MONSTER MANUAL MONDAY 4

I'm just about managing to finish a couple of figures a week at the moment and had a dose of some nasty sickness bug last Wednesday and Thurdsay which hung about putting me of my grub until today . Nothing too monstrous today, but these chaps were often a staple wandering monster in my early dungeoneering days, although why beserkers should be wandering around an underground maze was never asked. These are Grenadier figures by Mark Copplestone who seems to have a penchant for barbarians and the like (he's recently released some nice 15mm barbarians).

MONSTER MANUAL MONDAY 3

Just getting used to the new camera, and I have managed to find a black cloth to use as the background to my old floorplans. Today's offering is the Minotaur. I have had this figure since the very early 1980's, and he is a Perry sculpt from the Fiend Factory range, again from Forever People in Bristol. He differs a lot from modern minotaurs as he resembles a large man with a bulls head rather than a walking bull with attitude. I do possess a Grenadier minotaur who is more animal like with hooves which I will paint up soon. I stripped this figure down from my original paint job of gloss pink skin, humbrol silver fox axe and a purple tunic...

I tend to paint the flesh on fantasy figures in a very defined way, as indeed I do all the shading. I'm not entirely happy with the result on this chap.... but at least it's distinctive.

MONSTER MANUAL MONDAY 2

Where did that week go? Today I am presenting some Lizardmen. I picked these guys up at a convention recently for £1 , I assume they are Games Workshop figures as they are plastic, but they have loads of character without being too over the top like a lot of GW figures. After painting and then drybrushing a lighter shade, I gave these chaps a wash with the GW washes Athonian Camo and Agrax Earthshade (for the green and brown ones respectively), which despite their outlandish names worked really well.

As you can see, my camera is giving up the ghost, and the pictures are getting a "mist" over them. I have invested in a new one but am awaiting instructions from Mrs. Broadsword who can be bothered to read the instructions, unlike me.

MONSTER MANUAL MONDAY 1

The plan is every Monday I will post up a picture of a creature from the Monster Manual that I have painted that week. I was hoping to run the beasties alphabetically but my Aerial Servant is still waiting to be undercoated so we will kick off with the OWLBEAR

I have seen a few Owlbear figures since getting back into D & D , but this old chap remains my favourite. He is by Asgard Miniatures, and I bought him in 1981 from a shop in Bristol called Forever People. He was painted gloss brown and yellow, but an application of Mr. Muscle Oven cleaner stripped him nicely ready for repainting. I was going to hold fire with this post until I had got a black cloth and made some new dungeon floorplans, but that could have taken ages, so I dug out my old GW  floorplans which will have to suffice for the moment.

If all goes well by the end of the year, I should have at least 52 Monster figures painted (unless I am distracted by other projects!)