Old school D&D - August 25 - Pig-face Orc Shaman

[Spooktalker]

I've drawn inspiration from Lead Adventure for awhile now, and so let me jump in and share some of the lead I’ve painted over the last few years. Some byproducts of trudging down in search of old school D&D. I suppose as good a means as any to introduce myself!


Front row l-r: owlbear; intellect devourer; lamia; cave fisher; basilisk. Middle row l-r: shambling mound; two mummies; carrion crawler. Back row l-r: ochre jelly; giant; black pudding. The ochre jelly and black pudding in the back row are scratch-sculpted, the left mummy is available from Mega Miniatures, right mummy is Ral Partha (1970s), the owlbear is by Archive and the rest are Grenadiers.

[Spooktalker]

Grenadier Hireling



Painted 2009. From the Hirelings box set, code 2004 by Grenadier, part of their official AD&D "Solid Gold" line. Released 1980.

Superior Paladin



Painted 2009. Superior Models WL-032, Knight in winged helmet, from the Wizards and Lizards range. Released 1980. Sculpted by Ray Lamb.

[Spooktalker]

Half-orc fighting man



Half-orc miniature painted by Spooktalker, 2010. I use this orc as a half-orc (either a pc or a leader for a band of orcs). I like the figure but it would be a lot better if it had a neck. Ral Partha Orc War Chieftain,  01-160,  from the Personalities range.

Red magic-user




Painted 2009. From the Sorcerer's Chariot box set, code SS10, by Grenadier, part of the Wizzards and Warriors line. Released sometime between 1976 and 1980.

[phreedh]

Love your minis mate, saw them over at frothers a while ago (first group shot + red wizard). Didn't see the paladin and the orc before though. Great figs, great paintjobs!  

(And oh... wellcome to LAF!)

[abhorsen950]

I like all of them and the palladium knight. Very nice stuff though, I just adore old school miniatures. They all had character unlike some models today.

[Spooktalker]

Thanks phreedh and abhorsen950. Here are some glamor in-game shots. A friend of mine did the doctoring.

Scenes from "Vault of the Mushmen":

[Braxandur]

Very nice!

Still can get eough of nicely painted "vintage"* miniatures


*at least for me vintage

[DeafNala]

The minis are TERRIFIC & the dungeon crawl photos are FANTASTIC. When those pieces were new, I'm positive they didn't look nearly as wonderful as your mastery of the brush has made them appear now. VERY WELL DONE!

[Spooktalker]

Thanks DeafNala and Braxandur!

Grenadier Thief:



Painted 2009. From the Thieves box set, code 2008 by Grenadier, part of their official AD&D "Solid Gold" line. Released 1980. This was intended to be an elven thief, but I added a mustache and use him as a human.

Grenadier Battle Axeman:




Painted in 2009. Grenadier Battle Axeman, code 2005H, from the Fighting Men box set, part of the official AD&D "Solid Gold" line. Released 1980.

While these early Andrew Chernak figures can be a bit crude in places (long arms and overlarge, crude hands, for instance), even here he shows the promise he'll develop further in the Fantasy Lords and Dragon Lords series. Look at this face, for instance. So many sculptures these days don't understand where to put the eyes and nose.



Tom Meier Ral Partha Illusionist:






    Painted 2010. I still need to locate the catalog number on this one.

The costume on this guy looks to have been inspired by Moebius, and I chose a scheme that would enhance the Moebius connection. Any other Moebius fans among us? It was a bit tricky to get a shot showing the eyes, but you can mostly see them in the detail shot. The little specs are from the metallic paint mixed to get just the right magical sheen I wanted for the bracers and shoulder pads. This guy is definitely one of favorite Meier figs.

[Andrew May]

Ooo! Lovely painting! 
any chance of seeing those mushmen up close?

[Deep One]

I'm falling in love with your paint style and your minis. Both are awesome. Please, more, more...

[Mason]

Thank you very much, Spooktalker!
These figures of yours are soooo good!

I did not realise that some of the miniatures produced at this time of was so good.

I started collecting back in '85 and still hanker after some of the things I 'got rid of' in days gone.
I started off buying my figures in a tiny shop in Peckham, London.
Mostly Essex and Asgard in those days. I just could not afford the stuff that Citadel were bringing at the time. I could get two or three figures for the prices they were charging.
It makes me laugh now, considering how much they charge now for, which, IMO, have nowhere near the character that they used to have.

These little fellas have so much impact.
I simply must start checking out stuff that is more 'old school' than what I considered 'old school.'
At the moment I am putting together a Mordheim warband of 'adventurer' type miniatures, all 'old school' Citadel stuff, with back packs etc from the '80s. I have enough of those to start my 'Thieves Guild' warband.
I think that now I will have to start looking at what is out there from before I came into the hobby. Maybe another group of adventurers consisting of only pre-'85 minis
Thanks for the inspiration,.
Heres to you, and all the great paintjobs that you have produced for these classics.
The dungeon scene is just top notch, too.

[Conquistador]

From another thread - another source for old school figures.

How far "back" in style do you want to go these are maybe "older" Old School?

From http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disciplesofheritage/?yguid=438579800


"This Group is dedicated to collecting, identifying and preserving Heritage Models/Heritage USA/Der Kriegspielers Custom Cast miniatures & collectibles of all types and sizes. I have created a second Yahoo Group for Heritage Lord of the Rings and moved all of the related files there. Please ask me for an invite if you would like to join the LOTR Group. There are also Groups for Galacta 25 and Heritage boxed set inserts that are open enrollment.

The Group is also open to discussion of all other Heritage Models/Heritage USA products, history, news, Heritage figues cast by other companies and figures sculpted by former Heritage employees.

I have been collecting Heritage miniatures since 1978 and am now the owner of the Heritage 25mm Lord of the Rings, Galacta 25, Champions, Superheroes & Villains, Medievals and the Star Trek collector 75mm Spock & Kirk. Most of these lines are in production and available now along with the other lines I own: Ral Partha 25mm Armies of the Hyborean Age, Bob Olley Titan Orcs & Fantasy Dwarves, some Archive and RAFM 25mm Cursed Ones. Tom Dye has kindly given me permission to produce some of the original cobblestone based Dungeon Dwellers. Please see his website for the Reaper produced Dungeon Dwellers which he now owns and has available.

The "NOW AVAILABLE" list of minis I have in production is in the Files section. Please email me directly at hayha@q.com with any questions.
"

Some of these are old school useful.

http://www.classicminiatures.net/

Gracias,

Glenn

[Spooktalker]

I'm falling in love with your paint style and your minis. Both are awesome. Please, more, more...

Many thanks and yes, I'll keep going!

From another thread - another source for old school figures.

How far "back" in style do you want to go these are maybe "older" Old School?

Oh, I'm going ALL THE WAY back!   I do have a few Heritage, but they are mostly of the Dungeon Dwellers variety rather than lotr, which is what I believe the guy you mention offers. I do have a couple of those lotr though. These grenadiers are also of the same vintage or close to. The red magic user is pretty old. The mushmen and owl bear are relics too. Got some more ancient stuff coming too. Originally I was going to cap the collection at around 1982 but I broke down because I was buying random lots on ebay and they would have some older, some newer. And the more time I spent at the Lost Minis Wiki the more my wishlist expanded.

Thank you very much, Spooktalker!
These figures of yours are soooo good!

I did not realise that some of the miniatures produced at this time of was so good.

I started collecting back in '85 and still hanker after some of the things I 'got rid of' in days gone.
I started off buying my figures in a tiny shop in Peckham, London.
Mostly Essex and Asgard in those days. I just could not afford the stuff that Citadel were bringing at the time. I could get two or three figures for the prices they were charging.
It makes me laugh now, considering how much they charge now for, which, IMO, have nowhere near the character that they used to have.

These little fellas have so much impact.
I simply must start checking out stuff that is more 'old school' than what I considered 'old school.'
At the moment I am putting together a Mordheim warband of 'adventurer' type miniatures, all 'old school' Citadel stuff, with back packs etc from the '80s. I have enough of those to start my 'Thieves Guild' warband.
I think that now I will have to start looking at what is out there from before I came into the hobby. Maybe another group of adventurers consisting of only pre-'85 minis
Thanks for the inspiration,.
Heres to you, and all the great paintjobs that you have produced for these classics.
The dungeon scene is just top notch, too.

Thanks very much for the kind words Mason! If I can get people to look a little farther back my job is done. Or wait, that might mean I'll have more competition over at ebay... maybe I should rethink this.

Btw, your Mordheim stuff is off the hook, and you've done so much! I'm a huge Mordheim fan as well and your stuff is a huge inspiration for Mordheim and fantasy at large! 

Seriously, I've heard complaints about "collector prices" but almost nothing--I mean almost nothing--costs as much as new stuff at msrp. Most old lead is a bargain... like you I couldn't afford what I really wanted back then and that makes it that much more fun to grab it all up now! Also for some reason the stuff that was around a little BEFORE I hit the scene can really get me with the nostalgia even more.  

Ooo! Lovely painting!  
any chance of seeing those mushmen up close?

Thanks man! Yeah, here you go.. freshly upped to the flickr archive. These guys were in the bottom of a grimy box of lead I got for a song at a fleamarket and which started me off on the really old 25mm in a big way. The grimyness of the figs I believe inspired me to call them mushmen. I wasn't as into the Monster Manual canon as I am now and mushmen seemed like a quintessential sword and sorcery kind of monster. At that point I was painting (and still am I suppose) painting much more modern figs for competions and commissions and so I really got a kick seeing my friends faces when I pulled these guys out and said, "roll initiative!" Many of these old figs are beautifully sculpted but these have an... er... entirely different kind of charm. Let's just say I was trying to give new meaning to that oft-used painting jargon, "polish a turd."

Speaking of turds in a literal sense, that's what they are carrying. The turds of their god. Which they shove down the throats of adventurers to make more mushmen. Actually, in the "Vault of the Mushmen" adventure I went with the tamer of the two ideas I had, and the green things were glowing fungi that grew in the cave and the two races had some symbiosis going on. My gf encouraged me to go the turd route, and actually at the time they were painted brown and so REALLY looked like turds, but I wanted to be classy and so painted them green and went the fungi route. But I see my gf was right, and I've since decided that classy has its place but often gonzo > class. So next time these guys pop out that's the story.






SS49 Gargoyles from the Sword & Sorcery range by Minifigs. This was an unlicensed Conan/Hyboria range. I'm not sure of the production date but sometime in the mid-seventies.

You can see the figs have some, er, imperfections, and I went with glossy black tongues thinking it would look disgusting, but I'm not sure how successful that was. Not sure if I can think of a better option. These are marvelously fun to sic on an adventuring party, however, and I think I got the mushy skin tone just the way I want it.

Oh, one last thing I should say is these were my very first finished encounter group for the project.

[Conquistador]

Extremely nice job on the mushmen!

Erm, backstory was a bit eye-blinking when I first read it (still waking up) but I am sure had I been more awake when i read it I would have had a chuckle - lots of room there for some fun "word association" humor - "Well, that stinks" being the G rate done that came to mind - in a game.  

The line between crude, simple, and elegant (like rules too) is often in the eye of the beholder and, with miniatures, in the skilled hand of the painter.  Very well done.

Gracias,

Glenn