Delving Deep: What have you forgotten you have?

I have to use this Welsh Dresser to store my collection. The wife likes to keep the rooms of our house 'in keeping' so no nasty modern furniture is allowed. This photograph shows a part of my collection AFTER we had sorted it all out. 

Asking someone to remember something they have forgotten is a rather whimsical, if impossible, activity. After all, we all tend to forget things. Now this is a rather abstract way to begin a blog post, though I can assure you that there is method in the madness. 

Stuart, a fellow collector of old Citadel from Essex, visited me at home the other day and after a little poking through the lead pile in order to set up a few trades, we started to delve a little deeper into my horde. This short exploration into my collection quickly transformed into a thorough sort out and I discovered I owned several items that I had completely forgotten about. 

By far the best find was this little rarity. Which Stuart so ably models in the photograph below. A still sealed pack of old Citadel Colour paint brushes!

I have no idea where they came from on when I bought them. No idea at all!

My collection was pretty much just shoved in the cupboard and had the doors closed on it. We pulled everything out and took further material from the bedroom cupboard. The White Dwarfs were even put in the correct order!

With this in mind I am going to ask you this. How well do you know YOUR collection? Is it spread about the house in various locations? Is it collecting dust in some attic or cellar? Well, how about you head off to the place where your stash is the greatest and have a rummage. Can YOU find something you completely forgot you had?

I was impressed with the quality of these brushes. I bought a modern Citadel brush the other day as there were some on offer in a toy shop. I had to search through about twenty of them until I found an example with a decent point. Quite frankly, they were awful. These still look good after nearly thirty years!

Get looking!

Orlygg

Warhammer Rocks Again: Games Workshop and Kerrang! Magazine

How about this then? These two images are doing the rounds on various social media outlets today. They are scans taken from an issue of Kerrang! (December 1989 #270 to be precise) and were spotted by long time Oldhammerer, Jason Fulford. They concern themselves with the relationship between the Games Workshop of the Bryan Ansell years and '80s metal music. Now, this is stuff we have talked about before in Warhammer Rocks but these few pages are packed with some fascinating facts that I wasn't previously aware of...

Like that the Sabbat 'Blood for the Blood God' flexi-disk White Dwarf issue sold 74,000 copies. By the way, that was also the launch issue for Warhammer Third Edition! 

Or that there were 300,000 (presumably GW) gamers in Britain in 1989!

And finally this apt quote from Andy Jones: "Warhammer combines the two, creating a table-top fantasy battle system, with all the depth of a role-play game, but involving huge units.' 

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

Oldhammer Weekend in the USA 7th-9th August

It gives me great pleasure to announce the Second Oldhammer USA event. Futher details can be found here. 

A Triad of Treemen

What is better than a single treeman? The answer is really rather easy - three treemen! Now I have waxed lyrical in the past about how much I love these models and I must confess that my obsession in all things Ent (can we say that in Warhammer?) has led me to purchase two further models from eBay in recent days. Another 1985 Treebeard model, and the classic 1984 Treeman from the Second Compendium, otherwise known as 'Klinty' in McDeath collecting circles.

Its been quite a project. The model on the right has been painted three times and old Klinty was so filthy upon arrival (black grime rubbed off onto your fingers when you handled him) that he needed some serious cleaning.

If we start with the 1984 treeman, Klinty, I can tell you that he must have been popular back in the day as there are a great number of the available on-line - with the price averaging out at about £18 each. Now, as a sculpt there isn't really much going for poor old Klinty. He is a ancient solid based model back from back in the days when sculpting and casting were really quite primitive. And he looks it when you first handle him. He has a certain charm though, especially if you love treemen, and I really rather enjoyed bringing him back to life. 

I found that Dettol really helped shift thirty years of oxidisation from his surface. As I said before, he was so grimy that the black sooty stuff that seems to stick to old lead everywhere left marks on your hands. After a few hours in the brown stuff, I fished him out and was surprised (with a little help from the washing up liquid) to see how quickly that muck could be cleaned away. Undercoating was a problem, probably due to the high lead content, and my white paint just seemed to move away from the surface of the model. I found painting it on directly with a large brush stopped this.

After a few tests, I realised that the models (who are really intended to form a three tree unit) looked rather strange with individual paint schemes. So I opted to repaint the lot using a stage by stage approach and I think its fair to say that I am pretty happy with the results. Though I notice in this photograph that one of Klinty's eyes looks a bit lopsided - so I shall fix that up shortly. 

All in all, a challenging and satisfying project that has got my painting score for this holiday up to nine completed models. Hmmm, what next?

Tackling the 'Unfinishables': The Miniature Painter's Struggle

Years ago, I wrote about the concept of a Miniature Moriarty. Those miniatures that somehow or other turn against their owners in a kind of Frankensteinesque moment that often results in a long period of apathy. At the time I jumbled together some ideas to help me express how certain models made me feel. It went a little like this:

"So if you blessed by not having a shameful secret (or think you are) how can you recognise a Miniature Moriarty? To help you decide I have created a little checklist that you can run through if you are unsure.

Here we go...

1) No matter how hard you try your paint always 'does its own thing' and blobs and runs in places you don't want it to go.

2) The colour scheme always looks awful, not matter what you try. Either too flat and lacking depth or cartoony.

3) Base looks awful, even though you have used the very same technique that you always use.

4) You start to despise the figure you are working on.

5) This feeling of dislike spreads to other models and you become reluctant to paint anything else in case the 'contagion' spreads to other models.

6) The 'contagion' spreads, you become disinterested in painting, your miniatures stand idle and the jar full of models you just bought from eBay float in their dettol bath unloved for weeks. Your table becomes a dumping ground for random objects placed their by your wife, dust breeds, the table becomes an embarrassment that you just cannot face tidying up

7) You blame it all on that one miniature that started the whole downward spiral.

And now, the most important aspect of a Moriarty Miniature! Number 8 in the list. Remember, that we are talking about a nemesis here, an archenemy. Its a personal thing, between you and the lead.

So...

8)Only YOU can see the faults. Only YOU care about the flaws. So only YOU can make the change... Everyone else will just look at the model and say... "I like the way to did the...'

So...

Just paint."

Thankfully, none of the models I am sharing with you today are true Moriarty. They are what I like to call the 'Unfinishables'. Models that you want to paint, start working on but ultimately abandon for some reason (initially for a short time). However, they just remain on your painting table, or even worse tucked safely away somewhere (often for years) and never, ever get completed. Years can go by, as indeed did for a couple of the models I am showing off today, without any further work being carried out. 

With a long holiday underway, I was keen to get some serious painting done and hope to get a least one miniature painted each day. Currently, its Day 6 and six models stand completed before me (though today, Thursday, I haven't completed anything as of yet) so I have done well. What better to get working on than some of those unfinished projects I have started over the years and never got around to finishing off. As I write, I still have three unfinished projects for next time I have a clear through but I am ready to move on to another project really. 

So lets have a look at what I have managed to paint over the last few days

This undead rider model is a bit special. Not because there is some sort of Warhammery legend attached to it but due to the fact it is one of the few original models I owned back in the 1980s. I must have at some point picked up a blister with these in as there was once a second rider and steed, but both were far to badly damaged survive one of my culls and went in the bin. Yet, this model has survived and I have been keen to paint it over the years but as described, I'd start it, grow unhappy or bored with where I was going and plop the figure in the Dettol. Repeating the process several times. 

He was undercoated and based on my painting table but I wasn't sure where to go with the colour scheme. I have a hefty collection of old school undead and always intended to do a white (bone) back and brown scheme for the lot of them, using red as a spot colour. The colours of death ultimately. So I opted to go for a brown robe for the rider, he did after all look like some kind of monk, and highlighted up with my new best friend of painting, Foundry Boneyard 9A. A truly versatile colour indeed. 

The rider's face and hands were completed using the Boneyard shade I just mentioned, followed up with a chestnut ink glaze. The cleaver was very easy. Just a dark metal basecoat, washed over with first a brown ink and then a orange/brown wash. A slight silver highlight was added to the edges. The shoes proved a bit of a problem as I didn't want to just paint them another shade of brown. In the end, I went for a green into which I mixed a little of the brown to create a little colour harmony.

It was the horse that took the time. I wanted to go for black to contrast against the brown of the robe. Now, as many a painter will tell you, black, like white, can be a real challenge to get right so I highlighted up with dark greys until it reached a point I was happy with. I used the same grey to drybrush up the mane and tail. It was fairly simple to basecoat the missing chunks on the mount's body with a scarlet before washing over with a chestnut ink. I highlighted the gore with red and then a pink. 

An enjoyable figure to paint and a finish I am really pleased with. 

McDeath is a favourite range of mine, though few of the models are exclusive to it. The Knight of Harkness above is one such figure. Sadly, he has gathered dust for some months on the paint station because there was always something a bit more exciting to work on. He was very straight forwards to paint up, though I had to change the base colour of his 'skirt' bit to red after reading through the background materials. I was unhappy with how the armour had originally turned out, so I mixed up a blue glaze and ran it over all of the steel on the model. It gave the metal a bright, noble hue that helped bring out the details. Well, I thought so anyway.

Only the shield took me any great time. The design is lifted from the McDeath background material though the colour choices are mine. A real test of my freehand. 

Over the years I have raved about the Citadel plastic skeletons many times and I am sure you will forgive me if I rave once again. They are, quite simply, the best plastic skeletons ever produced and GW really did go backwards with their second (and much inferior) set of plastic skellies. Thankfully, the originals are very easy to get hold of and I probably own more than I will ever need. If indeed you can actually own too many of them in the first place! 

I cannot recall why this model was abandoned. But he has sat there for some time feeling lonely so after the paint had dried on the Knight of Harkness I started work. I was keen to try out the Foundry Boneyard triad on a whole model and ended up washing over my original paint work with a dark brown wash. Once dry, I used a mixture of layering and drybrushing to work up the model to the highlight. This probably took no longer than 15 minutes to achieve. The axe needed just a moment or two to highlight with suitable colours. Easy and effective I thought. Another positive advert for triads. 

Of course, being a plastic skeleton he needed a freehand painted shield. As I have done in the past, I Googled skull designs and copied one onto the shield. To add interest, I decided to add a single, blood-shot eye inside one of the sockets. If you are trying similar things, always do your research first. Have an explore through as much reference as you can and always keep you paint fluid with plenty of water. My top tips!

With the skeleton based and finished, it was time to move on to a figure that I started last spring. Originally part of my Chaos army but unfinished due to me having grown tired of painting Khorne stuff - this classic chaos dwarf is a brilliant example of the insane ideas behind the original chaos release. 

He painted up quickly. I loved working on the face and chose purple as a skin tone. Dwarf faces are so full of character that they are a joy to highlight and I just kept on adding Boneyard 6C to the mix until I was happy with the result. The red hair was also easy to achieve. A dark red base, highlighted with orange and yellow. I used the same yellow to pick out the two spots on his face. To add further contrast, I used bone for the horns sprouting from his head and a vibrant green for his tongue. 

Not a chap to bump into on St Valentine's Day, eh? 

Though hard to see in the image - I used browns and creams for his clothing. After all, with such a shocking colourful face, I didn't want to over-egg the pudding and spoil the look of the model. The boots were black, drybrushed with grey and highlighted with a lighter shade. I used Foundry's steel triad for the blade and GW's new gold paints for the hilt and guard. 

The model gave me another chance to paint on one of the 'ogre faces' I have been using on my chaos stuff. It was a little more challenging this time, as I usually use the larger round shields, but instead opted for one of the spiky undead ones. As I have done previously, I kept the rim of the shield black to help frame the painting on the face itself. Its what they did in the GW Studio back in the day so its good enough for me! 

It was then an easy job to base the model. In retrospect, this is my favourite model in this little project. I have already added him to my chaos dwarf unit. 

Now this 'unfinishable' must be my oldest. I started this back in 2012 when Realm of Chaos 80s was just a few months old. I gave up on it because I just didn't get on with the sculpt. I am still not a great fan of this particular orc, but I persisted and am fairly happy with the result. I still think that my recipe for orc flesh is too pale - but there you go... That is a problem for a future painting session. 

And finally, this chap. He was a quick paint and is destined to bulk up a unit of Slanneshi Chaos warriors in my other chaos army. I cannot say I am a big fan of this model either, but he is finished and I am now free to try other things. I don't feel that the colour scheme works particularly well. I think its the lack of depth in the pink armour. But its finished and ready for the table top. 

To conclude, there is something deeply satisfying in completing a model at the best of times. Its even more satisfying when they are annoying figures that have just sat there gathering dust for some time. As I said at the head of this article, I have a few other models out there which can be classed as 'unfinishables' and one day, perhaps half-term, I shall return to them and endeavour to get them completed too. 

Until then, I off to start work on my next project. More McDeath stuff if you want to know. But before I pop off, why not get thinking (like so many of you did with my speed painting challenge) about YOUR 'unfinishables'. And the next time you lift a brush to paint, why no reach for one of those models instead, and lay an overdue project to rest.

Happy painting.

Orlygg

Acceptable in the '80s: Warhammer Armies Bretonnian Update and 'Eavy Metal selection

This is a second post in a loose series about the Bretonnian releases from early in the 1990s. Previously, we had a little look at the 'Eavy Metal background to the 'look' of the models. Today, with an extract originally published in White Dwarf 137, we go a little further and analyse some of the models themselves, as well as have a glance at the updated army list.

Before any of that, I have a quote from the dark and brooding Rick Priestley concerning the 'Chivalry' game I was postulating about in my last post. He shed a little light on the project over on the Oldhammer Facebook Group. 

Rick Priestley: The Chivalry game was actually written up and developed by Nigel Stillman - based on an idea from Bryan Ansell - and utilising a range of models developed by the Perrys. So, yes Alan and Michael were involved - and did contribute to the game - but it was Nigel who worked up the game and Bryan who had the 'vision' for it. In fact it was many games that interlocked - with an overarching dynasty building game behind it - as I remember. There was a jousting system I think - and a man to man combat game that was based on cards - which I think I had a hand in. I remember playing it with the Perrys on the train down to Salute! Just one of the very many things that were worked on and abandoned back in the day.

Taken from a Facebook conversation about the game 'Chivalry'. March. 2015

The first 'new' figures that we see are the missile troops that head this page. Practically monopose, with simple variations, these models work well in big units - though their simplicity is a sign of things to come. The twenty man units look great. 

The second page contains, as you will have seen, the lovely new Bretonnian knights on foot: sword and shield men and those armed with double handed axes. Again, these are a variety of similar sculpts rather than a range of individual models - but the result really does look like a historical army. It sees that many gamers of the time were split into two distinct camps: those which found the models too historical for their tastes and those who were happy to collect them alongside the more fantastical stuff the early 1990s gave us. Which were you at the time, eh?

Most worthy of note is that cannon (I have always wanted one of them!) and if you can recall clearly, you will remember that there were a number of other new gunpowder weapons as part of this range. They are now, sadly, long gone and can fetch some pretty prices online. I have included the catalogue pages for the missing stuff at the end of this article. The levy is of course as old as the hills, being (mostly) the old Militia/Mercenary range that is still pretty much available from Wargames Foundry.

Finally, the updated page for Warhammer Armies reflecting how the Bretonnians have changed with the new miniature release. A useful document for anyone considering a later Bretonnian army and needs something 'official' to help tie up all the loose ends. Oh, and I found some rather poor quality scans of the 1991 catalogue to show off the rest of the brilliant artillery range. 

Enjoy the memories!