 |
| "It's the colour of a starless night sky, and a thick odour permeates the air around it." |
This 45mm tall pre-painted plastic model of some Rolling Oil is produced by “Wizkids” and is miniature number 029 from their Ruins of Lastwall range of "Pathfinder Battles" figures. "A magical compound of pitch and alchemist’s fire", the "volatile and dangerous ooze... hunts in subterranean tunnels and even city sewer systems and waterways for animal and vegetable material to consume."
"Thick, viscous, and resembling a glistening spread of black wax" the mutable creature was re-based upon a "Games Workshop" 50mm circular base and primed using a double layer of "Citadel" Abaddon Black. The Rolling Oil was then enthusiastically dry-brushed with "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal, before being drenched with "Citadel" Nuln Oil.
 |
| "Otherworld Miniatures" WIPs - This Barrow Guardian has been primed, shaded and dry-brushed |
With my latest ooze completed, I have been rummaging around for more models by "Otherworld Miniatures" to use with a possible "Warlock Of Firetop Mountain" flavoured tabletop campaign I have in mind. Russ Nicholson's excellent illustrations for this particular "Fighting Fantasy" gaming novel by "Puffin Books" made a lasting impact upon me when I was a young hobbyist, so ideally I have been scouring through my "Dungeons & Dragons" backlog to see what figures captured the look of the Glasgow-born artist's pencilling.
One such model is a Barrow Guardian from Greg Gillespie’s ‘Barrowmaze’ RPG setting. This particular sculpt would appear to be 'out of production' these days, and I only managed to 'bag one' myself because "Otherworld Miniatures" very kindly sent me for free when I ordered their heavily discounted Barrow Guardian II (Code DM30b). The metal figure was actually a bit of a pain to assemble, as its shield is (understandably) separate, so had to be pinned in place due its minimal surface contact with the monster's wrist.
 |
| "Sally 4th" Elite Paint Storage Shelving Unit |
I have also spent some time assembling one of three Elite Paint Storage shelves produced by "Sally 4th" to try and help 'tidy up' my painting area. I'm very much aware that I've not played anywhere near as many games as I had hoped to by this stage of the year, and a large part of this is because my considerable painting queue, along with my numerous paints, brushes, glues and varnishes have significantly encroached upon my table space.
Assembled using copious amounts of Titebond Original Wood Glue by "Franklin International", this multi-piece MDF painting accessory can accommodate fifteen "Vallejo"-sized dropper bottles of paint and comes with two clear fronted drawers as well. The wooden kit also comes supplied with some "ultra strong rare earth magnets" with which to securely hold any adjoining shelves in place. I won't be attaching mine yet until I've built the other two storage units, to ensure their polarity matches the next rack...
A Fighting Fantasy inspired campaign would be awesome! I think Citadel of Chaos hooked me when I was a little kid too. I borrowed it from a local library back in the day and would love to see you do something along the lines of those books. The Ooze is a nice model and the weathered guardian looks perfect!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Horridperson. I've a bit more work to do on the Barrow Guardian, with some washes etc, but he definitely evokes "Fighting Fantasy" in my mind; as does the other Guardian I've got. Citadel of Chaos is on my list too, as I think that was the first book I beat...
DeleteI love this new post so many good things to enjoy, and interestingly informative too. I tried to get my hands on a copy of Barrowmaze but was unsuccessful, so well done on that one. As for that Rolling Oil, wowee I can see a use for that in any game.
ReplyDeleteCheers Steve. I don't actually own a copy of "Barrowmaze" myself, just a couple of miniatures for it. But I do know that "Drive Thru RPG" sells it as a PDF or B&W book, if you're interested in a copy of the the classic old school megadungeon. Its on discount too.
DeleteThe Rolling Oil is probably my fave ooze to date, and is huge. Well worth tracking down imho, and although I repainted mine, it certainly doesn't need doing.
Cheers for that golden nugget Simon. I`ll check out Drivethru for sure, I use them a lot. I don`t buy a lot of new game book material as I have so much old skool stuff anyway, but there are still a few gems I am looking to collect, Barrowmaze being one of them.
DeleteI have a miniature I might use as a facsimile for rolling oil, so I may have a go at it, or make one from scratch. Yours has inspired me now.
No worries Steve. I like to think that inspiring others is why we all blog. If you do get "Barrowmaze" please let me know what you think of it :-)
DeleteWill do :-)))
DeleteSplendid. Your other recommendations have always been superb, so I look forward to hearing about this one.
DeleteGreat work on the puddle Simon ! LOL the guardian is coming along nicely too.
ReplyDeletePaint racks look good, I just finished building my own custom set and find them very useful
Thanks Dave. The Rolling Oil was one of my face paint-jobs of the year, LOL!! Hopefully, I can get both the guardians finished soon, and have a bit more room once the other two paint racks are done. I'd be interested in seeing your custom set? I went with "Sally 4th" as theirs seemed so modular.
DeleteWill post up pictures of them on my next blog post mate
DeleteCheers Dave. I look forward to seeing that enormously :-)
DeleteNever heard if a Rolling Oil, but it looks great. Nice paint job. I like the look of the paint rack as well. I will be interested in your thoughts after you have lived with it for a while. Love the D&D theme ATM, but when are we going to see some adventurers?
ReplyDeleteCheers Undercoat. I like the paint racks so much that I've bought another couple, with large single drawers than two smaller ones, for the larger "Citadel" wash pots etc. You're spot on about some adventurers, as I need to paint some in order to play any games.
DeleteOk rolling oil; what next - a feather monster ?
ReplyDeleteOk so it amused me ut it does look thepart (and just a little intimidating).
The barrow gusrdian is a very good sculpt and nicely detailed too.
The a paint station stuff looks good too, but I think that another row or two pf paint shelves rather than one of the twp drawers would have been of more use - but hey that's just me and tghere is a wide selection of such items to now be found on the interweb.
Thanks Joe. I do have a few more oozes to come tbh, so get ready for them ;-) I've managed to finish both the Barrow Guardians now, to they should be posted up next week to help keep the "Dungeons & Dragons" vibe going for this month.
DeleteYou raise an interesting point about an additional row of paint shelves, as I'd certainly have been in favour of such a move. And probably wouldn't have needed to buy another two as a result.