Rough Riders of Attila

May 09, 2024

As touched upon in my recent Eldar post, one of my contributions to the 40K 2nd Ed. Imperial Guard reboot was to paint the Rough Riders of Attila.

Great fun at the time, as I loved painting horses despite not being keen on them in a sci-fi setting…

The miniatures were a little ropey, and certainly didn’t “paint themselves.”

A telltale sign of my painting in that era was my obsession with Terracotta paint for leathers, something which persists to this day (likely due to the paint’s coverage being better than average). The bright red helmets and gun casings are of the time, so forgivable.

During this period myself and others of the ‘Eavy Metal Team were painting banners predominantly with inks, rather than paints, which was certainly simpler, but perhaps resulted in a less polished finish.

The last image shows the full range of initial Imperial Guard box sets, which included my other contribution to the painting for this range, the Ice Warriors of Valhalla.

*Rough Riders of Attila Lieutenant and Standard Bearer (Citadel Miniatures)*

*Rough Riders of Attila Lieutenant (Citadel Miniatures)*

*Rough Riders of Attila Standard Bearer (Citadel Miniatures)*

*Attilan Rough Riders (Citadel Miniatures)*

*Imperial Guard Box Sets (Citadel Miniatures)*

Corvus Cabal Cabalists

May 05, 2024

The Corvus Cabal miniatures first caught my eye a year or two before I’d dived back into the hobby, and before I had any idea what Warcry was all about. The design aesthetic and paint scheme was spot on to my mind. For a good couple of years I had an itch for them, but no chance to scratch it.

Fast forward a few years, and I’d trialed my first (beautifully arrayed) game of Warcry and was sold on it. Naturally my go to warband was the Corvus Cabal.

Sadly, and after much loss of wa, my first attempt at assembly resulted in approximately half of the miniatures, i.e., everything other than the Cabalists, being either broken, misaligned or simply impossible to assemble.

No doubt this is mostly my own fault due to lack of experience (and patience) with contemporary GW kits, but I do feel that the designs are at times too fiddly for their own good and the assembly instructions severely lacking…

Not to be deterred, and with the generous gifting of a second box set, I was back on track.

After painting the Horns of Hashut, I was keen to attempt a finish a little closer the Studio box art, so purchased the Citadel Colour paints cited on the box art and Citadel Colour app. On the whole this worked, and I’m happy with the results thus far, but some of the paints/ guides seemed a little off or overly complicated.

Ultimately, there was something about the crow-feathered black, grey, turquoise colour scheme off-set with pale flesh tones that appealed in the first place, and I’m happy to have approximated the same at a good gaming level with these Cabalists.

The plan, of course, is to shift gear and up the level of the painting on the Spire Stalkers, Shadow Piercer and Shrike Talon, if I can assemble them correctly…

Early 'Eavy Metal Eldar

May 04, 2024

Another batch of nostalgia surfaced online recently; this time some of my earliest work on the ‘Eavy Metal team, in the form of Warhammer 40K Eldar, as well as some much later Attila Rough Riders.

The first photo features an Eldar Grav-Cannon which was the first miniature I painted upon joining the Studio. I remember being disappointed at the time, but of course new releases weren’t going to be wasted on newbies!

I felt pressure to perform, and struggled with the colour palette of that era as it was so much brighter and saturated than that I’d been using for my own miniatures, so the end result wasn’t great. Nevertheless, my excitement upon seeing it in White Dwarf (in an earlier battle scene) was immense.

The Rough Riders were from a much later period, by which time I’d found my feet and felt confident in the ‘Eavy Metal style of the time to the extent that I and others were doing what we could to subvert it for a more “realistic” style. I was always fond of painting horses as they lent themselves to a more naturalistic painting style that had a better chance of passing undetected.

The second photo features some Eldar Guardians, also painted in my first month at the Studio. They were rather rough, to say the least, so I never felt great seeing them published.

Finally, the Dire Avenger Exarch. This was another early piece, from my first couple of months I guess, about which I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I was pleased to be put to work on a “character model” and tried my best to do it justice. However, I was not really up to the task, and in the back of mind was very much aware that I was repainting a miniature for the new Eldar Codex to a lesser standard than the original McVey and Prow paint jobs from the time of the original Aspect Warrior releases.

*Eldar and Imperial Guard (Citadel Miniatures/ Games Workshop)*

*Dire Avenger Exarch (Citadel Miniatures/ Games Workshop)*

Dwarf Adventurer

March 14, 2024

Having received the wonderfully characterful Crooked Dice “Adventurers” set some time ago, I’d been intending to paint them for some time, and actually made a a start on this splendid dwarf adventurer early last year, only to have him linger, unfinished, until now.

I love the simplicity and precision of the design, which plays out all the classic fantasy dwarf tropes (what a magnificent nose!) while achieving a more contemporary aesthetic.

This (as with the rest of the set) is a metal casting from a digital sculpt; clearly not a bad approach!

I wanted the paint job to be neat and tidy, with a simple, somewhat muted colour scheme so as not to detract from the silhouette and details that so perfectly capture the dwarfish essence.

Thanks to the bastion of old schoolery that is Hermit Inn for this lovely gift!

*Dwarf Adventurer (Crooked Dice/ Andrew Rae)*

Morgiana Le Fay

March 10, 2024

With a nod to the recently released and so far disappointing Warhammer: The Old World, one of my old Bretonnian pieces from the mid-90s; Morgiana Le Fay.

Morgiana herself was a neat little sculpt from Michael Perry, at a time when female characters were still a rarity and so clamoured after. The unicorn, by Trish Carden, was either based on or the precursor to the thoroughly awful plastic elven horses released during that era.

Regarding the paint job, I recall wanting to achieve something regal and yet mystical with the royal blue and ecclesiastical purple. Although I still like the scheme, it is rather dark…

That said, I do like the way her face pops, emphasizing and focusing upon her femininity and noble bearing.