Looking for polar bears to scratchbuild the Dragontooth bear chariot

[PhilB]

Bonjour,

After a blast from the past talking about the Death Dealer (first from Ral Partha), I got to thinking about another great old figure that I once owned, but gave away. It's a Frazetta-styled polar bear chariot. This is the best picture I could find of Ral Partha's old "Bear Chariot of the Ice Lands", these days available from Iron Winds Metals.



Funny thing is, I remember the figure I had being different. The chariot looked much more like the Frazetta paiting, with low sides and front, not at all like the Ral Partha figure that is still available today.



So I'm posting here to find out if any members can recall a different version of this old mini. I probably bought it at Gencon in the early 80s. Perhaps it was a pre-production version. Or an alternate command version. But, even if it's not available today as such, I'd love to find more info on it, and perhaps even a pic if possible. I'll probably end up ordering the figure from Iron Winds Metals. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't try to restore the other version with a little scratchbuilding project.

Thanks for any help and long memories.   

Cheers,   --- Phil from France, once from the Iowa City Wargaming Federation.

[PhilB]

OK, I kept looking. Browsed through old Ral Partha catalogs. But I couldn't shake the vague memory that it had been a Dragontooth figure, not a Ral Partha one.

Then... I found it. In the Dragontooth 1981 catalog, thanks to Dnd Lead: It was the "AW1 Artic Warrior - War sled drawn by polar bears, driven by champion". I haven't founda  picture assembled and painted yet, but here's the model:



So, again, if anyone has access to a complete figure, or photos of same, I'd be much obliged. It appears that Tom Loback was inspired by the Frazetta painting at the same time as Julie Guthrie over at Ral Partha. And here I was about ready to message random "Julie Guthrie"s on Facebook... <slaps forehead>

[PhilB]

OK, here's the thing.

I'm not going to have any luck getting the original figures. So I'm planning on trying to scratchbuild a model more or less on the original specifications.

Here's what I need: can anyone suggest a good source for three polar bears suitable for harnessing to a scratchbuilt chariot?

The driver will be far less problematic. I expect I'll be able to find a suitable hero amongst my collection of Foundry Vikings. The chariot itself shouldn't be too hard to scratchbuild... but the bears, they will need to be just right to simulate polar bears. Not just grizlies with a polar bear paintjob.

Anyone with a good source for polar bears?

[tin shed gamer]

I've the top chariot ,It's a tad annoying to find its being produced by another company since it's a tenth anniversary piece,and its marked as such.I guess limited addition doesn't translate well across the pond.

[Skyven]

Copplestone Casting do one PolEx011 - Polar Bear

[PhilB]

I've the top chariot ,It's a tad annoying to find its being produced by another company since it's a tenth anniversary piece,and its marked as such.I guess limited addition doesn't translate well across the pond.

Tin Shed, I think you misunderstood. The Dragontooth version was at least simultaneous and possibly prior to the Ral Partha version. I must've bought the one I had back in 77 at Gen Con X. Pity I was too young to really appreciate the Bunnies.

Unless you're refering to Ice Winds Metal, who have perpetuated much of the old Ral Partha castings. Always good to keep old stuff in print, so to speak.

Skyven, thanks for the suggestion. The Copplestone polar bear looks wonderful. I'll have to get a few to try them out.

[Daniel36]

If you order that Copplestone mini through Northstar, you could add this one to your order as well:
http://northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=10400

And perhaps also usable:
http://northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=11563


Then there was someone on this forum who had a Kickstarter that included a bear model...
Here is the thread:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=107538.0

[Skyven]

There is pair of polar bears at Fenris Games FGWA1 - Polar bears of which one might work (but not cheap though).

[Spooktalker]

Reaper Bones has a large, affordable bear here:
http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/rider/sku-down/77353#detail/77353_w_1



Not sure if the rider is integral or separate, but looks like you would need to do some carving and sculpting of fur regardless. But with Bones, that part is super-easy. You would probably want to convert the second one to put the arm back down on the ground and change the head pose. Again, way easier with Bones than with metal.