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Hi, I'm starting this thread to record my rediscovery of miniatures, painting and games. As a child/teenager i dabbled with 40k (2nd ed) and Wharhammer Quest https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1634/warhammer-quest (classic, from the 90s). Whether this descent/awakening now is about a mid-life crisis or finding pleasure and a creative outlet is as much your guess or mine...

Basicaly, the story is my folks were clearing out the last of my old stuff at their house. That turned out to include a near complete box of Warhammer Quest from the 90s, 2nd edition 40K (most of the ork army), a 500-100 pt 40k CSM army and sundry bits and bobs. Oh and some sadly dried up paints. Opening the WHQ box and looking up the crazy prices people were paying for it on ebay made me not think of the cash i could earn, but how precious this thing i already had was.

My child self never got round to painting even a quarter of the WHQ box's 90+ minis. With the resources of an adult and the time/bordeom provided by lockdown, I fancied trying my hand at some painting again. I bought a starter set of Vallejo GC paints (more in that single pack than i think i ever owned before!), some modest brushes from army painter and started off with the doorways. I won't bother to post those, they're grey grey grey but i did some dry brushing and washes, even trying some rust effects.

Then came the notion of painting up the rest of the units. Starting with the snotlings, rats and bats before working up to the bigger and more interesting/risky minis (skaven, goblins, orcs and Minotaurs - then finaly the heroes).

[I'm putting a pin in the post here and will return with pics and more later]

Hi! I for one welcome your triumphant return to the hobby! You picked a great time, what with the reprinting of Cursed City. Definitely post some pics, of the old and the new.

 Warptide wrote:
Hi! I for one welcome your triumphant return to the hobby! You picked a great time, what with the reprinting of Cursed City. Definitely post some pics, of the old and the new.

Thanks! I saw that announcement and it’s going to be on my list for next year.

Just took over 100 pics of said return so now need to lie down before uploading them…

thats a lot of pictures

 Manchild 1984 wrote:
thats a lot of pictures

Well i also had to go through the whole "how do i take pictures of these small things?" process...

So here we go:

12 bats (had to get 5 replacements)


12 Snotlings (including one whom i left as was - unwashed and with only one layer over basecoat)


2 Spiders - both as i'd carefully painted them 25 years ago in my approximation of the 'eavy metal style.


And then here's a journey through my painting over the last 6 months, through the mdeium of minotaurs:

I painted this brute in the 90s:


His brother in Spring 2021:


And their cousin in Summer 2021 (shame about the varnish, it hides a lot of detail):






For this guy I tried out oils for the first time. It was only meant to be a wash but I put it too thick in some places. Took ages to dry. Very happy with how the back muscles turned out and the edge weathering of the black armour, although it's not very visible in the pics other than on the gauntlet.

Here are my (mostly original) heroes for WHQ:

Barbarian


Wizard


Dwarf


Elf (stripped and repainted in Spring 2021)

Here are the original monopose skaven:


And some metal replacements to bring the squad up to 12. I found these at https://eoeorbisuk.com/ (same place i found the replacement bats):

I used milliput on the bases of these guys for the first time - to hold the tab in the slot and fill gaps, but also realised it provides texture to otherwise dull bases.

At the same time i was toying with the orcs:


The one in the middle is the original paint from 25 years ago. I slapped a wash over it but it's otherwise unchanged. The darker skinned orcs on either side were zenithal'd and i experiemented with washes and rust effects. Looking back, i'd have invested the time i put into the rust into their skin instead!

I'll end now with a promise to post some (hopefully) more interesting and higher quality painting & minis in the next few posts.

Epic return!
And enjoy

As if from another planet