Citadel Ogre - Matthog

Continuing with my Citadel Ogre obsession, here’s another one from the ‘C23’ range from the ‘80s.  This chap was advertised as ‘Matthog’, an ogre mercenary.  Whilst I like pretty much all the ogres from this period, I would say this is one of the weaker ones.  The sculpting on the creatures back in particular looks rushed and poorly defined.  There’s not much sense of any anatomy going on under the skin.  

That said, I thought he painted up pretty nicely.  I didn’t do much rust effect on the metal parts, but still tried to make it look tarnished and worn - I think it worked.  No contrast paints for the skin this time, tried it but it didn’t have the right depth of colour across such a large area of flesh.

Old Stuff

Pretty sure we all have these ones - partly done models that have sat around for ages.  I’m trying to be disciplined and finish off some half finished projects in between doing ones from scratch.

First up, a Foundry (formerly citadel I think) crossbowman.  He’s likely to do duty at some point as a forester up against Robin Hood I think.

I’m struggling with the providence of this one, I’ve had him over 30 years!  Doesn’t really fit with any particular army or game.  Painted the cloak and tabard some years back as practice for trying to paint, shade and highlight white. Thought it was about time he had a little attention.

And for my next song…

Bard from Hasslefree Miniatures, who has been sat on the partly done pile for too long because I was too scared to do the diamond pattern on the leggings.  Far from perfect, somehow both legs ended up with patches that didn’t meet up, but they’re on the inside leg and not obvious.

EDIT - the day after posting…

Well honestly.  What are the odds that the miniature decides to buy a random Lego mini figure with her pocket money today, then finds this when she opens it?

Time Gentlemen Please

More bystanders, this time from Hasslefree Miniatures - bartender and dwarf patron.

 

 

The detail on the barman's face is a little soft, which made it tricky to get a result I was happy with - I'd say I got to about 'meh', which will have to do.  The dwarf patron however is a lovely little sculpt - simple, unfussy, but lots of character in that face and sharp details like belt and boot buckles.  You just know he's going to give you his opinions on why goblins aren't like they were in his day, whether you want him to or not.

Huge Tracts of Land!

Just finished a nice couple of medieval bystanders.  A joy to paint and I’m really pleased with how they’ve turned out.

These two are from Studio Miniatures Medieval Mayhem range (none of which seem to be listed on their website at the moment).  Resin bases are from Fenris Games.

After painting Maid Marian, I didn’t fancy doing white robes again so far.  Instead I was inspired by the daft blue robes worn by prefects when I was at school it was a grammar school with more history than it sometimes knew what to do with in the late 20th century).

If they look familiar in shape (if not colour), that’s because they look to be based on Michael Palin and Terry Jones from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Bring out yer dead!

Particularly pleased with the rust effect on this one.

These chaps have been on the ‘almost complete’ list for far too long, so I thought they were well overdue the final touches, mainly basing.  These days I find GW’s models a bit hit and miss - not so much on quality as in terms of matching my tastes, but I do like these.  They exude menace!

Maid Marian

Continuing with the Robin Hood theme for a moment, here’s another classic member of the band, Maid Marian, from Footsore Miniatures.

A really lovely sculpt, nice folds in the cloth but not fussy.  Stylistically the Footsore models are a more ‘realistic’ take on the subject than the Studio Miniature Robin and Tuck; neither the Hollywood romance of Flynn and de Havilland, nor the mysticism of the ‘80s ‘Robin of Sherwood’ - my two favourite takes on the stories. And she’s not a fox either, like the Miniature would prefer.

The (now not so little) miniature was involved in colour choices, as they are sort of to get her interested in gaming ;-)

She was adamant she wanted the dress to be white, which is not my favourite colour to paint, but challenge accepted.  I suggested that she should then have a cloak in brown or green to allow her to hide in the forest when needed, which she was enthusiastic about, fortunately.

Luckily I had a trick up my sleeve to try out for the white…

This model actually proved to be an interesting exercise.  Aside from a little GW ‘Ogryn Flesh’ wash on the face and hands, I didn’t use my normal washed for shading, this was all brush shading and highlighting through multiple shades.  While I wouldn’t say it’s my best work by a long shot, I am really pleased with the result.