Labyrinthe: LARPing in the '80s

Sorry about the recent bout of silence on the blog, but life has been rather hectic of late, what with the end of school and the start of the Christmas Holidays, saying I have been rushed off my feet would be a bit of an understatement. Even so, I have managed to get quite a bit of painting done this week, but I have yet to take any snaps of my freshly based miniatures, and I hope to be able to up the production to a few minis a day over the next couple of weeks.

Well, that's the plan anyway.

Today I have a little clip from a 1980s television programme about Labyrinthe and Live Action Roleplaying, or LARPing for short. Now I have written about this before and have shared with you an amusing television programme hosted by Ben 'I used to be able to write funny sitcoms like Blackadder' Elton, if you cannot recall what I am rambling about here just follow this little link and you'll see.

What strikes me is the way roleplaying is presented here. The 'they are all geeks' angle that prevails in the Ben Elton piece is still suggested here, but there is a darker tone hinted at as well, especially when White Dwarf is mentioned amongst 'magazines like these'. These days its hard to see White Dwarf as anything more than an over priced catalogue but it seems that there was a time when the magazine raised the ire of 'Daily Mail' style journalism. What amuses me further are the ways in which many of the key players have been presented; darkened rooms, shadowy faces and whispered tones. What amazes me is the revenue that LARPing was bringing in during the '80s, £100,000 is even today a considerable sum, but 25 years ago it would have been greater still! Thankfully, the article cuts off before the 'journalists' attempt to link roleplaying to the Hungerford Massacre of 1987. It seems this particular sensationalist tool of poor journalists everywhere is not a modern invention. In the days before Great Theft Auto it was Dungeons and Dragons that encouraged psychopaths to commit mass murder! 

Have a watch and see what conclusions you can draw from it. Feel like sharing them? Well you know how below! 

Orlygg.

Orcnapped? The Perils of Posting Miniatures!

I have always stood back from trading as a way of getting my hands on miniatures. The reason? Models going missing! For some time I have just though 'hey, its me!' and just bad luck but recent events here in Essex are beginning to prove otherwise.

Its seems that employees from the Royal Mail have been actively stealing the contents of people's post for their own ends. So scandalous are the findings that the story has even made the front page of the local rag, as you will have seen above!

The story got me thinking about all the 'disappearances' that I have had to deal with in recent times, including a large trade overseas that just vanished, even though they are supposed to be tracked. 

Then, the plot thickens and I receive a generic letter from the Royal Mail apologising (albeit rather vaguely) about the loss of my property along with some old envelopes that once would have held my beloved lead! Note that the envelope in the photograph is affixed with a signed for notice! Well I never signed for this one and the Post Office swore it was delivered, in 2011!

Yes, that is correct, in 2011!

So the thief not only pilfered my minis but even kept the evidence lying around somewhere, and then the Royal Mail, not able to return my property, just send me out an empty envelope!

Hopeless!

The hue and cry (lots of local people are talking about the items they have lost and the similar letters of 'apology' they have had popped through their letter boxes) has got me thinking. How common are these disappearances? Are rogue posties targeting our minis and stealing them, perhaps to sell back to us on eBay?

So if you have has items mysteriously vanish during transit or any other tales of problematic posties please do share. You know how!!

Back to miniatures proper next time.

Orlygg.

PS: It was an '80s Rat Ogre by Jes Goodwin that vanished from that envelope if you were wondering. 

A Warhammer Bestiary: Norse Dwarf

The long winter evenings here in England seem to be made for miniature painting. I get so much more completed this time of year, and I am sure that is the same for many others out there. The object of my attention this particular evening was a Norse Dwarf. Sadly, these are one of the types that fell by the roadside after Third Edition, much like the Sea Elves that we shall see later in this painting series. Thankfully, there are loads of these wonderfully characterful models out there to buy for very little.

This particular example is nearly all chainmail and this gave me the opportunity to work on a my new metallic technique that I had improved with the first dwarf. I am particularly pleased with the helmet and its horns. As you can imagine, drybrushing and ink washing were my best friends with this miniature and it surprises me just how much you can accomplish with skillful application of these two techniques. The face and beard were highlighted, using the same method as before.

For the shield, I did a Colin Dixon's Bugman's inspired foaming flagon against a blue background. This pice of freehand was great fun and didn't atke very long at all. Unlike previous models, this one had a flat 'boss' which allowed me to paint the design on with the shield in situ. I think that a large tankard of booze is an apt symbol to frequent the shield of a Norse Dwarf. It was a toss up between this and a slice of pie! 

For the base, I repeated what I had done with the previous dwarf, only I sculpted the stones to look less like hot cross buns and more like rocks on the ground. The rest of the base was painted in my normal way.

Job done! And what do you think?

Chaos Dwarf next!

Orlygg

A Warhammer Bestiary: Dwarf

I have reached the dwarfs in my quest to paint one example of every entry in the Warhammer Third Edition Bestiary. And today's post details just that - a dwarf. Not a miner, or blacksmith, nor a troll slayer or super limited wizard from a Combat Card! Just a dwarf. One of the untold thousands of the little chaps who live in the Old World and have assimilated into human society. 

To reflect this I chose a fairly mundane little model, a dwarf with a crossbow, from the range shown below.

I used an original Citadel plastic crossbow, cut down, as this stunty's weapon just as the painter of 031811 did back in the 1980s, only I opted for a darker beard. Photographing the miniature has proven to be a little tricky, largely due to its size, but the pictures below convey enough to give you a suggestion about how he looks.

I am very pleased with the face. Fleshtones are another area I am keen to work on and I must say that this little miniature must have the best face I have ever painted. This has been helped by some very good sculpting from the Perrys. To be honest, this model is the first Citadel Dwarf I have actually ever painted and I can see why people go made for them. Plenty of detail, gorgeous, characterful faces and lashings of charm. I'm tempted to bin this project and just go paint a huge army of dwarfs!

I am also pleased with the metallic look of the dwarf's helmet. I tried to be a great deal more subtle with the shading and the drybrushing this time and it paid off. I shall definitely be using a similar method in the future! I tried to give the model a buff leather look (inspired by ECW miniatures) as he probably represents some dependable retainer of some Old World noble or rich merchant. 

I did my standard basing technique, only I added some small sculpted rocks as a nod to the dwarf's underground heritage. 

So what do you think?

Orlygg.

6 Iron Spikes: The Enemy Within Campaign Podcasts!

From time to time I like to promote great old school blogs and websites. Today I want to talk about 6 Iron Spikes by Rob S. Though only updated once a month or so, there is plenty to interest the follower of Realms of Chaos 80s. Perhaps the item of most interest will be the audio recordings of the Enemy Within Campaign. Rob has gone about capturing his group's gaming sessions in such as way as to make you feel like a silent observer in a remarkable story. I really do recommend a listen and the audio can be downloaded at this link.

http://6ironspikes.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/the-enemy-within-shadows-over-bogenhafen.html

Rob also occasionally paints up some Citadel lead. Here are a few examples of his work and I am sure that you agree that his style fits these old classics perfectly. 

There is loads more on offer over on his blog. WFB3 battle reports, D&D sessions and much much more.

Pay it a visit.

http://6ironspikes.blogspot.com.au/

Orlygg

A Warhammer Bestiary: Coatl

As you will know by now, I am trying to collect and paint a miniature for each of the entries in the Warhammer Third Edition Bestiary. So far, I have painted up an unusual beastman and a centaur and have concentrated on pushing the boundaries of my painting. This time, I had to find and paint a coatl - a magical, flying serpent from the forests of Lustria. These miniatures are quite pricey, I knew that, and a quick check with Steve Casey confirmed that you are looking at about £20 for one of these. I managed to source mine for under £15 though. 

Here's an '80s catalogue extract for the Coatl which answers the question of who sculpted the model: Nick Bibby, the master of the draconian and scaled. The model needed quite a bit of filing and filling to get the wings to attach in a satisfactory way, though this was largely down to the previous owners limited modelling skills. They had packed the groove with loads of epoxy resin and much of it had dribbled down into the detail. 

Here's the model as I received it. I decided that Dettol was the best way to go and mulled over the basing. I am not a fan of the old flying bases as they tend to fall over and not support the miniature properly. The one that was supplied with the model was broken, with its tip embedded inside the coatl, so I decided to use wire instead and mount the coatl on a monster base. 

And here is the finished result! Two areas of this model were new ground to me. The wings and the scales. Having never painted feathers before, I had a quick look through the reference material that can be found online. I chose the colour scheme for a parrot as I liked the bright colours they have and the species kind of fits in with the jungle theme. I base coated the wings with red, yellow and blue, before using ink glazes to add depth to the features. A series of drybrushed highlights followed to bring out the detail on the wings. The scales were done in a similar way; with me basing in green and using loads of ink washes to build up depth before adding a series of final green highlights to each scale. 

The base was a bit of a departure from my usual method as I wanted to match the jungle theme to the base. I found an old base that had been textured by someone at some point. Into this I drilled holes and fixed snipped off pieces of plastic aquatic plants. These were treated with a range of brown, green and yellow ink washes before being wetbrushed in yellow and green. 

Job done!

What do you guys think?

A trio of models next time, as I shall be painting dwarfs.

Orlygg.

Arcane Armorials: Psygnosis inspired owl face

Those of you who frequented the home computer in the late '80s and early '90s will recall the above image with delight. Yes, Psygnosis, creators of Shadow of the Beast, Lemmings and parallax scrolling among a great many other great things. Zhu mentioned the possibility of using this image to create an old school shield design a few posts back and I wondered if such a thing was possible. 

So defying a nasty eye infection, I set to work on the shield. 

Stage One: Using the reverse side of a plastic shield (its best to fill the rim side with greenstuff or just file it off) I undercoated with a mix of light blue and blue ink. A couple of coats and the tone was flat enough to start!

Stage Two: Here I applied the white following some of the structure of the Psygnosis original. I preferred to keep things a little more symmetrical than in the original design. 

Stage Three: Add the black. Create the eyebrows, eyes and the beak.Once I was happy I had the design elements I was after, I tidied up the black line with more white paint.

Stage Four: Using white, I created circles within the eye balls and then painted them yellow. Before the yellow paint could dry, I used a little orange ink to vary the colour slightly. 

Stage Five: Blob on the pupils and tidy up the blue design features. 

Stage Six. Add tiny white dots to the eyes and cut the shield off the sprue.

Stage Seven: Pack the rim of the shield black and do the same to the rear. Oh, and attach it to a suitable model.

And there we have it! Another freehand shield on another new Old School model. I painted this skeleton specifically for the owl design as, for me anyway, these old Citadel skeletons are the perfect hanger for a shield! I think I might have a go at a more traditional owl face design at some point in the future, perhaps for my Warhammer Bestiary Wood Elf??

What not have a go at one of these yourselves? Or even better, can you suggest another design that would make a good old school shield design? If so, please comment below and I will have a go at painting it!