A Second Summer of Citadel: Rogue Trader Orc and Space Skaven Conversion, Heroes of the Enemy Within and an Unreleased Fighter and Druid

 

I managed to snatch a few hours to make more repairs today. Two rare Rogue Trader miniatures start the proceedings (rare for me, not in the collection world I might point out) as long term readers will know I hardly ever paint up anything for the early days of 40K. I do like the early orks and the plastic sets such as the Beaky marines, Squats and Imperial Guard mind you. Kantor Yellowtooth first saw light of day in the Book of the Astronomican in 1988 as park of the Space Ork Command Group. A fantastic sculpt this one and a joy to paint way back in the day when I worked on him and a joy to repair today. Most of the damage was to his knees and hands and it was fairly easy to remedy this today. 

If I ever get back into serious collecting again I must pick up some more early Rogue Trader models as I love the whole look of them, especially these ork models.

Here is my Space Skaven conversion I did years ago and I'm pleased to say he still stands up. At the time I created and painted this model I wanted something that would fit into the hugely imaginative world of the early Fantasy Miniature books. These were wacky celebrations of late '80s Games Workshop as captured in the first few Golden Demon painting competitions. If you've not seen these books (there are three of them all called Fantasy Miniatures) then track them down for an unique view of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 that is long gone.

I had a damaged skaven figure kicking about at the time and I removed the weapon and added a Imperial Guard Lasgun before adding the backpole and banner. I used a Beaky Marine helmet to finish of the piece. I like to think it still stands up today. I chose orange for the clothing as a link to the flying jumpsuit the Rebels wear in Star Wars. I don't do many conversions... even simple ones like this as I prefer to work with original figures if I can. 

So much could be written about my love for Death on the Reik. The Enemy Within Campaign was a high point during my original Warhammer run. Playing it at school and later at home where I got to be the GM. What fun it was and I had lots of happy memories of those times when watching the final season of Stranger Things recently, what with all their D&Ding (which I only played on computers). Well here we have the figures put out to represent Harbull and Malmir. The ad for these ran in White Dwarf 89 and I did have many of the other figures in the range once, before my focus switched to McDeath. Malmir was, as far as I can tell, sculpted just for the DotR release. Harbull has a close relative called Logar in the C11 Halfling range and it seems strange that this figure wasn't sculpted during the creation of his tiny cousins. 

I painted these figures up as they were the two characters I enjoyed playing in my turns through the famous Warhammer campaign. I wonder if GMs still run it?

The next two figures are a real mystery. They were given to me by the well known Citadel collector, Steve Casey, many years ago and I painted them up not really knowing much about them, beyond them being unreleased. This first model in now regarded as being an unreleased fighter by the late Colin Dixon produced during his sculpting training run in the early 1990s. He worked for GW for ages (leaving in 2002), and was the first person employed to paint figures by them full time. Perhaps the first person in the world!! 

This figure is much more closely aligned to the post-Ansell view of what the Empire soldiery would look like. Influenced by the 'Landsnakes' of later Medieval history. I've never seen another version of this figure painted by anyone else and I'd love to see what others made of it. If you do, please let me know. 

This final figure is also by Colin Dixon I believe and was another training piece. Often referred to in collecting circles as a druid or shaman his skull like visage makes me think more of an evil sorcerer. With this in mind I painted him up as a Nurgle worshipping magic user. Much of Colin's early work can be found here if you are interested.

Again, I've never seen anyone else ever paint up these models so if you have some yourselves or know some else who has had a crack at them let me know. Considering their extreme rarity these figures had suffered little painting damage, with the Nurgle figure having nothing at all. Much of the pink and white clothing of the fighter had been damaged and it took a while to get the colours right.

Hope you can't make out the repairs too obviously!

Orlygg

A Second Summer of Citadel: Hobbits and Gnomes, Muleskinner Reunited and Townsfolk Galore

Summer came and went! Our holiday ended up being extended somewhat which was lovely but it took a toll on my plans for restoring my vast painted collection. But since our return I've been stoically repairing many figures as time allowed. I must confess to finding another 1980s fantasy addiction over July and August but more detail on that in future posts. 

This first batch contains a characterful bunch of classic models from Citadel and Marauder and all them suffered severe damage, particularly to their faces, hands and clothing. As with the barbarians a few weeks ago I carefully restored the damaged areas and attempt to retain my original paint job as much as I could. 

Lots of memories came flooding back during this process which is always a blessing. 

First from left is a C11 Halfling called Tobias sculpted in 1987 but released in 1988 with quite a few other halfling models. Tobias has a variant called Albi whose head and chest are completely different. Both names are indicative of the Shire and Tolkien's linguistic basis of the hobbits. Of course, Old Toby, the Pipeweed also springs to mind here. The blend of tobacco was named after an actual background character called Tobold Hornblower who was said to be the first to cultivate the sage leaf. If you are a fan of Christopher Tolkien's deep investigations into his father's work you'd find out that in earlier drafts he was known as Tobias Hornblower, Tobias Smygrave and Elias Tobiasson. Whether or not Tim Pollard or whoever else may have named this figure were aware of these references we will never now know. But the link is clearly there. This figure was sculpted by the Perry Twins.

Centre is Norris Sureshot from the C11 Gnome range. These came out a few years earlier than the halfling figures in 1985 and were sculpted I believe by Trish Morrison. Norris is a dead give away here as Chuck Norris was at the height of his Video Rental fame as an action hero around this time. Well known for being a crack shot in films such as Code of Silence and Invasion USA in 1985. Not sure how far these penetrated the UK cinema scene but his face was ubiquitous across the sticky carpeted Video Shops that were part of any '80s childhood. 

Finally, another Trish sculpt from the MM64 Marauder Halfling Militia Range. This particular model is known as HL4 or just with spear 1. No way as interesting as the pop culture rich figures from Citadel though. Released in 1989 this figure is one of six characterful little chaps. I memory serves correctly this little chap was one of my speed painting challenges once long ago. I was frankly a bit embarrassed by the paintjob but photographed with a modern camera and lighting he scrubs up well enough. 

Some months ago I was delighted to find the old C22 Adventurer's cart among some old scenery pieces. Well, I was able to track down the missing muleskinner figure and repair him too. Not that he had suffered much damage with just the rim of his hat needing work. He was incredibly dusty though and needed a good clean up before photography. I must admit to redoing the drybrushing around the wooden part of the cart as the original job was awful. The horse is often referred to as Trigger as it is written across the tab. Trigger is an obvious reference to the real life Palomino horse belonging to Roy Rodgers. 

Originally named Golden Cloud, this 1930s horse was renamed due to his quick mind and speedy movement. Looking at the Citadel version, the name could well be an ironic one as he doesn't look up to much, does he? Of course, any '80s affectionardo will be quick to consider the equally dull witted character from Only Fools and Horses, though the link is more tenuous. Calling someone a muleskinner is a historical term originating in the US. It was a job title and described someone with the grit and tenacity to deal with the famous stubborn nature of pack animals such as mules. I thought this must mean 'skinning' the backs of the animals with the whip the figure carries (as this too might be the idea behind the sculpt) but it is reference to the need to outwit or cajole the notoriously difficult beasts.

Now we have got on to some of my villagers. I am sure you are all aware of the famous C46 Villagers or Townsfolk range. They have been very collectable for a very long time and have strong links to the WHFRP careers system. I long coveted them and collected many a model on eBay in the glory days of collecting. They are fun in a way heavily armoured hulks in spike embossed helmets are not. They serve as fantastic scenery pieces and link very well with Warhammer Townscape. This example comes from 1985 and is know as the Old Hag for pretty clear reasons. She is the stereotypical fantasy old lady who could or could not be a witch. Not that witches are the worst thing '80s Warhammer mythos can throw at you. Her black clothing was very badly scratched so I spent some time building back up the deliberately dark nature of the highlights here. She just needs a cat. 

I was never a huge fan of the Marauder range. I found the models too different in style to the classic '80s Citadel look even back in the 1980s. Just like many of my contemporaries I drooled over their fantastic army deals in White Dwarf though and wished I could afford to fork out for those Orc and Goblins and Dark Elves deals. This figure is from the MM6 Citizens range and I think this range is superior to the Villagers and Townsfolk models put out by Citadel, largely due to the character, design and quality of sculpting. There are also a lot less of them out there so they are more interesting to work with. This example is CZ11 Burger with Staff 2. I painted this for my 'Defence of Far Corfe' scenario and was always very pleased with my work on his clothing and flesh. I was horrified to find that he was one of the more badly damaged figures in this batch and he required extensive work on his cloak, head and hands. I was worried about this photograph showing the scale of the damage but I am pleasantly surprised to say he looks none the worse for wear now. 

This model isn't part of the Townsfolk or villagers range but a C07 Ranger but he fits the pattern well enough to be included here. His tab reads Woodsman so it is not hard to wonder if this WHFRP career (as the striking similarity between this figure and the illustration in the first edition rulebook) was what was originally intended. Like my other figures, his face and brown jacket took the brunt of the damage and needed repair. 

This rather gormless looking young chap is definitely from the Townsfolk and Villagers range. He is often just known as the C46 Miller though he was also released as part o the Blood on the Streets deal in 1985 as Uncle Errol the Miller. Though he looks a little young to be an uncle, anything is possible in the deep woods of the Empire forests. He was suffering from a rather damaged sack. Not my best paintjob by far on this one though he holds a rather earthy charm. 

This example is one of three variant models. Starting with this one the C46 Noblewoman and ending with the slottabased Wanda figure for the Enemy Within Campaign. I had one of the other figures in my unpainted collection somewhere and I am pretty sure it was the middle one from Death on the Reik. Much of her dress and hair had received much damage and it took an age to fix the red in her dress. In the end I just repainted most of the area in an attempt to smooth out the damage. Out of all of the figures you can see today this one was the most damaged. Not sure if that is a royal wave she is sporting or just a under the breath 'bugger off'. 

Whoever she is displeased with is certainly in for a scolding. 

Finally we end with Jes the Poacher who appeared on a flyer alongside the Noblewoman above. If you check out the CO7 Ranger group you will see another variant of this figure called Longbow or Longarm. Jes could easily be a reference to Jes Goodwin the famous sculptor. Whether or not he was a committed and enthusiastic poacher in the 1980s is unlikely but it certainly could be suggested as a in-joke for the Citadel crew. He has suffered little damage and just needed his left hand repainting. In hindsight, I wondered if a bloodstain might have been apt on that bag but as my purpose is to restore and not repaint I left him as he was. 

With this little group of villagers complete it is time to move on to the Feudals and Fighters in my collection. I have a small unit and a cannon to restore next. They are slightly more damaged than these figures so will require some work on the shields and bases. With the weather cooling off it should be easier to work on more figures. I don't know about you but I always find the Autumn a time when painting and collecting begins to pick up a pace again after the busy days of summer. 

Until then,

Orlygg 

A Summer of Citadel: CO1 Barbarians, F3 Barbarians and F6 Barbarian Raiders Restored and Researched

I've begun the long and daunting task of reorganising my painted miniatures and making an attempt to repair and restore them. Initially, things seemed really positive but donning my visor for a closer look revealed intensive damage to nearly all of the figures. This was mostly scratches and scrapes on the arms and legs as well as damage to bases and weapons. I spent yesterday painstakingly repairing each and all of these figures as well as a few others. The faces of many of these figures took the most damage. Noses, eyes and lips seeming to bear the brunt of the abuse. I am hoping these figures look as coherent as when I first painted them. Let me know if they don't.

These models are a mix of Citadel originals and Foundry versions. The units are made up from models released in the CO1 Barbarians range, the F3 Barbarians and the F6 Barbarian Raiders, though different figures from all these ranges were later sold as Norse from 1989 to 1992. The models themselves are a mix of historical looking celts, Conan types and the traditional fantasy barbarians. I painted many of these figures quickly to act as the rank and file of a McDeath game many years ago and I'm pleased to note that my old speed-painting technique still seems to hold up, if the camera doesn't get too close that is!

Originally, these models seemed fairly generic in their character however researching this blog post has unearthed a few factoids that I didn't know before. So I will share them here as I expect a few other enthusiasts will be just as interested and probably not sad enough to trawl the depths of the internet for obscure facts. 

As I said, I am hoping you cannot spot any flaws or damage that I have missed in the paint jobs. I have two units of twelve barbarians, one with a McDeath inspired banner, and a ten strong unit of female warriors. I find it hilarious to find GW fanboys waxing lyrical about there being too many girls in Warhammer these days knowing for a fact that Citadel put out plenty of lady figures back in the day. 

And here are the ladies in question. In truth, I have eleven ladies but I have two versions for some reason of the chubby lady. I cannot recall why I painted two of them. I am pretty sure there are a fair few more barbarian ladies in my recently returned collection that are unfinished. So it may be possible to increase this unit in future. What do I plan to do with them? Create a Norse style army of course using Warhammer Armies as a guide. I have several packs of the F Series Vikings too that would easily add to this force. 

Anyway, lets delve deep into the background of several of these barbarian lads and lasses shall we? I will be naming each figure from left to right across the photograph and discussing variants and so one underneath. I'm not sure why I love writing about this stuff.

Brunhilda

An iconic Citadel Miniature and one that is still available from Foundry. She was also released as Brunhilde or the slightly worrying Big Momma in the past. Originally available in 1987 and I'm pretty sure she is a Perry sculpt. The late Tim Pollard named many of the '80s figures around this time and he drew deeply from many sources. Brunhilda connects closely with the Valkyrie character and her obese appearance makes me think of Wagner's operas. In fact, Brunnhilde is a major character in the Ring Cycle of operas and her death at the end of the cycle helped coin the phrase 'it ain't over until the fact lady sings'. Her song concerns her deliberate immolation to save the world and carried on for about 20 minutes. '80s kids will also recall the Bugs Bunny short called 'What's Opera Doc?' which makes fun of this dramatic event, complete with a suitably fat lady. This trope has a real life root. Amalie Materna was the originator of the Brunnhilde role in the opera the the 19th Century and she was famously a larger lady. It seems this figure has elements inspired from a wealth of pop culture and imagery as well as an '80s Citadel twist. 

 

Ulwen Sword-Mistress of Wonger and Helena the Swift

Ulwen is a Mistress of Wonger is she? Anyone who lived in England in the '80s would know that was a humorous word used for money, especially in cash form. So I guess she could be viewed as a sword for hire. Some Northern types I've known have also used the world to describe a man's private appendage, and there may well be a naughty link there that slipped through the censor's net at Citadel. The figure on the left was also released as part of the Dungeonquest line in 1987 for the second edition of the game. Like Brunhilda, there is a clear Valkyrie, operatic feel to these two models. In fact, the helmets closely resemble those in the Sword and Sorcery artist Boris Vallejo's painting, Valkyrie, published in 1987. It could well have been an inspiration for these models, or specifically the head swap and winged helm.

From left to right: Sky, Rhora, Guernica Strongsword and Sky again!

These figures are heavily influenced by Frank Frazetta's work of the heroic savage. Much of his work depicts near nude male and female warriors endowed with huge physical strength and the mighty barbarian presented in this way was a '70s and '80s trope. Just think of He-Man or the Barbarian Game for the 8-bits. Sadly, now Maria Whittaker. Sky is sometimes referred to as 'Huntress' online though I've never seen a mention in White Dwarf. Bizarrely, Sky is occasionally listed as Big Momma and this may come from the fact that many of these female fighters were released in blister packs in the US and elsewhere with this name. Warrior Maidens was another short-lived collectors range they were sold in. But I digress...

Denar, Fatima Shieldmaiden and Gelda/Thring

These ladies are less of the naked savage and more of the serious warrior. Denar is much more of a classic '80s female warrior with her scanty chainmail vest and heroic '70s fantasy fighter boots. She seems far more capable that the other figures and is notable as she has a shield. 

Fatima (which is an Arabic name) and Shieldmaiden (Anglo-Saxon/Norse mythology) don't initially appear to go together that well. That is until we delve into the depths of '80s pop culture and mention Fatima Whitbread the 1987 Sportswoman of the Year. She was a very well known athlete of the time and grew up in the Essex area where old Orlygg doth dwell. Fatima overcame a truly appalling childhood and an cruel and abusive mother to become a gold medal winning javelin thrower. An apt name for this powerful looking woman with the great sword.

Finally, reminding us of the chaotic nature of 1980s Citadel cataloguing we have a girl with two names. Gelda or Thring depending were you look. Gelda on the surface could simply mean 'gold' in Old English but it also has a darker meaning... castration, especially that of horses or men! Hence the modern equestrian term 'gelding'. Thring is an ancient English word from Anglo-Saxon battle, meaning to push your way through the enemy. Either way, she doesn't seem the sort of lady you'd want to argue with!

Khan Ah'Beyns of the Eastern Wastes, Beorn and the Talisman Barbarian

A Khan, as in Genghis Khan, meant a great war leader and the Ah'Beyns seemed to be a fantasy inspired Arabic or central Asian name. Though his massive shield blocks a lot of the figure's detail his link with nomadic steppe cultures is more than obvious. For me, he resembles Subotai, Conan's friend in Conan the Barbarian the 1982 film, who was played by surfer, Gerry Lopez. The model even has a bow strapped to his back like the character in the film. I find it hard to imagine that the Perry Twins hadn't seen the motion picture.

Beorn is easier. It means many things in Old English but can generally be explained as a hero or warrior. Of course, there is an obvious connection with the character of the same name in J R R Tolkien's The Hobbit too. 

The Talisman Barbarian looks like a true Conan inspiration to me what with the scarred face and that haircut. The atypical animal skin, sword hewing hero.

Theodor, Siegfried Goldenhair, Moosehead Skullcrusher and Lulthan, Tyrant of the Badlands. 

Theodor is an odd choice for a barbarian, don't you think? He sounds more like a chipmunk or Byzantine emperor rather than a muscular chap with a big axe. Perhaps that is the point, though a link to the Riders of Rohan is also possible. He was also Karn the Mighty Barbarian Champion in the Fighters Combat Card deck. He won't be the last of our figures to moonlight there, either. 

Siegfried seems another Ring Cycle link as such a character is involved in the 19th Century opera, though he is also a character in the Swedish fantasy game, Dungeonquest. Siegfried is also interesting from a collection point of view as there are several variants of this figure out there. The tab says Barbarian Prince but he is also known as Slade the Leveller and bizarrely the Knight of Law!!? '80s pop culture reference incoming because Slade the Leveller was the stage name of Justin Sullivan from New Model Army, an '80s rock band that is still touring today. This figure also appears as Harald the Swift Barbarian warlord in the 1980s Fighters Combat Card Set. He certainly got around back in the day!

Moosehead Skullcrusher has a very long name which is perhaps why Ox is printed on his tab. There could be a cheeky nod to Moosehead lager here, a Canadian beer popular in England in the 1980s. Having met and interviewed so many ex-Citadel staff from the '80s I know very well what an anarchic and boozy place the environment could be. I wouldn't be surprised if some in-jokes of their favourite ales were snuck in from time to time, particularly a powerful brew that resulted in skullcrushing hangovers! Like Siegfried, he appears in the Fighters set of Combat Cards as Kumrak the Savage Barbarian Warrior. He obviously got about too!

Finally, Lulthan, a generic fantasy name that may reference future Warhammer background as the Badlands were a location described in both WFB3 but also WHFRP.

Before we leave the Combat Cards, the eagle eyed of you may have noticed Magnus Baresark in the first photograph with the banner. 

Sighvat, Arslan, Knight of Law (Barbarian Prince) and Thrull.

A so we arrive at the final batch of figures for this post. It has been an intriguing journey scoping out the history behind this array of figures. I've said it before, but I am amazed about how much stuff can still be learnt from these figures, some of which are four decades old. Anyway, I digress again... Sighvat means victory in old Norse and there was a famous poetic in Early Medieval times called Sighvat Thordarson  who would be a suitable reference for such a mighty warrior. Arslan is lion in Ancient Turkish. The Knight of Law I mentioned earlier is next and finally we have Thrull, who sounds a little like Krull the famous fantasy film. Thrall too will fit perhaps, though its usually used to describe a slave rather than a brave fighter. Perhaps we are looking at a combination of the two words? 

Right, that's another post done. I'm typing these words as I look down on the floor. I've arranged hundreds of figures into 'armies' of linked models to work through in the coming months. I chose these barbarians as they were one of the smaller collections. Undead will be next, and they are already arranged for repainting and repair. I've added my more recent skeleton project to them too, so they look nice and deadly... pardon the pun. 

Speak soon,

Orlygg