It's been a while since I wrote anything here as other shiny things have distracted me: some music, a little poetry. You know, the things that have to do with my usual handle. But I'm back into a more leaded mood. And as I got to sorting through the collection after a recent trip to New Jersey where I pretended I was once again fifteen I found that some of my miniatures really wanted updating. In particular this fellow here:
This guy is an old miniature from the Rogue Trader era "Adventurers" range. He was sold as an "Imperial Scout." It always seemed clear to me that he was a sort of Lawrence of Arabia type, but other possible references escaped me. I was quite late to Dune, for instance, and completely missed the significance of the "ornithopters" in the introduction. So it never occurred to me that there was already a rather solid precedent for Lawrence of Arabia (in Space). But now I know. And that which has been seen cannot be unseen, so I give you an updated scout with some very odd eyes indeed. He's keeping company with a newly arrived veteran who, it is hoped, will help to weld the local Reserve and Guard forces into a potent fighting unit.
But that's not the end of my updating. Oh no. I also had some Marines that needed touching up, others that needed repainting, and three quite lovely gigantic fellows passed into my safe keeping by another fan of old lead. You can see two of them below.
And here's the results of the updates pictured more clearly. The officer and the fellow with the explosive chucker on the left were merely touched up. The two fellows on the right were more complete repaints.
And the two ogres from above can be seen in the company of their friends below. Ogres one and three, from the viewers left, are the newer pair and two and four (in the pinstripes) the older.
The ogres, in fact, already have a place in the family. Seen below are "Little" Milton on the left, whom his friends call "Deedle Boy," Walther or "Shorty," George or "Yoon Doodle," and Rudy or "Rutz." Why yes, there is a story behind that. Why do you ask? The nicknames go with my grandfather and his brothers. (Of whom there were two more and two sisters as well, so there will be more ogres.) Five of the six brothers served in the Second World War and three saw combat in the Pacific, so it's only appropriate that their miniaturized (but still larger than life) selves should all have met in the service. They are a fractious, but generally good lot who enjoy nothing so much as hunting or fishing together. They seem to be on a bug hunt here.
And after a long and pleasant day chasing food there's really nothing quite so nice as a good barbecue and a cold beer.
Thank you for joining me on this short aside. Check back. There are a few things in the pipeline that should follow rather quickly.
Sincerely,
The Composer
