Oldhammer

Everyone has an opinion on what defines a movement, or indeed likes to broadcast what their interpretation of it is. And Oldhammerers do like to bang on about their perspective of it and how others have got it wrong!

Going to a community event (BOYL a few years ago) where someone has sculpted and cast a cool miniature and then given it away to attendees is pretty damn amazing and transcends any zeitgeist of a hobby movement. So this, for me, is Oldhammer:

Gaudy Garb - some unreleased Citadel Wizards

Sometimes I look at my paint rack and think “fuck me, there’s some nice colours on there that I never use”. This is an actual quote from my internal monologue. So it plays out that I wanted to paint something different from my usual limited palette and move into the realms of various bright and vibrant, perhaps even gaudy colours. So last night the task was set; but what models would suit the oranges, greens, pinks, purples and yellows? Well history tells us that the rich like to display their wealth with clashing, colourful clothing so I rummaged around and found these limited release Citadel wizards that I picked up from BOYL a few years ago. I kind of re-imagined then as haughty lords in a tavern and will again play them as npcs, but I wanted them to look like foppish dicks flouting their vivid couture in a grimy Inn, looking completely out of place. I’ll do a photoshoot of that asap (now that I’ve completed my tavern workers) too.

Imagine a couple of Barbarians entering the Spotted Dog and seeing these two twats ordering half flagons of shandy and sipping carefully on them [scenario/photoshoot opportunity] Maybe they do have a magical air about them though so the Barbarians should be wary...

Talking of out of place, I’ve got a real urge to post these on the Dark Age of Sigmar (Aos28) group.

Tavern crew - Otherworld NPC’s

Otherworld Miniatures produce some really excellent miniatures, particularly their npc and adventurer range. So it would be rather remiss of me to not buy some and paint them up to add to my tavern interior collection.

I've got a couple more npcs to paint up and then I'll show them in all their glory inside the Spotted Dog tavern.

My little world (wip)

Following on from my last post about my new cemetery, I thought it was time to try and get some decent photos of my current tabletop set up. It's not a very accessible site (the corner of a low attic) but it gives me an opportunity to set up my stuff without any hassle from the wife or kids! I can just look and admire my handiwork up here, which is all very lovely until I smack my head on a low beam.

Pretty much everything you see in these photos is scratch-built, the only exceptions being the aforementioned GW Cemetery and the toy fort that I [originally] painted up for my son! He's grown out of it, so, as per my plan, so it's become mine! The scratch-built stuff is largely from the modelling workshop articles from early White Dwarfs; you may recognise the Townhouse, the Barn, the Cottage, the Ruined Temple and the Inn/Forge, but there's also some scenery that is inspired from elsewhere (the entrance toFighting Fantasy's Firetop Mountain for example). And then there's the scenery that's been inspired from a great many parts of the Internet and put together with my imagination and often some prolonged problem solving; my Mausoleum, Church, Ruined building, trees and my modular tiles.

As the title says, this is WIP; I've got more modular tiles to make and some much more fancy ruined buildings, roads, a backdrop, plus some more interiors/dungeon tiles and a load of miniatures to populate this little world of mine. Here's what I have for now though; enjoy!:

Best get cracking then...

The “Blotted” vs Undead - a Halloween photoshoot!

Rasham’s Forgotten Bandits (aka “The Blotted”) could hardly refuse the purse on offer from Lord Lardars, especially for such a straightforward mission. A dark prowler in the local Cemetrary was rumoured to have scared off some kids who were playing hide and seek amongst the old tombstones and when the dads went to investigate, they easily frightened off the old, bearded codger. However one of the children is still missing and the local soldiers can find not trace of him or the old man. Rumours start spreading and soon the graveyard and church are the scene for numerous tall stories, witch hunts and unsubstantiated spooky happenings. Soon, even with no evidence to the contrary everyone is avoiding the site and this is when Rasham gets wind of the story whilst passing through the town and having an ale at the Spotted Dog. After some investigations he surmises that this will be easy money; stake out the cemetery, catch an old fella and if necessary force him into a confession into killing the kid, regardless of guilt. Get the money and the backslaps and quickly move on..

After two nights, Wilf his crossbowman (and the only one of his crew not completely smashed on ale) sees the tall, old bearded man dithering through the cemetery and calls his brothers to arms. They approach with little caution, embolden by the booze and confident in capturing the man and their reward. And then....

Goblinoid Combat Cards: Ulg Bonechewer

Ulg Bonechewer; not quite an Orc for the end of Orctober, but a Goblinoid none-the-less. 

He really will need all that WS 9 to be able to wield that massive flail

As I work my way through recreating the Goblinoid Combat Cards, I decided it was time to do a little converting (it's been a while) and so I hunted down a Grom's Bodyguard Goblin (which seems to have been the base model for the original conversion) and with the addition of a few plastic bits and some greenstuff I put together this fella.

He seems suitably armoured for a Goblin Chieftan and more importantly has that wicked, sneering grin that I associate with the early Goblin sculpts. I used my normal Goblinoid skin recipe, even though I was very tempted to go Goblin Green for the shield head as a throwback to the original model and rushed through a pretty swift paint job. Done! Enjoy!

Gravestones

 I’m on a bit of a scenery roll at the moment; lots of partly completed projects are being addressed and here is the next of these. A couple of sprue worth of Renedra gravestones, plus some old/new Citadel, a few left over Mantic ones and a Reaper Bones statue, gave me quite a few to paint! I decided to base them in both multiples of two and three as well as individually (all into plasticard) so that I can arrange them in a variety of configurations for the Cemetery that I've just finished painting. I'll set it all up on my table later, but for now here’s the gravestones (plus a few guests...)

A Cemetery for Halloween

I found and then quickly sold a load of old Magic the Gathering cards to my local gaming store the other day (there were quite a few rares in the collection) and decided to use some of my new funds to buy a bit of new plastic scenery (well, new for me at any rate). Apart from a toy castle that I painted up, all the rest of my scenery is scratchbuilt, so it was a bit of a novelty in buying the Garden of Morr plastic box set and go about putting it together and painting it. It is however a surprisingly joyous set; I love the modularity of it and the sculpts are crisp and clean and sensible. Perhaps apart from the amount of skulls embedded in the walls, these were a pain in the arse to paint.

The whole set was spray coated black and then zenithal highlighted from above with some white spray. I then used multiple washes and drybrushes to bring the details to life and finally a fair bit of weathering too, again with washes of greens and browns. I just applied that GW corrosion paint straight over the undercoat for the roofs. I completed all the painting in an afternoon! Pretty speedy for me.

Next up I'll be adding some gravestones and set it all up on my table..

Orctober - Giant Orc Chief and Bodyguard

A 1986 Citadel Flyer introduces a Giant Orc Chief and his Bodyguard (LE11) to the public and some 32 years later I’ve got to put some paint on them. I never owned this pair back in the 80’s and only purchased these in my attempt to collect all the miniatures from the Citadel Goblinoid Combat Card range. I didn’t love them before I painted them, but you kinda get intimate with the lead when handling it delicately for a few hours as you turn the plain metal cast into a character. And I’ve now fallen for the couple.

I often think about the sculptors intentions when they made these models, as I paint. Was he given a brief to make these two characters, was there a bigger picture (perhaps some scenario to play them with) or were they purely two orcs sculpted and subsequently put together and the theme added later? I always assumed that the horned character is the Orc chief, but he’s hardly giant or imposing enough to be a chief. The supposed bodyguard is just the same size and has a much sterner facial appearance, perhaps there’s been a switch of role here; the chief in disguise? In fact why would such a renowned giant Orc chief even need a bodyguard? Is he worried about an attempt on his life? Does he have lots of enemies within his war host? I can imagine this being the case, just think of all those dastardly orcs (and goblins) sneakily plotting to remove him from the head of the horde. All of this conjecture of course adds to his character and has me yearning to invent some narrative game where the Chief and his bodyguard have to survive the assassination attempts of a variety of foes. Could be an idea for a future BOYL game...

Anyway; to add to the character of these orcs,  I decided to use the influence of Fraser Grey’s style on my shield designs; those puffy, rounded and sleepy faces protruding from the shields have always seemed  apt for these orcs and Grey’s style left a lasting impression on me from seeing his work in early White Dwarfs.