Monday 20 June 2011

Miniature Throng

Here's some old metal Dwarfs - most of them pre-slotta. If anyone can put years / catalogues to these figures, I'd be very grateful. I know the one on the left at the back is the Magnificent Sven, but the others...?

I'm not the best miniature photographer, nor am I the best painter. And my choice of dark reds, brass, and browns really isn't the most striking.

And why am I such a fan of these old metals? No, that's a real question. I can't answer it. They are fiddly to paint, and they are never in the best condition after sitting in someone else's cupboard for over 20 years. But there is just something that gets me going. Perhaps it is because miniatures of this vintage aren't the overblown superheroes that contemporary miniatures so often are. When I painted the eyes on these guys, it turned out that half of them look terrified. And so they should be - what might be charging at them? Giants? Wyverns? Chariots full of skeletons? Whatever it is, chances are that it is taller!

3 comments:

  1. Not the best painter? I rather like these.

    I know what you mean about old metals, I have been slowly accumulating a number of old Ral Parthas and Heritage minis. The Heritage ones feel so blocky and crude, while the RPs are tiny with all the scale creep.

    Yet there is something I love about them that more modern figures don't get. One part nostalgia mixed with a preference for the last super-heroic I guess.

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  2. A friend of mine has some of these, but he doesn't know what they are either.

    The one at the front-left with the raised hammer is a Citadel figure, I think. I've seen him in an article in White Dwarf circa #130 or thereabouts, after it became a house magazine.

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  3. Indeed ... the magnificence of the older stuff is lost on many people. Perhaps its a bit of nostalgia but I agree with you, I think they are much more characterful and interesting. Versus the newer stuff tending to just be, out of proportion overly buff super hero-esq clones. Where I can find the older minis I snatch them up (if they are at decent prices that is). Thanks for the post and nice paint work there sir!

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