Season's Greetings from Run Dingill.

 

A long overdue post, I really had to show my latest piece of  terrain , handmade for me by the very talented Geoff Solomon-Sims of Oakbound Studios. It is a model of Dun Ringill, an Iron age fort on the Isle of Skye. I've wanted to make this more many years, but something always got in the way of starting it. Happily, Geoff volunteered to make it, and in record time it was winging it's way to me. It's going to be called Run Dingill and is the headquarters of the Stormwatch led by Admiral Sirius, pictured here mustering outside the walls. The attention to detail is mind boggling and is fully documented here in one of Geoff's weekly videos which are well worth tuning into each Wednesday. So many many thanks Geoff... I'm sure I'll be asking you to make more terrain for me in the future, a frozen lake perhaps and some towering ice pinnacles.

It's been a very strange year of course, and I have been incredibly lucky (so far) in that the pandemic, really has had a minimal impact on my life. My work carried on as normal, my wife was furloughed on full salary and oldest son started Forestry college as planned. Having said that, my old Mum passed away just as the first lockdown started (at 93, non Covid related), and at the start of the year I was being knocked about by Hypo-Thyroidism, now thankfully under control, so 2020 is a year I won't remember fondly, but as things go, I think I got off pretty lightly.

I've got too many projects on the go of course. As always in the winter I get back into Dungeons and Dragons, and am determined to get some more figures finished for Monster Manual Monday and Fiend Folio Friday. My Joe Dever Minas Tirith collection is under way and I hope to be able to show some results soon, starting off with some Haradrim and Mumakil.

I've found I've had a lot less time to look at other peoples blogs and comment on them, so for this I apologise. Partially due to me wasting time looking at facebook groups. I really do prefer blogs rather than fleeting facebook posts, but they are more time consuming to put together. A happy medium may be Instagram....

Anyhow, I hope you all have as good a Christmas as you possibly can and we all look forward to a year without Trump, endless Brexit cock ups and perhaps even Covid-19.

TRAVELLERS ON THE ENDLESS WASTES ARRIVE

Finally finished these this morning and took advantage of Father's Day to claim some more time in the attic to photograph them. 

A mixed unit of warriors and archers

another regiment.

Some cavalry. Assault Group Russians, with a few added plumes. They fit in well with the Eastern European look of the Aly Morrison High Elves. I painted the facial hair as part of the armour as the infantry don't sport any whiskers.

Travellers have to have some caravans, and these are based on not only Jackie Morris illustrations, but also the logo of the band Vintage Caravan

  

The caravans were MDF kits, and the bears faithful old plastic Britain's .

I added some chimneys, and the emblems of the Pewter Moon and the Sun Child, arch enemies of the Crimson King.

The whole tribe, including a wizard and mounted warrior I forgot to photograph separately.

LOCKDOWN CHALLENGE 2 and WIP

Managed to complete the second lockdown challenge set by Geoff. To paint the figure that you've had longest in your lead pile. Well I bought this Ral Partha dwarf in 1979 and was given a duplicate at the same time. The first chap sported a fine coating of Humbrol gloss enamels, and was my first D&D character, a dwarf called Gent. I'm not sure what happened to that version, but his twin had languished in the lowest strata of the lead mountain for 41 years, so it's high time he was painted.

The colour scheme ties in with some other dwarfs I've painted which I'll show soon.

Next shot is progress so far on my Travellers on the Endless Wastes from the last post. About halfway through these lovely Aly Morrison sculpts.

WE TRAVELLERS ON THE ENDLESS WASTES

Most of my ideas for fantasy armies and units remain firmly in my head as I never get round to doing anything about them, or if I do it is sometimes literally decades later.  I like basing armies and units on prog rock songs and imagery such as my Broadsword ship and I have several ideas for figures inspired by the songs of Jethro Tull. One song (The Clasp) on the Broadsword and the Beast album starts "We travellers on the endless wastes..." which has always conjured up images in my head of characters battling against driving snow or at least walking through an endless snowy landscape, a bit like the elf like figures in this Jackie Morris picture above, and perhaps these Dark Elves by John Blanche in The Seven Serpents by Steve Jackson.

I've been casting around for figures to suit the look I'm after and the solid base Citadel High elves are just the ticket... sculpted by Aly Morrison and released in 1984, they are fur clad, have slightly Slavic features and Russian looking armour so scream "cold endless steppes" to me. I've collected about 30 which will be enough for a couple of units. Combined with some Polar bears, gypsy caravans and a suitable paint job they should do the job.

I've so far painted about 14, and it's slow progress as I'm getting  2 hours a week painting done, but we'll get there.

I SEE A DARK SAIL ON THE HORIZON

So begins the song Broadsword from the Jethro Tull album Broadsword and the Beast. I have started this blog to show my fantasy figures and models, without interruptions and random warblings concerning historical figures, my work, family etc. which are on my other blog http://mercuriusatticus.blogspot.co.uk/

I have recently been really fired up to get back into fantasy gaming, partly by my oldest son Robin (10) who is starting to collect figures, and paint them alarmingly quickly, but also by the wonderful Old School D & D and Oldhammer movement which has some fantastic blogs appearing showing all the figures I had back in the 80's, painted superbly. My own personal opinion is that Games Workshop, the Evil Empire (ok, they have done a huge amount for the hobby, and I used to love them) is living on borrowed time, they have become so staid and boring, and outrageously overpriced. 

Anyhow, I will post figures up as I paint them, along with other witterings, and hope some other old school fantasy bods out there like them. Having 3 children and a fulltime plus extra job, my posts may be a bit irregular or brief, but I will do my best. 


Back in the mists of time (1983 or 1984) I went along to Games Day in London, held at the Royal Horticultural Society Hall to spend my pocket money on D and D figures. One of the highlights for me was a talk given by the fantasy artist Iain McCaig, who at the time was forging his career and had recently painted my favourite ever album cover Broadsword and the Beast by Jethro Tull. Mr. McCaig related how he had fallen asleep at the easel, and woken up to find he had painted all the Runes around the edge of the cover, and he didn't know what they said. Great story, but I suspect he knew they were the words of the first verse of the song Broadsword on the album.

Anyhow, this made a profound impression on a callow youth like myself, and I resolved to make a model based on the ship shown on the cover. 30 odd years on, I have finally done so!!

Here is the front and reverse of the sleeve, showing Ian Anderson the lead singer of Jethro Tull (and a superb songwriter and musician) as a strange Beastie. On the reverse he is riding on the figurehead of the ship. I reckon Iain McCaig was only in his early 20's when he painted this, so he must have been delighted to land the commission that produced this iconic piece of rock art.

I think I will crew the ship with some Dwarves from the old Grenadier range. The sails depict The Pewter Moon (badge of the Dwarves of the Pewter Moon, one of the factions in my fantasy world, where I live a good deal of the time), the Sunchild, another reference to a prog rock song( from King Crimson this time)

and the Beastie suppressing The Crimson King, who is the baddie/evil empire etc in my world.

The ship is a viking Drakkar by......can't remember, but Eastern European company I think, with a heavily converted Papo dragon head pinched from Robin and Arthur's soldier box (thanks chaps).

I painted runes on the figurehead..... anyone care to have a crack at translating them?