Grenadier Box "Gold Line" group "painting" Therapy?

[otherworld]

Right, I've finished the first 5.  I'm not completely happy with them, but they will have to do.  I'll take some better photos when all 10 are finished, and I have better lighting available.  Time to accept 'good enough' and move on to the next batch!

[Arundel]

Those look wonderful--you really capture their flavor well. This has been an inspirational thread on several levels, as I've been considering getting an old school dungeon bashing project going for some time using old Grenadier and Heritage models as the core of the collection. It's really nice to see you can enjoy other figures in addition to those produced by your company, beautiful though those may be!

I'll follow both your future progresses with interest.

[m4jumbo]

Looking good!  Lots of character in these figs.   Looking forward to seeing the next 5. 

I'd love to get my box of these out and paint them if I wasn't working on a bunch of other figures already. (Including the Otherworld Ogres.)

[fred]

They have come out very nicely, I really like the look of the group. I didn't have Grenadier figures back in the day, it was all Citadel in the shops around me - but these are cool old school figures.

One question - what's the 4th figure doing? Is he stamping on a rat or something? Or is it just an odd photo angle?

[Arundel]

I think he's supposed to be kicking down a door, though now you say it, maybe he is trying to step on a pesky rat. Not being able to tell is one of the delights of the classic minis.

[m4jumbo]

snip
One question - what's the 4th figure doing? Is he stamping on a rat or something? Or is it just an odd photo angle?

Kicking a door as Arundel stated.  He is even labeled as such on the box. Such classic goodness.

[otherworld]

It's really nice to see you can enjoy other figures in addition to those produced by your company......

Otherworld Miniatures wouldn't exist were it not for the inspiration provided by the work of Minifigs, early Citadel, Grenadier and Ral Partha, to name just a few.

[psullie]

fantastic job Richard, these are almost '15mm' by todays standards

[Major_Gilbear]

Right, I've finished the first 5.  I'm not completely happy with them, but they will have to do.  I'll take some better photos when all 10 are finished, and I have better lighting available.  Time to accept 'good enough' and move on to the next batch!

I'm sorry to hear you're unhappy with them - I think they look very nice! What are you hoping to get right next time?

[Arundel]

Yes, they look GREAT to me!

[fred]

I think he's supposed to be kicking down a door, though now you say it, maybe he is trying to step on a pesky rat. Not being able to tell is one of the delights of the classic minis.

Ta

I think it's the angle of his head that makes him look more that he is stamping on something. When I have had to kick a door, I have always tried to use the bottom of my foot, not the toes! Ouch!!

Scale of old figures is odd, I've got a few Ral Patha from the late 80s and they are tiny.

[otherworld]

I have 3 more nearly finished tonight, just 2 to go now.  Unfortunately, 1 of those 2 is the guy with the 2-handed sword.  It's a pretty crappy old sculpt, but it's not going to paint itself!  I hope to get the whole set complete by the end of the coming weekend, then it's on to 2006 - Specialists next week.

The Specialists set holds a special place in my heart.  It was my first set of Grenadier figures, bought from Games Workshop in Hammersmith, when it was the only Games Workshop store in the world! 

I think it was late 1980, and I was visiting London for the very first time, a wide-eyed 15 year old on a school trip from Cornwall.  My pal Steve was an old hand at visiting the capital.  His parents were divorced and his Dad lived in London, so he visited regularly.  He was my guide, and he was wise in the art of finding his way from Ravenscourt Park tube station to the hallowed ground of Dalling Road.

Our visit was not exactly legal, which added some spice to the memory.  Our school group was visiting the Imperial War Museum, and 3 of us decided to sneak off while the teachers weren't looking.  Two hours later we were back with the group, the only clue to our absence - smug grins and Games Workshop carrier bags full of swag (including my AD&D Specialists set). 

Unbelievably, no teacher had even noticed that we were missing, so we even avoided the severe bollocking that we had all expected to get!  Happy days. 

[fred]

Cool story.

A mate and me did something similar - we had a school trip to London - can't remember why now, but I think it was in 6th form. We went to a newsagent, to look at a copy of White Dwarf, and an A to Z to work out where we had to go. I can't now remember the inside of the GW shop

We bought the Drastik Plastic figures, I got Orcs, I think he got Dwarves. So this must have been a few years later.

Happy, if only partially remembered, days!

[LeadAsbestos]

This thread makes me want to get the set w the intellect devoured and carrion Crawler... Dwellers below, IIRC? Really the only set from Grenadier I want back. . Still a few gems, and lovely to see them get a proper painting!

[Arundel]

These are great stories. Otherworld, that school trip sounds great. Not sure if this is only true of the USA, but I think the 70's and 80's were simpler times in some respects--when I look back on what teachers did and didn't do back then, it all seems so very relaxed, if that's the word (our junior high science teacher, for example, took us down to the tide pools several times a month, with no insurance or permission forms, and peacefully read his book while we clambered over the rocks and generally tempted fate...which would never, ever, happen now). Everybody is so tense these days (again, maybe it's only here), I can assure you the police would have been scouring the city and countryside for miles about if a student did what you and your friend did that day. Sad, really.

I agree that the Grenadier creatures were some of the best of the lot. Their Beholder, Roper and Mind Flayer sculpts were actually quite effective, I think, in a lumpy sort of way. A number of them can be seen here: http://greyhawk22.rssing.com/chan-10654614/all_p18.html
But my favourites from those days were probably the Minifig orcs and hobgoblins. Our local hobby shop in Palos Verdes had a set of those painted orcs in their display window that I would have given my soul to own. I can still picture them to this day!

Looking forward to seeing how you do the specialists!