. The inks are an essential ingredient in getting the 'look' of an '80s style model and I'm looking forwards to using them and matching them to other inks on the market. A real bonus was an unopened pot of Bolt-Gun Metal that hadn't turned into a solid mass of gunge. I've been matching many of the old school colours I have to the enormous amount of paints Ian sent me a while back and have some real success. 

The bottom half shows the extremely worse for wear Skeleton Army in all its glory. There are enough pieces to make at least nine skeletal horses and there are at least thirty-four useable skeleton infantry. I have seventy-five percent of the plastic chariot too, with Chris writing to me to say that the missing wheel may still be discovered in his stash. When you add cavalry bases and over twenty Citadel shields there is a lot to take in. I have numerous broken bits of skellies too and about twenty hand weapons of various types. Four skeletons are mint and can be painted up pretty much immediately.

You can appreciate why my jaw hit the floor of the staffroom. A young lady teacher walked past me bemused at my joy. I tried to explain but '80s era Warhammer is like 'Nam. 

You had to be there.

This collage shows the collection in more detail. None of the sprues are complete but there is more than enough remaining to produce a decent mounted unit and nearly all of the armour pieces are present. Thankfully, most of the long lance arms are in very good condition. The actual skeletons themselves are in a sorry state with only four of them being complete. The remaining twenty-odd figures look to have had their weapons snipped or whole arms removed. Presumably for some long ago conversion project but I think I have enough loose weapon arms here to restore the lot. 

The keened eye will notice some green based skellies which look to me to have been an earlier set. Most likely original Horde figures by their paintjobs and round shields. Still, they are better finished than the first set of these models I completed back in the 1980s. They appear to have the remnants of Arcane Armorials on the front of them. Some of which may be salvageable. 

There is a single metal model here too. A C34 Wraith Rider - complete with old Citadel flying base. Chris wrote to say he was looking forwards to seeing what I did with the model. I have to say, I agree with him whole heartedly - for I can't wait to see what I do with it either!!

As I said at the beginning of this post, sometimes plans get thrown up in the air and you head off into an previously unexpected direction. Today is such a day. With Chris' generosity still lifting this grognard's soul, I have decided to fully restore this set and bring this Skeleton Army back from the dead (see what I did there?) over the next months. I'm giving myself the time limit of New Year's Day 2026 for these models, and my Horde figures (who are all mint pieces needing no restoration) to be fully painted and ready to field. That's a little over six months. With my time commitments often tugging me elsewhere that is going to be some doing but fate as decreed that in less than a year after returning I would have a small undead army from nothing is frankly unbelievable. 

I had another project I was just about to commence with too, which you will also see soon. It's another great love of mine from '80s Warhammer that I've written about many times before. And of course, you will continue to see metal figures from my small stash being painted up when I need a break. 

So I'll end with another massive thank you to Chris for sending these treasures to me. Some might see them as just a pile of plastic tat to but to me these old crumbling plastics and are precious link to an era I love and a crucial escape from the relentless challenge of doing up a rundown house.

'Stage One' of this project will be to rebuild the infantry and repair much of the damage these bone-boys have suffered over the years and get them undercoated once more. I could do with some advice on basecoat sprays... anyone using a decent white for batch spraying? Please let me know if you have any recommendations. 

I really can't wait to start!

Orlygg

PS: If you've got a spare plastic skeleton wheel to spare please do let me know (;

C17 Reaper skeleton: Does Undeath have a colour scheme? And some more goodies...

Has it been another week already? Work has begun on our archaic home after so long. MFM and I have been stripping decades old wallpaper, pulling down dusty curtains that are probably older than us and clearing out the hideous bathroom to make way for tradesmen to begin work. Without boring you too much, we are having new French style doors, a new bathroom and the old fireplace ripped out and replaced with a more economical and environmentally friendly woodstove. Later on, we will need to replaster and lay flooring but it is all hands to the pumps. On top of all that, we just had SATs week in school and it is the last day on term on Friday.

As you will no doubt imagine, there hasn't been a huge amount of time for hobby. We did the garden today, and I got to play with some of the new tools we have had to purchase (though the lawnmower finally packed in) but there were a few hours spare this afternoon to get the paints out a crack on with a figure.

That super-gent extraordinaire (Sleepysod), who if you recall we met quite randomly at Salute a few months back, had a few spare skellies kicking about and he sent them my way. Opening any package is always fun but I was dumbfounded to see one of my all time favourite models in my hand. The Reaper skeleton from the C17 range. I've always admired this figure since seeing it the the WHFB Third edition rule book in one of the battle scenes. He never ever seemed to end up in my collection despite years of looking and so it was wonderful to finally have one of those 'never did get your hands on 'em figures'. 

Huge thanks to Sleepysod for being so generous AGAIN and I will have to salute him once more. Sleepysod.... I salute you for really brightening up this old grognard's life with a tiny, scraggly, skinny piece of lead.

I approached the figure in much the same way I would something from the skeleton Horde. Orc Brown base, Chestnut Ink wash and then highlight with Orc Brown and Bleached Bone. I'm still debating about adding a super-highlight of Skull White at some point on the skulls and hands of my boneyard brothers (especially now I can actually paint half-decently again) but the jury is very much out on that at the moment. 

I've got some pretty grotty metallics to work with here. It is well known that the old '80s silver and gold paints condense into a solid mass of gunk. Even so, I have a few survivors. Even so, I have to bite the bullet and get my hands on something more reliable. I've even heard some good things about the modern Citadel range!!! If any readers have any recommendations for silver and gold replacements please do let me know. 

Despite the challenging state of some of my paints, I dry-brushed over the tatty chainmail in Bolt-Gun Metal and washed with Chestnut Ink and them some Hobgoblin Orange for rust. It didn't really take to the chainmail itself though it worked well for the blade of the scythe. You may remember that metal work on my skellies is something I was keen to work on? 

Originally, I went for blue rags. But it just didn't look right. The shade was just too bright and happy, at least to my eye. This got me thinking... does undeath actually have a colour scheme? For me, black, bone, white, brown and orange seem to work and reflect the tattered remains of long dead corpses rising from their graves. I know others go for a more brightly coloured approach... and bizarre as it sounds, I am fine with bright, almost garish colours on a shield or banner. But never actually on an undead figure.

Surely I cannot be alone in my fastidious ways? 

Here are the rest of the figures that Sleepysod sent me. All now sleeping in the Dettol bath. I'm sure that the second figure from the left is a Marauder skeleton. I adore the musician model as well, with the multi-skulled drum set. He's most likely going to see paint before the end of the week as I'm rather excited about painting him up. Only problem is those drums... a bone finish or gold? Decisions.. decisions eh?

I also have to salute Stuart this week as he sent me a package of bits and bobs. Mostly modern castings of some Asgard classics. More about them in the future. But, Stuart... I salute you too. I'm intrigued by these early figures as I know very little about the range. I'll do a little research when time is more available and perhaps try and older old school paint approach with these... right back to the early '80s! 

One final note, Stuart let me know about the '80s Wood Elf beastmaster re-release over at the GW website. We spent Saturday morning messaging each other waiting for them to go online. If you haven't seen it yet, all the old animal keepers of old have been cast back up with their new Wood Elf Old World range. I must admit to having taken the plunge and bought the set. I'm optimistic about their quality. While I was on the site, I noticed a few other '80s classics were hanging about. Bugman's Cart among other things.

Ooh, I haven't checked to see if there is anything decent in the undead section! 

Speak soon,

Orlygg

Skeleton Horde: Simple Skull Shield Old-School Tutorial

Here is the simple skull shield design in question proudly affixed to my first Skeleton Horde spearman. He looks rather pleased with his flashy new shield doesn't he? Or her...

Afternoon all, and apologies for the quick snap of my latest Skeleton Horde recruit. It was rather bright when I managed to find a few moments to snap the final touch (though first picture) for this old school tutorial post. And I noticed I'd blobbed a bit of white on his right knee somewhere along the way. I'll have to fix that some time in the future. The Samsung camera on my new phone doesn't want to take decent photos of little plastic or metal men for some reasons. Probably my own ineptitude. 

Still, it serves as an example of what today's post is all about: an old school style tutorial. These days social media is awash with videos detailing 'paint like me' techniques. They leave me cold really and I can't get much from them, largely because the style of painting they promote is not the same classic style I want for this blog and my models. I much prefer the older way of doing things (this is a retro blog after all) and I expect a few of you readers will feel the same. 

Lord Caerluel inspired this post. We were discussing my first batch of proper skeleton figures and the hand painted shields I love doing and the suggestion of a guide to painting them arose. Well, what you are reading now is the sequel to that conversation. The audience of this guide is the novice old-school painter who has never tried anything like this before. I was once such a painter and used to look on in envy with those enthusiasts who seem to just knock out great hand-painted designs time and time again, seemingly without trying.

After pouring over many an old White Dwarf mag and a fair few false starts, I started with a John Blanche inspired face many moons ago and never looked back. Learning to paint again over the last few months, I found that freehanding designs for shields came back much faster than all of the figure based stuff such as drybrushing. Perhaps because I was working on a static flat area... who knows...?

So please do persevere if you really want to try this kind of painting out. It is a cliche I know, but if I can do it any one can. 

TIPS AND TRICKS

1) Work fast. I find that the key to painting shield designs is to keep all the brushwork fluid and fast. Don't hang about. A quick stroke looks more natural and 'artistic' than a wobbling bit of freehand. 

2) Use inks if you've got them for line work and water down your paint - this will help with the fluidity I just mentioned. Drying paint doesn't seem to move well on any surface but then I would expect you all to know that already being the grognards that we are. I don't want to teach you to suck eggs. 

From top left - stage 1 - 6

Stage 1: Clean up and undercoat your shield with the desired paint then apply your basecoat. I went for Skull White followed with Blood Red with this example. I fixed the shield to a 20mm base with Blu-Tak for easier handling. 

Stage 2: Dark ink wash over the top to add shade, dirt and age etc. I used Chestnut Ink for this but any shade will do. Use something that matches your base colour. 

Stage 3: Block out a rough shape of a skull using ink. I used Shadow Black but any suitable dark colour works. When creating a skull shape look for some reference material in the style you want. Painting an oval shape and then widening just above the halfway line is also effective. 

Stage 4: Basecoat for the skull, ensure you leave an edge. I used Orc Brown for this but any suitable tone will do. This colour will serve as your mid shade on the finished skull.

Stage 5: Black ink is used to roughly shape out the eye sockets, nose cavity and teeth of the skull. Don't worry if things look sloppy here as you will be painting over most of it later on. 

Stage 6: Bleached Bone highlights. Try and pick out the basic shape of the skull at this stage. Define the eye sockets, nasal area and the upper and lower jaw. Don't worry about the teeth. Leave some of the Orc Brown in a few places for shading. 

From top left - stage 7-12

Stage 7: 50:50 mix of Bleached Bone and Skull White to continue the shading of the skull. Focus on the same three areas as before. Then use a final highlight of pure Skull White around the brow, nasal area and the left hand side of the skull.

Stage 8: Black Ink clean up. Shape the eye sockets, nose and teeth to your liking. Once this is dry, use Skull White to sharpen up any further details. For instance, I added the nasal bone at this point.

Stage 9: Blood Red is used to work up the background to a more vibrant tone. Basecoat the shield edge with your preferred metallic colour (you can also use black, which looks effective -highlight this with Ghoul Grey or an equivalent). I used Mithril Silver here.

Stage 10: Wash over the metallic edge and create a little shading around the edge of the shield interior with Black or Brown Ink.

Stage 11: Highlight the edges of the shield rim with Mithril Silver and carefully dot the bolts around the edge. 

Stage 12: Highlight the edge of the shield in orange (or a lighter shade of your base colour) and blend the tone into your base but be careful not to obscure the shading around the rim edge. 

And voila, you have a shield. It is now just a case of waiting for it to dry and attaching it to your figure of choice. Once you have mastered the basic skull shape (have a few other goes at doing this basic design) you should feel confident enough to experiment. Try painting a skull without the lower jaw, or with vampire teeth or even my personal favourite: a residual eyeball in one of the sockets!

I hope this little tutorial inspires someone somewhere to have a go at freehand painting. Nothing sets a miniature firmly back in our era that a good anarchic hand painted shield design in my opinion. 

So what is stopping you?

Orlygg

ME82 Hobbit Personalities: Gollum, a fistful of lead, a proper mag and a new painting set up!

 

Hello again. It has been an odd few weeks for me, and very busy. I've been supporting my mother after my Nana passed away and mistakes have been made with the funeral arrangements which mum found distressing. Quite a bit of the last few weeks and most of this past bank holiday was taken up with dealing with it all.

Still, I found time today to get some miniatures painted and was eager to get Gollum completed and alongside his adventurous fellows. I've got a proper set up now (thanks to the ongoing house renovations) which should be fairly permanent for a year or more. Gollum was the first figure I worked on in this new space. I've taken to standing up to paint, which is largely due to necessity - my work station space is quite high and we own no stools as of yet. But I've not found it hard to adjust to a new way of doing things and my back is much the better for it.

Gollum was great fun to paint. He gave me the opportunity to work on my flesh painting skills - something I used to take pride in. For his flesh I mixed Skull White, Electric Blue and Bronzed Flesh together to create a base which I highlighted with Bleached Bone and a little Skull White. I was aiming for a suitably pale finish and Peter Jackson's take on the character was very much in my mind. I wanted him too look almost wraithlike after all those centuries under the mountains being warped by the power of the Ring. I mixed in a little Brown Ink with my initial basecoat to create the depth shading. 

His loincloth was my new favourite shade; Snakebite Leather with Bleached Bone highlights. Again, this was shaded with Brown Ink. His lip saw a little Worm Purple glaze while his eyes are Sunburst Yellow with a little Bleached Bone on the top. I debated with myself whether to paint pupils on him... the jury being still out but I tried to base this paintjob on my image of the character. Since Mrs. Baker first read me the story when I was 10 years old, Gollum has always had luminous eyes. Hence my decision.

The fish was picked out in Ork Flesh and then just highlighted with Bleached Bone. With hindsight, I should have gone for blue as the tone of the fish is now lost alongside the completed base. But it is a minor issue. I feel with this figure the general trend of improvement has continued, which isn't bad considering it has only been five months since I started painting again.

What do you guys think?

David Cammack and Andrew MacTaggart both sent me some bits and pieces over the Easter/Bank Holiday period and I need to thank them both here for their generosity. Sadly, David's things are lost in the postal system somewhere with me being on the receiving end of a dreaded Red Ticket and the post office having no idea where the package has gone. Still, David.... I salute you for being so kind and here's hoping those little treasures make there way back to you eventually. 

Andrew MacTaggart sent me the bunch of random Citadel you can see above. Some lovely clanrats, some Chaos thugs and an Oriental Hero... I've never had one of those before and I look forwards to investigating that range in the future. Those Advanced Heroquest models really quite excite me in a reclaiming your boyhood kind of way. I recall enjoying painting these up when one of my step-brothers got the boxed game way back in the 1990s so they will be on my new painting table alongside my skellies. 

Andrew... thank you so much... I salute you too! 

GregG emailed me a while back saying he had a surprise for me and he wasn't wrong. Knowing that issue 108 of White Dwarf was the signature issue in my Citadel journey and finding he had a spare, he sent me the duplicate last week. It is fantastic to have this issue back and flicking through the venerable magazine was wonderful. Every word held a memory and there is so much inspiration for old Orlygg within the pages. 

GregG I salute you as well! Thank you!

Finally, my new retro set up was completed this Bank Holiday Weekend. I have combined my love of '80s Citadel with '80s and early '90s computing. My C64, Speccy and A500 mini now spend much more time actually being used rather than collecting dust under the bead. To celebrate a workspace all of my own, I had a good run through the FUN levels of the original Lemmings. I really enjoyed listening to the tunes while I was working on Mr. Gollum, though they were perhaps too happy and zany for the former Mr. Smeagol to approve. 

More skellies next time I hope.

Orlygg

ME82 Hobbit Personalities: Gandalf the Grey

Good evening dear readers of the Realm of Chaos (80s). Or indeed, good anytime of the day this post reaches you. I'm been somewhat distracted by family matters of late, so I haven't been as busy as I have wanted to be. With another Bank Holiday around the corner, I may find some more time in the not to distant to get the next figure in this range painted: namely Gollum himself. 

Today with have the majestic Gandalf to talk about, and as you can see I've dared have a shot at painting in eyes as the final finishing touch... the first time I've attempted that little trick in many years... what do you think?

Despite buying some more brushes at Salute, I am still using my original veteran hairy wand. I'm a little put off replacing it because it is the last remnant of my old blogging life. No doubt, it's bristles will eventually fail and the new brushes will have to be popped from their packaging.

But that was not today. Additionally, this Gandalf figure is the first I've been happy enough with to post multiple side view shots.

As you can see here. I've been pretty traditional with my approach to this figure. Faded blue hat, silvery beard and grey travelling clothes are all archetypical grey wizard. I thought the flesh too was painted better than dear old Bilbo. Again, Bleached Bone has been my saviour here. 

As you may be able to tell, I quite enjoyed painting this figure and am pleased with him. I can see that my highlighting on clothes needs further practise but it is a huge difference from my output earlier on in the year. I've been tinkering with getting gold right after puzzling over the pommels and grips of the Skeleton Horde's handweapons. Gandalf's pipe (no doubt preplugged with Old Toby) gave me the opportunity to do this. Gold base, orange/chestnut ink was and simple highlight. I picked up some Humbrol metallics in acrylic in Hobbycraft and have been giving them a whirl. As you will know, I'm looking for viable alternatives to the decayed metallics from my beloved '80s paint sets. 

I was pleased with his bag. It looks like a decent leather colour and makes a useful contrast to all that grey and blue. I've found that I really appreciate Snakebite Leather and like Bleached Bone before it that shade is becoming a stalwart. Trouble is, I only have one pot of the stuff so matching it to some Coat d'arms paints in the future is a must. If anyone out there knows of another match, please do let me know. 

Just a whistlestop today in Middle Earth...

As I said, I have my eye on Gollum and some more skellies in the not to distant future. If I can scrape more wallpaper off the walls I might be a proper set up yet.

Wish me luck!

Orlygg 

ME82 Hobbit Personalities: Bilbo

 

Here we have a true hero. Bilbo Baggins. Legendary figure of childhood for many of us and a hero who no doubt persists into adulthood. I was lucky enough to have a teacher, Mrs Baker, who read my classmates and I much of the Hobbit in 1988. She told it with real gusto, with comedy voices and breathless delivery. Techniques I use today when reading to my class, though sadly I've never had the opportunity to study the hobbit in any depth with pupils. 

One day perhaps...

As you will know, I picked up the ME82 Hobbit personalities a few weeks back in a retro shop. They were mis-listed and unloved. Naturally, Old Orlygg snapped them up with enthusiasm in order to clean, restore and paint these lovely little sculpts. 

Bilbo proved a challenge, but a pleasurable one. I gave myself two hours to base, shade and paint the figure and just went for it with a similar gusto as Mrs Baker. He is clearly dressed for combat in the Mithril armour and brandishing Sting... so presumably ready for combat during the Battle of Five Armies. 

Getting a decent finish on metal is something that still alludes me so I used this figure as a bit of practise. The armour was Mithril Silver followed by a black ink was (a little water was mixed in) and a subsequent Hawk Turquoise glaze over that. I then highlighted with Mithril Silver once again. To give some contrast, his belt was picked out in Shining Gold and given a Brown Ink wash. I highlighted the gold with Mithril too. 

His jacket was Blood Red mixed with my new favourite paint - Snakebite Leather. I simply highlighted the coat back to red with a little Bleached Bone thrown in for good measure. The sleeves of the tunic were painted Ork Flesh and again were highlighted up with Bleached Bone but the photography has made them seem more brown than they actually look to the eye. 

His flesh was my usual mix of Blood Red and Bronzed Flesh but I duffed up the shading here and made it too light, especially around his hands and feet. A future target for me is to try and develop a richer tone for flesh. 

Finally, Sting was painted with Woodland Green, highlighted with Bilious Green and a little Bleached Bone. I gave the blade a thin glaze of Hawk Turquoise to blend it all together. 

The base hasn't come out as nicely as I thought it would, but no matter. Once the other figures are finished I can tweak these and try and make them tie in a little bit. 

And so ends Easter. I got little Bilbo here painted, along with three skeletons and an Epic Great Unclean One. Not bad considering MFM and I have been stripping our home of decades of wallpaper and paint, much of which is combined together. After two and a half years of brutal saving, the restoration of our home has begun. We aim to have the heating ripped out and fully replaced, including all of the pipes and old radiators. A new boiler somewhere outside in our derelict back garden too. New French doors, a patio, the chimney breast reduced with a new solid wood stove to boot. 

Oh, and we are having a new bathroom!

So over the next few months there is going to be a lot of coming and going from this blog. I'll put the computer away somewhere safe when major work commences but there should be suitable warning to you all long before. I don't intend to 'go dark again' for quite some time.

Here's hoping with all the ripping out and clearing, MFM might be persuaded to find me a little permanent spot for a retro set up... fingers crossed. 

I have started Gandalf now, so hoping can get him complete shortly. 

Until then...

Orlygg

The Skeleton Horde: First painted figures and free-hand shield designs

Using the original paints really helps capture the 'Eavy Metal feel of the old pages of White Dwarf.

I have hoped over the last few months, that Easter would bring me time to enjoy plenty of natural light and some free time to get some of those wonderful plastic skeletons painted. As you may recall, I had a crack at one way back in January and it was a total disaster. 

I had obviously forgotten how to paint. 

Over the last few months, old Orlygg has cracked on (with a lot of help from his friends) to reach this point. Three properly painted skeletons. As you can see, these boneyard brothers look much, much better than that desperate first attempt. 

One thing I didn't want to use was white. I felt that I'd overused white on those earlier models when highlighting. So the final highlight was going to be Bleached Bone all the way. Having picked up a couple of pots of the stuff at Salute, I've spent the last week tinkering with my recipe. So I don't forget, and if any of you dear readers are interested, this is my go-to method for the Skeleton Horde. 

Skull White undercoat. Orc Brown basecoat. Brown ink shading around ribs, skull, hands, feet and other joints. Second Orc Brown coat to tidy up the model. Finally, Bleached Bone over eighty percent of the figure. 

Very simple I know, but I think its highly effective. Considering there are another twenty figures left to do for the Horde whatever method I employ needs to to fast and foolproof. 

Let me know what you think of my progress. 

Nothing says Old School Citadel than homebrew painted shield designs. I really missed my old archive of WD when painting these shields, those old mags are just bursting with inspiration. 

While I was working on the figures the issue of shields came to mind. What would the Horde be without an array of hand-painted designs? Though I lacked the original shields for undead, I had several of same period examples to use. By chance, the first three I found were all the same size. As I was feeling a lot more confident about working on fantasy models, I just cracked on with some skull designs just like I did in the old days. 

The results are clear to see here. 

I chose Sunburst Yellow, Bilious Green and Electric Blue to be the background colours. As I progress, each new skull shield will have a different colour background. Of the three I've done so far, I'm most pleased with the yellow. It gives me Advanced Heroquest vibes for some reason. The skulls were quite straight forwards in the end. I used the brown ink to create the basic shape, highlighted with Orc Brown, then Bleached Bone before picking out the final details with Skull White. I found the white helped separate the bone of the shields with the bone of the skeleton figures. 

I hope you like the shields as I feel that there is a lot of the 'Old Orlygg' about them and that I am slowly rebuilding my knowledge and skill about how to best paint these classic models. 

pro-Painted plastik Warhamma Skeleton RARE 198'0s £14.99

For context, I've included my first attempt at a plastic skeleton. It looks like one of those old 'Pro-Painted' figures you used to see on eBay... I wonder if that tradition is still a thing? 

If you've followed me over the years, you will know that I cannot stick to one thing for very long. There are just too many beautifully imagined figures to work on, even in a tiny collection such as my own. I want to do some more of those Specialty Set Chaos Warriors in the near future but what has really caught my eye are those Hobbit Personalities I picked up a few weeks ago. 

They are the next figures on the table and I am hoping to get them finished before the end of the Easter Weekend. 

Wish me luck,

Orlygg

Orlygg at Salute '25, Bryan Ansell Remembered, Tim Prow's Diehard, Oakbound's The Woods and POWER-UP!

 

Lurching from our fetid graves (okay, our houses) early this morning, Stuart and I made a surprise return to Salute - Europe's largest miniature gaming show. Long ago, we were regular visitors and this year we decided to go on the spur of the moment (okay, a couple of weeks ago). I took the liberty to prebook the parking tickets and what was touted to be the 'Official Salute Car Park' on the website but in reality we just drove in and the barrier lifted to allow us to pass. We stuck the car in a quiet spot and made our way upstairs. 

Joining the queue, we had an nice chat with an Australian Grognard taking time out of his holiday to visit the show before we had our tickets scanned and received our swag bags. Peeing in, we saw it was the usual mix of special models, freebies (Stuart loved the mouse-mat) and advertising. With permission from 'my favourite miniature' (from this point on referred to as MFM) I had a modest budget to spend on brushes and other sundries that may help me improve my much maligned painting ability.

I was very pleased to see the late, great Bryan Ansell remembered by the South London Warlords. We spent some time looking at and discussing the set up some enthusiasts had put together of Bryan's 1980 quirky classic ruleset, Laserburn - a foreshadowing of Rogue Trader if you didn't know. 

The game was quite large in scale and we went back a few times to see how things were progressing. During this time we were lucky enough to bump into some old faces. I saw James Holloway, a long standing member of the BOYL events, and we discussed the importance of a little bit of creative anarchy in gaming. Something very evident in the Laserburn game and perhaps something lost in the modern world of miniature gaming. The generous Sleepysod, a regular contributor to this blog (and supplier of useful archaic items), was also there and it was nice to meet him face to face and thank him for his efforts in helping this blog getting going again. We also spotted artist extraordinaire Tony Hough from afar but never got the chance to chat to him this time though we did see a sole Oldhammer T-shirt wearing chap wandering the show. It was nice to talk with him too. 

This year's magazine contained a worthy article about Bryan and his enormous impact on miniature gaming not only in the United Kingdom, but also worldwide. I don't recall GW marking his passing in anyway so this was respectful and important tribute. And its always nice to see the Mighty Avenger picture from Warhammer Armies. 

Tim Prow had his Diehard Miniatures in tow. I was pleased to see how well his independent endeavour was going. The stall was packed from most of the time we were there and it wasn't hard to see why. Tim's sculpts are fantastic and are easily the best sculpted fantasy figures out there today. Many of those models are my preferred single cast sculpts that brim with character. I had my eye on a number of pieces but my modest budget only allowed for two beautifully designed Necromancers. Stuart threw in a suitably swarthy orc as a thank you for driving. Tim was as energic as ever, showing off future Kickstarters and painted models with plenty of help from his daughter. 

A closer look at those models. You will all know that I have a bit of a love of the undead. And with the Horde slowly growing it is necessary to start think about other models to suffer from instability with them. I am particularly fond of the skeleton with magical skulls radiating from his hands. 

Geoff Solomon-Sims, a true hobby veteran and an extremely talented craftsman of fantasy models, was manning his Oakbound Studio's 'The Woods' stand. Easily the most imaginative and creative models at the entire show and I could have purchased many of them. Again, some of these models are the all important single cast figures bursting with zany ideas and faerie magic. His limited run boxed game, complete with Heroquest style board pieces, was selling very well and there was a wealth of painted figures on show. Some of the larger pieces caught my eye and I hope to have the chance to paint a few of those in the not to distant future. It was also nice to see the Oldhammer Paul Douglas there too, one of the early pioneers of this brand of retro-gaming and a veteran of BOYL. 

Here is a closer look at the two figures I selected from the range. It was nice to see more of his fimir inspired models here too. I am a big fan of these swamp dwellers and I look forwards to getting this chap based and painted soon.

Today may have been all about wargames figures but yesterday was a retro extravaganza. MFM took myself and her son to the Science museum to check out the POWER-UP show. It is one of the paid exhibitions being put on there (I think £12.50 a ticket) but the event provides you with unparalleled access to the history of computer and video gaming. 

Inside you will find an enormous range of PC and console games (including a 16 player deathmatch of Halo: Combat Evolved) and of course the 8 and 16 bit systems that created magic in the early days. VR options are also available with an intriguing VR Tetris games that I was rubbish at. 

This Amiga made a welcome sight. I spent some time rather lovingly tapping the keys and feeling the warmth of the grate. Its been over 30 years since I last sat down with one of these and those long years just melted away as I dove straight back into DMA Designs' legendary Lemmings game. I received the Cartoon Classics edition of this machine way back in the early 1990s and this puzzle game was a real highlight of the experience. The game seems easier now and the solutions to many of the stages came back to me quickly. But being so popular, I couldn't remain on this glorious slice of 16 bit history for long. 

Sensational and worth the entry price for me!

The author of this blog gets to grips with the C64 version of Frogger. This was the version of the game I had as a kid in the '80s. I've got retro consoles of the C64 and Amiga and have been looking for this particular game for ages. A joy to play once more due to its immediacy and simplicity. Of course, the decades fell away and I recalled all my old strategies. What was noticeable in talking to other enthusiasts around me, is that younger gamers seem too preoccupied with joysticks and what not on these older machines. Using the keys was so much more effective and I enjoyed this particular walk down memory lane. 

Well that is my write up of the last few days. Here's looking forwards to a quieter Sunday and the chance to try out the new paint brushes I picked up at Salute. I also managed to track down some Bleached Bone paint from the Coat d'Arms range so I can crack open and pot and see if I have remembered how to highlight properly. 

Until then, 

Orlygg

Famous Familiars: Epic Scale Great Unclean One

 

It has been another sunny day here in Essex and I've been out in the garden again working through the Skeleton Horde, the Hobbit set and a few odds and ends I've got based up. I flit from one thing to another on a painting whim so I always have multiple things on the go at once. 

Today, this little chap took my fancy. He was part of the little cache of figures I found a few weeks back in the attic and was originally begun way back in 2020 when I was trying to paint up all of these magical sculpts to help endure lockdown. I rebased him with a 40k circular as he really belongs to Space Marine rather than Warhammer 3rd edition. 

He came together quite quickly and he is the first figure since Silts that I feel is close to my old work. I am really pleased with how he came out and how little effort he was to complete. Ork Flesh was the base (making good use of the Ork and Eldar Paint Set) with a wash of Brown Ink over the top. I then used Ork Flesh highlighted up with Rotting Flesh to create the skin. Worm Purple (again highlighted with Rotting Flesh) for the tongue with Go Fasta Red as the base for the open sores and wounds. Bad Moon Yellow was used to create the highlights for the festering sores and Bleached Bone and White to highlight the horns. The eyes are white with Sunburst Yellow over the top. The base is Snakebite Leather highlighted with Bleached Bone and Skull White. 

What made the difference for me was the use of the inks. I know I only have a handful, but I feel very at home in using them. It is clear I need to work on the shading of models as I move forwards. More depth is vital in supporting detail and highlights. 

I've included the figure in my ongoing series of posts about the familiars because they appear alongside them in this old ad. Later on, more sculpts were produced when Epic took off and more Chaos figures arrived for the first two editions of Space Marine but this is the original Greater Daemon of Nurgle. But then if you are reading this blog you'll know all of that.

Oh Space Marine... what a game!

What do you think? I feel like I am improving... I hope you agree with me. 

Orlygg

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