Whilst Watching Paint Dry

Minifig Neat and tidy 

I made a commitment to myself that this time round I would not put my feet up in between stages whilst waiting for things to dry. Looking for an ideal candidate for these brief interludes, I got all nostalgic and thought I might develop a unit of 35 year old Minifig Marines.It would also be an opportunity to get up to speed with the Vallejo acrylics without worrying too much about quality before committing them to more involved pieces.   nice simple figures……easy I thought! 

How wrong I was, it actually took a lot more work than I thought, coping with sometimes vague and missing detail, it made me appreciate the quality of most modern sculpts with their defined detail and reasonable proportions. Well I did complete one and am actually quite pleased with it but not sure I have the staying power for a whole unit, which is a shame because I quite like the uniform ranks.

Minifig proportions are easily recognisable

I think it’s time to open a box of Perrys, at least until another fit of nostalgia takes hold! 

Minifig Marine

Anyway back to the 80’s Imperial Dwarfs and that Asgard half Troll Chieftain.

Grendel Leviathan 1995

This was the final piece for Forge magazine, and finally I felt I had got to grips with the W&N Griffin Alkyd paints, this piece being the best of the three to date. Unfortunately Grendel went under at about this time and the piece never appeared in the magazine, I am not even sure if issue 4 materialised in which this piece was due. Hey Ho it was time to take a break from smelly polyester resin anyway I think!

the beginning

basic bits added

clay goes on

and on

and on

figures done

drums added

standard and spears added

another standard

undercoated and ready for painting

all painted!

There ends 1995!

Grendel 1994 second piece

Another piece that no longer exists, this was my second attempt using W&N Griffin Alkyd oil paints that appeared in the second issue of the now renamed Forge magazine. A bit better than the first piece but on reflection the zombie dragon wings are not that convincing. Some stage-by-stage black and whites included from the magazine.

The Grendel bits

work starts on the first dragon

finished

zombie dragon started

finished

work underway on the tower

Finished and undercoated

finished and painted

hand tinted backdrop, oh for Photoshop!

detail

here ends 1994!

Grendel 1994

In 1994 I was approached by Grendel (thanks Phil!) to nock up a few diorama pieces for the new magazine Anvil, to be produced in collaboration with Heartbreaker. The format was to be a stage-by-stage picture guide from which I have included some of the black and white here for the sake of completeness ( still using film in those days!) It also turned out to be an opportunity to try some different paints, as I always like to make things more difficult where I can! These being Windsor and Newton Griffin Alkyd quick drying oils, which after initial testing seemed quite usable. In the end this first piece was very much an experimental piece that I was only just happy with, the colours on the lizards being a bit bright and saturated. I also remember using a matt medium to reduce the sheen but this in turn increased the drying time so was dropped on later pieces.

Grendel bits and pieces

The start of the base from clay and mesh

a few bits added

pretty much done

the figs get a little attention

all done!

All airbrushed white ready to paint

Figs painted

Complete

This piece no longer exists other than in bits, so these are the original film shots of which there are not that many.