From the dusty reaches of yesteryear

They all fit in with the sculting style and the cast techniques from the era. Since both Grenadier and Ral Partha were prominent at the time on for minis it seemed appropriate to throw it all together for some fun. I’ve tried getting as much info off the bottoms of the casts with limited success. Some of the details were wanting as the amount of space for true 25mm scale was limited.

Front left to right: Ral Partha (1979), Grenadier A75 (1985), Grenadier A64 (1985)
Middle left to right: Grenadier (1987), Grenadier A81 (1985), Grenadier A74 (1985?)
Rear left to right: Grenadier(?), Grenadier A63 (1985), Grenadier G15 (1989)

As these were based so small I’ve put them on 3mm thick MDF bases at 25mm and set them with 5min epoxy. Like other figures I’ve had on my random item project entries these will get some love in the form of Apoxiesculpt and pumice medium to make them “live” in their new environment.

Going back over some of the stuff I “inherited” I found this guy by his lonesome. I figured it was an interesting sculpt from Ral Partha in 1979 and, after stripping off layers of enamel, found a decent figure underneath. Now I’ve given him better basing and a zenithal priming that makes this guy stand out a lot more. Seeing these old minis makes me wonder about how little some might appreciate either the craft of sculpting for the hobby or the advances in painting we now reap the benefit of over previous painters.

I’m happy to add another figure to the completed cabinet from my Hoard of Shame.

Digging deeper into the history of my inherited minis I’m finding a bit more about the sculptors involved. There was a group listed for the stable that included both Sandra Garrity and Julie Guthrie. Both presently have a large body of work in the offerings from Reaper minis. Mark Copplestone hails from the bunch as well and currently runs his own business offering his creations independently in different scales. Honestly, the Wikipedia article is great for a jumping off point before falling further down the rabbit hole.

I’ve trolled the Internet for a short while and come in with a good haul of info to cross reference. According to the Grenadier catalog from 1987, I’m finding figures in the collection that seem to be from the sets Female Adventurers (2018 Dragon Lords range) and Fantasy Knights (6008 Fantasy Lords range). I’ve yet to identify others but it is a work in progress.

An interesting side note is that the much sought after metal Demigorgon miniature (102 Fantasy Lords range), the centerpiece for the D&D game in the Netflix series Stranger Things which caused a spike in sale prices, was on display to oggle in black and white.

After throwing on some Apoxiesculpt and some Golden coarse pumice medium I have more interesting bases for these figures. The MDF adds so much stability from the original casts that it was worth epoxying them and labeling what info I could find on the bottoms.

Moving is once again a factor in life. This fact is a pain in the rear as I just made the selection of the next dozen minis for this project. Augh!! I’m pleased to have the MDF bases from Litko that have been so useful. 25mm seems a bit big when the figures seem about 25mm “true” scale instead of the “heroic” scale (28mm) that I’ve become accustomed to with most of what I’ve worked on for some time. It does make for a better scene for the mini to ‘live in’ when doing base work. I feel like, more and more, I need to keep a mind to train modelling with regard to scale and building materials I have on hand in plastic.

Bringing some life to what might have been dead lead and surprising details created by hand at true 25mm scale. Its actually interesting to have the dwarf at approx. 15mm scale and play about in trying to draw out the character put into the work. I did actually go in and try to get the eyes but they just don’t show up from how far the helmet sits.

The sorcerer was fun to play about in getting the wand detail and throw odd color into the mix. I think he’s the leader to the color splatter I’ll build in giving some “pop” to have these figures hold their own instead of plain hues that would be assumed as adventurer garb.

Continuing on with this project as I continue building and painting my other stuff, perhaps to the frustration of Tim and Gerry,  I’m happy to allow these figures to sit on my display shelf in pigmented bliss. I was inspired to make the warrior dark and foreboding with some sort of black armor but that would have made him vanish on the base. I took a cue from the armor worn in the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1992 and put this together in red. The ornamentation I decided would be good as focal points and was reminded of Pre-Raphaelite paintings that did just that kind of thing; gold was the color of choice from there.

The cavebabe was a test of how many neutrals I could use without losing the figure. I think it came out alright in the end. The photo might do it more justice than I give myself credit for in person but I do hope that you and anyone else who looks at it enjoy.

Seeing the results of my efforts to take better images I thought to come back to a couple of minis I featured in one of my other projects. The light was too dark to properly get details and I think that there was quite a bit lost in the color values. I hoped that these images might be better and they have been.

Time to chill out and set things in boxes as I beging packing for another move. I hope to relieve myself of much stress in this. I know getting closer to work should make life more bearable on the commute home through rush hour.