Also-ran heroes rendered in chunky 1990s single piece plastic.
I can’t remember when I decided/was told that these two loveable plastic lumps (the “Dragonslayer” and “Ranger” from Talisman 3rd edition, as shown here on solegends.com) could work as a “music inspired by the motion picture”, second tier version of Gotrek & Felix.
They do look the part though, and I am quite happy with how the two turned out. If you don’t know who Gotrek and Felix are, then there is a short overview HERE.
The fate of the “also-rans” who never quite get the spotlight, has long been an entertaining part of toy soldier narratives for me. I imagine, for example, that when Notrek Nordengaard meets Gotrek Gurnisson at the “Karaz a Karak class of ’89 Reunion”, Gotrek has zero memory of him.
Similarly, I imagine that Faulix Meister coincidentally hooks up with women who turn out to have previously dated Felix Jaeger with alarming regularity. When these types of mundane, relatable concerns are what drive my games, I have more fun.
A friend gave me a leftover base from his 2019 Gotrek. I thought I could add a fun element of authenticity or Easter egg to my “Notrek” by sticking him to that whenever I got around to working on him. I get a kick out of it, silly as it probably sounds.
When rules for fighting with and against Gotrek in Warcry – one of my favourite GW games ever – were released, the urge to have a Gotrek or, perhaps a Notrek painted increased dramatically. And even though Felix didn’t make it to the Mortal Realms, I wasnt going to paint a Notrek and leave Faulix out.
It still took me a year to get them from start to finish, but hey: I had fun and that’s the main thing.
Some Warcry figs next I think. Thanks for looking!
Filed under: Miniatures | Tagged: 2021, Citadel, Dwarfs, Fantasy, Games Workshop, Slayer, Talisman, Warcry, Warhammer |
sho3box 
These two delightful lumps turned out super well. The metals and leatherwork are fantastic, not to mentione those well managed coiffures. Lots of fun to be had with these two runnner-ups.
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These two definitely came together better in the end than I expected.
The metal and leather elements are experiments with different approaches to different materials. Loads of room for improvement, but I do like the apparent depth of scratching on the axe in particular.
As characters for gaming, it certainly doesn’t hurt that they are underdogs, destined to be spoken about in unflattering comparative terms FOREVER 😀
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Can’t wait to game with these gems and have all the lolz!
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Without exaggeration, these two were painted with precisely that in mind airbornegrove26. You will have Notrek’s axe the next time that there is a mission in the spider haunted depths of a forest or in stinking skaven filled sewers
N & F have a certain “x” factor I think, something that will have players willing them to succeed, knowing that the guys are destined for mediocrity.
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Fantastic!
I hope someday we can face off again with these outstanding heroes
Great job
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As much as I can guarantee anything Will, I guarantee that 🙂
I didn’t mention it in the post, but these two are definitely going to feature in future games of “Nightwatch” – which is the fantasy version of “Hardwired” that we played last time, with some extra (and potentially very entertaining bells and whistles).
I am confident that it is a matter of when, rather than if 🙂
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Lovely job mate – these also-ran wannabes are fab!!
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Thanks Alex!
I really am rather pleased with these. I suppose the objectively low starting point of fairly basic old plastics make the finished product look more surprising if it is decent enough.
Gotrek and Felix are fan faves too of course, and whether they like the idea of not, these two are hanging onto their coat tails.
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Superb work. Great contrast, really nice looking ginger hair, great NMM and good weathering effects. Love all about it. An the transitions look super smooth.
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Agree with DAB, plus loved the artwork comparisons.
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I had a short dig through images of G&F through the years to make sure that I got the vibe right, so it seemed apt to put a few in. Varied imagery help to keep blog posts visually interesting I think.
Thanks for the feedback Mark!
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Thanks DAB!
The metallic elements use some NMM lighting conventions, but it’s more a case of selectively tinted, partly metallic areas, if that makes sense. Somewhere between “true” and “non” metallic. It is a little rougher than I had hoped, but it works well enough I think.
The transitions are blended out with glazes over layering. It takes a little time, but it is simple work.
The bright hair was lots of fun. Such a warm, fiery colour 🙂
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Call me impressed. I was wondering if it is TMM after all. You struck a nice balance. Could you elaborate on the technique more? So a metallic base, tinted with glazes (shadows), and metallic paint for the highlights?
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I’ll do better than that, I’ll show you the video that I mostly copied:
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I really likey you execution of the duo. And I really have to admire your persistence with the Ranger’s face – I gave up on mine several years ago as I thought it was miscast. Only yours is exactly the same. (Your ranger’s face, I mean. Not your face. Not calling you ugly.)
You’ve really brought this pair to life with the pallette. Your mastery of neutral tones would make you great at Ancients.
When I was a kid, I dreamed of doing putting that Ranger with the Grey Wizard, Elf, Barbarian, Dwarf and 4 of the nuggety Halflings to make the “Faux-lowship of the Ring”.
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Oooh, a Fauxlowship… I could definitely hang a progress marker on the Monoposers project with a hook like that, great idea!
I might look further into that.
The rangers face has very delicate eyes, which I fudged. At the back of the jawbone his face starts to flare into his hair. Again, I just fudged it into shadow.
The painting his face was very basic: Gulliman Flesh over Wraithbone, a little purple wash around the eyes, a pretty rough layering with Game Colour Off White, some glazing with Gulliman flesh and a final Off White highlight. Then some Agrax washing to help define the eyes and mouth and another colour for the bottom lip. Nothing complex or difficult.
This is one of those situations where my significantly lower skill level and corresponding standards probably worked in my favour, the opposite of, for example, large flat panels.
The Fauxlowship is a great idea. The established colour schemes from the LotR movies could be a great kick off point. Will investigate further.
Thanks for the feedback Curis!
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> Oooh, a Fauxlowship
“You idiots! You’ve captured their stunt doubles!” 😂
I’m so happy to see a post from you! And these guys are great. Making monopose plastics look decent can be a truly thankless task, but sometimes the results do pan out. You mailed these.
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I somehow missed this comment until now Al, apologies!
That Spaceballs scene was on my mind while I worked on these… as was the Relic Hunter:Tomb Raider relationship.
Blogging is tricky to fit into my schedule at the moment, for uninteresting reasons, but I’m trying to keep it ticking over. I’m trying to focus more on painting, rather than being online talking about it. I’m not sure where the right balance is, but I don’t intend to let blogging fall by the wayside just yet.
I’m glad that you like the monopose guys, because I am hoping to rattle out a fair few more soon-ish.
Thanks for the feedback Allison!
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Oh, wow, sweet! They both look gorgeous in every detail. I’m mesmerised, the colours, the hues, everything looks perfect! They indeed deserve some action soon!
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Thanks Suber!
These two are crowd pleasers, for multiple reasons. I had forgotten what it feels like to hit a few technical targets as well as a more ephemeral meta appeal in a project. Funny how it is possible to forget things that you once knew inherently.
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Great work, your excellent paintwork certainly makes these minis more than the sum of their parts. Also I just read Gotrek & Felix for the first time a few weeks ago, so it’s good to see such an excellent rendering of them.
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Oh, I was going to mention the books in the post Warburton, but the post was meandering too much!
I too am only getting to the Gotrek and Felix books now, in the last six months, via audiobook. I really enjoyed the first three (which is as far as I have got to date). I was listening to them because they feature skaven pretty heavily and as they were what I was painting at the time it seemed to make sense. Those books were definitely the required catalyst for these two.
I’m glad that someone with a similarly fresh memory of the characters approves.
Oh, the second G&F book is better than the first one IMO. The first one is kind of episodic, as to be expected from a collection of short stories really. The second one is a lot of fun. I hope that you enjoy it Warburton, thanks for the feedback!
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I actually read the whole first Omnibus…Skavenslayer was my favourite though the first book was quite enjoyable too. 🙂
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Agreed 100%.
Skavenslayer is the highlight for me, to date anyway.
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Really, REALLY nice work mate
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I’m glad that you like them imperialrebelork!
I enjoyed painting them in a bright, somewhat 1990s style, although I didn’t set out to do that intentionally. I think that the enthusiasm come through 🙂
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These are…wonderfaux! Great work on them, and it’s really nice to see attention given to minis that aren’t really “boutique” as manufacturers tend to say of expensive resin beauties.
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In a world of amazingly designed digital figures where the manufacturing actually allows for toy soldier elements that are virtually impossible to create manually – rather than the manufacturing actually hindering elements of the process – these models are in a funny way very boutique I suppose. That isn’t what draws me to the chunky plastics of that era though.
It’s the (relatively) rugged, toy-like element of these designs that I enjoy. There is definitely an element of nostalgia that limits my objectivity, but I do honestly think that they are really good gaming pieces, with distinct visual identities, easily recognisable from afar.
More to come I hope, thanks for the feedback Mikko!
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[…] Notrek and Faulix […]
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Oh those two are excellent! I have a couple of the dwarf I need to finish, but the thought of trying to do two sets of identical tattoos on two very-not-identical slayer models has managed to keep them on the edge of the table for a good 6+ months. (That, and the “should I do the plastic one now at the same time? And then there’s the shield-bearing one! and…” )
Maybe after seeing this it’s time to get my finger out and just get these two finished at least…
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I also suffer from the desire to group like with like until every sub-project becomes a project in and of itself too. I try to limit that, but it is a tough line to draw if you want to get things done. I have a few dwarfs that I wanted to add to painting this guy, but I restrained myself. This time…
Do you reckon that all slayers have the same tattoos? I don’t. I reckon that they all have tattoos that use some sort of common concept that reads as “slayer” to dwarfs and others in the know, but not tat they duplicate.
Unless you are aiming to have the two models represent exactly the same person, in which case, good luck with that 😀
Thanks for the feedback Azazel!
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Oh, not at all on them all having the same tattoos. I’ve used the many different tattoos I’ve painted on the many slayers I’ve painted over the years as an enjoyable collection of canvases to practise and improve my skill on.
Different models representing the same, rather famous Slayer on the other hand… gets a bit trickier!
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Nice work on great minis! 🙂
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Thanks Kadmon!
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