40 year old Skeletons rise again (Part 1)

 Way back in 1985, Christmas Day specifically, I got my first two blister packs of Citadel Miniatures. One pack was a unit of human Archers and the 2nd pack contained skeleton warriors. As much as I was fascinated with these miniatures I didn't know what do with them. I had no idea how to use them in a game or even how to paint them. In fact the prospect of painting these guys was a very daunting thing for me to comprehend  back in the '80s.  So I held on to them. Over the years they have been used in D&D games. But now finally,  almost 40 years later, I will use them for Warhammer. Warhammer: The Old World particularly.  The skeleton warriors  will get this treatment first. 

For hand sculpted single piece miniatures cast in lead they are surprisingly dynamic. Take this first guy with the pointed helm. He is slogging forward in a purposeful stride with an intent to kill. 

And although the shield is a simple disc, it was perfectly suited for painting in whatever style one could come up with and it could take a decal with ease. 

This next one is a rare one in that he has a mace. Maces, particularly in this style, are the rarer option among the millions of fantasy miniature that ha e been produced over the decades. Most often if you wee a model or miniature with a mace it's either a cleric or a Dwarf wielding it. 

Oh, and he has an even pointier hat. 

My favorite one if the lot is this guy with the devil horns. I love the way his shield and blade are set.  It is such an awesome pose, and it odd that I don't recall seeing this pose used on another model. 

He has a  mold line going right down the middle idle of that shield which used to be worse but I filed it down at some point. In fact, I remember these guys had quite a bit of flash on them I had to take off.  

This next guy is going for the "I am death" cosplay award and he does achieve that goal spectacularly. I love that he has a Tim The Enchanter helm also. Sadly, his sythe proved to be too fragile and, somewhere along the way of this 40 year journey, the blade broke off. 

As you might have noticed by now, these guys are pre_slotta baseand have their bases molded to them. "Pudding bases" is one thing ainhave heard them called. Oddly, the word SKELETON is stamped on the front of these bases. I assume the sculptors of this time felt the need to dispense with any potential ambiguity that their creations might convey to those new to hobby. It's a trend I am glad didn't catch on. 

That's a damn fine cloak. 

Originally I was going to use a scythe blade from a spare Heroquest skeleton but I never felt good about making that sacrifice. Recently I discovered I hade a scythe arm in a bag of plastic skeleton bitz and I decided to attempt to use if for this guy. 

Oh, and in case your curious about the exact age of these guys they all have this stamp on the bottom of their bases: GAMES WORKSHOP 1984. I can't recall the last time I have seen dates on their metal models, but I wish they has kept it practice. 

40 years later, I feel compelled, and confident enough in my painting skills, to finally take a stab at painting these guys up. The first thing to do was stick them to a 25 X 25mm base. 

Next, I will use greenstuff on their bases to blend in their pudding bases. But we'll save that for part 2 of this Saga.

They might be giants...

 Giants? Why yes,  I have a small collection of giants. Let's go back in time starting with the Citadel ones first:

The first box for the plastic kit. 

I have been holding onto this kit since the year it was released. After going back and forth and agonizing over the plethora of options this kit contains I decided to build this guy with the intention of using him with my orcs and goblins. Then the Old World blew up and  AOS replaced it, which in turn essentially killed all my WFB projects. So he never got built. Here is the back of this box featuring some alternative build options.  I don't know how often this kit has been repackaged, but I have seen it most recently being sold in a three-pack for AOS. 

I dig this option, the chaos mutation one,, a lot and might go with it instead and use it with my Beasts of Chaos. Unless I can find a Cygor/Gorgon for them instead. 

Chaos Giant.

I get a kick out of seeing the old packaging with box art featuring paints that are no longer produced. These particular paints were in those awful "bolter shell" bottles that were known for drying up the paint within. I don't think I have a single one that has survived this far. 

Ogre Kingdoms giant. 

The Ogre Kingdoms build was interesting. 

 According to the background the ogres treated the giants as slaves, which is why they are weighed down with old mill stones and rubble. I always found this to be a sad story for this fallen race and I'm not likely to celebrate it. 

Orc & Goblins Giant

The orc build is wearing bones and orc glyph tats. There is a chance I could build him like this for my Orcs & Gobo force. I like the idea of painting it to appear as if he is wearing green body paint, but I'm afraid he'll appear like an angst Jolly Green Giant instead. 

Albion Giants.

I got these guys ages ago, around the time of the Dark Shadows campaign set in Albion. But for some reason I never even broke the plastic wrap seal.  So this sits in the archive accruing value. Maybe I'll use it to finance one of my kids first car in a few years? 

Marauder Giant.

And finally, the Marauder Giant.  Probably the apex of all the miniatures produced by Marauder Miniatures back in the early '90s. 

Back of the box descriptive text.

He was glorious in his day and I think he still is. And what an ingenious design it was also. Check out the simplicity of the assembly instructions vs. any of today's plastic kits. 

Marauder giant assembly guide.

Mine is cast in pewter. GW US switched to pewter in the early '90s mostly due to the State of New York banning the sale of lead in children's products. Which of course, was justification for a price-hike here in the States. 

The bitz. 

Ok, that's it for GW giants but check these next two out. They are also from either the late '80s or early '90s as part of Grenadier Miniatures Colossal Lords line. This first one is actually intended to be a giant. I recall that I bought these with the intention of using them for D&D. But I imagine this guy being within an army of Norse warriors. 

Stay frosty.

Look at how simple this thing is to build. It's even easier to put together than the Marauder Giant.  He is only slightly bigger than the Marauder Giant also, but he's also more accurately proportioned as well. 

The parts.

This next one is also a Colossal Lord, but was ment to just be a large scale model as opposed to being a giant, but I think she works just fine as a giant as well.

The burglar.

Again, such a simple build. 

Burglar parts.

And that's it for my tour of unassembled giants. In the near future I'll definitely be building one of these for an old world faction. Probably the Marauder Giant as I have admired it for decades now and I think it will be a fun kit to finally do up. 

Dwarf Warriors (Part 1)

 

Hello, and welcome to a project that has some interesting origins. I bought this box sometime between 2001 and 2003. I can't recall exactly when, but I remember why. I needed some generic dwarves with a lot of variety in their options and this set fit the bill perfectly. I needed them for a D&D 3rd edition game that I was running and I preferred them over the WotC and Reaper miniature options available at the time.. I only built these four models, and once they served their purpose I don't think they were ever used again for any game system. 

Built back in the '00s.

Fast forward to now, 20+ years later, and while I was assessing my Warhammer Dwarfs for their game potential, I realized that this set was an untapped vein of hobby gold. This set has a sick amount of weapon options and the you can make each dwarf somewhat unique. You might recall that I found a bit from this set to replace a Thane's missing axe a while back. Well, I wanted a unit of Dwarf Warriors with great weapons so I removed their old arms and attached the great axe options. Then I put them on 25mm bases. 

Upgraded in late 2024.

But I wasn't going to stop here, I went ahead and built the entire box up. 

The rest of lot. 

Including a champion, standard bearer and a musician, 

Command options added. 

Unfortunately I didn't have enough of the great axes to give each model one. So one guy has a basic axe. Can you spot him? 

The full regiment.

Next up I will add grit to their bases and prime them. Put since it's absolutely freezing outside it'll be a few months before the conditions improve enough for me to get that done.