Now & Then

So recently I was hanging out with WebOgre and asked if he still had any of the elves I gave him after my divorce and move to California. He did, and after some shrewd negotiating on his part, I traded him for a chunk of them. They have been through my bits box and then into storage at his place, but for models I painted over twenty years ago, I was surprised how well they held up!

I started playing Warhammer in 1987 and didn't have to twist WebOgre's arm to watch him jump in. I was fixated with Wardancers and Chas was one obsessed Stunty, taking on the Dwarfs.

I painted these all between 1988 and 1989. The two here below were part of a larger unit of Sea Elf Wardancers that I put together since we had the Warhammer Armies book for 3rd edition. The High Elf list had Sea Elf Wardancers, so I put a unit together and took Skaven shields, ground the details off and painted shark fins on them. Yep, those are hand painted.

Here are three I really liked of the Wardancer range. The female in the center has a Comedy/Drama style mask painted on her. I took the idea from a White Dwarf article on Eldar Harlequins.

I love the guy on the left with the eye patch and fighting claw. He had a small shield on his stub with a red & yellow cross-quarterly paint job. Must've been lost over the years. The mohawk wardancer in the middle is probably one of my all time favorite Jes Goodwin models from that range. Ahhhh, the good old days!

These last two are pretty special to me. The one on the left is the first Wood Elf figure I ever painted. The one on the right was one of my favorite Melniboneans. I didn't read any Moorcock until after high school, but I had some minis painted from that range because they looked like really cool High Elves.

Its fun to look at these and then scroll down to my more developed work. I have come a long way in those 20 years, but I do miss the special atmosphere those early days seemed to have that isn't quite the same now.

I wanted to photograph these before they hit the Simple Green and got stripped down. I am working with Drew on a Fantasy background/milieu for my skirmish game, and I have one area that has Gladiators of every race. I'll be using these old style punk wardancers for Elf Gladiators in my game.

Hope you enjoy,

Faust