Monday 6 January 2020

From TamsinP: 28mm Orcs Invade Millsy's Millpond (70 Points)


Venturing inland from Sander's Sand Dunes, my next stop is Millsy's Millpond. Luckily, I had some very old minis knocking around. I did start painting them in the summer, but didn't like the scheme so went back over them with black through the airbrush. I'm much happier with how these have come out.





I think I did make a bit of a mistake when I tried shading the skin tones using a reddish-purple glaze in the recessed areas - it desaturated and darkened a lot of the mid tones. I'll have to remember that if I ever paint Orcs again.

For non-afficionados, these brutes are early '80s Citadel armoured orcs which I had bought sometime around 1982-1984, most likely from Gamleys (a chain of high street toy shops in the South East of England. There was one in my hometown. Downstairs was mainly cuddly toys and stuff like that; upstairs was the treasure trove - Airfix kits and figures, the plastic Britains stuff, Tamiya and Revell model kits, Action Man, Subuteo, various goodies, paints and around that time a rack of Citadel figures). They were originally bought for D&D but only ever reached the stage of being roughly primed with white Humbrol enamel paint. They sat for decades in a box in my old bedroom until I recovered them while clearing out my dad's house after he died.


For scoring:
4 x 28mm foot @ 5 = 20 points
Millsy's Millpond = 30 points
pre-1990 figure bonus = 10 points
Back story = 10 points

Total = 70 points

Guess I'd better update my journey map quickly:


Next stop - a trip by balloon.

***
Wow, another Millpond Classic(TM) - it is great to see some old figs getting attention and paint.  Nothing like being preserved for decades under some white primer and then emerging into the fun of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! These orcs look great Tamsin, ready to interrupt a party of intrepid dungeon explorers and cause mayhem. 

That will be another 70 points for Tamsin. Excellent brushwork as always, Tamsin, and we await to see your next destination on the Challenge Island map!

GregB



14 comments:

  1. Great work on these old skool orcs Tamsin. I love the metal effects.

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  2. Oh wow, I love these old Citadel classics, Tamsin. Great work on the skintone and armour. I've always liked those Greenskins with their left legs demurely extended. Reminds me of a few of the goblins Meier did for Ral Partha back in the late 70s.

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  3. More old Skool Boyz... it is clear that our cupboards are filled with long forgotten shiny things. Excellent work Tamsin

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  4. The Lady Sarah’s Balloon Service is looking forward to picking up Top Flight Attendant Tamsin and flying her to her next stop on Challenge Island.
    The cocktail lounge will be featuring an open bar and the catering menu has an abundance of gourmet treats to enjoy.
    Up Up and Away 🎈

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  5. Smashing old sculpts and lovely work on them!

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  6. Nice looking green skins Tamsin.

    Christopher

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  7. These are great figures and the paint job is excellent! I actually quite like the way the skintone turned out. Can I also say that your photographs are really good too? Looking forward to the next entry!

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  8. There's just a certain character to older models that a lot of newer minis are lacking. Congratulations on getting these finished after so long in storage.

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  9. Lovely looking geriatric orcs,excellent painting!
    Best Iain

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  10. @ Greg - thanks! I think these boys deserved to get painted after waiting so long :)

    @ Peter D - cheers! The metals did come out quite well :)

    @ Curt - thanks! It is a classic pose from that era :)

    @ Benito - cheers! I do have a few other figures from that era, but I ditched most of the collection :(

    @ Lady Sarah - mines a mojito when I hop aboard! :)

    @ Jamie M - thanks! :)

    @ Christopher S - cheers! :)

    @ Emjenic - thanks! The transitions on the skin tone were much smoother before I decided to glaze some purple into the recesses; now it looks a bit too stark a difference between the shadows and highlights - the mid-tones have gone :(

    @ Peter A - cheers! :)

    @ Stuart L - thanks! They certainly have character :)

    @ Iain - cheers! :)

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  11. @ Barks - cheers! The eyes screamed out (to me at least) to be done like that. :)

    @ Will - thanks! :)

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