This group of a dozen miniatures was painted back in 2013 and was the start of my return to figure painting. I spent a lot of time then working on them and didn’t want to spend a lot more time now repainting or being too fussy about them. I’m happy with the standard I got them to at that time. My focus now was mostly to make some of the detail a little more distinct – which mostly was retouching weapons – and some shading on most of the figures using some Soft/Strong/Dark tone courtesy of Army Painter inks. A few of the figures on square bases got moved to a 25mm round. Lastly, spray matte varnish to finish them all off.
The first two figures are metal Ral Partha, and I believe all the others are Citadel/Games Workshop – many of them Warhammer figures.
Zageblyn Yoruguth, Gnome Thief/Illusionist and a young Dwarf warrior.
This first figure has a history well above and beyond any other I have. Originally Ral Partha “03-049 Gnome Master Thief” produced in 1988 and quite likely purchased that year too, this mini will always be “Zageblyn” to me. One player in my first decade-spanning Advanced D&D (and into 2nd edition) campaign was playing a Gnome Thief/Illusionist. By the time the campaign was slowing down and the player moved to another state (and out of the game), the character had become a memorable personality and a 10th thief, 11th illusionist.
The second RP figure is a Dwarf warrior, but I find it to be a lot thinner than any other dwarves I have. It’s not any shorter, just not as bulky and too large for a gnome. So, maybe a “young” Dwarf. The more I look at these figures the less I like the green bases… so they’ll be done over in black this afternoon!
Human Assassin and Dwarf Warrior
The assassin is a nice figure, with good detail from the front. At the back the cloak and pants merge without an actual edge. The Dwarf is a very simple figure with a very low level of detail – shield, beard, armour, etc mostly “flow” into each other, without distinct edging. It looks much, much better painted – gives it more definition to the features.
Dwarf Troll Slayer and better armoured companion.
Both plastic dwarves. This is the first troll slayer I had painted and I have two more undercoated for future work. I spent a lot of time trying to get the mohawk the colour I wanted and didn’t quite succeed. There won’t be so many layers or colour mixing with the next two – I know what I’m doing now. The second dwarf (from the Hero Quest boardgame) wasn’t a great sculpt, but using different colours brought out the different features well.
Warhammer Quest Dwarf and LotR Boromir
One plastic Warhammer Quest (board game) dwarf and one metal Citadel “Lord of the Rings” (1985) figure. Both show a fair amount of detail and were fun to paint. I’d originally used a mix of silver and blue on the winged helmet but the blue faded. I went over it with silver again, then a blue ink this time – it worked much better and the ink brought out the feathers more too.
Citadel, Lord of the Rings – the Gimli twins!
Lastly, two more metal, Lord of the Rings figures. Both are Gimli. The first came blister packed with a horse, and the second (Fellowship Heroes) with Legolas & Boromir (NOT the previous figure). I didn’t like the Boromir sculpt and don’t remember what happened to the figure – sold, thrown out or given away.
Next, I’m working on ten figures originally painted at the end of the 1980’s or very early 1990’s.
They have needed a lot more work!
Dragons of Lancasm 