Skeleton King & Bearers.

Got round to painting the centrepiece from the Raiders of the Undead boxed set last night:

Very reminiscent of this I feel, the aptly named Vitalstatistix from the Asterix books.

Also completed one of the less well posed figures from the box:

The detail is as good as any of the other figures but the pose is a little ropey, he does look like he is scratching the back of his head with his sword.

A More Ancient Undead.

Work has begun on painting the more archaic skeletons from the Raiders of the Undead boxed set. First off the Workbench of Doom is this ossified warrior:

The kraken emblem on his diplon shield gives him, at least to my mind an Atlantean feel. Probably to do with all the octopus images you see on those Cretan & Theran pot shards from the early bronze age. What I really like though is the way the scorpions pincers form an eye guard on the helmet. Overall a very impressive sculpt and so far my favourite of this particular boxed set.

The More Recently Deceased.

I've finished off painting the more medieval looking skeleton figures from The Raiders of the Undead boxed set. These three will form a small encounter for the Retro Dungeon representing a previous explorer of the tomb and his two less well armoured retainers.

Not sure how efficacious that rusty crossbow will be but the axe & sword look lethal enough.

First Skeleton Raider Painted.

After a brief stint in the garden this afternoon I settled down to begin painting my newly acquired skeletons. Here is the first one off the production line:

I might add some scallop shell devices to the chevron on the shield to mirror the one on his right shoulder, more work perhaps but tidies things up from a heraldic perspective.

Skeletons: Raiders of the Undead.

Something nice turned up in the post today:

Yet another eBay purchase for very reasonable money and in absolutely mint condition, even the box insert was still present and unsullied.
Inside a selection of Andy Chernak's finest, better in so many ways than todays huge weapon wielding & generally OTT offerings:

Of particular note are the following three, firstly a skeletal knight in full plate:

A more ancient undead with a nicely embossed shield and scorpion crested helmet, I particularly like the way the pincers form an eye guard:

And finally an aggressive looking axeman:

In all fairness all of the figures are pretty good, I like these because they will fit nicely into the Retro Dungeon. The knight & axeman will serve as recently killed adventurers freshly risen by evil sorceries and the kraken shielded fellow looks like an archaic guardian for some ancient treasure.

The box insert included really does reflect the times this boxed set was produced in:

1982 was a fairly active time in the history of roleplaying, particularly D&D and the inclusion of a dungeon floor plan and description ( on the rear of the sheet) is a nice reminder of where things were at with fantasy miniatures then. Superficially this set is aimed at fantasy wargames but I think this box insert gives a truer picture of Grenadiers target market.

Skeletons and an Owlbear.

Despite again spending the weekend evenings imbibing fine wines and consuming the spicy vittals of distant Cathay some time has been spent at the Workbench of Doom. Latest miniatures completed are a few more Grenadier skeletons and a Ral Partha Owlbear, all grist to the mill that is the Retro Dungeon.

By modern 28mm standards he's a bit of a stripling, however next to older 25mm miniatures he does look more impressive.

I'm hoping to have acquired a few more of these beauties via Evil Bay today, heres hoping.

Experimental Dungeon Terrain.

The last job of what has been a profitable weekend gaming & painting wise. I finally got round to mounting some of my thin plaster tomb walls onto blue foam to make up a prototype section and despite the result being a bit rough and ready I'm quietly pleased. A little more attention to detail in the casting & assembly processes and I should be somewhere close to the picture I had in my head when I started this project.