Monday 16 June 2014

Keeping the wolf from the door!


What I love about this most wholesome of hobbies that we all share is the sense of community that pervades around our cosy corner of the infoweb.   This will often manifest itself through the generosity of others, whether it is in the time devoted to leaving comments or perhaps in a more physical, tangible sense with items freely given away in order to celebrate any number of impressive milestones.  I, myself have been a grateful recipient of a good many treasures and this odd couple is one such case. 



David Docherty Esq. of ‘One man and his brushes’ fame, is one of these splendid generous types, for when he is not giving freely of his time in the case of running the much lauded Serenity games at ‘Blog-Con’ he is putting random miniatures in the post to lucky and yet unsuspecting recipients. 


I say random, but Dave knows only too well of my penchant for weird and wonderful miniatures and so this mixed bag of Weird West miniatures from ‘Ainsty Castings’ was only ever going to be favourably received.  That said, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit, that I had all but forgotten them until just the other day when flicking through the ‘Witchfinder General’ rules, I realised that I would need to get my hands on some werewolves; faster than a speeding silver bullet, I went in search of Dave’s gift that I knew contained a likely lycanthrope.   



It is always the way with such things that the last place you look is exactly where you will find what you are searching for, but finally after covering the entire dining room table in lead* I stumbled upon the elusive packet.  Although it was the Werewolf that I was after, it seemed churlish not to paint his companion, who is a good likeness for a certain American President and wielding a fearsome looking axe, not unlike the title character in the wonderfully absurd, 'Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter'. 

*I sensibly waited until the Saintly Mrs. Awdry had left the building!


This is a hugely enjoyable romp through the life of, arguable, America's greatest President and reveals just how the battle of Gettysburg was really won!  Dressed in his overcoat and resplendent with his bow tie and waistcoat, Abe may well find himself pressed into action with my other Victorian misfits, perhaps even in the somewhat stalled, 'secret project'.  The werewolf, however will certainly see service in the new ruleset of choice or might even inspire me to take a closer look at the Gothic supplement for 'In Her Majesty's Name'.  He has a wonderful, Big, Bad, Wolf feel to him, but I'm not overly sure about the tail; even so he is based on a 'Warbases' 30mm MDF disc, decorated to match those of the Noctelinger.








67 comments:

  1. Stunning paint work and very cool minis !

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  2. AAARROOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Honest Abe to the rescue!

    Very nice. Another quality product from you, sir!

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  3. Everyone knows the Rebs were vampires, and now apparently the have Lycan reinforcements. Old Abe to the rescue, please! Absolutely wonderful minis Michael!

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    1. If anyone can halt the dastardly foe in the tracks, then it has to be Abe.

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  4. I am continuously impressed by your ability to paint black and make it look good. Not an easy thing to do. Another tough colour is white.

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    1. Thank you, for the black I'm using a lot of P3 Coal black, but mixing it with black for the shadow.

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  5. Amazing paintjob! Love the face on 'Abe'. Very realistic looking!

    Great looking sculpts too. Might have to order the Lincoln model for myself too as the Vampire Hunter movie was actually really good!

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    1. Thank you, he was a joy to work on, which always helps.

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  6. Great painting on Abe and the werewolf! Never realized lycanthropes spent so much time working on their abs!

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    1. He is certainly in better shape than me. :(

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  7. Fantastic work, so realistic...I'm afraid it's full moon in France, I have to find an axe...soon...

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    1. Thank you Phil and good luck; I hear silver works well as a deterrent!

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  8. I recommend a read of the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter book; a darned good yarn IMHO (never seen the film, mind) ;)

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    1. I'll certainly have to have a look at that Monty, the film was a blast as long as you don't take your history too seriously.

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  9. And a Big Bad Wolf he is. The afore mentioned Presidential is well painted though I hated the film.

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    1. Thank you my good man, you mean it wasn't a documentary? ;)

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  10. Very nice! Great detail in the blood spattering of Abe's face.

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  11. Great paintjob on two very nice figures. A nice gift to get!

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    1. Thank you Edwin, he is a damned nice fellow that Docherty!

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  12. Got to love a werewolf! If Carlsberg made Presidents it would have been Abe Lincoln.

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    1. Thank you Mark and couldn't agree more. I've got some more werewolves to do at some point, but plenty to be done before that.

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  13. Awesome painting! I especially like Mr. Lincoln as he really looks like he's pissed off by some brash werewolves.

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    1. Thank you, he certainly doesn't look like a man to trifle with, especially holding that axe!

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  14. Great work on those two. The werewolf is definitely a worthy advesary for any self respecting monster hunter

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    1. Thank you Paul, he certainly looks as though he's been working out!

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  15. I think that the underlying issue here is that you love blood and gore and it is that splash of the good stuff that links your various projects together. You must really get through the red paints ;-) Well done, another triumph!

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    1. I think you may have stumbled upon the truth, Mr Freud would probably have a field day!

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  16. I feel you have done a better job on these two than I managed and for that I salute you. I don't know if you have the squaw but that was my favourite figure in the group. Top notch as always sir.

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    1. That is very kind of you to say so Clint and I think there were some more hiding in a box somewhere, but not sure I remember a squaw.

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  17. Beautifully done Michael, now you need a Red Riding Hood, or would that be too Grimm?

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    1. Thank you Terry, I have to confess I was thinking something similar myself.

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  18. "What's the time Mr Wolf" as my 4 yr old says. A couple of top drawer figures (as usual)
    It's tea time !

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    1. I think Abe, might have something to say about tea time, but my thanks for the very kind comments, always gratefully received.

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  19. Lovely work Michael! And yes it's a wonderfully absurd movie, but you're into vampires its well worth a watch :-)

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    1. Thank you so much Scott and I couldn't agree more.

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  20. You'd have to be barking mad not to like these mate!

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  21. Can "Millard Fillmore, Zombie Slayer" be far behind?

    Well done, good sir.

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  22. I hope he's a werewolf, not a swearwolf! See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biRW7Etevkk

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    1. That is priceless, thank you for the link!

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  23. A fantastic paintjob as usual. The bushy tail makes him look more of a werefox than a werewolf. Still won't like to meet him in a dark alley mind.

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    1. Thank you Matt and I glad you said that about the tail. I have so more to do at some point and have pondering the need for a bit of surgery, it just looks as if it would get in the way!

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  24. Fancy...Abe Lincoln President by day, werewolf hunter by night. Adds another dimension to the term 'Moonlighting' ...oowh oowh oooooowh!

    As always superb painting and modelling. Top notch.

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    1. Oh very good Sir and thank you for the kind words.

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  25. Took me a while to notice but I love the teeny tiny blood spats all Over Abe, very cool indeed!

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    1. Well spotted, I was really worried it was going to end up been too much, so glad I stopped when I did.

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  26. Superb painting on wonderful character models, Michael. I like them both, but I see the werewolf could be used in many scenarios. Best, Dean

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    1. Thank you Dean, it was the need for a werewolf that pricked my memory of the pair, I have plans for him!

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  27. Excellent paintjob, Sir.
    Especially Lincoln's incarnation is superb.

    Cheers
    Stefan

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    1. Thank you so much Stefan, the success is mostly down to the sculpt.

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  28. Great rendition of two stunning sculpts.

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  29. Excellent work on both Michael! Old Abe looks like he means business.

    Christopher

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    1. He certainly does Christopher and thank you.

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  30. Excellent work on Abe and the wolfman there. :)

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  31. Awesome! Not only damn fine painting, but I love your wonderful choice of minis on this blog.

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    1. Thank you Jason, it is all very self indulgent, but it is my hobby after all.

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  32. what a great looking Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter! Cool fig!

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    1. Thank you Cory, it is a great sculpt to work on.

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  33. Damn fine painting, I cannot pick a favorite! Love the fur and I love the character and splatter on the unflappable Lincoln.

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    1. Thank you Monty, I was really pleased with the werewolf's fur and hope to replicate it on some similar models before too long.

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