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Little Wars Magazine Ads and other bits.....

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I am now missing just 2 Little Wars Magazines - Volumes 1 and 2, number 3. Please email me if you have them spare or know anyone who does! These are all from the late 70s.

An interesting ripping apart of the UK micro scale armour scene by then managing editor Mr T.J Kask.......unfortunately I agree with the comments! Contacting companies in those days was an interesting feat of endurance......


Pics under the ads of the very few I have of my own.








Never seen any of these in the flesh and am not sure who the designer was.....possibly George Freeman but I could be a long way off.


Most of these ancients, if not all, are now available again from Iron Wind Metals .....standing the test of time after 35 years.


 Classic Jack Scruby ad....

  
I didn't even know John McEwan had done cowboys!


I picked up these old minis a while back. Firedraek Exotic Miniatures, manufactured by Classic Miniatures of Nevada. I did see a small review ad in an old issue of Fantasy Modelling in the 80s but have no other information about the line at all. Help!


ELD-1 Jharud Nir Centaur


ELD-2 Gurathi Minotaur


....and joy of joys I have managed to track down the old Archive Miniatures Yosemite Sam the Samurai Dwarf. He came packaged with Conan the Duck.....


Slight mis cast on his wakizashi (the smaller of the two swords carried by these old Japanese Knights) so I have now mixed putty and applied with trepidation......pic from before the putty.


Archive did a nice range of Runequest minis which I assume is where the duck references came from....


Small WIP update on the Heresy Miniatures conversion of their Sharclon Trooper to a Medieval Sontaran...so much more stuff on the painting table.....


Also came across an oldish blister for Zap Designs...designed by Paul Henni. I believe these are still available from The Baggage Train but a lack of photos has kept me away for now. I have had some nice alien type er...well, aliens from him before...pics under the blisters.....must dig them out and well....look at them some more. They were distributed by Fantasy Forge who went bankrupt then rose from the ashes then went bankrupt etc. Not 100% sure where the Zap minis are if not at TBT.





Edit - had an email off Stephen Oates who runs The Baggage Train;

Yep these are mine, I think I also have all the  old Zap range too. Yes I must make time and get some photo's done for my site. Will you be going to phalanx? I will have them with me.

Phalanx show is on Saturday 15th June at the Sutton Community Centre in St Helens, UK. Contact Stephen directly with queries via his website but please mention my name as I am trying to promote them a little!

Finally a bargain Gormeti 3D Puzzle toy from Home Bargains here in the UK. £1 for a plastic kit and box - the box looks great for VSF / Pulp jungle ruins etc. The figure possibly for superhero gaming??? Anyway, there are a few variants and I am told the Pound Shop also has them. 



Lead Rot - I am cursed.........................

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Years ago I read an article against putting lead in wooden cabinets - it warned against Oak and Walnut due to the acidic nature of fumes...more details once I have found the link. I have a bunch of IKEA wooden drawer cabinets - all pine and I had thought they would be safe. I have just gone looking for some half painted Empire of the Petal Throne figuress and decided to take a pic of some half painted (get the behaviour patterns here?) Heritage Lord of the rings Orcs when I noticed 'fluffy' bubbling paint and cracked bases....also the penny coins on some EPT minis have a discolouration due to oxidisation....a heck of a warning. Check out the pics and be afraid, be very afraid......





Citadel 80s Medievals with the paint bubbling up all around especially on the raised areas.....the quality of lead alloy they used was occasionally atrocious to begin with.... 



The offending storage drawer......old Citadel 'grey lead' medievals from the early 80s....



Note the verdigris on the pennies.....the figures appeared unaffected so far....this is a time bomb....


Thought I would take a few pics of various, mainly Citadel figs to show the discoloration of the various alloys used....these plastic drawers were the ones we used in Games Workshop in the early 80s to store the loose lead......I got given a bunch of them after the store was revamped for blisters.....a sad time for all.

Citadel (plus a couple other make) Medievals


Citadel Slann


Aly Morrison Hobgoblins


Citadel Perry Hobgoblins


Citadel C04 Thieves


Ral Partha Tom Meier CS series Elves


Citadel C series Amazons


There was an excellent lead rot article some years ago on this nautical archeology website http://nautarch.tamu.edu unfortunately my bookmarked link is no longer valid so you will have to search!

Empire of the Petal Throne - miniatures!

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Finally got around to taking pics of these babies. This is when I found the last post's lead rot which caused the delay....grrrrr. I have serious concerns about the long term survival of a bunch of my collection due to lead rot.......many have survived 35 years and now want to die? 

Anyway, on to the pics, a varied montage of Ral Partha and Old Guard...I'll id them when I get the chance and will upload the missing ones at some point to the Lost Minis WIKI for future generations. I had a large amount of these and sent a load to Chirine of EPT fame....sent another parcel a year or so back and waiting for a return but it doesn't seem to be happening....I'm sure there's a valid reason. The vagaries of the hobby I suppose. A lot of these older sculpts are not up to the sculpting (although most of the Tom Meier ones stand the test of time) and quality of the new lines from the Tekumel Project (check out their new sculpts) but a lot of them certainly still capture the flavor of the genre. William Murray, Tom Meier and Brian Apple were the sculptors but see the 5 towards the bottom.

A 1976 card front.....I was 15 at the time.....


Surprise surprise, a half completed Ahoggyá


2 sorceress types. Tom Meier sculpts but very poor quality castings.

  

  
William Murray stamped base


Armored Shén


T-4 Two-Handed Swordsman, the Legion of Red Devastation


NH-1 Shén

  


  

Sakbe Road Guard



Yan Kor infantry, axe. An example of the varied packaging history for the range...


  
NH-2? Black Ssú Warrior Tom Meier sculpt



A bag of NH-4 Ahoggyá


and another one.......mostly main body sections unfortunately....






Legion of Joyful Vrayani


Legion of the Seal of the Worm


  








Out of focus ornate drum....


Yan Kor infantry, spear



  
  

Gurek of Tleku


I suspect Barbara Woerner sculpted these 5 but I could be wrong....these could be the Brian Apple sculpts as a completely different style to Tom Meier and William Murray.

Gurek of Hekkekka Nna



Legion of the Broken Bough



Legion of the Doomed Prince, halberd


A trio of half completed ones .....following on from the earlier lead rot post, note the verdigris on the pennies.......a friends thinks that this will be linked to the storage in pine/plywood drawers and the use of PVA (white glue) in attaching them......a veritable time bomb.


And joy of joy, my own copy of the game itself...insert smiley face here!



The late 70s, my own history and Games Workshop ...not quite a movie title but feel free to enquire....

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Old Military Modelling and Battle for Wargamers magazines are a great source of pics and articles....here are a few of recently unearthed ones....

At home with Hinchliffe.....the wargaming minis (or most of them) are still available today although Hinchliffe itself , as a company, is long gone from the wargaming world.


Barry Minot was one of the big boys of the fantasy market at the time....I plan to do an in depth review of The Quests of Thane Tostig at some point as I just found my old, old rule set.




  



South London Warlords who run the Salute show in the early days.....









And lo there came unto us a fledgling new company.....


Skytrex imported the new Heritage Lord if the Rings minis....


Minot also did historical....


Although Bryan Ansel had now formed Citadel, Asgard was still going strong...


Part of my personal GW history.....early 80s payslip......looking at the salary, God alone knows how I went to the pub most nights!


A query answered by Steve Jackson himself....one a brief note and the one below in letter 


  
Games Workshop statement of practice.....I have a load more paperwork from these GW employed days that I may upload at some point


Contract of employment


My earliest Games Day programme
  

Possibly my earliest show....it may have been 1975 but I'm not sure...too many glasses of not so fine red wine. My father, God bless him, took me, Dixon miniatures had just released a new range of Mongols and I couldn't afford them. Great memories.


Possibly the last show but definitely my last programme!


In 1979 Games Workshop took the back page advertising....


The Quest of Thane Tostig.....a Barry Minot special!

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Around June 1977, Barry Minot released range of figures for a ruleset entitled 'The Quest of Thane Tostig', by Eric & William Knowles. Barry also did the illustrations for the ruleset.....all based on the exploits of a Saxon Lord whose father had lost his head in a disagreement with King Hengist.....the tale unfurled of his search for the fabled magic sword, Blooddrinker. 

All the pics are mine barring 2 borrowed off Caffeinehog from the Lost Mini WIKI which I will replace as soon as I can unearth my copies of the figures....all of Barry's other gaming ranges are listed under Minot's Miniatures Armoury. I actually built the underground Sprite lair for this out of plasticard back in the day.....back before the lead pile overwhelmed me. Barry still works in sculpting over at Moonshine Pewter although I haven't had a reply off him to various questions over the last few years. Like many in the early days of the hobby he has moved on from the gaming side although still produces some very nice sculpts of a more ornamental nature.

Starting with some 1977 advertisements and articles from Military Modelling and Battle for Wargamers from 1977 (repeated from the last post I'm afraid).....







The rules booklet itself. A great read and well worth picking up if you can find it on evil bay...goes for around £20 or thereabouts so not too bad....




















Although the back page was blank it wouldn't be complete without it.......


TT1 Thane Tostig


TT2 Edith, Tostig's Female Companion


TT3 Beowulf of Barkynge with Battle Axe


TT4 Sigurd, Master of the Bow


TT5 Gurth the Serf, with Spear, Shield & Horn


TT6 Cedric the Slosher


TT7 Infang Tostig's Ferocious Dog


TT8 King Debobmik Fen, Seated on Throne


TT9 Executioner with Axe


TT9a Halt, Naked Female Kneeling


TT10 Court Jester


TT11 Palace Guard with Pole-Axe


TT12 Hudekin the Giant Idol, with Blooddrinker Sword


TT13 Naked Sprite with Hudekin Standard


TT14 Naked Sprite with War Horn


TT15 Naked Sprite Drummer with Drum


TT16 Armoured Sprite with Spiked Mace


TT17 Armoured Sprite with Disemboweling Sword


TT18 Armoured Sprite with Broad-Bladed Sword


TT19 Naked Sprite Tribesman with Pole-Axe


TT20 Naked Sprite Tribesman with Glaive


TT21 Naked Sprite Tribesman Archer


TT22 Naked Sprite Tribesman with Rock


TT23 Stretching Rack and Operator


TT24 Wheel of Torment


TT25 Naked Female Torture Victim


TT26 Naked Male Torture Victim


TT27 Sprite Torturer with Whip


TT28 Sprite Torturer with Ripper Tongs


TT29 Brazier with Hot Brandinq Iron & Sprite Attendant


TT30 The Vile Wood Witch, Hangbeffor


TT31 Hangbeffor's Bubbling Cauldron


TT32 Hangbeffor's Table, with Spell Book, & Bats


TT33 Hangbeffor's Giant Earwig Familiar


They did move on to further quests involving Merlin and hordes of undead skeletons, monks etc but I'm not sure if the rules ever appeared. This was my favorite part of the range although you will have to forgive the 36 year old paint jobs.......humbrol enamels were the order of the day - the TSR 'official' AD&D acrylic paints came a few years later and boy were they great quality. I have a couple hanging around somewhere and will take a pic at some point. Link here to Robh's far better painted versions on his Displaced Miniatures  website. Well worth a browse.

Salute 2011 - the forgotten pics................

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Well, Frothers were having a discussion about furniture which is not a far fetched as you think.....in 2011 Cluedo met Cthulhu and Chtluedo was born.......a number of us got together building, in a very doll's house fashion, a series of room to resemble the Cluedo board whilst various other Frothers devised a fiendish ruleset.....all for the annual London exodus to Salute, South London Warlords flagship gaming event. 

Pics of the various rooms...I will edit this mercilessly later when I have time......






















The obligatory after Salute drinking session starts.....






Rifleman Harris, occassionally known as Jason Salkey, made an appearance to give out prizes and sign autographs etc


A bunch of WIPs and artwork etc used for my own dining room....


   
 


The original chair design didn't work too well....

 



 
One of my painted characters....



out of focus final chair design....
  





Dinner is served m'lady....









Mr Gold


Wilbur Whateley, one of the Frothers competition sculpt, now re-released as part of a Cthulhu Kickstart...I'll post the linkie later....


and unto Cthulhu there came a great beer........

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Saw this beer in the supermarket and just had to do it......not sure which I prefer.....




Dragontooth Gold Plated Giftware....... bring back the 70s please.....

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A nice parcel awaited me coming home today, 2 gold plated Dragontooth minis released in the late 70s. They were originally parked on a walnut base - not sure if they have a plaque of any sort, it would be interesting to find out. Many thanks to my benefactor. If anyone is interested, I run a Yahoo Group entitled, strangely enough, Collecting Dragontooth Miniatures....you do have to join but it has the benefit of being a chat group as opposed to 'just' a pictures site. There are pictures and uploadable catalogues etc so all is not lost....if it's just pictures you are after then the Lost Minis WIKI is your friend. Tom Loback, the original sculptor and owner of the company, now creates driftwood sculptures along the banks of the Hudson river...crazy stuff. The guy is a genius. If you get the chance to check out his Lord of the Rings illustrations then do so. Well worth some google-fu time.






Empire of the Petal Throne - Ahoggyá

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In a dream I walked with Prof M.A.R.Barker and he mentioned how all Ahoggyá had a tendency to look alike.......I thought I'd better check this muse filled point.....my bags of Ahoggyá bits that I thought were all of one figure...



The version I had put together many years back....still to be painted.....now needs more research to ensure I have the correct assembly.


An old Dragon magazine ad showing the actual NH4 Ahoggyá in all its glory....


and so I now have one......although I seem to have arms mixed up....this should be a no-shield variety...back to the drawing board....


Painting guide illustration...


Detail of 2 torsos....




Spare legs...not enough for all the torsos though...


Bunch of various arms....


4 different torsos...


A multitude of similar legs...


Unknown legs...........not from Ahoggyá I assume...


Unknown Old Guard base...could of course be from one of their historical ranges....



All good fun this detective work.....or I could just jump in with the Tekumel Club's version....



Available here

Eureka Miniatures - Pulp Film Crew and associated figs......

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I got a parcel from Australia based Eureka Miniatures the other day and had to share. These are simply superb sculpts and castings that fully capture the period feel they are meant to represent......Eureka have a most inspiring catalogue of minis featuring the weird and the wonderful, the historical and the....well, something that matches historical. Cecil B De Milne eat your heart out......









 


 They also threw in a clockwork zombie freebie....greater love hath no man......



Thane Tostig Quest II - versus the might of Merlin!

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February 1978......a great time for minis. Barry Minot got around to releasing the 2nd quest for that itinerant Saxon Thane Tostig and his band of merry men (woman and dog)....I'm not aware of a ruleset ever being produced but if anyone knows differently please let me know...


'Necromancer' never saw the light of day if it was related to Thane Tostig...many years later (well, 5 or 6 maybe a few more...must check....) he released a short-lived Victorian horror range.......still waiting to find any examples of these...grrrrrrr. Help! I've listed the range on the Lost Minis WIKI here. Below are a few examples from the 2nd quest range from my collection. At the bottom a tantalising glimpse of the Golden Warrior himself....Talis!











Talis himself!


Barry also did historical..........


Oh, and a link to my first Thane Tostig article here.

Garrison Miniatures old, old box....................

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Came across this is my delving today so thought I would share.......Code RE7 Roman of some sort....so old school it's wonderful....not sure of the actual date unfortunately but we are looking mid 70's I would have thought.....







Checking out Rob Young's Garrison Miniatures site it looks like this is a 20mm figure although it is taller.....I will measure it later! His catalogue code RE07; Legionary Parade Dress Half Armour, Pilum, Shield and Crested Helmet is here.

Firedraek Exotic Miniatures - the 70s revisited again..............

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I know almost nothing about these larger scale figures I picked up some time ago except that they were featured in a 'capsule' review in a old Fantasy Modelling Magazine and occasionally come up on evil bay. I recently found this 1978 advert so.......sculpted by C P Schenfeld and distributed by Classic Miniatures of Nevada......anyone know any more?


ELD-1 Jharud-Nur Centaur



ELD-2 Gurath Minotaur



Thinking on it this morning, there was also a pic of a Grim Reaper type in that Fantasy Modelling......must dig it out and take a pic.

Dragontooth City of Magic II - King Niflung's Throne Hall

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In the early 80s Tom Loback's General Artworks or Dragontooth Inc released a series of dioramas based around a City of Magic. Designed by Tom Loback and Stephen Tofano, they produced 'limited' runs of 500 or 1000 collectors versions - still not sure what the difference was to the general release version (if there was one) unless it was the inclusion of the certificate which appears most likely. They appear on ebay etc occasionally either boxed or shrink wrap card. 

The Magic Shop
The Dwarf Armory
Ye Blind Cyclops Inn
Tomb of the Dwarf King
King Niflung's Throne Hall

A few years later an English company, Shot Tower Studios, released a few diorama sets along the same lines. Short lived but very nice old school designs by Tim Dendy....link to some of my pics on the Lost Minis WIKI here.

Anyway, on to some pics taken off ebay...I tried to contact the seller but was unable to get hold of them. If he (or she) happens along and wants them removed I will do so. If anyone knows the buyer send them my way as I would love some updated pics!








I am still looking for this set and will trade first born etc. 

Link to my 'Ye Blind Cyclops Inn' post here.

Tony Yates illustrations.....yeah baby.

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The legend that is Tony Yates sent me a bunch of illustrations a while back and here they are.....some of these are from the time of the Laserburn rules that Tony illustrated (now available again here from 15mm.co.uk) - others are more recent concept sketches for the Wargames Foundry Street Violence range  (everything remains his copy right etc)





  














Empire of the Petal Throne - Palanquin set with Priest of Ksárul carried by Qól

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I was lucky enough to be sent a horde of Qól by Howard Fielding of The Tékumel Project . I have spent the last couple of days' spare moments putting together and basing the Palanquin set - it comes with a choice of Priest or Priestess of Ksárul....for more information there is also the Tékumel Foundation.

When putting this together I decided to use the male Priest of Ksárul and ended up filing down the arms of the throne to allow a more comfortable and natural looking positioning. The Priestess sits a lot better but I er......well, wanted the Priest. Having cleaned up the throne I drilled out the pole holes and glued the poles in position, I then placed the cleaned up Qól bearers in place on the base (2 X GW monster bases as I had run out of their chariot bases). Once I was happy with the positioning I dropped superglue gently on to poles and the bases. Slightly tricky but the end effect works fine....I had tried positioning them individually and it had been a nightmare of juggling and profanities. The Priestess is a nice figure and obviously in conversation with the Priest as they are leaning towards each other......just need another palanquin for that as my initial idea of having them both on the piece didn't quite sit right....every pun intended.







If using the Priestess then the arms do not need filing down as shown here...............


Empire of the Petal Throne Update - Priest of Ksárul and some Qól

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Just a quick update...possibly the last before holidays. Tried this scheme for the Priest of Ksárul...hope it works.


Based a set of the Qól.....attempting to make it look like they're standing on rocky outcrops.....only time will tell :)


See previous post for more details.........

Empire of the Petal Throne Update 2 - Qól and Palanquin.................

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A quick update as I just picked up the paint brush after 2 weeks in France. Great holiday sandwiched between nightmare drives. Still a lot of work to do but you'll get the jist.....



All available via Howard Fielding at The Tekumel Club.

Pirates I tell you....ooh arr...... Old Glory OGP16 Pirate Looters with Victims

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Finally got around to opening another bag of my Old Glory Pirates. Once again lovely clean sculpts that won't need much cleaning up - the full  range is hidden away in the historical 1600 - 1700 section here. They will (eventually) make a lovely addition to my Pirate hordes.............











OGP18 Gambling Pirates pics here.

Still soldiering on with the EPT Palanquin...more pics once I am off night shifts.......

Empire of the Petal Throne update - Palanquin set finished? Plus a couple of Heroes Miniatures.....

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Well, I've attempted to paint a carpet / tapestry design......does this work? Any C&C / suggestions welcome before the varnishing phase.......




Also managed to pick up another Heroes Miniature. Haven't id'd it as yet but time will tell. Tony Yates sculpt from the 80s. Lovely old school.


I painted this Heroes Mini a while back but don't think I've posted it yet. GH4 Professor from the Nightmare World of Monstrous Evil range......I'm always looking to fill gaps in my collection so let me know if you find any!


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