Orlygg (and Stuart Klatcheff) @ Salute 2015

I didn't see much of the historical stuff this year, but the archer free mini was nice in our welcome packs.

Like many in the toy soldier world, I was at Salute today. I am sure the blogosphere will be alight soon with tales galore of the day and plenty of pictures of all the latest offerings from everyone from Bicorne to Spectre. But instead of just posting a few random snaps and writing about the loot I brought home, I thought I might write instead about some of the wonderful people I met.

After all, that is really what these big events are about - meeting people. I can buy practically any model online from the comfort of my own home, but online chats cannot ever compare to meeting face to face with fellow enthusiasts. 

I was lucky enough to have my friend Stuart Klatcheff accompany me today, despite his best efforts to try and persuade himself not to go with an injured leg. And the drive up was a very pleasant way of talking about the main topic of the day, miniatures and of course, Oldhammer itself. We were a little unsure how effective the new 'e-ticket' system for entry would be and, despite a shaky moment with Stuart's iPad not allowing the scanner to read the barcode, appeared to run quite smoothly. 

We were both inside the main hall by about 10:20 and promptly made our way towards the Warmonger stand. This was very obvious due to the enormous banner Marcus Ansell had made. Steve Casey, the Citadel Collector, was there with his fetching money bag and equally fetching Welsh twang, and was more than eager to relieve us of our cash. The Warmonger team were extremely welcoming and friendly (so big thanks to Steve and Marcus for their generosity) as was the LEGEND that is the Goblinmaster. 

Mr Adams was clearly really enjoying the show and had plenty to say about his new projects.

Kev was in fine form. He whipped off his gobbo-specs to show me his eye and explained that he was now fully functioning once again and needed no further chopping up by surgeons. So his attention is now fully focused on Warmonger and the amazing range of models he has produced so far. We had a long old chat and I took loads of pictures of his new greens (as well as picking up some of the first castings from the most recent batch that haven't quite gone on sale just yet) so I intend to do a Warmonger Special post shortly to fill you in with all the juicy news and share some of the lovely models that are now available. 

There was a rather battered brown box of extra goodies on the stand for those of us that purchased models. Another one of those 'lucky-dips' that were put on during last years's Oldhammer Weekend. I picked up some absolutely amazing little 'orklings' and I have already made a small diorama out of them (very small actually). They are stunning. And there is more imagination on show in those tiny little goblinoids than in many of the other ranges at the show put together!

If you couldn't get to Salute and are interested in the Warmonger range, why not pop along to their Facebook page and have a gander. Lovely stuff. There is also a rather bizarre youtube video of some of the models here.

Would you buy used artwork from this man?

After weighing ourselves down with stock, Stuart and I moved on to the Foundry stand, keen to meet up with any other Oldhammer types who might be lurking there at 11am. We arrived to find this man, Tony Hough, flashing his folders of original Citadel, Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy art. As always, it was a pleasure to see Tony and he was happy to let fans of his work browse through his intricate drawings in awe. 

Even though he sold several pieces at the show, he assured us all that he still has lots of pieces available for anyone interested, including the famous 'Patriarch' illustration from White Dwarf. Be prepared to dig deep into the hobby fund if you are after that, as it seems that many people have tried by none have managed to persuade Tony to relinquish his personal favourite piece. Perhaps you could be the one?

If you are interested in getting hold of some of Tony's work, why not wander over to his Facebook page and have a browse through his galleries?

"That one was from Space Fleet, I think?"

A gaggle of Oldhammerers formed after a while and it was great to chat about Tony's work with them. We met quite a few eager fans of Old School Citadel, including two Spanish enthusiasts wanting to know more about where to stay in August - so if that was you, hopefully you have had some success! Diane Ansell was running the Foundry stand, which looked far too small for the range of models they brought, but we managed to squash ourselves through the crowds to make essential purchases of ex-Citadel sheep, vikings and medievals. 

Having a chance to talk to Diane about the event in August was very welcome, and I discovered that there are couple of things in the works that we will need to talk about closer to the time - most importantly the food option for Saturday! Diane was, as ever, the perfect hostess. 

So thank yous need to speed her way. 

Tim insisted on posing next to the Foundry banner like a celebrity at an premiere. It was one, after all!

While we were admiring the historical ranges the Foundry had to offer, a familiar face (sadly, without a Megadeth T-Shirt on) emerged from the backpack weighted crowd with, a rather weighty backpack actually. It was none other than Tim Prow, former 'Eavy Metal painter and all round sculptor extraordinaire, with details about a formerly TOP SECRET miniatures project that is now only SLIGHTLY SECRET. 

More is to come in the coming days, but I can tell you that the project is to be called DIEHARD MINIATURES and will contain some of the models from the aborted Antiquis Malleum project, as well as a whole lot more, in the coming weeks. Tim was armed with his rather flashy tablet (sadly no embarrassing photos were forthcoming) and showed Stuart and myself a great deal of exciting concept and WIP miniature work, including probably the best sculpted skeleton I have ever seen. 

I have a little more to share about this shortly, but will save it for a post of its own.

After saying our goodbyes to Tim, we bumped into a fellow Oldhammer T-shirt wearing gentleman who was very pleased to have picked up a old Kev Adams hill troll model in decent condition. He looked a bit grimy (the hill troll, not the gentleman) but nothing that the Dettol wouldn't fix one at home. So well done to that man on your most excellent find. 

With the shopping and socialising done - we struck out into the show proper and wandered the retailers and exhibition games. It was really exciting to find an Oldhammer game in full swing within minutes, complete with a lovely display of the old rulebooks. Stuart and I spent quite a bit of time chatting with the team behind this ('Ardhammer') and taking lots of photographs of the set up. 

There was a real mix of models on the table. With more recent plastic sculpts sharing space with classics from as far back as the 1970s. 

I will leave you with a the best of the photographs I took of this game and head to bed. There is more McDeath to paint come the morning, as well as some brilliant Warmonger pieces. All that there is left for me to say is a simple thank you to the Salute team who put on another great show, and I look forwards to attending again next year!

McDeath, Sir John Quicksure and Painting Gold

My workload is rather high and the moment.

This isn't the place to go into details - but I am practically drowning in the stuff. Oldhammer time is extremely limited but I shall grab a few moments to type this missive while I watch the bath run.

Painting gold is hard isn't it?

Last Sunday, I cleaned up this chap, Sir John Quicksure from my McDeath collection. Now, I wanted to paint him a gold colour for two reasons. One - because it seems a suitable colour for the fantastic armour of the leader of the alliance. Two - because metallics are most definitely something I need to work on.

As you can now doubt see.

So, really what I am after is advice for achieving a decent gold finish on a miniature. How do you do it?

Warmonger Miniatures and Salute 2015

I like to keep a keen eye out on social media for things that readers of this blog would appreciate. And this is most definitely an image that Oldhammer fans are going to want to see - Bryan Ansell and Kev Adams working together on the Warmonger project!

The other chap is Steve Turton - an expert mould maker - if memory serves me correct. Now, if you haven't got Facebook you wouldn't yet know that Kev will be manning his own stand this year, ably supported by Steve 'The Citadel Collector' Casey. 

The Stand number is TB13.

There is an 'unofficial' Oldhammer meet up at the Foundry stand at 11am on Saturday. I have a feeling that Warmonger will be the first port of call. 

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

If I had an Oldhammer to Kickstart the World: Great models from Chico and Jon Boyce

Oldhammer's resident paint-splattered maniac, Chico* from Oldhammer on a Budget, is probably as well known as you can be in this community. His, er, distinctive take on miniature wargaming has become internationally known, largely due to the success of his unusual blog and his prolific use of social media.

 

One thing that you probably didn't know about 'Ol' Dirty Boy' was his rather exciting partnership with the equally deranged Fimm McCool. It seems that they gave got together and created a range of amusing 'Evil Space Dorfs' to plague the dreams of new school sci-fi gamers and tickle the nostalgic whims of those old enough to weep of the demise of a certain 40k race.

 

There are currently two packs available. Judge Chico and a Cyber-Goat and two troopers; Khan and Fodder. If you haven't seen them before (or even if you have) why not pop over to Oakbound Games - who do an intriguing line of Celtic myth inspired minis of their own - and have a look.

 

A project well worth keeping an eye on.

 

 

John Boyce is another name of repute growing within the community. He, when he isn't plastering the Facebook Page with his thoughts, has got together with the uber-talented Micheal Anderson to produce the range you can see above me.

 

The ultimate range of Sci-Fi civilians.

 

Unlike Chico's models, which are good to go but stocked in limited numbers, these are being funded through a Kickstarter. Details of this can be found here. By the looks of things as I type these words, this project is almost funded and is almost undoubtably going to make its way into your lead pile.

 

Go on! You know you want some!

 

 



McDeath: Brooben Keyler

My hastily shot snap of Brooben caught on a rather windy afternoon. Seconds after this photograph was taken, all the scenery was whipped away by a cheeky gust of wind. Perhaps it was Brooben?

All good things must come to an end. And so it is with my Easter holidays. But I cannot complain, as I am only six weeks away from another! Hurrah, and I should be able to clock up some serious painting come June. 

I just have to do quite a bit of work until then!

So to finish off the last day of my holiday, I decided to paint up a figure. As I am working through my McDeath collection at the moment, I selected the next figure from the lead pile and got to work: Brooben Keyler.

To those of you who don't know much about McDeath let me explain a little bit about him. Brooben is the leader of the Maltmen, a bunch of brewers, who have the misfortune to become involved the the conflict between McDeath and the Alliance. The model itself is one of the few pre-slotta pieces in the collection, along with Spot and Klinty, and was once part of an ancient range that predates the 'Scottish Scenario' by some years. 

Though I knew a fair bit about the background to the character and a bit of the history of the figure, I didn't really have much of an idea about what he looked like when I was tracking him down. My trips browsing eBay hadn't really thrown anything up over the years and there is (was) a dearth of information about the model online. Type in 'Brooben Keyler' into a search engine and you got very little. I certainly couldn't find any decent photographs of him, or anything painted. 

McDeath. How many have you got? 

So it was a pleasant surprise when he turned up on my door mat. Sure, he was filthy with age (as many of the lead pre-slottas are) but with a splash of Dettol I was able to clean him up nicely. I am glad I did, because the detail just jumped out at me. And detail is the word! Brooben is a marvellous sculpt - positively dripping with character and a joy to behold! Turning him over in my hands I had to really admire the sculptor's art, doubly so when you think about this model was designed and cast in the early 1980s! 

I think its something about the corpulent stature of Brooben that catches my imagination. He is rugged, ugly and slovenly and yet his meaty hand clasps the hilt of his sword like he knows how to use it. So much character in such a tiny piece really - everything you need to know about the man can be seen in the design. Classic. 

Painting him was a joy. An absolute joy and I am very, very pleased with the finished model. I would consider him to be the best model I have ever painted (and by this I mean my painting skills, rather than the sculpt) as I feel I have cracked a number of the areas I have been developing. Namely; flesh, clothing and gold metallics. 

Hopefully, some of you will agree. 

Right. Back to reality for me tonight with lesson planning and general sorting out. But my heart will remain at the painting station, with its fingers stuck together with superglue...

Orlygg

McDeath: Julia McEwman, Donaldbane and Dokko McCoughlagan

I have been busy using the remaining days of my Easter holidays to get some more of my McDeath figures tableworthy. I still have several models as work-in-progresses, but these are in good enough condition to show. The light wasn't great when I took these and I apologise for the rather cloudy look of the photograph.

Right, let's talk about Julia McEwman first. I really like this model (she is called Mace Lady elsewhere in Citadel land) and was available for many years in the catalogue. What I really appreciate about here is that she isn't a fantasy female stereotype. She lacks the atypical lowcut armour and improbable taste in clothing and instead, is much more realistically armoured in mail and pauldron. 

Though I am playing a bit fast a loose with the McDeath background with my take on the scenario, I was happy to keep her blonde hair. This was fairly easy to achieve with just a simple base colour (one of the modern GW ones with a really silly name), old school Chestnut glaze over the top followed by a good drybrush with the highlight once dry. Her face was just my usual method for flesh. 

I struggled with her armour. Painting steel is a real problem for me and I hate it. I am never happy with the finished result and need to work on getting the look 'right' in my eyes at least. I will have to paint up some armoured chaps in the near future. I used the Foundry metallic paint for this, using a mixture of dry brushing and layering. I used a very watery blue/black glaze over the top to take the shine off the finish. 

The leather for her boots was a 50:50 mix of brown and orange. I added some of my preferred Foundry Boneshade to lighten it up and create the definition. I did something similar for the girdle. 

Julia's shield saw a lot of attention and I am happy with the result. The background was originally all red (to tie in with the girdle I mentioned) but it ended up somewhat lacking. So I added an off white half and the job, as they say, was a good 'un. 

Donaldbane (or Elric gatecrashing Albion) isn't a great figure. He has had a rather long and chequered history in Citadel Miniatures, but is an obvious Kinslayer knock off. Earlier versions even have Elric on the base. I found him hard to paint. A large part of this was the fact he is nearly all silver armour, but I struggled on and was happy with the finish. Its obvious that I need to do a little work in the plate armour department in the near future. 

The only part of the model I did enjoy working on was the cloak. Mixing two colours to create a base has become fairly common for me. For the cloak it went like this. Dark red and brown for the base, dark red and light red for first highlight, light red and orange for second highlight and just orange for the final stage. I mixed in a little of the base red into the yellow to help harmonise the yellow zig-zag pattern in with its surroundings. 

And finally, Dokko. My favourite model of the three and part of the Fighter range originally. A great model to paint and I went to town making him look suitable barbarian with lots of natural whites and creams and browns. As I had done with Donaldbane, I used layering for his hair but found the finish a little too stark when compared with the rest of the model. So I whipped up a quick chestnut glaze and washed that over to bring the colours down. 

I spent ages on his shield aswell -trying to get the crest image I found for his clan in the McDeath background. I opted for a blue background colour purely because I had used some much red. 

Phew! 

Right, let me cook the family their dinner, change my water over and start work on the next of my McDeath models.