Friday, May 14, 2021

We Never Leave a Man Behind!

 Good news in the Simian household with the arrival of a box of weird stuff from my teenage years!

This was quite the thing. Collected (I think) from various stages of a garage tidy-up by my Dad, it's presumably passed through two houses since some of it was first packed away - and it shows. Things have got dusty, some a bit worse for wear over time, and even the moths have had a go (eek)

But amongst the old scout badges (of more later), and early modelling gear (again, later), a prize. 

This dude:


Once again, this is a Grenadier model - one of a blister pack of four, including a fallen orc, goblin and thief/magic-user (I could never tell), which a scan of Miniatures Workshop tells me was Fantasy Lords release 110: 'Casualties'.  I think this was an early purchase - 1984 or 1985, as the spread of subjects was probably economically attractive, and I was very keen on dioramas and dungeon dressing back then. He's clearly had a few paintjobs. Well, judging by the way he's laid out he may have just had a few. Here he is after an initial bath and scrub in Simple Green:

Those are enamel paints, so the soak might need to be a bit longer. It's telling that some of the colours here were the mainstays of my 'Humbrol Years' of model painting: there's a burgundy, for example, which was one of the few paints I purchased which wasn't a hangover from earlier WW2 model painting (of which more, etc) Underneath that, of course, is the white undercoat. These days I use black and work up to light, but I think for a novice painter it was a blessing - as was the enamel I used. Both worked really well for washes, and the paint jobs held impressively after years of being knocked around - as the bath above shows. At least I only have one side to clean.

So now all of my old minis are present and accounted for. I'm pleased as punch. Time to get painting! 


Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Blasters to Laser, Mr Solo!

 It's the Fourth of May - Star Warps Day again!

Incredible to think that it was only fifty years ago today that I stood queued outside the Oamaru Majestic Theatre to see Star Warps the Movie(tm) and its EXPLOSIVE end:


Star Warps
. It made me the man I am today.