Hail to the Queen

 Attention royal subjects, bring forth your grudges so a determination can be made to choose which one to settle next! 

The Queen takes the field.

Here is the Dwarf Queen, an old model recently re-released for the Old World. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on one as the release of the this miniature seems to be a limited one (at the time of posting this it's not available on the GW US webstore).  The model was originally released back in the '90s as part of the Grudge of Drong campaign. Although sold as a generic Dwarf Queen, clearly she was designed to represent Queen Helgar Longplaits. (She has a fun history). 

Primed and ready.

I got this miniature and immediately started tinkering on her. In particular I took the simple round base and glued on a hammer and anvil glyph left over from the Dwarf Warriors boxed set. I thought an orc skull would be appropriate for her base, although a high elf helm or head would have been a bit more appropriate. I dream of an Old World version of the skulls boxed set, a bit like the one that came out for 40k recently. 

Contrast paints.

I primed the miniature using Wraith Bone spray paint, and then set about base coating (almost) the whole thing using Contrast Paints. The exception was the Caliban Green for her coat. 

Final basecoats. 

The mid-coats pretty much followed the steps that used on the concept paint scheme I did many years ago. Her hair though, is a whole new matter. I used Magmadroth Flame Contrast Paint as the bases, followed by a Carroburg Crimson wash. This was followed by a subtle layer of Wildrider Red with a highlight of Trollslayer Orange. The hair reminds me of the hair color of my friend Sammie, and I have caught myself referring to this model as Queen Sammie, Not that the actual Sammie is a dwarf by any stretch, I'm just reminded by the hair color. 

Mid Coats. 

Anyway, after focusing on some final touch-ups, her highness was now done!

Finished! Front view.

After a few grass tuft applications she was done. Well, for the most part. Her axe handle is supposed to be wooden, but I like how it turned out so I left it. The absolute final thing to do is to spray the model with a sealer as metal miniatures are prone to chipping. 

Finished (rear view)

She was a fun model to paint. Especially since this is the first dwarf I have painted for the Old World that wasn't a repaint on top of a previous paint job. Having said that, I'm enjoying how they are all coming together. 

Leader of the pack! 

There will be more dwarf goodness soon! 

Skull Pass Miner's Cart #1

My lil' pony being put to work. 

This is the pony driven miner's cart from the old Battle of Skull Pass boxed set, which was the Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition starter box. This particular one was acquired second hand and the previous owner had a fixation on painting hair in metallic colors. On this model a gold paint was used on the pony's mane and tail. It somehow works,  but not enough for me to let it be. Watch as I am going to almost completely repaint this model. 

Originaly paint job, with new base by me. 

The first step was for me to mount it on the appropriate sized base. I added rocks and grit to the base to get it prepared for basing. 

I painted the base using Apple Barrel Teritorial Beige. It's been my go-to dirt color for close to two decades now. 

I wanted the cart itself to appear old, well-used and a bit rusty. Rhinox Hide was a perfect base coat for this idea. It was also a good base color for the straps and banding. The stuff on top the cart appear to be sitting on a wooden pallet. Rhinox Hide felt like it work as a base for this as well. 

What follows is the results of a tsunami of washes, drybruahing and blends to get this thing essentially done. A lot of which went into trying to make the cart itself look like aged metal without making it look like ogre scrap. 

The one thing I hate about this model is the sculpted grass touching the pony's raised hoof. I hope to hide it behind some grass tufts in the next step. 

...and I think I accomplished that. I may have went a bit nuts with the grass tufts on this base, but I felt that there was a lot space to fill on this base so I just went for it. 

All-in-all I'm pleased with this one. It has prompted me to consider how I am going to paint the one from my Skull Pass boxed set that is still on the sprue.  Maybe that one won't be as rusty, or maybe it's state of decay and wear and tear will be worse? 

I hope you got a kick out of this one. There are more Old World goodies coming to this blog soon. I gotta say, after spending the last few years painting 40k stuff exclusively it's a nice change to be painting Fantasy models again. 

Spirit Hosts

 Boo! 

Presenting my first finished models of 2025. If you had "ghosts" on your 2025 Neverness Bingo card then you're a winner. And a clairvoyant. This had to be the hardest set of models I have ever assembled. I could elucidate further however I have found plenty of commentary online that has explored this topic far more thoroughly than I chose to explore here. 

Primed with Corax White

However painting these things was a refreshing  change of pace I am pleased to say.  They are very easy to paint, and quick too! I used Duncan's guide from a few years ago, but I switched out Nilhilakh Oxide for a Contrast Paint called Briar Queen Chill. Personally, I don't think there's much of a difference. 

Briar Queen Chill

I was quite pleased with how that turned out. Coelia Greenshade was added to the recesses throughout the miniature. 

Coelia Greenshade

Next Ulthuan Grey was dry brushed on all the raised areas of the miniature. 

Ulthian Grey

Finally White scar was carefully applied to the faces, hands and daggers. 

White Scar

Wow, I am very pleased with how that turned out!  Of course, I painted up the other two bases as well. And there we have it,  a full unit of Spirit Hosts ready to scare the hell out of a bunch of Old World peasants. 

Now to build an army around this... a small, but spooky army. 

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.