Beasts of War - from the Golden Age ... NOW WITH SCHAEDELBERG!

[Prof.Witchheimer]

oh, that's a great pic!! Still like that old Citadel artwork.

have to post my Blanche too, though a bit more modern

[Funghy-Fipps]

All very interesting and, of course, truly awe-inspiring.  Would it be rude to ask - like Oliver T. - for more, please?

[Thantsants]

Oooh John Blanche original artwork... 

Keep it coming!

[Erny]

I feel like Wayne Campbell, "We are not worthy..."

The dioramas are awesome and that painting....13 or 14 year old me used to stare at that with my imagination racing. A real favorite and a wonderful story about how you came to own it.

[Admiral Benbow]

All very interesting and, of course, truly awe-inspiring.  Would it be rude to ask - like Oliver T. - for more, please?

Well, depends what you mean: more beasts - I'm afraid there are only dragons left, and I think they will deserve a separate thread later - or more Blanchitsu pics? But I think they also should get their own thread, shouldn't they?
 

[abhorsen950]

Really nice stuff, some real talent here

[Keith]

Wonderful - such a great era.
Thanks for sharing ... off to dig out Ratspike now

[Thantsants]

I'm afraid there are only dragons left

Ah well if its only dragons I wouldn't bother... 

Seriously though - I 'spose a few Blanche piccies or any other old minis you've got lying around will do! 

13 or 14 year old me used to stare at that with my imagination racing.

Glad I'm not the only one regressing!

[Erny]

Ah now let us be clear here it does take me back but its not nostalgia, I've been collecting the same 80's style minis since then, I'm not going back to them cause I never left  .

However I am enjoying being able share enthusiasm with other people about these styles of minis as previously didn't seam possible.  There seams to be a pretty strong revival of interest at the moment but that could just be I've found the right forums before when I posted stuff there was little interest. Any way the Admirals dioramas are real flagships (flagbeasts?) for  the old school. Hoping to see more.

[Welf VIII.]

Great stuff - and still inspiring after all those years. But now something from the "Zauberer of Schädelberg", please.


Golden Age and the 80s

I think the Golden Age of most guys is the one, when they started this fascinating hobby.

Regarding the quality of miniatures and the great variation of different ranges (but why are there still no Neoassyrian civilians?) the present time might well be the Golden Age.

Yet still I'd opt for the 80s (especially when regarding GW), the main reasons being the following:

- creativity:
Having a crazy idea and making a miniature or even a small army out of it. Back in the old days, most companies had a different viewpoint of the appearance of a certain creature. Now take a look at the orcs currently in production. When you compare their faces, you can hardly spot a difference. The only prominent exceptions are the orcs for LotR (using an old school image) and Otherworld's pig-faced orcs (using a different old school approach).

- variety within the ranges:
Back in the mid and late 80s GW produced over 300 different dwarfs. So you were able to field a big army with lots of different miniatures before having to switch weapons and use green stuff. If you didn't like a certain model - no problem, leave it out. For smaller forces you could even specialize just using the Norse Dwarfs or the medieval counterparts or just adventurer types to give them character and make them special.
Nowadays nearly every army you can spot on conventions and tournaments has the same character models because there aren't that many available. Same applies to units, war machines and monsters.

- consistency within the ranges:
I know there are many smaller companies producing dwarfs, but do they all really mix that well? Different sculptors (remember 95%+ of the Citadel dwarfs were sculpted by the Perrys), different scales, different styles don't really fit with each other that well. And even when only using current GW you might face the problem, that models from different editions (although still on sale and being the newest model of their unit type) only seldom work together well. Gyrocopter and Flame Canon compared with the other dwarf war machines.

- style:
I prefer miniatures to be in kind of mixture between comic and realistic style. Now most fantasy miniatures are in hero scale (3-foot-halfling with a one-handed ten-foot-sword) and following this dreadful manga-style.

- prize:
You could buy a lot of miniatures with very little money, while now you can buy very few miniatures for a lot of money.

- material:
I prefer metal, while many bigger manufacturers switch to plastic. Plastic stil is less detailed and can't be repainted as easily as metal.

- football:
Everton winning some trophies back then

[Admiral Benbow]

Great stuff - and still inspiring after all those years. But now something from the "Zauberer of Schädelberg", please.

Your wish is my command, Sire!







That was the correct one? 

If you'd like to see more details, just let me know ...

And thanks for your own definition of a "Golden Age", that's pretty similar to my own. But just to avoid any misunderstandings here, I didn't want to say that my Golden Age must be anyone's Golden Age. It's just my view, and of course are we living in golden times concerning miniature quality and quantity. But I came into this hobby in the early eighties, so that was my high times.
 

[Welf VIII.]

I would be more than happy to see more details.

I also think that virusz from the Metal Magic board would be very interested in the Dinosaur and Goblin you did for the MM calender in 1992.

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Brilliant stuff, utterly wonderful.

I just checked out your site too, there's some interesting stuff, but I want MORE!!!! 

[white knight]

pure gold!

[Thantsants]

Top stuff - I know back in the day you mentioned being inspired by the imagery of H R Giger but this really reminds me of some of Brueghel's weirder stuff -