eBay: THE Citadel Giant, 2021 edition

 Holy Deep Pockets, Batman! Someone shelled out $1,600 GBP ($2,270.64 USD) for this complete in box copy of THE Citadel Giant. I mean, just look at it. All the pieces, unpainted, unassembled and in the original box. Color me jealous, for sure. And since we're talking about a miniature (heh) that is nearly 40 years old, limited to 1,000 models, and originally sold for $25-30 GBP, this is just going to keep going up, up, up in price.

Congrats to the new owner, I'm sure this bad boy will be a centerpiece in your collection.

Clear Acrylic Base Saves The Day (And The Mini)

My fantasy miniatures have always been game pieces, to be handled and used from one campaign to the next. Some of my favorite minis are 30 to 40 years old, and have seen extensive use. And while it's true I've always been protective of my lead, and have given my friends truckloads of grief over the years whenever they dropped or knocked one over, I don't blame them for most of the damage. I blame the manufacturers! A lot of old school lead have ridiculously tiny bases. Citadel is one of the worst offenders, and a lot of their pre-slotta minis suffered from this issue. One of my favorite old elves is FA14v1 Elven Hero with Sword. But his base is so tiny, he might as well have been sculpted in the prone position. Another favorite, FA1v1 Fighter in Plate Mail with Sword, was constantly toppling over. In fact, he fell over so often that he was the first figure I ever attempted to re-base. All I did was glue a small washer to the bottom of his base, but it sure kept him from tipping over every time the table was bumped.

But what I didn't like about the washer solution is that in my eyes, it just didn't look right. Not aesthetically pleasing. In the mid to late 70s and early 80s, I wasn't educated at all about miniatures beyond the basics (paint with enamel paints, boom, done). Sure, later in life I finally learned intermediate and advanced painting techniques, how to customize a mini, and how to make cool bases.

So my problem was what to do with my vintage lead that had been lovingly painted or re-painted in some cases. I want to use them in games, but I don't want to see my work slowly erased, one chip at a time. And that's where Green Stuff World's clear acrylic bases enter the picture. They currently come in round, hex, and oval shapes, with sizes ranging from 25mm to 55mm in clear, blue, and red. I would like to see them in squares too, but for now these will do.

I glued a Grenadier wight and a couple of old Reaper skeletons to some round 25mm bases as a test. And let me tell you, they all passed the test! Just don't glue too close to the outside edges of the mini's base, at least if you are using glue that doesn't dry clear. I'm really looking forward to adding these clear bases to a bunch of minis that really need the support, especially my hordes of Heritage Dungeon Dwellers. I'll post more pics down the road as I make progress with this project.

What do you think? I'm happy. My goal was to get more minis on the table, without causing unnecessary damage to them. And I also wanted to save time, because I really didn't want to spend the time gluing them into recessed bases, building up the voids with filler, and finishing them with sand, grass, rocks, etc. and painting the bases. These clear acrylic bases look great, and I only need to glue each mini to the base. A great solution, and in my opinion, great results.

eBay: THE Citadel Giant

DISCLAIMER: This is not my auction, I but thought it was worth noting.

This auction appears to be (and the reason I say appears to be is because I do not see any pics of the contents) for a complete, NIB Citadel Giant. You know, THE Citadel Giant. The starting bid is $850 USD and there is already a bid on this huge hunk of lead. Makes me wonder if any other deep-pocketed collectors are going to join the fray?

Citadel C28 Fire Giant aka Darth Maul

I do love the Citadel C28 line of giants. There are 9 different bodies, 10 heads, and 8 weapons according to the CCM wiki, so it offers the discerning collector a chance to mix and match to their heart's content. As soon as I had this particular C28 giant in my hands, I knew exactly what it was going to be: I give you Darth Maul, fire giant.

I mean, come on, how could I NOT paint this guy up as a fire giant with red head spikes? I briefly toyed with the notion of giving him some red face paint, but quickly decided against it. It's OK to use Darth Maul as a creative inspiration, but I didn't need to go all the way.

Darth didn't come with a weapon, so I made him a placeholder axe out of various bits. The haft is way too long, so the proportions are out of whack. But it will do for now until I am able to replace it with something more suitable (I think the C28 sword or mace would do just fine).

You can see some nicely painted C28 giants on Orclord's SOL page (along with a veritable treasure trove of giants and many, many other creatures).

DragonTooth GI-6, Big Meg and Her Stewpot

It's been way too long since I finished a project, much less one of my favorite subjects - DragonTooth giants. Last time I finished a DT giant was back in 2012, so I'm a bit overdue. Big Meg has been sitting on the workbench since 2010, when I picked her up in a nice lot of giants. I was working on her and a repaint of my Ral Partha 11-488 Cyclops over the past several weeks, so it was nice to finish not just one but two (two!) projects. I know that's peanuts compared to some of you more dedicated painters, but it's progress for me.

What can I say about Meg? How about she's so ugly she's beautiful. Her face is kinda flat and broad, with one bug eye and a single snaggly tooth. Her limbs are thick and beefy, and Sir Mix-A-Lot would be a fan of her rear end and then some. Tom Loback was such a wonderful artist, so good at adding life and character to inanimate bits of lead. Big Meg has that "it factor" in spades, at least in my opinion.

Painting her presented a new challenge for me, as she is of course nearly naked. I don't think I've ever painted this much bare flesh on any miniature, much less one this large. Lots of creases, folds, and random dimples to deal with. I was trying to achieve a pale, pasty complexion, with dirt and grime in the appropriate areas, as I picture Meg hanging out in a cave lair. That explains why her feet are dirty, from scuffling around her cave, hunched over a cooking fire, tending her stew.

She has a unibrow. Hawt!

Why did I paint her stew green? I don't know, isn't all giant stew green? Actually, it was purely for aesthetic reasons. It was the only place I thought a pop of color would look appropriate, and the stew in Conan the Barbarian (remember the orgy scene where they kidnap the princess?) was kind of a sickly whitish-greenish glop, so that was my inspiration. The only non-OEM part on Meg is the stewpot handle. I fashioned mine out of wire, as the ones I made out of Green Stuff and Milliput both proved to be too brittle and broke.

And here's a picture with both of my completed DT giants side-by-side. I would hate to run into these two, although I could totally picture them in The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. Such a cute couple!

So Hrugnir, Big Meg, and Cumulus walk in to a bar...

I could have also titled this post "Third Time's A Charm" as I missed out on adding Hrugnir the two previous occasions I have seen him up for auction. This time, fate & fortune have smiled upon me and I am now the proud owner of my very own Hrugnir! It always helps when the auction doesn't specifically mention relevant details like "DragonTooth" or "Hrugnir" anywhere in the listing, and the auction title is "Vintage Dungeons and Dragons Metal Figure, HUGE Giant" or something similarly generic and non-specific.

Last time Hrugnir surfaced, he was paired with Cumulus and they sold for $224.50. Just the kind of auction I look for, but it was too pricey for my budget. And before that, this Hrugnir sold for $119.50. Just the figure I was looking for, but once again, too rich for my blood. Don't get me wrong, $55.26 is still a LOT of money for a single miniature, but I'm quite pleased that my Hrugnir only cost me about half the going rate.

Well, time to send Hrugnir off to his much-needed bath in paint stripper. While he soaks, I will ponder things like basing options and potential paint schemes. He and Big Meg (still languishing on my bench) both deserve the royal treatment, much like my GI5 Horned Hill Giant project.

For those of you curious about Hrugnir's dimensions, I must say that he is truly a big-ass hunk of lead goodness. He tips the scales at a whopping 1 pound 11 ounces (760g)! He stands 3.25" tall, 2.75" wide, and 1.5" deep. His base is 2.25" wide by 1" deep.

David Sutherland's DragonTooth Saurians

It has never been a collecting goal of mine to acquire miniatures painted by other artists. I always figured I would paint minis for myself and for my group, and that was that. And then two years ago, that all changed when I received Asmodai, painted by Ron Saikowski. Having a mini in my collection with a story behind it and a paper trail (or at least electronic trail) makes it interesting, if only to me.

I still wouldn't say that I am actively seeking miniatures painted by others. However, if the right opportunity comes along, I am always willing to consider it. Such is the case with today's feature:

Lean mean fighting machines.

Old-school leadheads will recognize these DragonTooth Saurians (SMC1 Saurian Mounted Champion on Giant Lizard) despite the fact they have been been partially to heavily modified. What's even cooler is that they are products of the skill and imagination of legendary fantasy artist David C. Sutherland III. And it's possible that at least one of this trio is modeled after a rather famous illustration from the Holmes Blue Book seen here:

Colored by yours truly back in the day.

Art imitating art.

It is also possible that the picture was based on the miniature, but I don't know how we could verify that unless someone who knew David was able to chime in. The single horn is unique to the mini, and the rider is sitting in a more upright position. But the polearm and quiver of javelins (complete with skull) are clearly depicted in both print and on lead.

At first glance, they appear to be nicely-painted minis. Upon closer inspection, though, the attention to detail and skill becomes apparent. Each rider carries a unique polearm. Each lizard has a horn or horns sprouting from their heads. Skulls dangle from the horns. The riders hold hand-made reins. Various weapons are slung on the riders and/or their mounts. And there's even some bling in the form of tiny gems here and there. David used drafting pens to accentuate scales to varying degrees on the lizards, as well as on the shields and other bits. You can also see the letter S scribed on a few bits. Is that S for Sutherland, or S for Saurian? I'll go with Sutherland.

It gives me great joy to have these three miniature works of art as the centerpiece(s) of my collection. I hope that David's family would approve that they have passed from one collector to another, and that they will continue to be treasured and cared for.

DragonTooth Giant - Finished!

It has been brought to my attention that it's been nearly a month since my last post. Has it been that long? I hadn't noticed...honest! To get things rolling again, I give you (hold your breath) a completed project (gasp!):

This is the end result of a project that started two years ago when I purchased this fella along with some of his giant brethren for a song. I really wanted to do this one justice, give him some oomph, so to speak. But how? Basically, it came down to his base - I wanted the PERFECT base to mount him on, as the integrated base he came mounted on was less than ideal.

So began my long search for the perfect base. It had to be something special, as I wasn't crazy about his stock pose - he's leaning over a bit too far for my liking, even if he's likely about to mash some poor fighter with his massive tree trunk club. I did a LOT of searching, combing through base after base on the intertubes until I finally found what I was looking for. I really like Secret Weapon Miniatures, having purchased some bases for my Dark Angels army previously. MisterJustin and his crew do a bang-up job and are a pleasure to work with.

Now that I had a base, it was down to work. Snipping away the old lead base was fairly easy - I just needed to take my time and cut slowly and carefully. It took more time to file down the bottoms of his boots than to cut off the original base. Then it was time to fit him for pins and do some drilling. Once that was done, it was on to priming and painting.

My goal was to give him that old-school high fantasy look - I wanted him to look like something you might find in a DragonTooth ad, circa 1979 or so. Taking my modest painting skills into consideration, I have to say I'm very pleased with the final outcome.

This pic shows the entire mini, from the base to the tip of his club. That's about 4.5 inches, or 11.5 cm total.

And here he is, ready for his close-up.

The next couple of pics show him from various angles:

Hopefully it's obvious why I chose this base for him. The climbing pose is spot-on, with plenty of room for his loot bag in tow.

Next, I tackle my other DT giant - Big Meg and her stewpot. Hopefully this one gets done in less than two years! Thanks for stopping by, and don't hesitate to leave a comment.

Lead Market Report - December 2011

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 was a good year for you and your collections, and may 2012 bring you yet more miniature metal goodness. To kick off the new year, we'll finish off withe December, which proved to be fairly brisk all things considered.

CITADEL: Those cool C28 giants always seem to pop up over in the UK. One seller sold a nice assortment of the big uglies, arranged highest to lowest price: this one looks familiar - I'm pretty sure it was also found in the Tragedy of McDeath scenario pack ($35); this one has the cool 'Darth Maul' head ($26); this one has the eyepatch & nose ring (?) head ($22); your basic cyclops giant ($22); oversized goblin head with leather cap ($22); topknot head giant ($20); and finally giant with massive hammer and head trophies ($20).

There was another run of AD&D loose minis: an Owlbear ($10), three Orcs ($4, $5, $5), four drow ($5, $5, $5, $6), a hobgoblin ($6), and a lone kobold ($6).

A couple of Star Trek ships appeared on the scope: a pair of Birds of Prey that sold for $52, and that Klingon workhorse, the D-7 Battlecruiser that went for $38. It isn't Citadel, but I'll lump this Romulan Bright One ($30) in with the previous two, just because I can.

DARK HORSE: The TMNT blisters continue to see action in the $20 to $40+ range of late. These Triceratons sold for $40, while The Foot and Mousers sold for $20 and $21. I have to imagine the Mousers would have fetched more if they had not been missing Splinter and Shredder!

DRAGONTOOTH: This lot of assorted pieces from Ye Blind Cyclops Inn seems like a relative bargain at $27 - you'll see what I mean next month! How about not one but two dragons for less than $20 each? $17 for D76, and $15 for D79. Those are the kind of bargains that make me smile, and I wasn't even the buyer! For you big spenders, there was a sealed DE5 Winged Snake Demon for $57.

GAMES WORKSHOP: This lot of 9 Inquisitor models sold for $78, which seems about right considering individual models like this Artemis sold for $10.

GRENADIER: I'll start off Grenadier with a truly massive and rare model: Wizzards & Warriors Special #2, the Giant Griffin. I don't know what the going rate on lead is, but this worked out to $52/pound for this particular model (4.5 pounds that sold for $234). A very cool piece of Grenadier workmanship!

For Boxed Sets, let's look at a purchase of my own: the massive Goblin War Giant that I snapped up for a $50 BIN. I've been after this big fella for awhile now, so to find one that was complete, in box, and with paperwork for only $50 was a no-brainer for me. The Gold Line boxes continue to hold value, like this Tomb of Spells for $46 (yes, the Umber Hulk comes with both mandibles!) and this Dungeon Explorers for $30. It might be a Feathered Serpent Dragon in Shadowrun, but that's a Coutl if I've ever seen one! And for only $5.50, who cares what it's called?

$28 earned you a complete Frost Giant set from the Giants Club line (sans box and paperwork). I have to imagine those wee little antlers for the female frost giant get lost on a fairly regular basis. The Juggernaut went for $37, speaking of giant (sized) models. The LOTR sets, especially in shiny and complete-looking sets, still can go for good amounts of cash: Sauron's Dark Ones for $53. And for sets in the $20 or less range, there was this trio - a sealed Black Dragon II for $21 (nice), Elves Sinister for $18, and Women of Adventure for less than $17. The bargain set has to be this CL Gwydion the Wizard for just under $6.

Orcus usually commands around $10-$20, so to see one that went for only $3.33 was a bit of an oddity. Then again, he has been broken and repaired, so I'm guessing that had a lot to do with the low price. I REALLY like this fire giant model, but did not spend the $13 to acquire this particular piece.

Gamma World minis continue to hold their value. This lot sold for $104, right around $5 per figure. Even more affordable was this lot of 24 minis that went for $68, or a bit less than $3 per mini.

Lots - this substantial lot sold for $194, pretty good for 8 boxed sets that are complete or mostly complete. The Gamma World set surely drove the price up on this lot.

Perhaps the most unusual Grenadier item in December was this dragon pin with the Grenadier G that sold for a modest $15.50.

HEARTBREAKER: The Warzone boxed sets seem to be fairly rare, or at least uncommon. This set of Capitol Orca Battlesuits was less than $17, which seems like a good buy if you dig the Mutant Chronicles universe.

HERITAGE: The 75mm Lord of The Rings miniatures did a great job of capturing the look and feel of the 1978 animated movie by Ralph Bakshi. Did you know that Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) was the voice of Legolas? Neither did I until now. Anyhow, this trio of Aragorn, Legolas, and Galadriel sold for $31, so at $10 per figure, not a bad deal at all.

The Crypt of the Sorcerer is still high on people's must-have list, as this good-looking $90 example will attest to. And don't forget Star Trek - this 4 blister lot sold for $23 - I guess you only pull down the big bucks if you are selling the human personalities?

LEADING EDGE GAMES: "I'm Hudson. He's Hicks." Or was it the other way around? This box of heartbreakers and lifetakes sold for $40. "God I LOVE The Corps!"

MITHRIL: Mithril makes an appearance this month, thanks to a pair of blisters that sold for $52 each: M20 Hithaeglir, Orc Chief and M4 Mounted Riders of Rohan. Wonderful stuff from Ireland!

RAL PARTHA: Need to repair, upgrade, or customize your Mech? Not a problem if you won any or all of these parts packs: Heavy & Assault Mech Arms ($19), Light & Medium Mech Arms ($26), Missiles ($16), Shoulder Socket Weapons ($22), and Jumps Jets & Fins ($17). And another seller sold their Heavy & Assault Mech Arms for $26, some Light & Medium Mech Arms for $16, and Missiles for $25. Don't trust those cheap knockoff parts! Use only the best OEM Mech parts your credits can buy.

Blisters - We have an orange-carded Wolverine that sold for $26, a blue-carded Marauder II for $33, and a Warhammer IIC for $51. I'll never own a Warhammer at these prices!

Lots - From lowest to highest, we have this lot of 8 (including two Warhammers) for $76. A lot of 24 Mechs plus a bunch of smaller units sold for $161. This lot of 27 Mechs tallied $177.50, with this lot of 28 Mechs bringing in $177.85.

To end big (as in Museum Scale), there was my fav, the Atlas. $16 is what it took to bring home some big & stompy Mech goodness.

Box Sets - $16 seems like a decent buy for an almost-complete Red Dragon of Krynn (just needs the top of the head and lance). A complete Imperial Dragon sold for $58. Just give it a bath in Super Clean and you are ready to start over! For $7 less, you could have picked up this Imperial Dragon that was missing the instructions and certificate. You needed $81 to pick up The Great Red Dragon this time around. This nice-looking still-in-shrink copy of Dragon Mountain went for $52, while T'Char, the dragon of Flame & Fury sold for $41. The giant collector in me would have liked to have picked up this copy of Biilidum and The Ogre Marauders for $40, but I didn't pull the trigger. And Lord Soth turned up again, albeit incomplete. This Lord Soth's Charge (missing two riders) sold for $46.

AD&D blisters - The market seems to have softened a bit on the Peryton, as evidenced by this $36 example. The Council of Wyrms dragons, on the other hand, show no signs of slacking off. This Gold Dragon sold for $65. And Molydeus is still large and in charge, like this one for $57.

Lots - This lot of 1,000+ sold for $1,440 - I hope there was some good stuff in there! I would not have paid that much because there weren't enough pics to satisfy me. I need to know a little more if I were to drop that much coin on some lead. And if you needed a Roman army, you could have picked up this one for $190.

REAPER: DOOM Cyber Demon. $47. Fear him.

WEST END GAMES: I really wanted to snap up this lot, because $80 for 12 Star Wars boxed sets is such a crazy good bargain! That's less than $7 per box - congrats to whoever picked this lot up. You done good. The vehicle blisters continue to sell well for the most part, as evidenced by this Storm Skimmer for just under $24.

WIZARDS OF THE COAST: Here's a nice lot of Chainmail minis that sold for $81. I've been on the hunt for some of WOTC's other metal minis, but I'll probably pick up the Chainmail bug one of these days soon enough.

THUNDERBOLT MOUNTAIN: I don't know if figures are from the pirated Thunderbolt castings or the real deal from Manzakk, but I have them listed under TM because that is how they were listed on eBay. In any event, this half set cost $25.50.

TELL 'EM GARY SENT YA: Some more goodies from EGG's estate went up for sale and found new homes. Gary's Gen Con 11 "game worn" t-shirt? $184. A 1982 TSR Annual Report? $225. Need to send a hand-written memo? Do it in style, using Gary's own "From the desk of Gary Gygax" memo pad. 20 sheets set someone back $317. And if you want to party, it's gonna cost you: this lot of D&D party goods sold for $437!!! Don't spill your Mountain Dew on the tablecloth ;)

Rip Off? Knock Off? Or Fair Game?

In my time spent cruising lead listings on eBay, I've come across more than one seller peddling what appears to be cheap recasts of miniatures that are no longer in production. I use "cheap recasts" to describe the quality as viewed from the pics in the listings, which is not the same as holding one in my own hand, of course. Still, from what I can see in the pics, the level of detail looks anywhere from middling to downright shoddy.

Now, to be fair, the sellers are not attempting to pass off their versions as authentic, or even use the manufacturer's name or product lines or proper miniature name/ID. I'm just going to guess that they saw a mini they liked and started making copies of it.

What I think I'm getting at here is this: What are the legal and moral/ethical implications of making copies of miniatures that (again, I'm assuming) aren't their own or they are not the holder of the master molds or casting rights?

I'll be the first to admit that I have ZERO knowledge of how the miniatures industry functions from a business and legal standpoint. And I suppose when we are dealing with companies long since out of business (such as Superior Models, Inc.), and unknowns such as there whereabouts of master molds and who may or may not own the casting rights to any given line of miniatures, the waters become even muddier and more turbulent.

Perhaps it is just me, but selling copies of someone else's work just rubs me the wrong way. Or maybe since they don't even bother to give credit to the original artist or company, I suppose that chaps my hide too. Even if there is some sort of law that allows one to make copies of someone else's work, it still strikes me as lazy or cheap.

Case in point: I have seen this listing on ebay before, which is of course a copy of Superior Model's WL-006 Magic Master. The seller has over 17,000 transactions and a 99.6% feedback rating, so it's not some one-hit wonder. (Sidebar: if you read the negative and neutral feedback, the seller comes across as rather...rude?)

I contacted the seller via eBay Messaging and asked them this question: "I was just curious if these were made using the original Superior master molds, or are they cast from molds that you created? I can't tell from the photos if they have the same level of detail as the originals or not. Thank you!" to which they replied "as you know. molds burn out."

Hmm. OK. Thank you for NOT directly answering my question. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume this seller does not have the master molds or casting rights to WL-006, and is casting with his/her own homemade molds. Maybe it is of little or no concern because we are dealing with long-OOP miniatures from a defunct company. But if someone were to make cheap casts of something from Reaper, Iron Wind Metals, or Games Workshop, I don't think that would go over so well.

I guess it just really bothers me that people copy the work of others for their own personal profit.

Captain, there be DragonTooth giants!

How many of you recall reading Dragon magazine back in the day and some ad caught your fancy? For me, it was always the ones from DragonTooth miniatures. They typically featured a striking model, such as a dragon, giant, or griffin. There was just something very cool about these models - the sculpts just popped with personality.

Back in the late 70s and early 80s, young men without paper routes did not have a lot of disposable income to throw around at whatever minis they might have lusted after at the moment. Allowance usually lasted long enough to make the trek down the hill to the variety store or 7-Eleven, to be spent on 1/72nd scale models, Topps baseball cards, or health food such as candy bars, Slurpees, or Hostess baked goods. So all that cool D&D gear, ranging from modules to minis, was passed by, relegated to the "one day when I have lots of money I'll buy that (fill in the blank)." Heh...

Yesterday, a couple of my childhood desires finally arrived in my mailbox:


DragonTooth GI-5 Horned Hill Giant

Now this big fella means business! He's a thick, beefy bruiser, and those horns on his head just add to the overall mean, nasty look of this mini. His face is expressive as all get-up, and whatever loot he's dragging along in that sack was no doubt gained at the end of his massive club.


Dragontooth GI-6 Big Meg and her stewpot

OMG, Meg is so freaking ugly and I love her! Lumpy, bumpy, and bug-eyed, Meg has it all. She is using her giant ladle as a truncheon, no doubt trying to add another victim to her stewpot. The only piece missing is the stewpot handle, but I should be able to fashion one out of wire or greenstuff, no problem.

Now the part that makes me really giggle is the price. The DragonTooth giants were part of a 13 giant lot that cost me (drum roll, please) $39.00 - $29 for the lead and $10 for shipping. Hey, that's a whopping $3 per giant! When you take into consideration that a GI5 recently sold for $32.31 and a GI6 sold for $56.00, I like to think I did OK on this acquisition in a Gordon Gekko greed-is-good sort of way.

Also included in the aforementioned lot are 5 Ral Partha giants, 5 Grenadier giants, and 1 Citadel giant (FF12). I finally added the RP 01-108 Titan to my collection, complete with original shield and longspear. That one usually runs $20+ so I'm happy about that as well. And all five of the Grenadier giants are keepers, because I have yet to pick up any of the Giant's Club models until now. The Stone Giant (3502), Frost Giants (3503), Forest Giant (3504), and Two-Headed Giant (3509) make welcome additions to my legions of giants. I already own 4 of the RP giants and the Citadel Mountain Giant, so they will be resold in upcoming eBay auctions, and the rest are for my personal collection. I hate to sound like I'm gloating, but HOT DAMN that was a score!

To bring me back down to earth, I didn't win a book I was bidding on - a copy of Ed Konstant's The Book of Fantasy Miniatures. It's a vintage reference work I've been trying to add to my library for some time now.

Well, you win some, you lose some, no? I may have lost the book, but I gained a pair of Tom Loback's miniature masterpieces.

The Tragedy of McDeath

"Something wicked this way comes."

Something wicked like a pair of minis that would set you back for over $300 USD if you happen to collect rare Citadel minis!

Check out this auction for King McDeath and this one too for Lady McDeath from the Citadel set The Tragedy of McDeath.

I track a lot of auctions just out of curiosity, usually to see where they end at. When I saw this pair approaching $100 each, I had to start poking around the various lead sites and wikis to find out more about them. The end result is that each time I learn a little bit more about various minis and manufacturers, I feel a little less like I'm just stumbling around in this hobby.

Back to painting. There's a drow warband that MUST be finished by Friday!

Deadline Week!

My D&D group has a session on the books this coming Saturday (the 22nd), so I'm busy this week painting up some monsters for our DM to ambush us with.

It's a fairly eclectic mix of minis I'm working on: a couple of Heritage slimes (green slime and black pudding), a Grenadier wight, and some Reaper undead - two older Ed Pugh skeletons (2014 and 2015) and three newer Barrow Wardens by Kev Williams (3220 and 3221). Those, and the RP Frost Giant that is my Giant of the Month Club project for May.

The Grenadier wight started as an afterthought, really. For some reason (OK, it was the "Don King" hairdo) I had it in my mind that this was one of those early Grenadier sculpts that I didn't really care for too much - you know the ones - wrong proportions, goofy expression, strange pose, etc. But I had recently primed it in a batch of minis to be worked on, and after examining it closer, I realized just how wrong I was!

Sure, it still has one feature that stands out for the wrong reasons: the Julia Roberts lips/mouth. Other than that, I really like this mini. Nothing odd about the pose, cool & creepy elongated fingers, skull and bone fragment on the base - good, solid undead look and feel. And if memory serves me correctly, whenever our DM placed this wight mini on the table 20+ years ago, everyone always groaned and puckered a bit. No one wanted to lose a level!

That wight is long since gone (well, it went AWOL with a bunch of my older minis when our first DM quit playing), but I'm happy to have acquired his evil twin, Skippy. I'll post a pic of the finished product in the next couple of days, along with any others I finish before I head out on Saturday.

UPDATE (5/26/10): Now with pics! We had a fun and successful session on Saturday, and the boys were happy to see new lead added to the collection.

The wight was a fun paint, and I put the most work into him out of the group. I tried to give him sickly white skin, not stark white. Since he's wearing a cape, I went for purple - he must have been a noble, merchant, etc. And finally, for a touch of high fantasy, I painted his eyes green - dark green, light green, and finished with black pupils.

The skellies were pretty straightforward, bleached bone undercoat, inked, and then drybrushed with three shades of white. I decided against mounting them to an extra base, so they retain their broccoli base-drybrushed-minimalist look.

The slime and pudding - how do you make them look, well, not sucky? On the green slime, I went for several different layers of very thin, bright green washes. A dark green ink filled in the various pockmarks and craters for some depth. But I wasn't happy with the larger bubbles - they just didn't pop (heh). So I painted them bright white (a couple of coats to cover the green) and then glazed them with bright green again. I like how it turned out! I contemplated using some clear gloss for that extra-slimy slime look, but was fine with how it ended up after a couple coats of Purity Seal.

The black pudding, hmm, I don't think it turned out as well as I could have done. A couple coats of black (over white primer), some gray wash to give it some depth and contrast, and then purplish rims on the boils/craters. I think the purple needed some lighter highlights applied to that for better definition. Ah, hindsight.