A few Iron Claw Goblins.

Finally I have got around to painting some goblins!

I chose some Iron Claw range goblins from 1987/8  because I really love the detailing on them, and they are really fun to paint. Like all of Bob Olley's sculpts, the detailing is awesome, although I do acknowledge that some of his ranges don't always seem to work, nor is his sculpting to everyone's taste. Still, I love the goblins he sculpted for Citadel, although at the time I didn't really like them. However, it's the detailing, and something about the goblin mischief in the faces which I love. 

When painting I wanted an unusual look to the skin rather than the traditional  'Goblin Green' or a more human flesh colour. I opted to paint the flesh Citadel's Fenrisian Grey, highlight it with a mix of Fenrisian Grey and white, then wash it with green ink, then highlight again with a mix of Fenrisian Grey and white. As for the armour and clothing, I wanted a coherent look without being too uniform. So I opted for only using red or brown for cloth, and the same shade of metal for the armour. I didn't use any Citadel plastic shields as I wanted a different look to match their non-conventional Citadel sculpting, so I used a mix of Foundry Viking shields, and some old Hasslefree miniatures shields.

Enjoy :)

Goblins!

Goblin with axe.
This is one of my favourite miniatures in all of my collections. The face, the great face sculpted shoulder armour, the mean looking axe, and the ridiculously impractical pointed helmet all come together to make a lovey, quirky, miniature. He will be my army general. He also got a different colour helmet to show his status!

Swordsman and halberdier.

A pair of armoured spearmen, obviously planning mischief!

Double-handed axe and sword/cutlass and shield.

A Warhammer warhammer! and halberdier.

Another sword and shield, and a double handed flail. The flail has a lovely head detailed head on the end of the pole, which is holding the flail in its mouth.

Another pair of double-handed axes.

Swordsman and axeman.

A goblin wielding a ball-headed mace and short sword, and another sword and shield goblin.

Standard bearer and a double handed mace wielding goblin in a rather fetching pointed helmet.

Rear view of the standard. The standard top is double faced, and they both, to me anyway, have a Green Man feel about them.

Another double-handed mace goblin, and another double-handed axe goblin.

Spearman and swordsman.
The hilt of the sword is sculpted into a (goblin?) face.

A troublesome trio of goblins.

Archers!
The one on the left has a bladed/serrated bow, a common feature on some of Bob Olley's goblins.

Rear view of the above goblins showing the detailing on the quivers.

More archers.

Another two archers.

Rear view of the archers above.
The one on the left has a face shaped quiver, the other has a space dagger on his.

Archers again! I love the mean looking face of the one on the left.

Rear view of the quiver of the above archers.

A pair of helmeted goblin archers.

Next update may be some Mithril Miniatures Orcs. I am basing them on scenic bases in line with the new Midgard rules, and I am painting some at the moment. At some point I want to get back to painting some more of these goblins though!

Ironclad Miniatures War of the Martian War Machine (Tripod).

 Something a little more unusual.

I have always liked H G Well's 'War of the Worlds' and the iconic Martian Tripods, as well as having a passing interest in the Steampunk genre. Now in my idle curiosity I searched for a Martian Tripod miniatures, and whilst there were all sorts of smaller scale versions or 1950's/ Tom Cruise War of the Worlds/Justin Hayward versions, I chanced across another, older styled version.

This older version is based partly on HG wells own sketch, and was then illustrated more formally later (1902) by Alvim Correa The model kit can be found for sale at Ironclad Miniatures at the link below:

https://www.ironcladminiatures.com/ourshop/prod_3335727-Steam20.html

The miniature itself is mainly good quality hard resin, with metal legs, feet, 'tentacle arms' and heat ray. Assembly was easy. There are holes on the underside of the body in which to insert the metal parts, which require a minimal amount of drilling to made the holes a little more of a snug fit. The body was also easy to assemble. I mounted the whole on a 150mm circular plastic base for extra stability.

Painting was interesting. Conventionally Martian War Machines are usually painted silver/metal in colour. However reading the description of the War Machine it noted it was metallic with a brazen hood. So I went for a mid metal look, with a brass looking hood. It also gives a slightly more steampunk look, suitable for a late Victorian aesthetic. I did how ever opt for a for Justin Hayward approach for the 'eyes'/portholes, painting them an alien looking green, rather than the big googly eyes present in Alvim Correa's artwork.

For the base I added a little rural fence to give the idea of it wondering around the Southern English countryside. The tufts on the muddy base also give that impression as well. Overall I am very happy with how it turned out, and it made a nice change to do something novel. I have a back-burner project to buy another eight more and have three groups of three, but this one is enough for now. So Victorian Surrey and England is reprieved.
                                                  For now!...

Enjoy :)

The kit parts.

Assembled.

Painted and based.

Rear view.

Close up of the tentacled arms and heat ray.

Alvim Correa's illustrations.

Another of Alvim Correa's illustrations.

Next update will be Iron Claw goblins. Yes, goblins!!!

Bob Olley Iron Claw/Essex Miniatures Undead.

 Something ghostly for Halloween: Undead.

These undead were sculpted in the 1980s by Bob Olley, and are from his time at both Essex Miniatures (this range is still in production) and at Games Workshop as Iron Claw Miniatures. I am aware that Bob Olley's sculpting can divide opinion, however I quite like how he has sculpted these Undead, and both ranges fit nicely together. Incidentally, some of the Essex Miniatures are a mix of Skeletons and Zombies from their Undead range.

A few of these miniatures I had painted a little while ago, however I wasn't a 100% happy with them and so I modified the paintwork. The painting involved starting with a white undercoat, then a wash of Citadels Tesseract Glow, then a wash of Citadels Nighthuant Gloom, then a light white dry brush, and finally a slightly watered down wash of Tesseract Glow again.

Overall I am very happy with how they have turned out. I kept with the slightly dark autumnal look to the bases from earlier. I think that the paint scheme I have chosen brings out a lot of their details without making them too busy. The idea of the army was to give them the feel of the Deadmen of Dunharrow from the Lord of the Rings, and are part of my broader on/off Lord of the Rings project using Bob Olley sculpted miniatures. I have been painting Iron Claw Goblins as well, but more of that in November.

Enjoy :)

Undead!

Essex Miniatures Undead King.

Standard Bearers, on the left Iron Claw, and on the right Essex Miniatures.

Both Essex Miniatures.

Both Iron Claw Miniatures.

On the left Iron Claw, and the right Essex Miniatures.

Both Iron Claw.

Both Essex Miniatures.

On the left Iron Claw, and on the right Essex Miniatures.

On the left Essex Miniatures, and the right Iron Claw.

Both Essex Miniatures.

Again, both Essex Miniatures.

A lone Essex Miniatures Zombie with Knife.

I haven't as yet collected any of the Iron Claw Undead Cavalry, and so these are all from Essex Miniatures.This one is Q89 Skeleton:Mounted with hooded cloak and Cutlass on galloping horse.
I love the dynamism and sense of movement of the Cavalry, and this is my favourite.

Right side view.

Essex Miniatures Q86 Skeleton:Mounted with sword on galloping horse.

Right side view.

Essex Miniatures Q88 Skeleton:Mounted wearing a helmet with Axe and shield on galloping horse.

Right side view.

Essex Miniatures Q87 Skeleton: Mounted at full gallop with Spear.

Right side view.

Next update maybe Iron Claw Goblins, if I get around to photographing them, or something else if I don't!