Saturday 31 July 2010

1992 Golden Demon Awards

This was to be the final time I entered Golden Demon, this time at the Birmingham NEC, an even bigger noisier venue!  The piece was finished in about two months and on the whole I was quite happy with it, especially as the competition basing restrictions were even tighter this year in not allowing any overhang of the pre determined base size, so a lot to squeeze in! The sculpting of the gold Minotaur when I look at it now seems very naive by today’s standards or even by the standards in 1992! But on the whole I don’t think it detracts from the piece too much. In the end the piece achieved a bronze demon in the diorama category, although no picture was ever published of it in white Dwarf etc. which was a shame, but there you go and here it is now anyway! This was to be the final piece painted in acrylics for a few years.













Goblin Caravan 1991

A total of 17 goblins go to make up this piece, almost a unit :-) The initial build was done very quickly in about a month, the caravan being predominantly made from balsa wood and some bits and pieces from the spares box like wheels etc. As far as I can remember the relatively bright green goblin flesh was in vogue at the time and as usual W&N tube acrylic paints were used throughout. Unfortunately one or two repairs still need to be done to bring it back to original condition!






  





Even though it got off to a flying start, in the end it took the best part of a year to complete the project, mainly a motivational thing rather than the amount of work involved.

and there ended 1991

Friday 30 July 2010

Some Odds and Sods 1989 - 1990

During this period I only completed a few smaller pieces, none intended for competition entry which was a relief. As usual Windsor and Newton Artists tube acrylics were the paints of choice.  First up another Dragon conversion based on the Citadel Rock Dragon, this time with a more medieval flavour.


Rock Dragon Conversion






A minor conversion on a Sorcerer from Citadels realms of Chaos


Sorcerer 


Another minor conversion, this time a 1201 series Wizard, incorporating another three wizards in the base


Wizards Tower

Probably about the only Warhammer 40K I think I have ever done!


40K Orcs


A conversion of the Citadel C 28 Giant, the newer variety release in the late 80’s sculpted by Nick Bibby, always an early favourite sculptor of mine, going back to the early Asgard days.


C28 Giant Conversion



These little fellows are included as another failed attempt to start a dwarf army, don’t ask why dwarves, just seem to have a lot of them lying around for some reason.

Imperial dwarves

Unfinished Imperial dwarves

The end of another year!

Wednesday 28 July 2010

1989 Golden Demon Awards

By this time I had now swapped to a white undercoat in order to brighten things up a bit after the 1987 experience but still combined with the same Windsor and Newton Artists tube acrylics. I suppose this year represented a bit of a purple patch for me as not only had I managed three gold demons and the Slayer Sword, I had also managed to complete five pieces in as many months, pretty prolific for me!

 
Vignette Category.  Nurgle Chariot; Gold Demon and Slayer Sword Winner


Nurgle Chariot


Nurgle Chariot


Nurgle Chariot


Nurgle Chariot




Conversion Category.  Great Imperial Dragon-Minotaur Lord conversion, Gold Demon

Dragon-Minotaur Lord conversion


Dragon-Minotaur Lord conversion


Dragon-Minotaur Lord conversion


Dragon-Minotaur Lord conversion



Mounted Figure Category.  Chaos conversion, Gold Demon.


Chaos Champion


Chaos Champion

Chaos Champion

Still with a few bits and pieces missing, to be repaired one day, possibly!





Monster Category.  Greater Demon of Tzeentch, heat winner not placed at finals.



Greater Demon of Change, Tzeentch
  
Greater Demon of Change, Tzeentch

Greater Demon of Change, Tzeentch


Standard Bearer Category.  Elf standard bearer not placed.  



Elf Standard

Elf Standard

I was later told that this piece was apparently stretching the concept of a single miniature on a base a little too far!
The competition by now in its third year had moved to the larger assembly rooms in Derby. The full show  report can be found in White Dwarf 115.

Saturday 24 July 2010

1987 The First National Golden Demon Awards

Like most people my age I started painting with enamels, but by the 1980’s had moved on to Acrylics, and the relatively new concept of using a black undercoat!  Whilst I did use a few Citadel paint sets at the time, Windsor and Newton Artists tube acrylics were the predominant paints used.


On the Day of the grand finals in Nottingham, one of the lasting impressions I came away with was how dull my figures looked (albeit relatively realistic) when compared to many other entrants. No doubt in part due to the more transparent nature of the tube paint over the black undercoat. Over all an enjoyable day out with one gold, two bronzes and a highly commended, although the gold was a surprise as I felt this piece was my weakest entry at the time!  The gold fish did go down well though! The competition report with more pictures of the event and other entries can be found in White Dwarf 93.
 
Looking at the pictures now, it is glaringly evident how the standard of painting has improved over the past 20 years or so!

Single figure Category, heat winner but unplaced at finals. 

D&D Cleric




Single Mounted Figure Catagory, heat winner and Honourable Mention

Bard



Dragon Category, Bronze Demon

Blue Dragon

Vignette Category. Ogres and Snotling, heat winner not placed at finals

Ogre Vignette



Conversion Category,.Gold Demon

Gargoyle Conversion

Diorama Catagory. Bronze Demon
No longer exists, these are the only pics I could find!

Minotaur Mountain Interior


Monster Category. Heat winner not placed at final

Minotaur Lord


Finally although not entered into the competition these Norse dwarfs were painted at the same time, this being my first attempt to raise a dwarf army!

Norse Dwarfs
 There ends 1987

The Beginning

I blame Airfix! Not only are they responsible for developing my love of aircraft, but also exposing me to the frustration and pleasure of construction kits, paint and glue. Even my continued passion for figure modelling was down to Airfix, with the soft styrene 1/72 and 1/32 figures along with the 54mm hard plastic construction kits. I believe it has green credentials too, as I suspect it has become the most common form of loft insulation of the 40 something’s today!

Airfix loft insulation

It wasn’t until the early 70’s I discovered the fascinating yet older concept of miniatures in metal. Buying Minifigs was akin to a modern day pick ‘n’ mix sweet shop, walking away with a pocket money load in the little card boxes , and if the ranks of Minifigs where too neat and tidy there was always Hinchliffe to provide a more varied approach in figure design and style.

Minifigs


Hinchliffe


It was on one of these not so local trips to buy Minifigs that I first encountered even larger scale (54mm) Lead miniatures. I remember a range of Lasset Miniatures (by the prolific John Tassel) lined up on a shelf looking elegant and statuesque with their neat pre applied undercoat and smart blue boxes, but alas unfortunately out of my price range at the time.

Lasset


And so it all began !