Death on the Reik: Painting Renata or Renate?

Hello all. Its been a tiring week for me, back to school and all that, and it was very pleasant to sit in the sun this morning and paint a miniature. With time at a premium at the moment, I selected a new acquisition (Renata) and promptly set to work.  She needed little cleaning up, save a few pieces of spiky flash here and there, and was quickly undercoated.

But how to paint her? 

After my last model, the slovenly Brooben Keyler, I fancied having a go at something with a little more colour. So, taking a leaf out of all those old colour pages in 1980s (pun intended) White Dwarf I went for a range of bold tones on her clothing. Green for the jerkin, with a white shirt beneath, red gloves, blue leggings and brown boots. All suitably gypsy-like - a vibe the model gives off. 

All things considered, I think she looks striking. Though I am not yet happy with the base, and may well have a second crack at it. 

But my research into the model threw up an interesting (at least to me) discovery about the model. Now, If you read my last post you'd know a little be more about this figure. Rare is a word that is bandied about a fair bit in the world of Citadel collecting. I am sure you have seen it a thousand times on eBay (and similar places) usually attached to that other damnable phrase; 'pro-painted'! These sales are seldom fair representations of the models they advertise. But in Renata's case the word is justified. 

She is also the most expensive miniature I have ever bought. But like many women, she was worth every penny!

Before painting her, I decided to check her details in the Death on the Reik Campaign book. I was very familiar with her blurry image from the WD flyer (which you can see directly below this paragraph) but I couldn't recall anything about the character in the supplement. Thanks to my newly organised collection, I was able to locate my copy of the book quite quickly and didn't have to search long until I produced a reference for her. 

And found out that her name is wrong!

It is Renate in the Death on the Reik book. Take a look! 

So in fact, Renata should be Renate. Or indeed Renate should be Renata? A case of a simple spelling error? Reading on about her character, it seems she is a pedlar, so the bright clothing definitely suits her nature, though interestingly her stats don't mention that she is armed with that very obvious bow does it? WYSIWYG was clearly not an issue back in 1987.

Whatever the answer. She's painted and on the shelf ready to act as proxy for Sandra Prangle in my McDeath project. 

More about that soon!

Orlygg

Girls, Girls, Girls: How to Spot Sandra Prangle and Renata

Renata has looked better. Her left hand, nose and ankles are slightly damaged - but with a flow of the modeller's file and the eye of the painter, these unsightly blemishes will soon be no more. Mint she is not, but then I didn't pay a 'mint' price for her. As always, I intend to repair her, paint her and get her on the gaming table somewhere. 

Some time ago I decided to reduce the volume of my collecting. Hardly a day went by without a package arriving at my front door, and to be honest with you, at that point in my life (I had a rather nasty job) I needed the trusty lead pick me ups to help me struggle on. Or such was the excuse I told myself. Later on, I made a promise to try and paint more than I buy and I have stuck to it pretty much. What helped was the fact that I limited my collecting to a few ranges. What hindered was the fact that the three ranges I chose to collect contain some of the rarest and pricy models in the collecting business: McDeath, Shadows Over Bogenhafen and Death on the Reik. 

To be honest, I have been pretty successful and have really enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. Sure, I have had to pay out a fair bit of cash for a few of the models in open auction, but that is all part of the fun! Just like finding a sought after miniature for very little. 

In truth, few of the models from the ranges I describe are truly rare. Most were available for years and in years in different ways but the models we are going to discuss today are different. They were part of limited sets and are very popular. 

Renata, looking good above these words, is one such model. She was only available, as far as I can tell, as part of the second Death on the Reik deal - along with Wanda 2 who Steve Casey uncovered recently - and is subsequently difficult to find. Expect to pay anything in the range of £80- £100 for her. 

Now, I write this post because I was rather confused to what Renata should actually look like. The internet doesn't throw up much in terms of visual material when a Google search is conducted so I thought I would take a few snaps to help those intrepid hunters of old lead who come after me. So take a good look before I paint her. 

My Renata's rear is in much better condition. I noticed that her ankles are rather week. This isn't damage through age but more due to the design of the figure. Perhaps a fair few have fallen over the years to the dreaded ankle snap? Perhaps that is another reason why she is so rare?

There appears to be some confusion over the differences and similarities between Renata and Sandra Prangle from McDeath. Some said that the models were the same, others different. There was no definitive photographic proof that I could uncover so I provide it here. Renata, it seems, is armed with a bow while Sandra holds a spear, though the basic body, as you can see, is pretty much identical. Where Sandra has a boss to hold a shield on her back, Renata has a quiver, as can be seen in the photograph above. 

Sadly, I don't own Sandra Prangle yet (though Renata will be standing in for her if I ever play a game of McDeath in the meantime) but I have managed to find this fairly decent picture of her below so the differences can be seen clearly. 

Enjoy the hunt.

Orlygg