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!

Earth elementals.

A short update.
I have been painting a selection of random things, including some Iron Claw Goblins (finally, I've got around to painting some Goblins!!!), but more on that in another blog post. I haven't had time to photograph and blog about a lot of things which I have been painting or basing. However, I have finished basing the extra spiky Chaos Dwarfs with an eye to paint them all over November.
Anyway, here are a few Earth Elementals which I just wanted to paint.

Enjoy :)

Citadel C34 Earth Elemental from 1984.

Rear view.

Ral Partha ES45 Earth Demon Hurling Rock, from their 'Personalities & Things that go Bump in the Night' range, from 1977.
I added some stones to the base to give it something to throw!

Another view.

Citadel C22 Mud Elemental.
I painted this using Citadel's Technical paint Stirland Mud. I will use it as an Earth Elemental, although it does remind me of the Sh*t daemon from the film 'Dogma'!

Next update will be more Undead for Halloween, unless I run out of time to blog then it might be the Undead anyway, or goblins, or trees, and maybe something else!

Grenadier Miniatures Undead Army.

 At the start of my collecting it wasn't always Citadel Miniatures I opted for. 

When I started in 1986 Grenadier Miniatures were always an option. I still clearly recall visiting Beaties and Gamleys in Brighton and Hove as a young goblin and seeing all these other interesting miniatures with their different sculpting style and vibe. On my 13th birthday in 1987 I was given money to 'go buy something you want', and with that I purchased several blister packs of Grenadier 'Fantasy Lords' undead, to add to the few random Grenadier miniatures I had already (as an aside, I started a part time job just after my 13th birthday, and so my purchasing power increased just in time for Citadel's 'Golden Age').

As time wore on my focus shifted more to Citadel Miniatures (Brighton GW opened a little later in the 1980's) and the availability of Grenadier Miniatures wasn't always as strong. However, I never lost that magical feeling I first got from the Grenadier Undead. Over the years I returned to them, but without any clear idea what to do with them. E-bay helped with buying odds and ends, but it was only recently that I thought of an idea of painting them less conventionally Undead, and more with an ethereal feel. And winter. I wanted a cold, muddy, winter feel to them as well. 

So here were are. I based them on regimental bases because beautiful as Grenadier Miniatures are, the pre Fantasy Warriors Grenadier ranges they can be quite fragile, especially the undead. Some of them have been repaired or converted because of this. I painted them over a white undercoat with a wash of Citadel Tesseract Glow, then Citadel Nighthaunt Glow, dry brush white, them a light wash with Tesseract Glow again. Then snow effects on the bases. I like how they have turned out and pleased that after all these years, they have finally received the attention they deserved.

Enjoy :)

The whole army.

Left side of the army.

Centre.

Right side.

The Liche King.
I placed him on a large command base with a spare standard bearer just to show him off.

Closer view.

'Fantasy Lords' 061 Mummy Lord.

'Fantasy Lords' 014 Mounted Skeleton.

'Fantasy Lords' 167 Skeleton Flyer.

'Fantasy Lords' 011 Undead Cyclops.

'Fantasy Lords' 130 Dart Thrower.

'Fantasy Lords' 032 Undead Boatman.
In a Warhammer Fantasy Battle Army I would consider using this as a Plague Cart proxy.

Axemen.

Men at Arms.
I added a mounted 'Fantasy Lords' 137 Skeleton Command kettle drummer as I had one spare and I thought I might add to the look of the regiment.

More Men at Arms.

Spearmen.

Some more men at Arms.

The Bear Clan.
These are miniatures which predominately have bears sculpted on their shield, so I grouped them together. The standard bearer is a conversion of a broken miniatures, and has a sculpted green stuff bear pelt as a standard.

Archers.
These are actually based on two separate bases representing 10 models on each, so that they can be deployed as one regiment of 20, one regiment of 20 in line, or two regiments of 10.              

One half of the archers.

The other half of the archers.

A mix of Skeleton Cavalry.

More Skeleton Cavalry.

Masterpiece Editions 5506 War Rhino Captive Carrier.
This model comes with a banner which kept snapping off, so I left it off.
I was going to paint the captives inside in a normal paint scheme, but I though it would be nice to just have them as eternally captive screaming souls trapped inside.

Right hand view.

Masterpiece Editions 'The Undead Legion' 5505 Imperial Guard War Mammoth.
This is a lovely model, but I bought it in a sorry condition from e-bay. It was missing the lower part of it's trunk armour, all of it's crew, banner, armour, and shields. Anyway, I added a couple of spare crew and made the best of it.

Right side view.

The army marches!

Close up.

In addition to the ethereal miniatures I painted a few other undead to add to the army if I was to use them for gaming.
On the left is a Grenadier Lord of the Rings range 7504 Hillmen of Trollshaws 'Miffli'. I would use him as a Necromancer or Liche.
On the right is a Grenadier Lord of the Rings range 7502 Sauron's Dark Ones mountain Vampire.

Two Grenadier Lord of the Rings range 7502 Sauron's Dark Ones Wraiths.

My next update could be on a lot of different things. I have been painted a lot of different things, but not had the time to blog about them. I have been painting Goblins, more, but different, undead, modelling and basing trees, basing Slann, re-basing Dark Elves, painting infantry for Prince Wilhelm's army, painting Elementals, and painting Orcs!