In The Beginning . . .
A long time ago I fell in love with the incredible Elf sculptures that Tom Meier's created for Ral Partha.
I purchased my first pack of six of the Sea Elves, shown above, in 1977 the year I graduated from High School! The next pack was in 1979, when they were re-molded. Pat gave me another pack for Christmas in '84, after we moved in together. She knew I really wanted to create a pike phalanx. Inspired by a friend I was gaming with in the early 80's I white glued them onto 20 mm square tiles and stored them in a clear plastic shoe box from the 70's.
They've lived, still loved and admired and unpainted, on the book shelf beside my computer desk where I can see them every day ever since then . . .
Then I saw I stumbled upon https://youtu.be/XcQfxtN65RI
At https://yarkshiregamer.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-italian-wars-project-is-go.html
This Inspiration helped me finally figure out how I really wanted this long dreamed of unit to look!
I've been Collecting Ral Partha figures, literally, for decades. And Ral Partha is back in business again! Hmmm . . . Pat gave me a generous order for my Birthday this year. I cleaned and primed them and did an initial dark wash to show their details, while I stared at their older 'lead' relatives.
Since I've been accepted into the ranks of the AHPC IX I think it's only fair and right to strip these and start fresh. So, yesterday I popped them off their bases,
and started their Simple Green soak.
Their older cousins are finally cleaned up!
Yes, I wear nitrile gloves whenever I handle them before they're pimed. Heck, I even have a separate set of files and scalpel handle for working on my antique lead figures.
Lovely figures, I'll be painting similar vintage RAL Partha figures for the challenge but they'll be landsknechts,best of luck!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Looking forward to seeing your Ral Partha landsknechts Iain! Apologies for not replying sooner ~ pre-Christmas rush has kept me from posting. Thanks, I’m going to try. Best of luck to you too!
DeleteWelcome to the Challenge, Tom!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray! Looking forward to seeing your mind boggling output!!!
DeleteI'm looking forward to seeing this project develop. I still have some old Ral Partha figures around the house, although most are painted by now. Welcome to the painting challenge and best of luck with your target.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Lee. As a new comer to the Challenge I seem to keep falling behind my own self-set goals! No worries, I do have a plan and am digging in for the long run. If I can just finish those pikes and their flanking halberdiers in the next couple of months I’ll be thrilled! Cheers!
ReplyDelete