Orc General on Sabretooth Tiger - Hear Me Roar!

Hello all,

You probably remember the old "Orc Boar Rider General" from 1988 that I recently painted (if not, you can read about him here). Now I really enjoyed painting him and giving him a brief biography describing how a vicious orc came to be in the service of Slaanesh.

When I went to the Oldhammer forum and posted images of him there, I was told that the orc was actually a "boar rider" - and what is a boar rider without a boar? A vicious, evil, angry orc. So to bring a bit of "happiness" to the life of our orc I've been searching for a suitable mount ever since. Well, I found one on Ebay the other day. And just look how the two of them suit each other:

 Never has a better mount been made available to an orc!

The two were brought together in a chance meeting in the woods. Our orc's first thoughts were along the lines of how much wargear he could buy with the huge teeth on the Sabretooth. But the beasts vicious growlings made him pause and a slow sense of respect - something entirely new for the orc - grew. The two are now inseparable, hunting the wilderness killing and maiming everything they find, be it animals or sentient beings. Never before has the Orc been so close to happiness and his confusion has been momentarily forgotten. But Slaanesh is a fickle being and grows tired of the pleasure gained through the orc's rampaging so life will probably bring new challenges for the warlord, and soon.

Please ignore the yellow-tack - still deciding on whether the orc need a saddle...

The beast is a Sabretooth from a set produced by Celtos called "Amanthas the Huntress with Sabretooth". I unfortunately did not get Amathas, but the big cat was just perfect for the orc so I was glad to get for less than a pound.
Here is  a few pictures of the Sabretooth before it met our orc:

 And of the orc before it met the Sabretooth.

More pictures soon - I've gone through the Heroquest figures and redone them using the new photo-setup so next week has been declared international Heroquest-week!

All the best,
Kasper

New Cheap Photo Studio - Foldio review, comparison shots and Arkward returns!

Hello all,

Like most of you miniature-loving, hobbiest out there I've struggled long and hard with getting pictures that actually look like the miniature. Light, colours etc is just such a hassle.

I've tried several set-ups, lamps etc but nothing has really done the job. Thus when I saw a kickstarter for a photo studio set-up that looked great and was not that expensive I jumped at the chance. The kickstarter was for a set-up named Foldio - becuase it folds, get it? :-). It is lit up by a strip of LED lights and was fairly cheap. 

Well, it was delivered this morning and I've been tampering with it ever since. And to be honest I'm satisfied, but only just.

The first thing I should show you is a comparison shot - this is Arkward, everyones favourite minotaur.

Arkward - before and after

On the left is a before shot - overexposed and yellowish due to the lamps used. On the right is the best I could tweak the Foldio to produce. If you expand the picture you can see that the colours are much more like they are in the real world (you can also see his nose has been chipped, Argh!!). Yet it is still a bit too dark (even after I've photo-shopped it).

All in all I do think that while the picture on the left is better to get ones attention due to the bright colours, the Foldio-shot is the best of the two as it is much closer to reality and actually shows highlights, blends etc.

So this is the tweaked version. What does that mean? Well the Foldio looks like this:

A sheet of high-quality plastic thingy that folds into a photo-box, or light box, and locks using magnets. The LED strip uses 9 volt battery and thats about it. It feels like ok quality all the way.
But I've found that a single LED strip is simply not enough. It gives dark pictures, even though it reflects well and there are no shadows.
So I tweaked it to look like this:

Ignore the miniature - it is a secret!

I've raised up the bottom to get more light from the top strip and have added a cheap strip from IKEA I had available. Together these two strips are almost enough. I think if I could find a better strip this setup would be hard to beat, I'll be trawling the Chinese LED shops for some time now :-).

So my verdict on the Foldio? Well it didn't solve all my problems in one delicious swoop, nor will it be the hasslefree experience I had hoped for, instead it will be something that needs setting up and adjusting, but not anymore than any other setup I've tried. The quality is good, but the LED are insufficient. I'll give it a 7 out of 10 - I'll use it for all photoes in the future, but I'll need to tweak it even further to be satisfied. But for 20$ I'm pretty satisfied and think it will stop me screaming at my camera and staring in disbelief at the pictures I have available to upload :-).

So, I guess this leaves just the new pictures of Arkward, the slightly confused Minotaur (read his history here) taken using the above setup - I would really appreciate your opinion as to whether this is better or worse than the previous efforts (can be seen here):

Thanks for visiting and any and all comments are appreciated!

All the best,
Kasper

Ebay addiction: Old Target, I-Kore and Celtos miniatures

Hello all,
Why on earth did I do that?!? Why did I buy more lead on ebay, even though I have more than enough for me, my sons and their sons to paint?
Oh well, there were two reasons; firstly it was so cheap! and secondly, I needed them - well I needed one of the minis and I could use the rest :-).

It was a large batch which included the following four warriors:

The two on the left will become the leaders of my Nurgle warband, while the two on the right will serve in my Slaaneshi warband.
The base on the first three says "Target" - a miniature company I'm completely unfamiliar with so with anyone has a link to painted examples or got a history lesson prepared I would love the info! The last guy's tab is clotted with superglue but it may say "Eldorado"? Anyone?
Three of the chaps miss their hands but this matters not - the slaaneshi will receive a blessing by their god in the form of daemonette claws and the nurgle warrior may get a tentacle.

Next up is this fine Shaman:

Apparently he is "Lugh the Long Arm" - although it looks like both his arms are the same length, luckily :-). Celtos miniature and one I look forward to painting.



The last one in this post is this pretty cat:

It is the Sabretooth from the Celtos set "Amanthas the Huntress with Sabretooth". A beauty and the reason I bought the lot in the first place. I've got big plans for this cat and there will be browny points to anyone who can guess what they are :-).

It is a beautiful cat and one of those miniatures you just cannot wait to paint :-).

More ebay-stuff next time!

All the best,
Kasper

Daemonology 101: A Brief History of the Daemonettes of Slaanesh

Hello all,
Alluring and sensual - deadly and depraved. Slaanesh's most numerous daemons, the Daemonettes, have always been a favourite of mine, ever since I read about them in Slaves to Darkness so 25 years ago.
According to their fluff they are alluring, nay sexy, enough to make men (and women, Slaanesh favours no sex) stop in their tracks and smile in pleasure as the demon decapitate them with their crab claws. So while they should perhaps look something like this:

Games Workshop choose something a bit more safe for work. The first daemonettes were these beauties:

 

Link of these ladies from the Rogue Trader era (almost) is from the always helpful Stuff of Legends (http://www.solegends.com/citcat19912/c20254rcdaemonettes-01.htm). 

They were designed by Jes Goodwin and Michael Perry (always wondered who did what) back in 1988 and realeased in 1989. They are variables on the same couple of bodies, with individual faces that range from the entirely alien to almost attractive female visages. 

I must say I like them, and have enjoyed collecting and painting each one (they can be seen here), even though I would have liked for them to be a bit more 'alluring' and a bit less 'scary' :-).

One of the things that makes the old adverts fun is the names they gave each miniature - in the case of the daemonettes these were the following, colourful names: Lewdfang, Sinwhip, Lipspittle, Lewdbeast, Lustspite, Limbsuck, Fiendthrob, Warptongue, Suckflesh, Gristlewhip, Fleshthrob, Heartvex.

Apart from these twelve daemonettes there was a thirteenth released. She is, surprisingly, neither more rare nor more expensive on ebay these days, but for some reason she was not on the advert and hence has received no suitable name and is called merely the "13th daemonette":

(http://www.sodemons.com/dhurst/daemonettes/)
There is also a Daemonette featured on the poster (upper right corner) for theWarhammer Fantasy Roleplay scenaro "Death on the Reik" (which is brilliant, played it many years ago and really enjoyed it):

Yet, this merely appears to be Lewdfang having been summoned anew by the Mail Order Trolls.

The fluff from the Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness describes the daemons thusly:
"The Daemonettes are the most numerous of Slaanesh’s daemonic followers, and serve his purposes in a number of ways. They fight as troops on the battlefield, and are occasionally granted as companions to mortal followers of Slaanesh. Like Slaanesh, the Daemonettes are beautiful, but their beauty is perverse and unnatural, and causes loathing rather than admiration. They often ride into battle on Mounts of Slaanesh.

They stand nearly as tall as a man, and are white skinned with deep green saucer like eyes. Their figures and faces are something like those of Human women, but they have only one breast. They often decorate their bodies and their long flowing white hair with a variety of bizarre designs, painted or tattooed onto their skins in the pastel shades of Slaanesh. Slaanesh’s symbol, endlessly repeated, is the most popular motif. One of their arms ends in a chitinous claw, and they have two-toed, clawed feet."

A few years later came a new version of the daemonettes by Games Workshop. This time they were even less alluring and much more khornate. I've nicknamed them the "ugly clawbitches" and they date from 1994. They were sculpted by Colin Dixon and Aly Morrison and, to me at least, look ridiculous with their huge claws:

Eight years later, Games Workshop realised their error and had Juan Diaz design a new line of Daemonettes This third version are beautiful and some of the best sculpts Diaz ever made and the demons are beautiful and sensual:

They look like alluring daemons again and like they are dancing. They can be found often on Ebay but are really, really expensive. And there are a ton of fakes out there, cheap recasts from China and elsewhere, so be careful when buying these beauties.

The fourth incarnation - although I don't see how anyone can top either the old-school wonder of the first version or the beautiful, sleek forms created by Diaz - were released in 2008:

They have retained the sleekness of the Diaz sculpts, but have become a bit more evil than alluring. Not bad, but only third on my list of the daemonette sculpts. Along witht hem came some new fluff:
"Daemonettes are Slaanesh's Lesser Daemons and the most numerous of all his servants. Possessed of the hypnotic glamour for which all Daemons of Slaanesh are abhorred, they are vicious, merciless fighters who attack with astounding speed and grace."

Anyways, I guess GW will release a new version within the next few years and I do hope they retain the sleekness, graceful and alluring look.

Hope you enjoyed reading this short history on my favourite daemons - if I've left anything out I would love to know about it!

All the best,

Kasper

Blood Bowl Daemonettes: Gristlewhip joins The Fifty Shades of Purple (X)

Hello all,
As you may remember I've collected and painted one each of the old daemonettes made by games Workshop back when they still did the best stuff on the scene. Now, Gristlewhip alone had escaped my clutches (read my torment here :-)), but in the end she was caught and dragged into service.
So, with great pleasure I can present mrs. Gristlewhip, and with her a complete team:

Not my favourite of the daemons, but among the better of the sculpts - really like the stocking and her face. The entire team will be up as soon as I receive the new photo studio and give it a test run.

All the best,
Kasper

Arkward, the Slaaneshi Minotaur - MM42 Minotaur C (1990)

Hello all,

I managed to paint another miniature! 

This time it was another of my re-discovered old lead from some 25 years ago. I must say I really enjoy re-painting these minis - I get the funniest flashbacks to the younger me who painted these (badly) so many years ago.

The backstory for this chap is that, as is evident from pictures, he is quite vertically challenged. The bully from his childhood, the mighty Doomroar, always picked on Arkward. This led the poor minotaur to seek ways of gaining a few inches. One night, Slaanesh answered the roars of the bull and gave him a fine set of lenghty horns, colour coded, of course. Arkward's newfound pride was met with ridicule by the other minotaurs, Doomroar even dragged him to the herdstone by the horns and chained him there, to be laughed at and insulted for sixteen days. Once this period was over, Arkward was thrown out of the herd and had to seek out the god who had 'blessed' him. He was promised a true size increasing drugs in return for yet undisclosed services to the young god. Since then Arkward has waited, somewhat patiently and slightly confused, for instructions as to how he can serve and when he will be more like his hero, the bully Doomroar.

This is a MM42 Marauder Miniatures Minotaur C. Released back in 1990, and sculpted by Aly and Trish Morrison (I think?).

The initial release was done in White Dwarf and by this, sorta pathetic, drawing as was the sutom back then for Maurauder Miniatures.

Source: http://www.solegends.com/marauder/mm42minotaurs.htm

It is a fun little sculpt - a bit potbellied and with absolutely no viciousness about it. Looks more like a docile cow who happened to find an axe and is now wondering what to do with it :-).

But a fun paint-job nonetheless and I tried to give it a few subtle (and not so subtle) signs that it has chosen, or been chosen, for a life serving the Chaos God, Slaanesh. I still have to figure out what would make a minotaur choose Slaanesh, but I figure inspiration will strike me sometime soon :-).

I'm still testing the use of these backgrounds (found scattered across the internet), but I like them so far. Still need to figure out how to overlap them.

Anyways, thanks for stopping by and all the best,
Kasper

Melty, the Nurgle Troll - TSR 1983 Troll B 5305

Hello all,
Finally finished the Nurgle Troll. Bought as a "Mud Golem", it turned out to be an old (1983) TSR sculpt of a Troll (Nicknamed B 5305). It is a rough sculpt - few details except from the face and the few that are there, are all very melted. Thus, with all the boils, wounds and what I itnerpreted to be molted skin, I've decided that this is none other than Melty, the Nurgle Troll:

The face is brutal and I do love the un-dressed nature of this troll - doesn't seem likely that he would put on a pair of trousers before having his picture taken.

Might just be the largest nose I've ever seen on a mini :-). I guess he has been eternally cursed/blessed by the fickle Chaos Gods to pick up every last pit of his body odour...

The sculptor seems to have gone for some melted skin - I took this as recently flayed skin and applied some tamiya blood tot he wounds.

While the mini is a rather crude sculpt, this also meant it was a quick and fun paintjob - and now we have a dangerous, smelly, troll rampaging around our house :-).


All the best,
Kasper

Orc Boar Rider General - sans boar...

Hello all,

One of the miniatures languishing in the big box of unpainted lead I recently found, was a rather brutal looking orc. I didn't plan on painting him but he sort of demanded my attention and snuck into the painting queue and this was the result:

I didn't know what type of orc he was, but witht he help of some friendly Oldhammerers over on Oldhammer Forum, I've found out that he is actually a Boar Rider 0505, and a General no less. That explains his aggresive looks.

He was designed by Kev Adams sometime before 1988 where he appears in the Citadel Catalogue (http://www.solegends.com/citcat1988/0505orcs-01.htm). Later he reappears as a more non-descript "Orc with Sword 3" (http://www.solegends.com/citcat19912/c20174gruntassnortas-00.htm). In both cases there is no name supplied.

Must admit that although he should have had a boar between them legs (sounds wrong) he turned out all right - I've given him a purplish colouring in order to make him fit with the Slaaneshi warband I've got planned.

The sculpt is in some places great (the shoulder pad and face are wicked) and a bit lacking in others (no details on the heft of the sword), but all in all he was great fun to paint and will be the leader of any future greenskins who decide to see what all the fuss with Slaanesh is about.

Thanks for looking! So anyone got any fancy ideas for what I should name this boar-lacking General?

All the best,
Kasper

Sexy Amazons Army - the most Sexy Pin-Up style Amazons Army?!?

Hello all,
So while trawling Kickstarter and Indiegogo and wondering just how many BloodBowl teams can get funded at the same time (answer: lots!), I stumbled upon something that made me laugh. And giggle a lot!

Now, don't get me wrong, I like well proportioned female minis and find them a pleasure to paint, but this project on Indiegogo just seems like a joke.

So - without discussing the dangers of giving a ton of money to company which (as far as I can determine) has never really produced miniatures at a large scale nor presents a single example of the minis they wish to get funding for - their drawings seem to have transcended "sexy", even "sexy pin-up style", and entered the realm of the pornographic jokes.
Judge for yourself:

Poledancing is a viable combat technique

 And another, even better equipped, amazon:

"Must dance for the enemy"

 Now, I know women have often been given less than sensible armour to cater to the male players, but the strips of leather (latex?) on these makes me giggle.

More concepts - the one in the middle is the "best" so far...

Anyways, I agree there needs to be something sexy about an Amazon army, but this is just silly and I can't imagine the level of sillyness an entire army of these poledancing warriors would present.
Anyone wishing to buy these "ladies" can go here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sexy-amazons-army-miniforge--2...

I ddon't really think "the most Sexy Pin-Up style Amazons Army" will ever get funded, but who knows and I respect them for their efforts, the concept is just a bit (no, a lot) too far from good taste for me.

All the best,
Kasper

TSR 1983 Troll B 5305 - almost done...

Hello all,
Remember that weird, so-called Mud Golem I accidentally bought on Ebay? Well it is almost done and it has been fun painting it.
 

The 'Nurgle' Troll with some of his friends in the painting queue...

Well there are almost no crisp details and some weird sculpted stuff but it was so interesting it jumped ahead in the painting queue.

Just needs some work on the base (I couldn't bring myself to remove the old solid base, so chopped up a GW base and inserted the old mini) and perhaps something it has torn apart on the base...

A lot better than it used to look:

All the best,
Kasper