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

[former user]

what I mean is:
at the time You made Your beasts of war with howdahs, there were none available from other companies for sale or noone else had ever converted any - so You would have been the first

correct?

[Dr. The Viking]

I'm very sorry about that myself, but real life came in between ...

When real life interferes with hobby. Quit real life. 

[Christian]

Thanks for sharing all this great work Admiral.

I haven't been in the hobby for that long (about 15 years now), but seeing all your pictures really takes me back to a world where imagination is the order of the day rather than what's "acceptable" or not in rulebooks.

This isn't a bash on what the hobby is like today - because it's awesome today! - but by sharing these works you've awakened a real imaginative and playful world that will be open to me and my miniature escapades from now on.

Thanks Admiral!

[opa wuttke]

Thank you very much for showing us all these impressive works.

It is now more than 20 years ago since I´ve seen the ZAUBERER for the first time...good old times *sigh*

[Dr.Froderik]

Since i saw your Miniatures at the 2nd DuZi back in 1984 you inspired me to begin miniature painting. You`re one of the people who make these Hobby popular in Germany back in the 80s, the Golden Age. I like your work on this days too. Michael, you're the Man

[Centaur_Seducer]

Wow, I did see this thread when it came up a year ago or so, but didn't respond :/
This is a great trip down memory lane, and although I'm just 30 years old, I have a fond memory of going through old White Dwarf issues where miniatures in the same manner was displayed. Being 13 at the time, I obviously thought it was silly with old miniatures.
Thanks for the trip Admiral, and they are still as great as when there where black and white shows on the telly!

[B. Basiliscus]

Some REALLY beautiful beastly things in here - bravo, love the great long-neck thing on the first page.
Very inspiring, I like your use of found objects as scenery and bits! The feathers on the shaman's staff really tickled me. excuse the pun.

[Blue in vt]

I some how completely missed this thread until now....shame on me!

All I can do is reiterate what others have said....this work was and is truely inspiring.  I remember drooling over those pics in WD100 at the time....and find my mouth watering all over again 25 years later.

Thanks for sharing all of those with us!

You sir are an artist!

Cheers,

Blue

[DeafNala]

They are all still AMAZING, FANTASTIC, & HIGHLY INSPIRATIONAL! The Deer Skull piece has haunted my dreams for decades now...that & the "Mary Lou" Spacecraft. WONDERFUL STUFF!

[majorsmith]

Can't believe I've missed this thread! WD100 was the first ever issue I purchased, your models are as awesome now as they were then, definitely why I started doing gw figures in my young teen years!

[evand]

I love that this thread has resurfaced. Unbelievably inspiring stuff!

Admiral, you mentioned that your paint selection was quite limited back in the day. What was the quality of those German paints? Were you adding flow improver or other thinners? And how did you deal with the gloss? There's a lovely matte quality to some of these elements.

It makes me wonder how much of the golden age style was determined by the supplies available...

Thanks a lot for sharing these images!

[Admiral Benbow]

I love that this thread has resurfaced. Unbelievably inspiring stuff!
Admiral, you mentioned that your paint selection was quite limited back in the day. What was the quality of those German paints? Were you adding flow improver or other thinners? And how did you deal with the gloss? There's a lovely matte quality to some of these elements.
It makes me wonder how much of the golden age style was determined by the supplies available...
Thanks a lot for sharing these images!

Thanks for the nice comments, folks! It's really great to see so many of you knowing this stuff from those ancient times ...

The paints I used were "Lukas Acryl Paint" in large 50ml glass-bottles, thinned with just water and cheap as nuts compared to today's paint ranges. The paint dried a bit shiny, and I have two original bottles of red which are still usable! Very high quality indeed. All of the models and dioramas got some final coats of flat varnish from a spray can, but I can't remember what brand, maybe from the DIY or car supplies.
 

[Steam Flunky]

I can still remember going into the original Games Workshop in Hammersmith in London in 1980 or 1981.
Behind the entrance door was a large LOTR diorama of an orc army pushing a massive battering ram (probaly Grond) that, similar to Admiral Benbows models, really impressed me and all these years later i am still having as much fun with this hobby as i was then.
At every show there is always something that inspires me and makes me want to do more.
p.s. Can anybody remember that LOtR diorama? Are there pics of it anywhere on the net.

[Modhail]

Thank you for posting this, Admiral Benbow!

Those images are from an era before I started wargaming (mid-90's), but I still recall going through a befriended "grognard's" old White Dwarf collection, and being blown away by (what I now discover to be) your work.

I have to agree with others, while today may be the golden age of miniature production and availability, the 80's certainly were the Golden Age of fantasy imagery. There was a certain dreamlike, otherworldly quality to it all.
Fantasy these days, while very good-looking, seems too much to be "fictional history", too solid and polished. More about research and thought than imagination and imagery. The need to be believable has overtaken the need to be fantastic.

[Bugsda]

Amazing bit of nostalgia Admiral, I think I've still got the poster kicking around in a box somewhere, but the stuff you do today is much more to my taste.

Especially the river boats, the steamer and the crane, these make my pulse race like I was 20 again 

...........oh! and the Vauban fortress, genius stuff