Rogue Trader - Wolfen

Hello, special post today featuring an unknown miniature to many and a highly sought after Oldhammer miniature to the few, the miniature might as well be made out of unobtainium it's so rare. This miniature has fascinated me for many years, what miniature I hear you cry? The miniature in question is the mysterious 'Wolfen' or my take on the Wolfen, please join me on this journey and you decide.

Wolfen or Faux Wolfen?

Wolfen

Wolfen - front

Little information is known about this mysterious miniature and for the most part all is internet speculation, I have read that it was made as a prototype alien race for Laserburn or Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader.  The miniature appeared on the 2nd Rogue Trader flyer March 1988 that you received for free when buying miniatures from Games Workshop via mail order.

These are the only reference pictures I have of this miniature.

Wolfen joins his solid-based alien brothers

Well where do I start... I badly wanted this miniature and have never seen one for sale or painted and many serious citadel miniature collectors were on the hunt for this miniature, when Wargames Foundry discovered the moulds for the Sci-Fi Fishmen from the 2nd RT flyer and cast them up I had to have them but alas no Wolfen.

Once I had the Fishmen in my possession it got me thinking did the Wolfen come from the same Citadel Fiend Factory range like the Fishmen did and guess what it did, the FF19 Werewolf so it was a no brainer to me to acquire the werewolf and one of the Judge Dredd sculptors aid JD3 Rifle 1 and voila I would have myself a Wolfen.

The JD3 Rifle 1 proved too difficult to source, the project stalled and ended up in the loft until recently when I was having a chat to Curis on twitter about said gun and was inspired to pick this top secret project back up, I channelled the powers of the great miniature convertors out there like Curis, Axiom and other great modellers, I committed a personal act of sacrilege chopping up a perfectly good miniature. Spitgun Suzi was clearly the best candidate for the chop to relieve her of her 'JD3 Rifle 1', I went for it with the snippers and it felt good I may have to do it again sometime.

What you need to build a Wolfen

Now armed with the gun and the werewolf I was in prime position to create the wolfen, I used snippers and bottle nosed pliers to carefully cut and bent the werewolf arms into what I think is the proper position, the werewolf was so old the one arm cracked and white powder spilt out, oxidation? possibly

Build stage 1

Poor Spitgun Suzi, painted up Suzi will be appearing on next blog post

Then I used superglue to tack the rifle in again what I thought is the correct position.  While working on this project the nozzle of the gun broke off, a common problem for the Judge Dredd minatures, some went in the blisters and some disappear altogether on later versions so I had the fiddly task of reattaching it.  I used green stuff to fill the cracked arm, cover up the hacked chest with fur and nozzle join.

Rifle and Nozzle tacked on

A bit of Das Promo to blend in the preslotta base and I had myself a Wolfen, or as close as I could get to one.

Green stuffed and Das Promo based

Paint job was simple, it pretty flat and early sculpt so I had to paint in most detail.

I was that desperate to start I undercoated by hand!!!

Base coat

Nuln Oil wash

A bit more painting and we are done

The Wolfen Complete

Rogue Trader Stats? well you could go for a Abhuman  Beastmen - Homo Sapiens Variatus (page174 RT Rulebook) that might work.

In true Rogue Heresy fashion I will be working on the copy of the original flyer very soon.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post.
Come back more Judge Dredd perps soon.
J

Citadel Judge Dredd Perps Part 11 - Businessman

Hi, just a quick post I recently acquired another of my holy grails from the 2000AD comic citadel Judge Dredd miniatures range the 'businessman', it's another miniature sculpted for the Slaughter Margin campaign pack for the 1985 Judge Dredd role-playing game and if you are a regular follower you will know that the Megahound was another of my holy grail's I completed from this same range.

The 'Businessman' is an interesting miniature, I think it was sculpted by Trish Carden (Morrison) and released in 1987 exclusively on the offer sheet for the Slaughter Margin campaign pack where you got three of this miniatures!!! I wonder how many lucky people purchased this offer?, what excites me the most about this miniature is that he makes a great Max Normal Judge Dredd's faithful informant who was sadly missing from the original citadel JD range.

I had all these ideas for painting him and was going to go for a pin stripped suit but I wimped out of this idea for now and had a go with contrast paints, I think the businessman is supposed to be from the old Nip-Cit as the eyes were tiny and oriental in appearance I widened them a bit with paint, not on purpose just my eyes are getting old, I gave him a grey and white moustache like Max appears in the comic now and complete black attire.  He'll be a useful miniature for all sorts games.  I will definitely be revisiting this miniature in the future.

3 Businessmen came in the Slaughter Margin Deal

5 Businessman tokens in Slaughter Margin pack

Well that's almost another range complete and a few more Dredd posts coming up while I am on a roll.
J

Citadel Judge Dredd Perps Part 10

Borag Thungg Earthlet,
Wow two years I have been working on this Judge Dredd Perps project doing one on one off, each time I finish a batch of these start work on something else just to clear the air then come back to these and I feel am making good progress.  Today I have my latest batch of eleven miniatures completed to show you.

A motley crew

Again all are from the Citadel Miniatures 1985-87 JD3 - Perps & Muties code.

1. 'Bonehead Mcgraw' is a character that I am sure I know from world of Dredd but I couldn't remember her in any prog so she might be a daily star strip character, she did appear on Cliff Robinson 'Justice Is Just Around the Corner' poster in prog 407, I kind wish I had found the poster out before I painted the miniature as I would of tried to match up the colours, she is armed with a shotgun and wears a horned helmet adorned with a skull.

Bonehead Mcgraw

Justice Is Just Around the Corner

2. 'Dib' this one would fit in nicely with the Angel gang or any band of cursed earth deparados, I went for basic colours for this one blue denim and butternut to try and give him that deep south confederate feel, he is a variant of the mutie 'Skink'.

Dib

3. 'Spug Splatt' I painted this unfortunately named miniature (Spug is a profanity in Judge Dredd universe) as rastafarian citizen I think his braided hair made the decision easy, I have seen many 'dreads' over the years in JD strips, some in wally squads, I can imagine him now screaming "ahhh! babylon as Dredd nails him with a ricochet bullet", this one is a variant of Citizen Hetfield.

Spug Splatt

4. Here we have a rare Slaughter Margin scenario miniature 'Hoshiwara/Shomenko' or 'Yakusa', I know little about this miniature, don't think I own any variants across my citadel collection but it might still be waiting to be discovered, armed with Katana, swanky suit and tie, he has the obligatory samurai sideburns.

Slaughter Margin - Hoshiwara/Shomenko/Yakusa

5. Next is 'Theobald Wen', it appears he is holding his diary, I tried painting the word in to the sculpting but it was so old and rough it was a struggle. His story is yet to be told, also variant of mutie Brother Gomorrah.

Theobald Wen

6. This one is a 'Scrawler' a Mega City graffiti artist, I like this one as he actually leans forward so would be great perched against walls, I did paint another scrawler 'Bel' so I think I am going to pair them up.

Scrawler

7. Next is 'Solo' who is a variant of 'Security' with the head of 'Citi-Def Attacking' miniature and the Paranoia range 'Guard Officer'.

Solo

8. We have here 'Chapman Pincher' not a character name from Judge Dredd but again like many others named after a Mega Block (See Block Mania - Prog 238), I believe he is based on the character 'Faceache' or 'The Ghool' of the Zits gang in the story 'West Side Rumble' see 2000AD prog 434. I love this guy he is so fugly and beat up I will be adding him to mob of unarmed perps.

Chapman Pincher

9. Next up is 'Lambreta' there have been other characters named Lambreta with wide gangster hats in progs later than when this miniature was sculpted so I have nothing to tell except he is a Ape gang variant.

Lambreta

10. Perpolito/Unlisted Perp, this miniature is a bit of an enigma as it does not appear on any of the Citadel Miniatures advert pages, Jason Basin is pictured twice under the name Perpolito, as this one is the only unnamed perp I think it is obvious as Jason wears a basin helmet.  The miniature could be a attempt at  Filmore Faro as he has that strange hook or riding crop weapon and the outfit matches so we are only missing the pan on head, the hair could of been a pan that was cast badly? (for more of Filmore see 'The Judge Child' story).

Perpolito

11. Lastly we have 'Flinn Shaver' appears to another member of the Cosmic Punks from Prog 110 'Punks Rule' story, you can see their gang leader Gestapo Bob Harris here. I wish I had gone with the leopard print top in the colour image here.

Flinn Shaver

If you know something I don't about any of these characters please tell me I would love to know more, sculptors, JD stories and especially Daily Star strips.

Here is a progress report, still lots to do

Follow me on Twitter @fuljason for some live action from the paint station, lots going on.

Thanks for stopping by, Florix Grabundae

J

Citadel Judge Dredd Perps Part 9

Borag Thungg Earthlets,

Here are my latest offerings from my quest to paint all the Perps from the 1985-87 citadel Judge Dredd miniatures range.

Perps

A favourite of mine 'Fuzz Gun' perp I think featured in a Daily Star strip where Dredd shoots the can attached to the gun covering the perp in hair but memory is hazy on this one so If you recall the story please let me know. I used to hang around with a punk rocker who used a similar thing and always left a black patch of hair on peoples sofa's :D Variants include Slaugther Margins 'Bel'.

Fuzz Gun - front

Fuzz Gun - back

Next up we have one the rarer  and lesser seen of the Mega City Defence miniatures of the range 'Citi-Def with Spug Gun'.  This miniatures completes my set of all the Citi-Def from the range, I painted him in the same scheme as the others so the tie in nicely while defending Rowdy Yates block.

Citi-Def with Spug Gun - front

Citi-Def with Spug Gun - back

Next is 'One Eye Schumaen' on the tab he is labelled 'Organ Legger', I went for a hispanic Banana City (Ciudad Barranquilla) look for this character, he carries a bag with human body parts spilling out and a bizarre pistol. Variants include Slaugther Margins 'Vid Crew Sound'.

One Eye Schumaen - front

One Eye Schumaen - back

Finally we have a JD5 Klegg, featured in the Judge Dredd story 'The Day the Law Died' (Progs 89 to 108).  These carnivorous Alien mercenaries hired by Chief Judge Cal and paid in lawbreaker flesh.  Only two miniatures were made, I first come across them in my favourite ever White Dwarf 78 and the fabulous display game done by the 'Player's Guild' for Games Day 85, I was obsessed with this display and my late friend and I did everything we could to copy it whilst taking over his parents veranda.

Klegg 1 - front

Klegg 1 - side

Klegg 1 - side

Klegg 1 - back

I raved on above about the Judge Dredd display in White Dwarf 78 so in case you have never seen it here it below for your enjoyment.  I remember mutating so many Airifx soldiers with milliput to supplement our small selection of Judge Dredd miniatures at the time.

White Dwarf 78 'Eavy Metal' - page 1

White Dwarf 78 'Eavy Metal' - page 2

White Dwarf 78 'Eavy Metal' - page 3

Florix Grabundae for visiting, enjoy

J

Citadel Judge Dredd Perps Part 8

Borag Thungg Earthlets,

Here are my latest offerings from my quest to paint all the Perps from the 1985-87 citadel Judge Dredd miniatures range.

These miniatures are again all from the JD3 Perps and Muties range with a Slaughter Margin character thrown in for good measure.

First up we have the incorrectly named 'Lorien Speck' whose name tag says 'Frank Zit', Judge Dredd fans may well remember him from as 'Big Frank Zit' the leader of the Zits gang and the Judge Dredd story 'West Side Rumble' 2000AD Prog 434 1985 who battled it out with the Sharks gang before Justice Department broke up their juve rumble.  It's nice to see another miniature who is a carbon copy of the comic illustration, it makes it much easier to spot any irregularities. Oh yeah it true 1980's fashion he is armed with Nunchaku which 1980's boy didn't make his own?

For those of you are thinking who was 'Lorien Speck then? He was a Tom Selleck look-alike featured in the Blockmania story 2000AD Progs 236-244 1981 in the lead up to the Apocalypse War epic.

Big Frank Zit (Lorien Speck) - front

Big Frank Zit (Lorien Speck) - back

2000AD Prog 434 Judge Dredd: West Side Rumble

Next up we have 'Zuggy Spotz' another incorrectly named miniature and again his tag reveals the true name, he is 'Crazy Joseph' another member of Big Frank's gang the Zits appearing in 'West Side Rumble' 2000AD Prog 434 1985, check out the comic image above.  At first I thought he was a Red Indian when I found him in my Judge Dredd miniatures box as looked like he fitted in with my Slaughter Margin Red Indians.

I think Zuggy Spotz was a Mega Block name in a Judge Dredd story somewhere but I haven't the time at the moment to trawl through every issue to find it, well not today anyway.

Crazy Joseph (Zuggy Spotz) - front

Crazy Joseph (Zuggy Spotz) - back

Next up we have 'Vid Crew Sound' a miniature from the Judge Dredd Slaughter Margin campaign set, at first I thought this miniature was another of those rare unique miniatures for this range (no variants) as I had trouble identifying his makeup but eventually I found one while prepping a variant it jumped out.  Unlike most of the Slaughter Margin set he looks nothing like his cardboard token (see below) and the sculptor has fashioned a Japanese/Nippon head on him, I suspect Naismith.  It was pointed out by @nergling on twitter that he was holding a 'nice corn on the cob', it is supposed to be a boom mic for anyone confused :D

Vid Crew Sound - front

Vid Crew Sound - back

Judge Dredd Slaugther Margin Campaign tokens

Lastly we have 'Brother Obee' of the 'Mutie Brotherhood' in the Cursed Earth saga progs 65-66.  Also Kelv is a variant of this miniature. I have already painted all the members of his gang, Morgar, Brother Jobee, Brother Gomorrah, Mutie with Bazooka, Mutie in Dress and Squid Face.

This completes the JD3 Muties code for me.

Brother Obee - front

Brother Obee - back

And finally I finished off a Ground Zero Games SL-09 COLLATERAL DAMAGE PACK Child as every Judge Dredd scenario is going to need some collateral damage (don't tell the wife I am painting these). I have loads of these from 15+ years ago almost finished and size they fit beautifully with the Oldhammer Citadel Miniatures before the scale creep.

GZG Child holding teddy bear

Splundig vur Thrigg
Hope you enjoyed another visit
J