Wednesday 27 March 2019

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates Part 4

Hello again, much Oldhammer littering my workstation as well lots of 'Newhammer' (is that even a thing?).  Now I am really loving the miniatures being released for Warhammer Quest Blackstone Fortress and am slowly working on these in the little spare time I have.  Lots of this modern plastic 'tat' will be shared on this blog soon.

I did eventually manage to finish another 1988 IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates miniature and here he is, still have four more on the go, only one miniature outstanding on the entire range.  Work in progress pictures can be found on my Twitter feed.

Here's what I have done so far if you have not been following:

Iron Claw Pirates Part 1
Iron Claw Pirates Part 2
Iron Claw Pirates Part 3

Today's miniature is another Bob Olley fan favourite 'Nightwing', one of two human cyborgs in the range, Loritta (Cyber Girl) being the other one.

Nightwing looks like he has been through the wars and these have left him with a cyborg torso, a head with cool eye grills and mechanical left arm. I went for camouflage with squares (multi-scale?) on his lower armour pieces, he is also armed with the same gun as 'Little Rico' a sort of pseudo plasma gun.

The back of the miniature is a pretty basic sculpt with a cloak that has what looks like jester dangly bits, I am sure there a practical reason for them?? I was really excited about painting this miniature but that didn't continue I felt the sculpt was a bit flat. The miniature is tagged as 'trooper'.

I used Games Workshop's Barbed Bracken on base painted in a variety of colours, I have always tried to make my bases as generic as possible, one so not to take the attention off the miniature and two to help the miniature fit in with any game but lately I have been really impressed with the new basing kits so I couldn't resist adding a bit here and there, the box of Games Workshop's Skulls is one of my favourites.

IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing' - front

IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing' - side

IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing' - back
IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing'

Old photos below.
IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing' - front

IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing' - back

Photos trying to get the base in better.
IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing'

IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates 'Nightwing'


Thanks for stopping by again, I think I'll show you some of my more modern miniatures next time.
cheers
J

Saturday 23 March 2019

RT01 Imperial Space Marine - Treacher Marine

Hello,
Todays classic Oldhammer miniature is the Rogue Trader RT01 Imperial Space Marines Treacher Marine’ released in April 1988's spectacular White Dwarf 100 and sculpted by either Mark Copplestone or Aly Morrison not sure which one.

RT01 Imperial Space Marines ‘Treacher Marine’


This miniature was the first Traitor Marine Citadel Miniatures ever released and eventually found it way into the Realm of Chaos era Chaos Renegades range along with the other 'not so' Limited Edition renegades.


Treacher Marine (No. 12) - RT01 Imperial Space Marines - April 1988 White Dwarf 100
LE101 - Chaos Renegade Marine - May 1988 White Dwarf 101 (although pictured on the cover of White Dwarf 99)
LE102 - Traitor Legionnaire - June 1988 White Dwarf 102


This is the only miniature from the range that doesn’t have personal name all the others are Brother <insert name>, or Rank <insert name> and unlike some of the Space Marine Renegades pictured in the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue trader Rulebook (see below) this one is definitely aligned to the ruinous gods of Chaos. 


He has the 8 pointed star of Chaos on the shoulder pad of his Mark VI power armour with the other shoulder pad and helmet that may have been mutated by the warp, chitinous or alien in appearance.  He is armed with a Bolt gun with Chain blade bayonet.


Space Marine Renegades


I went for the Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition colour scheme of the early Night Lords before all the lightning livery I have always had a soft spot for the Night Lords and built a small force in the 2nd Edition era out of a mix of Rogue trader miniatures and 2nd edition Chaos, I may revisit these one day.

RT01 Imperial Space Marines ‘Treacher Marine’ - front
RT01 Imperial Space Marines ‘Treacher Marine’ - side
RT01 Imperial Space Marines ‘Treacher Marine’ - back

I also spotted Treacher Marine in Warhammer World's cabinets during the Summer 2018.

Treacher Marine at Warhammer World 1

Treacher Marine at Warhammer World 2

Thanks for dropping in, lots more drafts on the go so come back soon.
Cheers
J

Friday 8 February 2019

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Part 3

Hello, well recent my 1988 Iron Claw Space Pirates posts (part 1 & part 2 for a bit more history) were well received by friends and followers so I decided to soldier on and paint a few more. 


My latest batch of Iron Claw Space Pirates


Firstly we have the weird and wonderful 'Star Raven' who I assume is a Rogue Psyker, wearing strange armour and helmet and carrying a dragon headed staff.  He is nicely sculpted miniature with a cloak adorned with a star and a moon faced gorget, he would make a excellent henchman for my Bolt Thrower miniatures Bob Olley Space Viking.

One thing I found interesting is his miniature tab states 'Timelord' which made me think was this miniature sculpted earlier when Games Workshop had a Dr Who license and never made it to that range thus being put here or did Bob Olley use a metal timelord as a base for his sculpt? who knows....

I wanted him to look supernatural so for the armour I painted all the metal with Vallejo Natural Steel and washed with a wash of 50% Lahmian Medium with 50% Waystone Green/Soulstone Blue mix which gave a nice blue green glow and for the staff washed with Lahmian Medium/Spiritstone Red mix for an interesting red copper look.

Star Raven - front

Star Raven - back


Next we have 'Dambo Kweltz' a human holding what appears to be a Armalite Rifle from a lost age of technology, I based my colour scheme on the original advert paint job, pinks and purples and had a couple of disasters with this choice and that's where @Curis of the excellent  ninjabread blog gave me excellent advice which helped recover the paint job. Tab says 'mercenary' I imagine him as a Royal Hive Guard Deserter or maybe a arms trader or both :D

Dambo Kweltz - front

Dambo Kweltz - back


Next is 'Little Rico' armed with a crazy heavy gun that two grip handle in shield pods (you tell me?) I am going to use it as some sort of Plasma gun, this isn't the only miniature from the range that is equipped with this gun (coming soon). I gave him a big ginger beard and a drinkers nose, the skull on his helmet reminds me of someone out of 2000AD's Bad Company. It looks like he has some sort of comms unit on his back.  

Little Rico - front

Little Rico - back


Little Rico - side


Lastly we have 'Attitude Gorman' I found this one a fun miniature to paint and went for a full military paint job as his helmet with 'V' emblem screamed Volgan from 2000AD's ABC Warriors and Invasion!/Savage stories (which are now crossing over).

Attitude Gorman - front

Attitude Gorman - back

Attitude Gorman - side


Blue background didn't work so well today


More Space Pirates coming soon including the infamous 'Nightwing'.

Thanks for stopping by.
J










Wednesday 6 February 2019

Slocombe's Warbots - Part 2 - Deathblow

Hello again, this is my second post on Slocombe's Warbot's today featuring the 'Deathblow' Class Heavy Droid, the warbot's were released on the Citadel Miniatures October 1987 Flyer and sculpted by Tony Slocombe.  I have completed two miniatures so far from this range with only the last one to complete.

This rare Oldhammer miniature has been sitting on my paint station for about 6 months occasionally getting a lick of paint here and there, I have never been pleased with it's progress and found it a difficult miniature to paint due to the lack flat surfaces, I mean everything is uneven with roughly sculpted grooves, rises, knobs, holes, all sorts, it's just a massive lump of porous lead but I kept going and here are the results.

My first post features Slocombe's Warbot's was 'Sam' Type Light Wardroid which can be enjoyed here.


I started off by spraying him in Citadel Mechanicus Grey which was a disaster as it was a hot day and the paint was drying before it hit miniature leaving a powdery coating that had to be sanded off but helped weather it a bit,  some highlight, decals/fix, mig weathering powders, and finishing with some stipple and detail.  Post varnishing I added Citadel 'Ardcoat to all the light sources which works well for me.

Many of my twitter followers have pointed out his likeness to the original Battletech mech 'Archer' and I have speculated on this in my first post.


All 3 of Slocombes Warbot's have an obvious Battletech influence:

  • 'Deathblow' Class Heavy Droid - Archer
  • 'Sam' Type Light Wardroid - Vindicator
  • MKII 'Sprinter' Assault Droid - Catapult

Deathblow - front

Deathblow - side

Deathblow - back

Deathblow - side

Deathblow squishing Space Orks - Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader Rulebook Page 118 
Deathblow miniature featured on page 12 of the Rogue Trader rulebook

A couple of WIP (Work in Progress) photos that I posted on my twitter feed get following for all sorts of #Oldhammer tweets.

Deathblow - Line work

Deathblow - decals/transfers added

I am half way through the last one ‘Mk II Sprinter Assault Droid' but it's being going slow due to numerous disasters and I have since pinned him back together since but I am not too sure about the new pose so I may disassemble and start again.


‘Mk II Sprinter Assault Droid - disaster

Hope you enjoyed this post another draft complete another one coming soon
J

Thursday 27 December 2018

IC301 - Iron Claw Pirates - Part 2

Hi, my latest Oldhammer project is coming along nicely, Bob Olley's 1987 IC301 Iron Claw Space Pirates.  I wrote in my last blog post about how much I love these Iron Claw Space Pirates as they are a bizarre mix of characters with mysterious equipment and today's post is covering another two pirates, both interesting miniatures who appear to be aliens or xenos to all you grimdark fans. Let me introduce you to ‘Ooglorg the Cruel’ and 'Col. Vlad'.



Ooglorg the Cruel & Col. Vlad

First up we have ‘Ooglorg the Cruel’ who certainly appears alien in name and appearance with bulging eyes, massive ears and horns on his wrinkly head, I went for a blue skin tone to match the skin colour in the original advert with white hair reminiscent of 2000AD's Rogue Trooper.

Ooglorg wears an armoured gorget/pauldron combination adorned with skulls all appear to be of alien origin, he is armed with one of the strangest and most impractical of all of Olley's weapon sculpts I have no idea what it supposed to represent it looks very top heavy with two barrels and it's trigger appears to be like that of a medieval crossbow, I gave it fiery glows around the barrel area and green glows around the trigger area.  Unpainted his tab identifies him as mercenary.

The resin base might be from Black Cat bases I can't remember and the skull I think was supposed to a horses but with a bit of a purple wash I think it looks like a decent alien skull.



Ooglorg the Cruel - front

Ooglorg the Cruel - front

Ooglorg the Cruel - back

Ooglorg the Cruel - side



Ooglorg the Cruel - side

Ooglorg the Cruel - side
Ooglorg the Cruel - alien skull at his feet

Today's second miniature is 'Col. Vlad' Col. is an abbreviation of colonel so this alien has a rank maybe amongst his space pirate band or maybe from a previous occupation, he reminds me of the alien in the superb 1985 s movie Enemy Mine, I steered away from the original skin colour depicted in the advert for this one as it appears that the painter of this range just painted most of the aliens characters blue although they are clearly of different alien species I would of liked more colours, I went for bright greens and yellows including original Citadel Colour Bilious Green.

Col. Vlad has an armoured vest and shoulder pads that is a reoccuring theme on many of Olley's Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader sculpts and again a strange alien weapon with a weapon butt that looks like Viking design and could tie in nicely with Bob Olley's space viking. Unpainted his tab identifies him as mercenary.


Col. Vlad - front

Col. Vlad - front

Col. Vlad - side

Col. Vlad - back

Col. Vlad - side

Colonel Vlad

Blue Aliens everywhere!


Apologies for ramblings on but I feel there is so much more to discuss about these miniatures and am happy to hear your thoughts on these gems.  Still struggling with photography too so expect these photos to be update in near future.

Another six Iron Claw Space Pirates on the workbench at the moment so stay tuned for more to come.

J