From TeemuL: New Wave of British (and American) Heavy Metal [Rare and Antique Books] (142 points)

Snowlord being the avid fan of heavy metal music (including Anvil from Canada) he asked me to dig up some old metal minis from my collection and paint them as the Rare and Antique Books entry. And here we go, starting with the rather fresh British metal minis. Warmaster was released in 2000 and these minis are from that time, they are not necessarily antique for some, but they are quite rare as the whole game and the miniatures have been long gone without new prints or reprints or relaunches. Which is kind of strange, because I have heard that the ruleset is generally quite well liked, being in the top 3 ruleset by GW with Blood Bowl and LotR.

Two Challenges ago I painted some archers and cavalry, this time I decided to paint the rest of the bowskeletons. I had minis for three command bases and for one regular base (I painted three regular previously), but that's what you get when painting second hand minis. I followed my recipe from the first batch, painting mainly with Citadel Contrasts. The red bows were of course a must and as green goes well with red, it has been used in banners and shields (and bases, naturally). What clothes they have are purple/pink.

There are quite a lot of skulls, both sculpted and painted. There are 32 skeletons in total and 29 have their head visible enough to claim it as a skull. There are six more sculpted skulls in the banner poles and shields, that's 35. And then 14 hand painted in shields and banners. I decided to paint 1, 2 and 3 skulls in the banners to differentiate them. What other symbol would the skeletons use other than skull? 49 skulls in total.

Some skulls

Let's get to the real era of NWOBHM, the 1980s! Here we have a Roque Trader era Space Marine Dreadnought Deredeo class from 1987, when they were modestly priced at £3,50. I paid a bit more when I bought this one in January, but I still consider it as a bargain.

I decided to paint this one as Howling Griffon to join my small force of 2nd Space Marines (I know some like to paint them as Blood Angels, but I decided to paint something more colourful). It was rather easy to paint (to this level), just blocking the base colours and then Reikland Flesh Shade wash before one or two highlights. Yes, it is basically just red, yellow and black. I could have gone wild and paint every detail in different colour, but I wanted him to be recognized as a Howling Griffon so decided not to.

The base is a "modern" size 60mm MDF base from Warbases, so I could actually use him in the modern games. I just need to find out what his guns are before devastating the enemy units. :)

The early design shows, the model is very round in every way and there are not really any places to add chapter heraldy. I found a small plate on his left shoulder and painted a logo there and another Roman 1 on the front to give him some details. I'm quite happy with the eyes, too. And no skulls...

Then we move over the pond. Grenadier miniatures was an American company, producing a wide range of minis. Here I present two oldies from their collection. First Grenadier Julie Guthrie's Personalities II 8120 Berserker in Wolf Skin, which I investigated, tracked and recognized after painting him, so he is wearing a brown spotted yellow wolf skin, typical for the fantasy land he is from...

Berserker and prince

Next one is a prince, who was available at least with two different codes, Grenadier A301 King and Princes Prince or Fantasy Lords Second Series 010 King & Princes Prince. A Prince nevertheless. I went with quite colourful outfit for him, a stylish prince.

Fighter, Thied and Third One

Ral Partha was another American miniature company, they made a huge range of RPG minis for AD&D and others. Here is a modest selection of them. The first two are Ral Partha AD&D Player Characters and I suspect the third one is as well, but I haven't found her anywhere from the online catalogues. The ones I did recognize are 11-001 Fighter with 2-handed Sword in Banded Mail (female) and 11-005 Thief with Shortsword & Sling in Leather (female). The third one is very similar in style, has similar base etc, but I haven't found her true identity yet.

Knight

And the last one for this entry is a Ral Partha knight, there's 1984 on his base, but unfortunately I have not recognized him either, although I'm quite sure he is a knight of some sort. I guess swords are quite popular weapons of knights in entertainment industry, but he has a mace. Probably quite handy bashing other knights in full armour. I chose a simple yellow cloak for him.

Six adventurers, very inexperienced - no skulls!

The problem with this entry is that I'm currently in the Sci-Fi section, so one of the three ladies needs to guide me by Lady Sarah's Library Cart from unfinished section to Rare and Antique Books.

32 10mm skeletons 32 points

1 28mm vehicle 20 points

6 28mm humnas 30 points

Sarah's Cart 20 points

Rare and Antique Books location 40 points

Total 142 points

49 skulls

The second to last map

_________________________________________

Haha! Brilliant work for your Rare and Antique challenge, Teemu. 

What's not to love about this post? Old school Warmaster, vintage metal 40K Deredeo dreadnought,  Grenadier stuff from Julie Guthrie and Ral Partha no less. Wow. It's like a walk down memory lane. So awesome. I have to say that of all of them I have to go with the Warmaster skellies - their riotous colours are just terrific (and I love the hand painted banner).

Well done, Teemu. 

- Curt

PS: BTW, I quite dislike Anvil... ;)

From TomL: Edna & HPL (55 points)

Taking one last ride on the Library cart, we present Edna, High priestess of Bastet (retired) and her clowder.

 

 

Edna the Cat Lady is from Reaper miniatures and comes with a clowder of 7 cats. One of mine decided to hide - probably with the two HF female wizards who went walk about week 3.

She brings us to final room of our trip through the AHCP Library - the Rare & Antique section.  What can be more rare than a book that shouldn't exist? Of course we refer to the Book of the Dead, the Necronomicon, a book of unspeakable horror that good old Howard Phillips Lovecraft just couldn't stop dreaming of...

Dancing to appease the eldritch horrors being entreated, several consecrated dancers pour forth their life essence as they whirl madly in front of ever-changing glistening amorphous pipers. Listening to the crazed HPL is a summoned Night-gaunt, ready to carry his mad request of conquest and revenge to the ancient ones. Will the heroes arrive in time to stop him? 

  

My offerings have been accepted!

Edna, & HPL (Bears Head Miniatures) were painted using Foundry & Two Thin Coats acrylics. The night-gaunt (RAFM) was painted using a mix of Vallejo metallic color shifting paints.

So ends an incredibly fun painting journey through the inspiring Library.  Points are 55 (library cart, Rare books and 3 28mm figures).  Many thanks to Millsy for his dedicated minioning and comments. Now to see if I can finish what remains partially painted on the desk before the end.

From Millsy: What a great way to round out your Challenge for the year Tom (unless you find time for something else)! I've really enjoyed all your female minis but I think Edna may be the best of the lot. She looks like she means business with that walking stick and I really like your palette, especially the yellow skirt and pink/green hatbox(?). I have that night gaunt mini in my collection, painted in a similar vein but I much prefer the effect you've achieved on the underside of the wings to my efforts. Thanks for your comments mate, I've thoroughly enjoyed you work! 

From FrederickC - One Last Visit to the Library [Sarah's Library Cart][Travel][Rare & Antique Book] (127 points)

It has been two weeks since my last submission, and there is now only a week to go. Things got rather hectic around here, and painting time has been at a premium. It hasn't helped that my PC decided to pack it in. 😒 I still have a larger project that I hope to finish before the clock runs out, but I thought I would complete the last of my library challenges first.

First up are two female troopers from the Eurasian Solar Union by Ground Zero Games. I picked these up off eBay years ago with plans to add them to the mix of various manufactures that I painted up as my planetary militia. I have done of few of these for a previous challenge, and I used the same colour scheme using Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes. I will use these two to buy a quick round trip to the upper level of the rotunda.

 While on the rotunda's upper level I will complete the 'Travel' challenge with a 54mm figure of a Seven Year's War Prussian Musketeer. This was a gift from a friend back in the 90s who had started casting his own figures and gave me one. It came in five pieces - head, hands holding his musket, remainder of body, sword, and base. After assembly the figure was primed grey using a rattle can, and then painted with Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes.  The travel connection is to a trip I took with my father and two brothers to Potsdam in 2001 as part of what I like to call the "In the Footsteps of the Ancestors" Pilgrimage. My father had been working on a definitive family history since his retirement, and I felt it was important to actually visit some of the places where my forefathers had lived. One of them had been Chaplain-General of the Prussian Army under 'The Soldier King' and 'Frederick the Great'. He was also the Garrison Preacher in Potsdam, and Chaplain to Infantry Regiment von Glasenapp. I painted up the figure as a musketeer of that regiment.

Sanssouci Palace

Frederick the Great's grave marker

Statue of Frederick the Great in Potsdam

 

Back on the ground level again, my final stop is the 'Rare & Antique Books' section. I presented a trio of possible projects to the Snow Lord, and while he thought the first two appealed to him more on a personal level, all were considered appropriate. So what I have is a 40mm flat made of some silver coloured plastic of a German soldier on parade that was part of a group of toy soldiers that my father had as a boy prior to the Second World War. I have vague memories of a group of marching soldiers, a band, and a Panzer I tank. I don't know what became of these figures in the end, but at some point they were no more. All that remained in my possession was one marching soldier that had broken off its base. I drilled holes in the bottoms of the feet, mounted it on a wooden base, and built up the missing parts of his boots with epoxy putty. As with the other figures in this submission, it was painted with Vallejo acrylics and Citadel washes.

 

Thus concludes my peregrination through the Challenge Library - nineteen sections and two library carts. Now to see if I can complete my last big project in time.

 "People were stupid, sometimes. They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was that simple fact that it was a library."

 - Terry Pratchett, "Guards! Guards!'

 

The points being claimed are as follows

 

2 x 28mm foot figures @ 5 points each = 10 points

 

1 x 40mm foot figure @ 7 points each = 7 points

 

1 x 54mm foot figure @ 10 points each = 10 points

 

1 x Library 'Travel' section @ 20 points = 20 points

 

2 x Sarah's Library Cart @ 20 points each = 40 points

 

1 x 'Rare & Antique Books' @ 40 points = 40 points 

Sylvain: Your posts are always very informative to read. Your brush work on these miniatures is "upper class" if I may say so. I'm sure a few strikes with a hammer will convince your computer to behave. Great submission!

From TomL: Biography & Cooking, 80 points

Bringing us to the next two sections in the final room via the library cart are two more May queen dancers. These were also painted using Foundry skin triads, ProAcrylic whites, Vallejo Ivory and several contrast paints for the wreaths.

 

 

 

That sickle looks rather sharp...

 

Now in the biography section, we present a deceased former ruler of a East Asian country. 

Leader Looking At Flowers

This is another Hasslefree miniature I picked up for no reason I can remember back in 2014. He was painted using Foundry acrylics.

The final general section of the library we will visit is the Cooking section. Leading us there is our final May Queen dancer:

And a shot of all the may queen dancers together...

Next we present the efforts of a tireless Goblin cook preparing some fresh seafood for the unworthy masses. He is eagerly using his new Necromancer Magic Cookbook, "The joy of cooking really fresh meat". Of course properly aged meat can still be used for an accent...

This rather large 32mm Goblin model was originally from Magnificent Egos but is now sold by Valiant Miniatures. A wonderfully dynamic model it needed a bit of putty work to assemble. This is a friends model I am painting for a Goblin oriented D&D campaign. At some point the left arm was lost and I had to improvise with a plastic human one. Bit of sanding, some glue painted on to soften the lines and he is good as new with a book! It was painted using Vallejo metals, Foundry & Two Thin Coats acrylics and Pro Acrylics Fluorescent paints. 

Points: 80

4 28mm figures @ 5 = 20
Library cart - 20
Biography - 20
Cooking - 20 

1 Skull (and crossbones).

From Millsy: Whilst your "similar to but legally distinguishable from" Asian leader made me laugh, the pick of this post is the goblin. What a wonderfully dynamic and characterful sculpt that is! He's beautifully painted too Tom and will be a real centrepiece for your D&D campaign.

From TomL: Oversized & Selfhelp (115 points)

Bringing us to the next two sections in the final room of the AHCP via the library cart are two May dancers from Crooked Dice Miniatures.  These were painted using Foundry skin triads, ProAcrylic whites, Vallejo Ivory and contrast paints for the wreaths.

 

 

 

Surely such an innocent, wholesome maiden can be trusted?

 

First section we reach this post is the Oversized Books where things that are better when bigger are located.  We present a really big stompy robot whose cares where he stomps - the Iron Giant.

This 107 mm tall fast food toy was cleaned, molded copy right and advertising scrapped off and superfluous stickers removed.  A few coats of various shades of grey with the airbrush, grey brown on the recesses, fluorescent yellow eyes and some battle damage on his head and he was complete.

Guiding us to the next section is another fair May dancer.

We all can use some help in life.  What can be more helpful than centering yourself and working on your enlightenment in this busy noisy world?  

These Pulp Figures monks were painted using Two Thin Coat paints and Foundry skin triads. The larger wooden Buddha I inherited from my grandfather. I am not a Buddhist but I have always thought it looked best surrounded by plants.

Points: 115. Millsy, I'm guessing at the points for the Iron Giant so correct as needed.  The Ho scale kids & scenery were completed for one of my son's school projects long ago. 

Library Cart - 20 pts
Oversized Books - 20 points
Self-help - 20 points
7 28mm figures @ 5 - 35 points
1 107mm figure - 20 points [Millsy - sounds about right!]

From Millsy: I reckon by now you must have the largest collection of female miniatures of any challenger Tom. The May dancers are wonderfully characterful and I can see them both as NPC types for flavour or as protagonists e.g. cultists. The giant is a big guy but a simple paint job so let's score him like a 28mm vehicle. Great work!