Ye Olde Figure Collection

[IJW]

I'm really not in the mood for painting recently. So as a break from the Harlequins it seemed like a good idea to photograph some more of my collection of old stuff.

First up, one of the centrepieces of my Wood Elf army. The army itself hasn't been used in anger since the start of 5th edition, which was the last time I actually played WFB...





The howdah was made from the sides of an Elven War Wain and some round shields, with the supporting structure underneath being bits of sprue. The riders are also from the War Wain, with the addition of a net for the Elven Lord. Unfortunately the front foot of the handler has broken off.



You can see a bit of the wing texture here - the area between the ribs is made of much-scrumpled cartridge paper to get the right kind of feel.



The dragon is the old Great Spined Dragon, sculpted by Nick Bibby. I still rate this as one of the best dragon sculpts of all time, it was a hugely popular model for Golden Demon entries.
I had the model second-hand, and it had already lost a foot.

More photos to come later...

Ian

[jasevx]

Thats an amazing Dragon, reminds me of the ex mother-in-law!

Love the shading

[IJW]

And some more of the dragon:



As you can imagine, this was a pretty big model to transport (the base is made up from EIGHT 40mm monster bases!), so it was made to come apart.



The howdah just lifts off,



While the wings have long pins but were never glued into the body.



Bases have never really been my strong point, this one is OK but nothing special. Quite heavy, though, as it's real rock.

[IJW]

Finally, the left and right profiles without the wings in the way:





As you can see, it also makes a surprisingly good wingless dragon!

It got me an interview for the 'Eavy Metal team at the start of the 90s, although I didn't get the job...

[Cad@veR]

He... really amazing and trully practical. As for the base, I cant see why you think is no good...I find it truly nice, it adds to the model very much not distracting the attention from the actual model which is the dragon itself!

Top class for sure...

[IJW]

He... really amazing and trully practical. As for the base, I cant see why you think is no good...I find it truly nice, it adds to the model very much not distracting the attention from the actual model which is the dragon itself!

Thanks! The paint job on the base looks a bit 'flat' in real life - the stones are just grey with no different colours in them etc.

Next up is another Wood Elf showpiece - the Elven War Wain, sadly missed in 4th ed and a minor influence on my lack of WFB gaming, as I have two of these.









The top of the banner pole, the mage and the mage's hawk had all broken off. Some drilling, pinning and gluing later and it was in a fit state to photograph.

[IJW]

Detail shot of the crew. L-R: Mage, Elven Lord, Driver, Archer.





NOT something your opponents ever wanted to see thundering towards them!

That's all for today.

Ian

[Voronwe[MQ]]

I'd like to have it thunder against me, or at least the classic model. It'd be a great game regardless of the result. Thanks for posting these older models; I'm a somewhat newer hobbyist this wish I was born ten years earlier whenever I see an older model.

Voronwe

[Cad@veR]

Thats really nice, the base could use some retouch but other than that is stunning...feed us more!

[IJW]

You're still hungry? Good!

The third of the WE triumvirate needs a bit more pinning due to a snapped wing, so on to some 40k stuff.

Converted 1st ed 'chicken egg' Sentinel:









The idea was to make something that was even lighter and smaller as a scouting vehicle, hence the lack of heavy armament. The two barrel-like protrusions weren't guns on the original model, although I used them in games as a pair of SMGs.

To give an urban feel, the base was painted grey with road markings, and cracks radiating out from the footfall as even something small like this would have quite an impact when running.

[IJW]

And one of the odder conversions - a Chaos Squat in Exo-Armour, with arms from the Titan Weapon Variants range.

I present: Chaos Squatty Death Thing!










Game-wise we represented it having a special 12" 'grapple' attack - if it hit then the hapless target would slowly be dragged into close combat, fighting with a big Initiative modifier. And getting hit by a powerfist and a chainfist. Unfortunately, with a 3" move people just ran away from it.

He once managed to grab a Land Raider which promptly took off around the battlefield trying to shake it off, while the Squat just winched himself closer each turn...

[IJW]

On to one that hasn't been converted at all.

Eldar Ghost Warrior - this was basically the forerunner to the Wraithguard, and the introduction of spirit stone-driven constructs.





On the fists you can see some of my experiments with the then-new metallics paint set.

This is the 'mosquito-head' version with Shuriken Catapult and two Powerfists, the other one had a Flamer, a Powerfist and a Chainfist.
Game-wise they were very different from Wraithguard and were basically stealth assassins. They were made of 'stelthene' and were invisible to any kind of machine vision (of which there was a lot in the game). Basically, models using their own eyes could see them, everyone else stood there wondering what was hitting them!

[IJW]

In opposition to Chaos Squatty Death Thing!, we have the Squat Warlord with Multi-Melta - from the days when Multi-Meltas had a blast marker 4" in diameter...







It's a pretty straightforward weapon swap having cut off the bolter, plus a bit of battle damage to the blade of the power-axe (pesky Terminators blunting my axe, grrr, grumble!).

You can see the original model here (bottom right).

[Warwolt the skaven]

... I want that mini :<

[IJW]

The bulk of the armour was painted with multiple alternating layers of drybrushed metallic and shading washes of ink & paint, giving it plenty of depth.
The checks are all done by painting the area white (with a bit of shading), then drawing in the black squares with a technical drawing pen.
The gold is undercoated white, given a thorough covering of metallic gold and finally a fairly thick wash of dark brown paint thinned out with brown and chestnut inks to give a rich red-gold.

[IJW]

... I want that mini :<

They're turning up pretty regularly on eBay at the moment, mostly in the £3-6 range, but with occasional greedy people asking upwards of a tenner.

On the subject of technical pens - like many people, I'd struggled over the years with expensive, temperamental Rotring technical pens, until someone showed me a Mecanorma Graphoplex.
They don't seem to be easily available anymore outside France, but they were superbly designed. Costing a bit more than the equivalent Rotrings, they don't dry up! Yes, I kid ye not! Pick one up after a couple of years out of use, shake it gently a couple of times and start using. Try that with a Rotring and it'll be time for a soak bath or a new nib.

A quick search on the web only shows a few places in France stocking them.

EDIT to add - I assume you were meaning the Squat? If it was the Ghost Warrior you'll have more trouble tracking one down.

[IJW]

A touch of scenery:



This is a resin piece, I believe it was from Fantasy Forge.



Plus a Celtic-themed Wood Elf for scale.

[IJW]

Nasty Nurgle Epic Stuff: Beasts of Nurgle and a Warhound with Vulcan Mega-Bolters.









Hmmm, green!

Do you ever find you keep gravitating back to the same set of colour combinations? For me it's green and purple - compare the Nurgle stuff to the Ghost Warrior further up.

[IJW]

Keeping to the Epic Chaos theme, a Lord of Change.







A nice. dynamic sculpt, although the wings are a bit flat. Far preferable to the 'vulture' thing that replaced it (Lord of Change 2).

[IJW]

Green & purple again.

Epic Eldar Scout Titan.







Painted at least five years after the Ghost Warrior and pretty clearly on a different skill level, regardless of some dodgy shading on the purple gun cowlings. As with the Lord of Change, it could do with some kind of detail on the base to give a sense of scale.

I tried to subtly emphasise the 'organic' style of the sculpt, particularly in the red and purple areas. Successfully?