Oldhammer deep dives

Ogron Foulbreath

35mm

I could not tell what or who was behind the giant helm: man, orc, ogre, or fell thing; alive or undead...  but every warrior's instinct told me to fall back, that to fight it head-on would only be madness and death.

This is "Ogron Foulbreath, orc champion" from Citadel's 1983 catalogue.  A battered old lead figure I got in a trade years ago; I always wondered where it was from.  I always thought his crested helmet and shield designs were really cool.  IMO he makes a better Chaos warrior than an orc.

Salamanders Techmarine

28mm

Yours is to heed the machine as others heed their kin. Tend to the war spirits all about, but do so in the knowledge that you do the Emperor’s duty. Without your ministrations, no bolt may be fired, and no enemy slain.

Another old Citadel/GW figure, though not quite as vintage!  This Techmarine was one of a group of (in my opinion) really great sculpts that appeared in the 1988+ catalogues.  They're simpler and have more character than the overdone modern ones.  I have a couple more of these squirreled away from when I could afford to splurge on eBay:

 

I painted this in Salamanders colours, with Adeptus Mechanicus red on only part of the armour.  The fluff says that Techmarines are sometimes viewed with suspicion by other Marines due to their divided loyalties.  I wanted this one to be trying to acknowledge this while reassuring his brothers he was a Salamander first and foremost.

Oldhammer Original

Mercenary Abbadon
28mm

They say he was there at the beginning.  One of the originals; witnessed the birth of the Imperium.  But that's impossible... he's just a man, a lowly spacer.  Still, the glitchy old holos don't lie; there he is.

This figure is easily one of the most vintage models I own.  First appearing in 1987, the sculpt dates all the way back to the early days of Citadel Miniatures' "Rogue Trader", when there was a lot less rigid backstory or structure to their catalog.  Later, the Rogue Trader universe became the skull-piled Warhammer 40,000 we all know and (problematically) love, and street-level characters like Abbadon, Plunderino Pete, and Irn-Bonce the Squat are now a thing of the past...

1987: first appearance as "Ground Combat Trooper".

 

... then "Abbadon" a few months later.

 

It's an odd sculpt, hunched and bandy-legged with a very vague helmeted face that's almost skeletal.  But I like it, it has a grimy working-class-in-space appeal.

I picked this model up years ago, and a recent post by Matt S. of Oldenhammer in Toronto spurred me to paint it up.  I love his bold, lively painter's hand, and I think this paint job is definitely influenced by it.  I tried not to mimic his version of the figure, but the shoulder patches are identical as a small homage.

(Abbadon's name was of course recycled for a much different, more skull-licious 40k character later on)

"How long were you out there, old timer?... Hmm, a man of few words, I guess."

Orctober surprise

Grot Gunslinger
28 mm scale

Don't take your guns to town son
Leave your guns at home Bill
Don't take your guns to town

I grabbed this figure out of the depths of my lead pile as an entry in the popular "Orc-tober challenge" on Instagram, started by Old Man Paints.  I don't expect to win, and I'm not even sure what the prizes are, but it was a fun exercise.  I don't usually do greenskins at all, and it was a chance to stretch my style a bit and do another "dark style" figure... without it being largely black like my Plague Doctor.  I also follow Grave Wraith Terrain on Instagram and love his unique style - grim and dark without being monochromatic.  I didn't go quite that far this time... but I should try it.

The mini itself is apparently a Gorkamorka grot from c. 1999, which doesn't seem that "Oldhammer" to me... but it's as old as many of my coworkers, so I think it qualifies :)  I added the gunsmoke as an impulse at the last minute, and was convinced I'd wrecked it, but it turned out greasy and wispy which really suits him.

"I don't like the looks of that fella who just walked in..."