Undead - Spearhead 3

Lars Vallhund, Raoul de Tosny and Tormund Stahl

Some new recruits for the Horde of Dreux today. Three minis I have had awaiting the attention of the brush for a long, long time. It’s a little surreal finally getting to them after all these years, but very satisfying indeed, my lovelies.

This delight in metal form is a 1986 sculpt by my man, Aly Morrison. I love the undead from this era with a deep and inappropriate intensity. You often hear from old Grognards like myself; 'They just got more character they do, my lad, ah, them were they days.' Well, in this case, they do. Look at this guy, with his punky mohawk, mysterious robes and head collection (lifted from the Dead Men of Dunharrow Lord of the Rings range, I hasten to add.) He's the business. 

His paintjob followed my usual recipes, but this time I added a couple of glazes over the bone. A 1:1 mix of Skeleton Horde contrast paint and medium. Then a mix with less medium for recesses. Works a treat to add a little richness to the bone.

The banner was a new direction. White Dwarf 512 had an article on painting the new Soulblight Gravelord minis, and part of that was the banners. The faded look to these banners struck me as just super cool, and contrasted nicely with the rust, robes, bone and armour of the undead. I changed it a little, but it's pretty much the same recipe. I really like how it turned out.

Next we have Lars Vallhund, who hails from the same range as Raoul. Like the standard bearers, there are three variant musicians. This one is by far the most metal. I got great amusement from painting his goaty accoutrements. He looks a bit wild for a skeleton warrior, and is certainly a memorable sculpt. I hadn't seen a version of him painted that I can recall. I thought his drums would be nice as aged bronze, so that's what I went with.

This rather non-descript skeleton warrior is one of the many little beauties they produced in the 80s. I don't know the sculptor I'm afraid. He's a nice hunched fella, and has a lot of visual interest from the back. See for yourself:

Cool huh? The skulls on the base are from old square base resin base toppers. I've taken to clipping them up lately for adding little points of interest to bases.

So, that's the latest. Lots more undead on the way. I still have quite a few Morley grave guard to paint up, as well as the wight king. Then we get onto some cavalry. I'm having trouble selecting my horsemen, there are many wondrous candidates. More soon, and happy Deadcember!