A Summer of Citadel: Imperial Dwarf Grum

 

My next figure is this lovely old school dwarf. He was a bit of an unfinishable as I started work on him at the beginning of the year. I just couldn't get that chainmail to look the part. As I've said before, I want my painting style to be in the vein of the design studio in the late 1980s, just before Mike McVey's glorious blending took over the scene (I'll never be as good with the hairy wand as him). 

In the end it was a decent black ink wash over a dry-brushed Mithril Silver base that achieved the look I was seeking. Once it was dry, I dusted back over the top of the mail with silver once more. Then adding thin lines of black ink around the creases and folds of the armour and where the equipment joined. I've started to mix Blood Red, Foundry Brown Oche (thanks Ian) and Bleached bone to create a leather colour and I'm keen to explore what that mix can do. 

As you might guess, I am VERY pleased with the way the face came out. Flesh is one of my targets for improvement and here my colour mix worked well. Bronzed Flesh with a little Red Gore added, then the highlights built up by adding Bleached Bone. A nice rich tone. I left the eyes on this one and his grunting, squished face looked quite characterful, even for a dwarf.

I used Blood Red and Sunburst Yellow as a spot colour on the decoration around the top of his chainmail cap and on his shield. I used one of my greenstuff copied shields and matched these tones on it. I wanted a battered and well worn look (as my greenstuff casting had a lot to be desired) so stuck to a simple geometric pattern which fits the historical feel this figure has. Being a Perry sculpt, the rich historical vibes are no surprise. 

Though hard to see in this photograph I was also pleased with the gold colour I mixed up here. I used shining gold mixed with a little Blood Angels orange and the result was nice a rich. A brown ink wash helped provide depth over the top. More work is needed here to and I think my ogre model will be a great opportunity to play around with this. 

As is becoming traditional with the project, I'll delve a little into the history of this figure. He is one of the Imperial Dwarfs from 1985. This is an excellent range of figures who appeared in many later 1980s publications and dioramas. Looking at these models now I regret not paying more attention to them in my collecting days. They are characterful and varied which is just what we like here at RoC80s. 

I'm sure many of you have enjoyed painting up or pushing around these little chaps over the last 40 years. I suspect that isn't going to change any time soon for those of us lucky enough to have any of these fine models. 

Orlygg

A Summer of Citadel: War Machines Labourer 2

 

One of the things I miss the most about my former collection was my original WHFB third edition rulebook. I spent decades pouring through it's pages. Each illustration or line of text a gateway back to a piece of my past. It even had it's own unique smell. Dust and imagination. 

This figure reminds me of that rulebook. On one of the early pages there is a photograph of a cannon crew and this rather strapping chap is part of the set up. With this memory in mind, I set out to paint my version of him but he didn't really come out in the way I'd hoped. 

He looks too buff... 

It is clear I need to work on my blending but he has a gnarly charm about him with more than a little Kingdom Come Deliverance to boot. I enjoyed painting him but his skin needs smoothing out somewhat. I'll probably go back to him later on to reduce the rather comic book shading around the muscles of his torso. But he is painted... and I can move on to another figure tomorrow. 

He has a surly looking face... almost like he wants to argue with you. He was part of a series of models released in 1987 alongside loads of historical war machines - linking with Warhammer Siege no doubt. 

There were quite a few war machine crew released by Citadel and this chap, hereby named Labourer 2, had a colleague in the pages of WHFB3. A chap with a mallet scratching his head. I always wanted that figure too. I'm pleased to say that a handful of these old Citadel crew are available from Foundry including the chap with said mallet. 

It was difficult days painting. My teeth, which need ongoing treatment, were playing me up something chronic and I couldn't quite find the old mojo for painting. But we persevere in the grognard game don't we?

Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Orlygg 

A Summer of Citadel: C04 Thief Pre-slotta 'Thug'

 

Hello dear readers,

I'm back from a bit of an hiatus. Mostly end of term school stress and house development. Since we last spoke we've had a patio laid,  the house rewired, been surveyed for wall insulation and I've had to have some wisdom teeth extracted! All while dealing with the never-ending drag of the end of a school year.

Through it all I promised myself that once the holidays arrived, I'd try and paint a figure a day over the long summer break. And this post is the first in what I hope will be an extravaganza of painting I'm calling 'The Summer of Citadel'. Sure, there are a few days here and there when I'm away with MFM but I'm pretty much aiming high in the painting front. After all, I am keen to improve my technique after my five year long 'lost weekend'. 

Top of my list is fleshwork. The first few figures in this project will hopefully allow me to hone the old skills in painting skin. Hence why we are looking at this wonderful preslotta figure from the early 1980s. He has bags of character and loads of menace. Which I like in a miniature but not in a person. I opted for darker skin to start with as it felt more challenging and a good starting point. I used colour harmony for this figure with a little bit of Swamp Brown mixed in with everything. It took a while to get back up to speed but with a reduced palette I actually found it easier to work with. I'm hoping that the tones convey flesh well and I am pleased with the way he has come out. I even managed to dot the eyes!

I gave him a splatter of blood on his club as a final touch. Tomorrow I'll try a figure with lighter skin, and then perhaps some orcs or goblins to really sharpen up my skills. We will see where this adventure takes us...

His solid base says 'thug' but he has an interesting history. 

First released in the early 1980s as part of the C04 Thieves range as a rogue, he was later listed (in France) as a pirate and he really does have that kind of look about him. 

See here he is in the good old 'they used to hand-draw the models' days. If you didn't know, the model with the crutch below (Ruffler) is a homage to Steve Jackson. 

And here he is again during the later days of being able to afford a camera in the studio. Some of these models are rather rare now but they have bags of character... which is very much something I am keen to work with when painting over the next four or five weeks. I mean, I love my skellies but they don't have much charm about them.. beyond the whiff of the grave. Our 'thug' model is given centre stage here. 

By the Realm of Chaos era in the later 1980s, he has been repurposed as a club wielding chaos thug. The slotta version of this figure is different with some conversion work on the head and legs to make him less piratical and more chaotic. Obviously. Can you spot him here? Club 4 is our man. 

What is incredible, is this figure is still available to buy in 2025. He was one of the many 'historicals' Bryan Ansell took with him after he sold Games Workshop in 1992. He is called Stocky Joe Dent these days and likes to hang around with the Steve Jackson look alike figure and few of the others. I know all this because I can remember many moons ago being shown this set by Bryan himself. A few months back while Stuart was networking at the Foundry stand, I slipped away to check to see if this pack was still on the racks (no pun intended) and it was... looking back, I should have bought it for the other pirate style characters but the memory of discussing it years ago was enough. 

Well, let's see what tomorrow brings. I have a few figures in the queue. Circumstances have changed in my old life and I received a rather battered box of my belongings a few weeks back quite out of the blue. A bulging bag of classic figures, old scenery pieces and even some painted remains from my McDeath board. All rather unexpected... Of course the stuff was all pretty smashed up but I may try and restore several pieces if its possible.

More tomorrow...

Orlygg