A new year a new (old) dragon

[Kangaroorex 38529]

Well 2020 is over and even though the year wasn't so great I did get my dragon goal of 12 dragons completed (actually completed 15 !) So with the new year I'm looking to try it again.

 

The last year I did a bunch of dragons from all eras a d makes.  This year I think I will make the challenge a little more specific.  This year I'll try for 12 dragons from defunct companies: grenadier, Ral Partha, Thunderbolt Mountain, heritage, and others that are no longer producing today.  Whether i include minis from companies that died recently, im not sure (and I  know Ral Partha lives on as Iron Wind and Grenadier lives on as Merltion?  But I'm including them because its my challenge and the ones I have are the originals. 

 

That said the first piece I did was the Bridge of Sorrows.  It came out really well so I let my better half look through my old boxed sets and she chose the next one:  Clutch of Fear!

 

This is another mini that I have had sitting in its box waiting for decades to be completed and its time has come (besides if I really mess up they have started recasting the molds again so its not an utter disaster. Also, since i have this one in the original box, I thought i would do a WIP to show how it goes.

 

Here is what it look like when I opened the box...

 

All the parts are there, including the instructions (more on those in the future) and an "inspected by 3" as well as assembly instructions.

 

Hope you all enjoy the ride.  I'll try to be diligent with updates.

[haldir 49697]

I had this one at one time & actually had it painted back in my youth. It had a untimely premature death & broke apart during a move.

 

Never had motivation to try & fix it. Looking forward to what you can do with it. 

[Glitterwolf 215355]

Awesome project.

The older Ral Partha dragons often need a lot of gap filling.

I had to resculpt a big part of the Chess Playing Dragon's body.

 

Grenadier and Ral Partha dragons are amazing and full of character.

Not sure if you have them but do include RAFM and old CITADEL ( that has nothing to do with GW anymore and  their first line of dragons was awesome)

Also: Harlequin Miniatures and Metal Magic!

 

Mirliton just acquired a lot of the Grenadier Molds, they're not the same company with a new name.

 

[Kangaroorex 38529]

@haldir thanks!  Looking forward to the project!

 

@Glitterwolf so far the test fitting on this set has been very close I'll make sure to get some pictures of the joints.  The good fit and lack of flash lines indicates this was done with fresh molds 

 

I have some citadel pieces, including a sitting dragon marked from 76. I think I have some from RAFM  (the wyrm bazaar is theirs i think) but I'm unfamiliar with Metal Magic and harlequin (I need to look).  

 

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm looking forward to finally getting around to painting some of these.  

[Glitterwolf 215355]

21 minutes ago, Kangaroorex said:

@haldir thanks!  Looking forward to the project!

 

@Glitterwolf so far the test fitting on this set has been very close I'll make sure to get some pictures of the joints.  The good fit and lack of flash lines indicates this was done with fresh molds 

 

I have some citadel pieces, including a sitting dragon marked from 76. I think I have some from RAFM  (the wyrm bazaar is theirs i think) but I'm unfamiliar with Metal Magic and harlequin (I need to look).  

 

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm looking forward to finally getting around to painting some of these.  

 Sent some links to the lost wiki.

 

Look for boxed sets, dragons, large monsters etc..

 

This one has no pic on lost wiki.

[Kuroneko 20455]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you tackle this amazing mini, it looks awesome! I was completely unaware of it's existence until now, I'd probably be looking for one online if I didn't have 14 dragons coming from the Bones 5 kickstart soon :)

 

Do you have any idea on your colour scheme yet?

[72moonglum 16037]

Yeah, this looks like a fun project!  I imagine it taking me months if I were to attempt such a huge beast!

[Kangaroorex 38529]

2 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

 Sent some links to the lost wiki.

 

Look for boxed sets, dragons, large monsters etc..

 

This one has no pic on lost wiki.

 

 

I don't think I have any of the harlequins, but I will dig through the box of recovered lead and see if I can find one.  If I find one I will add it to the list (which only exists in my mind so its malleable )

 

1 hour ago, Kuroneko said:

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you tackle this amazing mini, it looks awesome! I was completely unaware of it's existence until now, I'd probably be looking for one online if I didn't have 14 dragons coming from the Bones 5 kickstart soon :)

 

Do you have any idea on your colour scheme yet?

 

Thanks for the enthusiasm!  I think Iron wind may have recast this at some point because I have seen newer casts around.  this one is sort of special because of the original casting and the box as well as the metal has not been damaged or yellowed by the foam. 

 

As for color, I'm not sure.  White and Black are our because I want it to look good the first time and I have not gotten that method down yet.  The metallics are out because I don't want my fantasy world to be a place where even the most vile creature steals a good dragon's egg. That leaves the big three chromatics and the jewel dragons. (Sapphire, Topaz, Emerald, amethyst, and opal).  I will have to dig out my old monster manuals and my dragon magazines and decide on a path forward.  Fortunately, I have a little time yet.  This one is a puzzle dragon and will require a lot of pinning and epoxy to hold her together; even most of the rocks are multipiece!  

 

1 hour ago, 72moonglum said:

Yeah, this looks like a fun project!  I imagine it taking me months if I were to attempt such a huge beast!

 

How long painting will take I am not sure but assembly will take a while!  the dragon herself is in 7 pieces and although they are pretty well fitting they are going to need pinning and epoxy to take the weight or the whole thing will collapse.  Even the two egg robbers are cut in half (I am not sure why....)  It should be an interesting project!

[malefactus 56142]

3 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

 Sent some links to the lost wiki.

 

Look for boxed sets, dragons, large monsters etc..

 

This one has no pic on lost wiki.

 

 

Harlequin Miniatures  or, at least, most of them are available from Black Hat Miniatures (the USA shop is easier to deal with than the UK). I think Lost Wiki only list & shows discontinued/out of production stuff.

[Kangaroorex 38529]

3 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

 Sent some links to the lost wiki.

 

Look for boxed sets, dragons, large monsters etc..

 

This one has no pic on lost wiki.

that is a pretty nice looking dragon.  I might have to see if I can find one of these.  I like a challenge and finding those thing lost to the world can be fun!

 

@malefactus  I will take a look at Black Hat productions and see what they have to offer.  I have noticed that the lost mini Wiki records any miniatures that were at any time unavailable.  The Grenadier dragon of the month series is on the Lost mini wiki, and I know a lot of those are now available from Mirliton.

 

I don't know what to call some of the kickstarter minis I have that will never see production beyond the one casting that was made.  Do they count as lost minis or do we have to let them age out?  I have some dragons from the ill fated Tome of Horrors kickstarter  but will see how this goes.

[malefactus 56142]

14 minutes ago, Kangaroorex said:

that is a pretty nice looking dragon.  I might have to see if I can find one of these.  I like a challenge and finding those thing lost to the world can be fun!

 

@malefactus  I will take a look at Black Hat productions and see what they have to offer.  I have noticed that the lost mini Wiki records any miniatures that were at any time unavailable.  The Grenadier dragon of the month series is on the Lost mini wiki, and I know a lot of those are now available from Mirliton.

 

I don't know what to call some of the kickstarter minis I have that will never see production beyond the one casting that was made.  Do they count as lost minis or do we have to let them age out?  I have some dragons from the ill fated Tome of Horrors kickstarter  but will see how this goes.

 

I am not sure just how much of the Harlequin line Black Hat carries. I got a bunch of their Dwarves from the USA store a few years ago...VERY cool old style minis.

I don't haunt the Lost Wiki site much. Nostalgia makes me sad; re, I miss all those guys that I knew from my war gaming days & have lost contact with forever. Finding out what happened to the old companies can be interesting though. 

[Kangaroorex 38529]

2 hours ago, malefactus said:

 

I am not sure just how much of the Harlequin line Black Hat carries. I got a bunch of their Dwarves from the USA store a few years ago...VERY cool old style minis.

I don't haunt the Lost Wiki site much. Nostalgia makes me sad; re, I miss all those guys that I knew from my war gaming days & have lost contact with forever. Finding out what happened to the old companies can be interesting though. 

For me it's mixed nostalgia.  I was really into RPG and tabletop wargaming up until I graduated Highschool  then I devolved to some board gaming (okay they were big boardbames, War in the Pacific and that sort of thing) and then, after college I spent about 20 years where I concentrated on board games with the Eurogame craze and that sort of thing.  I have almost always painted some minis but during that period it was very off and on.  When I moved to Louisville almost 20 years ago, I rekindled my interest in wargaming and RPGs and with it my interest in painting as more than something to cover walls with. 

 

So when I look back, I see my childhood and things from deep memories rather than any sense of loss I see what got me interested and where a lot of the things we do today come from and when I can actually use modern techniques on the older minis, it becomes apparent just how good some of those older sculptors really were and what they could do with somewhat limited materials.  But, due to my location out in long island NY when I was young, and a very small gaming group, I never really got a chance to meet anyone outside of my circle of friends who was interested or participated and by the time I had the access, the interest had waned.  I don't know how I would have turned out if I had managed to me Tom Meier or any of the Ral Partha or Grenadier crew, my life might have taken a very different path.

[malefactus 56142]

I am a Long Islander too...raised in Nassau & lived out East for almost forty years.

[Kangaroorex 38529]

Huh, well I guess I was just one of those isolated north shore wanna bees.  I lived out by port Jefferson until 1986 and except for trips to Men-at-Arms hobbies in middle island, I don't think I had much to do with the rest of the island.  most of my time was spent either in the city or at home.  Really sort of sad that I did not get out more but my school system was small and I didn't go outside my boundaries much.  Of course, until I was 17 my modes of transportation were limited to bus and train  (Me and the DMV had some issues over what were good driving practices)

 

Would have been neat if our paths had crossed....

[malefactus 56142]

I lived in Sound Beach with a couple of moves back & forth to other parts of Suffolk County from '74 on until 2010. Cap'n John lived in East Setauket until '79.

Back then there were a bunch of us in the area gaming in 30mm Napoleonic using Column, Line, & Square. Most of the group were in Nassau.

 

Later on Andy Birtle joined our group. He was a Port Jeff High School Guy back then.

 

It really would have been cool if we had met then.

Edited January 25 by malefactus