Dinosaur (and former dragon)!

I've always been a big fan of dinosaurs. The interest that a lot of kids have in them never really went away for me: it just broadened to include robots, aliens, dragons and other large monsters. Back in the day, when my friends and I were first getting into Warhammer, we visited a non-GW shop in Milton Keynes that sold a wide range of miniatures. (I remember that they had a Cyberpunk 2013 businessman painted grey, in the style of Spitting Image's puppet of John Major, which rather dates things.)

I bought a lead Grenadier Games model called "Blue Dragon", sculpted by Julie Guthrie. It's a weird miniature, as it's obviously a theropod-type dinosaur with wings. The wings kept falling off, and it was something of a figure of fun, even among my Bretonnians.

Recently, I've been looking at a lot of dinosaur models on Instagram. Some of them are terrific, and it's interesting to see a sort of modelmaking that's developed parallel to wargaming. Inspired by this, I got out the Blue Dragon, without wings, and had a go at painting it.

The sculpting is really good. The scales are terrific. I put green stuff over the feeble slots that were supposed hold the wings on, and tried to sculpt some sort of tecture. I actually pressed different grades of sandpaper into the putty. When it came to painting, I used stripes to break up and disguise my iffy work. 

I'm used to using quite bright colours, as fits the Oldhammer models and pulp settings that I tend to prefer. This time, I went for khaki, with brown and green washes. I'm actually really pleased with how this guy's skin came out. I did use a bit of red to make stripes around its eyes. It does make this guy look very hung over.

Anyhow, here it is!

The Archers: An Everyday Story of Bretonnian Country Folk

 Back again to the ongoing (and arguably unending) Bretonnian project. I've finished the unit of archers, at last. I made them a champion from a model called Farendil the elf ranger, who was from the game Dungeonquest. Apparently, this miniature was sold in several other ranges and under other names after that. He's a decent model, but a bit more "high fantasy" than the rest of my archers. Still, he's Oldhammer.

I also made a standard bearer. This guy was originally an archer making a V-sign with his hand to show that he's still got his shooting fingers, Agincourt-style (although apparently this is a myth). His rude hand was lost many years ago, and I gave him the arm and shaft of a more modern polearm, along with a plasticard banner. Again, being able to glue it to the back of his head helped greatly, which is why the banner is quite low. We've also got a musician, who is blowing a horn. He's a mid-90s model and, while simple, is very nice.

So here are some pictures of the bowmen, painted in the jolly (if rather grubby) uniform of the Archers du Brest from White Dwarf 237:

I also started a new unit. Back in the good old days of the first Bretonnian codex, you could upgrade a unit of archers to the Bowmen of Bergerac, led by Bertrand the Brigand. Bertrand and his Bowmen bear a strong resemblance to Robin Hood and his Merry Men (in particular, Errol Flynn's version). You can see why they were dropped from the more grimdark 2003 book: Bertrand the Blood-sodden and his Miserable Men doesn't sound anywhere near as good.

I was lucky enough to find a metal Bertrand on ebay for a not-too-outrageous price. He's a super miniature and looks just right for this project.

I also made Bertrand's two helpers, Little John and Friar Tuck - sorry, I meant Hugo le Petit and Gui le Gros. Gui, a tubby monk who carries a barrel of booze to raise morale, was converted from a plastic model, with a barrel from an ogre. His staff arm came from an Empire flagellant, and his other hand holds a flagon which I sculpted (not very well) from green stuff.

Hugo le Petit was a more complex conversion. I based him on a dumb-looking Age of Sigmar Khorne bodybuilder type, with a Mordheim head and a lot of green stuff.

And here they are as a group. I've got some really nice old "brigand" models, which I bought for almost no money a very long time ago, and I shall be adding them to the Bowmen of Bergerac. They've got a lot of character and will look good in a unit.

And that's it for now. By the way, if you got the reference in the title, you are almost certainly British and middle-aged. Which is probably a lot of Oldhammer fans...

Devilfish

This time, I've tackled a Tau Devilfish. The Devilfish is the inevitable troop transport model, the equivalent of a Wave Serpent or a Rhino. It is a really sleek, mean-looking vehicle and has a good profile.

I didn't think it fitted particularly well with the theme of my Tau force (surely they'd fly around in a saucer), but it does fit the mythology of little green men, shady government operatives and unmarked helicopters. So I painted it black, largely.

Painting things black, especially large things, is hard, especially if you haven't got an airbrush. Most of the upper hull is actually a very dark grey, a 50-50 mix of black and Vallejo Dark Grey (this is one of the most useful colours that I've ever had, along with Vallejo English Uniform). I added some purple and red elements for variety, and to draw the eye to the cockpit. The main army colour, a bluish-white, was added to the doors and hatches. It's hard to see, but they're shaded into darker blue.

Weathering was kept to a minimum: it doesn't really fit the theme, and as I get older, I find that I don't like excessive weathering. It often doesn't make a lot of visual sense. So, here it is.

And here are some entirely legit operatives disembarking. Nothing to see here, citizen. 

C'au Empire Battlesuit

 I've spent much of the last week tidying up some of my old Tau models. In some cases, they're looking pretty good and, in others, the concept was better than the execution. Anyhow, it's funny how, since about 1950, an entire mythology has evolved for flying saucers. I mean, think of all the secret warehouses, little green/grey aliens, men in black, theramin noises and bizarre fascination with large probes. It's a sort of weird mythos of its own.

(Just as an aside, I used to know a guy who did pretty serious research into UFOs. He didn't believe a word of it, basically. For one thing, the technology and look of the aliens described was often suspiciously similar to humans and would be considered dull by science fiction standards. However, he also pointed out that stories of alien contact look like a high-tech retelling of medieval stories about fairies and changelings. Which makes me suspect that either aliens have been abducting farmers for a long time or, much more likely, there are just some stories that humans are fundamentally wired to tell.)

I've tried to give each of my Tau battlesuits a stereotypical "space invader" theme. This particular guy is stealing a cow - for some reason, little green men seem to like raiding farms. Perhaps the Tau feel some sort of kinship with other hooved animals and are trying to rescue them. Anyway, this model was an old plastic/metal Broadside kit (hence the missile pods for arms). His back-mounted death rays and his head came from an old Imperial mounted gun, and his cow is from a Warlord Games set of farm animals.

Prepare to be assimilated, puny humans!

Tau In Black

 This week, I've gone back to some old miniatures and given then another look. A while ago, I made some Tau with a 1950s space invader look. I returned to these guys, repainted some of them and made them some new friends.

Here is the infiltration unit, headed by their leader, the Smoking Tau. They're all conversions, using bits of human kits. Their guns and arms come from the Pathfinder kit, which is far better than the rather ropey old fire warriors. They are perfectly disguised to fit in with puny humans.

And here are some human helpers. These guys are based on the Wargames Atlantic Agents kit. The two agents with their hands clasped in front of them were made straight off the sprue. The other three use Pathfinder arms and guns. I sculpted them new little fingers where it was visible, to counter the weird three-fingered hands of the Tau. I expect these guys show up to have words with the enemies of the Tau, before the green chaps arrive.

The agent miniatures are really nice sculpts, and are very slightly cartoony - but not too much. I think they could be used for loads of purposes. I'd forgotten how difficult it is to highlight black.

And here are some fire warriors. They were made with the really old models, which are basically awful. Their helmets were scraped ans sanded smooth, and then large "eyes" were added for an old-fashioned little green man look. The shoulder pads were left off, to make them sleeker. I think they work pretty well now, despite the ropey sculpts.

More next time - of what, I'm not sure. Keep watching the skies.

Violins and Vampires

 Back to the charming land of Blognia this week, for a few more miniatures. First of all is a violin player, made by West Wind Productions for their Victorian gothic range. I've had this chap on my desk for months now, and I've never thought he was a very good model. Eventually, I compelled myself to get on with it and paint the guy. I'm actually really pleased by how he came out!

Music plays an important part in distracting the citizens of Blognia from their drab, miserable lives, and it is considered a poor wedding that doesn't last for several days and fails to include either a good band or a knife-fight. Here we seem a travelling player, ready to serenade his employer of the day, and keeping careful watch in case a blood feud breaks out.

I also painted a minor vampire and a couple more minions, to make a small squad. The vampire (he might be a fancy Captain of Guards instead) is a Privateer Press model called Valachev. Privateer Press models vary hugely in quality, but this is one of the newer, better ones, and I really like all the detail on him.

For some reason, it was almost impossible to get a decent picture of this guy. Strange (and really irritating) how some models just won't show up. I added a bird to his base from a GW model, and put him on a slightly raised bit of plasticard stone to show his higher rank.

I also made a few more minions for this chap. these were based on the Perry Miniatures Afghan models, using the guys with boots instead of sandals and the non-turban-wearing heads. The kneeling guy has a head from a Frostgrave soldier.

The many vampires of Blognia are powerful, but they have weaknesses. Almost any revenant of note will employ minions to guard his property, track down his enemies and carry out business that he cannot deal with in the daylight hours. While many of these men are little more than hired bandits, some clans and families have a tradition of helping the undead. The vampire acquires useful assistants who can freely travel in the world of the living, and its helpers get to loot, plunder and look glamorous compared to the other peasants.

The Bretonnian Army So Far

 Following the last post, I finished off the last couple of knights for my foot knight unit. So now there's 20 of them, and they've got their own movement tray. Almost all of the models are from the early 90s, although there are a couple from 1996 or so, and the standard bearer is a modern conversion.

Here is the unit of 20 men at arms, in their own movement tray:

This is a small unit of 10 archers:

And here are the knights that I've painted. There's more of them to follow.

The army continues! I've done a lot of the infantry now, although there are a lot of archers still to go and (surprisingly) some crossbowmen. I think this is going to look quite nice!