Inspired by the Realm of Chaos Blog, I’ve been wanting to dig out some of my old classic unpainted RoC figures and paint them up. Since my paint room still has lighting issues, I did the next best thing and dug out a bunch of my old figures, purchased and painted back in the day. I wince a little when I see some of them, or I look at them and think about how I could paint X or Y much better now, but then again some of the sculpts aren’t the sharpest, and the blown up photos really do reveal every flaw (and bit of dust stuck to them after 20+ years in figure cases.) Some of the photos have the focus a little off, but then again I just took them in the downstairs bathroom, once I noticed that the light in there is pretty good(!)

I guess it’s important to remember that I was a teenager when I painted these, and was obviously incredibly influenced by the various GW techniques and palettes of the day, going from the 3rd-edition WFB through to the “GW Red period”. I intend to rebase these, as I’ve always preferred round bases, but I’m in two minds as to whether to repaint or touch them up. (There are some truly awful figures I won’t show and will definitely strip, but most fall into that middle ground, as these do.)

Mister Fly-head up top is, I believe, a Jes Goodwin Sculpt. I think it may have actually come out after Slaves to Darkness as part of the Lost and the Damned waves, though it’s also very possible that it came out during the huge time gap between the two books. It was one of my first attempts of using a glaze over a white basecoat, in this case, Windsor & Newton Blue. Remember when White Dwarf explained techniques like that? Because that’s where I learned to do it. If I were to repaint it (or if I decide to touch it up) I’ll be going over the red rope belt, and perhaps seeing if I can do something in a metallic blue or green over the eyes.

This guy is another of Jes’ sculpts (I think). A beastman, obviously. I’m still pretty happy with this guy, given his age. I doubt I’d do anything to him besides go over him with tweezers to get the dust-hairs off (not that you can really see them IRL. For some reason, one of my friends always had a huge issue with the Union Flag design on the shield. I just told him, tongue in cheek, that it’s a stylised 8-pointed chaos star, but he still couldn’t handle it..

A Chaos Champion of Khorne, though today he’d simply be a Chaos Warrior, I guess. This figure came out later, during or after the Lost and the Damned phase. I think Mark Copplestone sculpted this one, and from memory, he did a champion for each of the four powers. The brass/gold is simply W&N Burnt Sienna ink glazed right over Humbrol enamel gold. I used Humbrol enamels for a long time, since many of the GW metallics still weren’t up to scratch. The armour was another glazing experiment of the day from a White Dwarf. Painted red, then tiny yellow dots painted over the top. Then a glaze of red ink, then more dots, then another glaze, and so on – for several layers. It looks a bit chunky here, but with the figure in hand, it looks quite decent. Again, a figure I’m happy to leave alone, aside from rebasing.

A beastman. Not sure who sculpted this one, though Jes did a lot of the beastmen of this era, I’m not sure if this is his or not. His dog-face means he is a worshipper and follower of Khorne. Oh, the days when beastmen were less generic! I do like the new ones, but I enjoy the variety and character of the old sculpts. He’s a little over-bright perhaps, and his armour is a bit pristine, but them’s the breaks, and it just goes to show that nothing ever changes in the world of Warhammer – just check out most Space Marine armour(!) freehand runes of Khorne on the shield and armour. I gave him a ruddy Swamp Brown fur, highlighted with Orc Brown, and the same treatment as the warrior above for his mace. Again, one I’ll be leaving alone. Maybe a tiny touch-up on his toenails.

Yep, it’s the same model again. I came to paint this one later on, and wanting them to all be individuals, I gave him a rich red fur along with a pinkish muzzle and of course, the pale milky-yellow, pupiless eyes of a follower of Khorne. (which I also gave to his mate, above). A duller gut-plate with a red rune on it, and a more stylised rune of Khorne on his shield.

This beastman is definitely one of Jes’ models. Pretty straightforward with a ruddy coat and a half-rune of Khorne on his shield, as taken from the Slaves to Darkness pages. Can you guess which god my warband(s) were usually aligned with? This one again doesn’t need to be repainted. His blade uses a technique I learned back in the day. Can’t remember if this one was from White Dwarf, a friend or something i discovered myself (probably after a messy accident).

If there was something that you wanted to remain a metal, particularly a little weather-beaten or simply not pristine – you masked it when you primed, and then inked the bare metal with black drawing ink. Let it sit for about 10 seconds, then wipe as much of it off as possible. The ink would stain the metal of the miniature, darkening it, while also remaining in the gaps and crevasses. I used this a lot in those days, especially considering how average-to-bad many of the metallic paints could be. I still use it today, on occasion.

Another of Jes’ beastmen, using a facial sculpt that found it’s way onto several models. Again this guy is pretty straightforward and needs no repainting. Same technique as above for the blade, and the same palette of Swamp and Orc Browns for his fur. The loincloth is a little bright, but it’s there to signify “Khorne”, and the old spiky shield is a little bit crap, but it’s old-school, so it stays. The horns aren’t awesome, but given the age of the mini, they’re good enough…

Another double, I think this is the last (painted) duplicated RoC figure I have. Again the main thing I wanted to do with this one was make him distinct from his twin. I’ve gone for a slightly more generic look this time, rather than Khornate. I also used a Marauder Miniatures’ Dark Elf shield on him, since it’s got a chaos star on it. If I remember correctly, he was pretty much fully painted and sat there in a case for a few years before getting the shield added to finally complete him.

A chaos sorcerer. Yes. Painted in pretty much Khornate colours. I painted him to twin him with another Chaos Champion with bone armour, who I painted with the same palette (copied from a White Dwarf). I’d kinda like to repaint him completely, but I’m not sure. I’ve regretted stripping some of my old marines from the RT era that were actually pretty decently painted – especially after seeing and picking up the same figures down the line from eBay.

That’s it for this post. More here!