A Trip Down Middlehammer Memory Lane

Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone!

Welcome to Middlehammer Memory Lane, a wander through my brief time as a member of the Games Workshop 'eavy Metal painting team. I worked there from late 1992 to sometime in 2000 (apart from a short break around '97/'98* where I pursued other areas of employment) and, I have to say, it was one of the most enjoyable periods of my life. I worked with some amazing people, made some lifelong friends and drank insane amounts of beer. And I painted some miniatures. This ongoing series will take a month-by-month retrospective of the work I did and will, I hope, be of interest to fans of 90's-era Games Workshop.

***NOTE: A lot of the photos I've used are from the archive files of the Facebook group White Dwarf-Through the Years 1977-2014 (issues 001-409) If you're a fan of old White Dwarfs, I can heartily recommend this group, and they have my sincerest thanks for collecting all these old issues in such good-quality PDFs. I will gradually work my way back through the issues to the beginning of this article to try and get better pictures than the ones I've already used.***

 

Golden Demon 1992

This is where everything really started for me. I'd actually entered Golden Demon twice before, once with a trio of Squats converted to look like Motorhead on stage (Motorsquat, baby!) which didn't get me anywhere and then with a Rhino/Harrier Jump Jet hybrid flying tank thingy, which got me to the finals. I finally nailed it with this miniature below, which got me 1st place in the mounted miniature category in the 1992 finals.

It had been quite a day for me. Back then, each GW store would run a coach to the finals at Games Day so, in order for me to go on that coach trip, I had to be in Brighton at about 7 in the morning. Given that we lived over an hour from there it meant a hellishly early start for me and my Dad, who drove me down there. It was my second Games Day and I found the whole thing quite overwhelming (I still do, truth be told. I'm not good in big crowds and, when I'm at an event like Warhammer Fest I tend to shrink right into myself and find it really difficult to approach people) I did, however, get to talk to John Blanche and Mike McVey, my two big idols at the time. 

The it came time for the awards to be announced and, when my name was called, I nearly passed out. The rest of the day was just a daze. The only things I remember were Mr Blanche stealing my hat off me (he did give it back...) while I was on stage for the awards presentation and phoning my dad (from a call box- no mobiles back then) to tell him I'd won. It remains the only time I've ever come first in anything in my life and, to this day, one of my proudest achievements. Little did I know where it was to lead me.

Oh and, as a postscript, a while after Games Day, the Centaur went missing (I think it was on display in the Brighton GW store and was stolen) and I never saw it again. I often wonder what happened to it. I actually have another casting of the centaur, thanks to my good friend Mr. Des Hanley (still one of my all-time favourite sculpts) and, one day, I'll paint up a new version. It'll be the 30th anniversary of my win soon, the perfect time to do so...

Anyway, that win lead directly to me being offered the position with the 'eavy Metal team and, within six months or so, my life was to change completely...

White Dwarf 157 January 1993

My first published professional miniature painting work! This wasn’t actually the first miniatures I painted at the studio- they would be published a couple of months later but this page was the first of my work to be shown in the illustrious pages of the mighty White Dwarf. Even today the thrill if seeing my work in print is real. Back then, I could barely contain myself. You have to remember that I was a pretty naive, insecure 19-year-old, away from home for the first time and really only just finding my feet in the big wide world. It was all quite a heady time for me. I still remember that first, star-struck day at the studio. My dad drove me to Nottingham and dropped me off at the Design Studio on Castle Boulevard (after supplying me with an A-Z of the city- what he described as an essential bit of kit for anyone exploring somewhere new...remember, this was before the internet, mobile phones and Google maps...). In itself, that was quite an emotional thing for me. It had not been long since my mum had passed away suddenly and it was difficult to leave him on his own. For many months, I would call him every day to make sure he was okay.
Once ensconced in the Studio I was shown around by Mike McVey (who also showed me how to find the best record and comic shops in the city centre that lunchtime), introduced to my team-mates (at that time they were Kev White, Neal Hodgson, Jay Tanner, Tim Prow and Mike), had my first experience of the stampede to the break-room free food (leftovers from meetings ended up in the break-room, where it was something of a free-for-all...) and, finally, a lift to the company house in Eastwood, where I would be staying for a couple of weeks, until I found somewhere to live. This lift was provided by Kev and, along with me and Jay, Mark Gibbons was also along for the ride, as there was to be a stop at Toys 'R' Us along the way. I just want you to picture that. There I am, naïve and nervous and hopelessly out of my depth, having had a whirlwind day of new experiences, in my first proper job, first time away from home, sharing a car with two of the 'eavy Metal team and Mark flippin' Gibbons! I'd never even been to a Toys 'R' Us before...To say my first day at the studio had been a little overwhelming would be a huge understatement.
As for the models well, I’m a little unsure of exactly which ones I painted. I’m certain I did the Squigs, but I’m not sure if I did the Prodders, although they look like my work (I had a habit of using a little more yellow in my highlight mix for Goblin flesh back then…) Likewise I’m pretty sure the Champion is mine, and I know the Standard Bearer is, but I’m not 100% certain of the Leader and Musician.
Still, there you have it- the beginnings of a short but eventful career as an ‘eavy Metal painter!

White Dwarf 158 February 1993

When I started writing this page, I wondered if it was going to be of interest to other people, or just a bit of self-indulgent nonsense on my part. However, as I write this update, this page is far and away the one with the most views on the entire blog. So some of you are definitely finding my reminiscences interesting enough to read them regularly, and keep checking back for more and, for that I am truly grateful and humbled.
Another thing I didn't expect is that I would see things that I had never realised before. I knew I'd be reminded of things that I'd forgotten, but not that I'd notice something completely new from so long ago. This is a case in point. White Dwarf 158 contained a battle report, Space Wolves versus Orks. The objective of the battle report was to retrive some maguffin from a damaged Dark Angels Predator. The Predator in question, used in the battle report photos, was my own one, the only vehicle I had painted for my nascent Dark Angels army I was doing before I started working for GW! I had never noticed this before. Now, I have no recollection of ever being asked if they could borrow my tank for the report, but I guess they must have and it's just one of the things that's been forgotten in the mists of time, but it was a pleasant suprise to see it in the battle report photos as I was going through the magazine for this page, and I'm hoping that other similar surprises will happen as I go along.

Moving on to "official" stuff, and the only thing of mine in this month's issue was this batch of High Elves, The Swordmasters of Hoeth. I didn't do many High Elves, and I'd honestly forgotten I'd done these. There's going to be a lot of that, flicking through the magazines and going "Ooh, I'd forgotten them..."

There is just one more thing from this issue. The Regiment of Altdorf wasn't all my own work (thankfully) but a collaboration between all the painters. I think we did five or six each. If you look reeeally carefully, you can see a couple of odd facial expressions on them, as painters got bored painting the same figure multiple times...

And so that's it for my contributions to this issue. The next one was to be quite a big one for me...

White Dwarf 159 March 1993

This is the big one for me. One of my proudest moments and also a source of constant embarrassment to me. First off, it features the first miniatures I actually painted when I first started at the studio. They were a repaint of the old Fantasy Regiments boxed set for their re-release to go along with the newer version of Warhammer. As you can see, they have not aged well. These early plastics aren't great by today's standards but they fitted in well with the armies of the time. But, oh, those paint jobs. Most of them are fairly subdued, by the standards of the time (the unfortunately-named "red period") but that wood elf? Poor devil, whatever did he do to deserve an outfit like that..?

Elsewhere in this issue, there were some Orcs that I painted, including a regiment of Boyz and a Boss and Standard Bearer. The model of Gorfang Rotgut is one of Mike McVey's, which is why it's so much better than mine! Looking back at those Orcs, they don't hold up too bad, apart from the dayglo skin... 

Finally, the big one. My own page in White Dwarf! I was so proud of this I asked for an extra copy and sent it home to my dad. I still have the printers proof page of it somewhere. All the models here were from my own collection, and all painted before I joined Games Workshop. Sadly, I don't have any of those models any more. All given away as gifts, or lost in one of many house moves over the years.  So, one of the proudest moments of my life up to that point, and it remains so. I know it's daft but I can't help it. I'd worked hard to get to be a part of the 'eavy Metal team and this page was the icing on that sweetest of cakes. I just wish that bloody awful photo wasn't at the top of the page. 19 years old...Ye gods, was I ever that young...?

White Dwarf 160 April 1993

More greenskins! I was really getting into my stride with the old Orcs and Goblins by this point, and the Big 'Uns, followed by the Wolf Riders show a significant improvement in the smoothness on my painting and depth of colour. It's amazing how good you get, and how quickly you do so, when you start working in an environment like the 'eavy Metal team. With everyone bouncing ideas off each other, sharing techniques and colour ideas, you tend to improve exponentially. Already, after just a couple of months, my work was streets ahead of what it had been at the start. Just look back at the Fantasy Regiments boxed set from last month, the first miniatures I did at the studio, to these and the difference is clear.


An interesting point about the Wolf Riders. As I was working on the wolves, I used a back to front method of painting them, which was new to me. The accepted way of painting such heavily textured pieces was to start with a midtone, shade it, then drybrush on highlights, starting with the base colour, up to the required lightest tone. I found that a far more satisfactory method was to start with the midtone, drybrush the highlights, then add successive layers of shades, in smaller and smaller areas, and with lighter and lighter applications. This had the effect of reducing any dusty effect from the drybrushing, and left a more, subtle, natural look to the finish. It's the method I use to paint wolves and suchlike to this day. I really enjoyed painting those Wolf Riders and, looking back, I think they're one of the pieces I'm most proud of from my first year at the studio.
One final batch of greenskins I did was the plastic Orc boxed set. Apologies for the quality of the picture on this one, the scan isn't very good. These boxes of monopose units were often a pig to do, as I was given a very limited set of colours to use and told to make sure no two were the same, which is why you ended up with some bloody awful colour combinations and some of the worst excesses of "the red era." I know these models have their fans but, despite my love for plastic miniatures from any time, I hold no real affection for these monopose models. They serve their purpose, as gaming pieces and unit fillers but, to me, they lack character, and painting whole units of them like this quickly became a chore. Still, such was the life of the 'eavy Metal painter, you tooks what you was give, and not every job could be a character piece... One interesting thing about the pictures shown. is how a slight difference in lighting can change things a whole lot. The individual shot of the Orc makes it look very different to how he looks in the group shot.

One final inclusion this issue is something that I'm not 100% certain is my work- these three Dwarf Man O' War ships. I didn't do much work on Man O' War but I vaguely remember doing these ones. If anyone knows otherwise, please feel free to shout up, as this is one of those instances where recollection is very hazy...

White Dwarf 161 May 1993

I didn't have much in this issue, my only contribution being to a couple of the step-by-steps in the painting guide. These guides have gone down in history as being the least useful painting guides of all time and are often compared with those drawing guides that were often in popular How To Draw... books (Step 1. Draw a circle. Step 2. Draw a couple of straight lines and a couple more circles. Step 3. Draw the rest of the elephant.) The only really good thing about these guides is they did provide the inspiration that lead to the creation of the classic 'eavy Metal painting guide books over the next few years.


As there's not much of mine to mention this month, I thought I'd instead showcase a single paintjob that has become an iconic piece over the years: The Marauder Giant. Now, most of you of the younger generation may be unaware that, before he became the brilliant sculptor that he is today, and creative force behind Hasslefree Miniatures, Kev White served his time as a member of the 'eavy Metal team. When I joined the team consisted of Mike McVey, Tim Prow, Kev White, Jay Tanner and Neil Hodgson (who started just a month before I did if I remember correctly.) Kev was (and still is) no slouch with a brush and his rendition of the Marauder Giant (one of Aly Morrison's greatest sculpts) has become one of the great examples of the painting of the time, and is the one that, even today, is still an inspiration to painters of this classic piece. One day I will get my hands on one of these models and have a go myself. It's one of my bucket list models. As far as I'm aware, this model is still on display in the cabinets at Warhammer World and deservedly so. I contacted Kev and asked if he had any memories of painting the giant and he responded with this:

It was handed to me already painted (by Colin Dixon I believe) but it was deemed too dark for WD in those days, so my job was to make the colours "pop" as Alan (Merrett- studio production manager at the time) used to say. Especially since it would be going on the box art.

I figured he would have been all over the land in all manner of different battle grounds so the challenge was to make all the different areas distinct while still fitting together - if that makes sense? 

I remember going through old white dwarfs looking for different colour schemes on banners and cloth that I could stick on to different areas of his tunic. While also keeping Alan's basic rule of painting of "no colour on colour or metal on metal" referring to the heraldic method of colouring shields and coats of arms or somesuch. 

So there's that. I also remember giving each area of metal a different wash to make it look like they were from different battlefields, but that might have been too subtle and I don't think it really came out in the photos.

Isn't it nice when you have someone who can actually remember what they were doing back then? 😁
It's also nice that, through looking back at this work, even I can learn new things about it. I had no idea Kev was reworking Colin Dixon's previous paint scheme. Colin, of course, was no mean painter himself, and his work in the early 'eavy Metal pages was well-known and highly respected, before he too made the leap to sculpting for Marauder and Citadel.
I'll leave you with the pictures of this classic piece.



White Dwarf 162 June 1993

Okay, so this is the second issue in a row that didn't have anything of mine in it. I've suddenly remembered that it was around this time that I was hospitalised with a quinsy (look it up, it's no way as cute as it sounds) and was out of action for a while. This may explain why there is so little of my work around this time. These days, GW work a couple of years ahead of releases- we often were working on miniatures mere hours before White Dwarf had to go to print, that were due to be released that month, so an absence like mine would have knock-on effects quite soon. 

Anyway. 

This issue was the big launch of the new-look Chaos Dwarfs and I'd had little to do with the big hats, as I was working on their green-skinned allies (more on this later...) I was thinking I'd have to skip this issue altogether (I couldn't keep tapping Kev White for comments on his stuff...) when I came across this little gem.

Nic Sinton was one of the few true friends I had while at college roughly thirty years ago. The tales of drunken (and often worryingly sober) shenanigans I could tell from back then (but I won't for reasons of public decency...), of crazy train rides, falling off cliffs and, on one memorable occasion, blowing up a friend's jacket... These days he's a teacher at that same college, teaching the next generation of creatives, and is bringing up a young'un of his own. He's very humble and modest about his painting skills, but I've always liked his style of smooth blending, and this miniature (his entry to Golden Demon 1993) is a prime example of his technique, and I thought I'd dedicate this installment of Middlehammer Memory Lane to it. Sorry it's not the best picture, but a low-res scan is the best I can find. Here's to you, Nic, glad to see you picking up a brush again!

White Dwarf 163 July 1993

So, after a couple of issues of a dry spell, at last my contributions to the Chaos Dwarf army start to appear. I'm not sure, but I think I may have done a couple of the pieces for Mighty Empires and a couple of the Orc ships for Man O'War. Unfortunately, the memory is very hazy there so that will have to remain as a "maybe." Anyway, Chaos Dwarfs. Or, at least, their green-skinned allies, the Hobgoblins. In previous incarnations Hobgoblins had been painted with an orangey-tan flesh tone (hence Hobgoblin Orange...) but, this time, it had been decided to place them firmly within the realms of other goblinoids and give them green skin. I did paint them with a slightly less saturated version of the goblinoid skin tone, if I remember rightly. But only slightly less saturated. This was 1993, after all. Desaturated was not exactly the done thing. This is why they're wearing bright red armour. And have bright red axe handles. And the drummer has a bright blue drum...

A while back Bill Rowbotham, of Effcee Miniature Painting, showed off some Hobgoblins that he painted in bronze armour with pale green skin and they look fantastic, loads better than mine. I have a big box of Hobgoblins in my shed. I might have to have a go at something like that myself, one day, as  never was happy with the original colour scheme, even back then. I'd love to have a go at reworking some of them into something different.

White Dwarf 164 August 1993

I had a real soft spot for the original Epic games, Adeptus Titanicus and Space Marine but it must be said that, while the majority of the Imperial vehicles designs stood the test of time, most of the Chaos vehicles definitely haven't. I think it's safe to say that the Banelord is one of those that hasn't held up very well. Still, it does retain a certain goofy charm (mind you, the one from Adeptus Titanicus: Dominus is pretty groovy.) I wonder if they'll do an updated version for the new game... Anyhow, painting the original was pretty good fun, except for those banners. I'm not sure where the original design for the banners came from, but the rows of skulls were a bad idea, at least from my point of view. The thing is, back then we were printing the banners as stickers so they needed a bleed area around them. That wasn't an issue if the banner had a plain border but, in this case, it meant the rows of skulls extended a couple of rows beyond what was seen on the final banner. That's a lot of skulls... This miniature is also a good example of another aspect of the work bat then.  In real life, the red on the head and tail was a lot darker and with deeper shading. The reproduction and printing has flattened out the colours quite a bit and this was a common problem back then. The pictures of the miniatures were never quite as good as the real thing...

The next batch of Hobgoblins that I did were the wolf riders. (Notice that the banner triangles are carefully arranged so the bleed areas can be flat colours and, again, you can see the way the red is so flattened out.) There's not an awful lot I can say about these that I didn't say in the previous issue, but these were great fun to paint. I really like the 90's Hobgoblin miniatures. They really did have bags of character.

White Dwarf 165 September 1993

Hmm, yeah. I know I said I really liked the Epic games but one of the things that made the game so enjoyable was the fact that huge armies could be painted and ready to play with, with the smallest amount of effort. Spray your tanks(and your troops) one colour, wash them another colour, a quick drybrush and some details and you're done. Nobody wants to paint dozens of tanks to 'eavy Metal standard. Even doing a few is something of a chore. I can't say I recommend it. Still, turned out okay, eh?

Now this was more like it. Grom was one of my all-time favourite miniatures from my 'eavy Metal career. It's such a characterful piece. Of course, the colours used are wildly OTT, and the bright red wood and bright yellow horns are a prime example of the excesses of the time. Grom is one of the miniatures I'd love to have another go at one day, in a more subdued colour scheme (and, of course Bill Rowbotham got there first, and did a damn fine job of it, too...) So here's a little trade secret. It was necessary that, for the box cover photograph, Niblit be in shot instead of hidden behind Grom so, for the main image here, he's standing on a large block of Blu-Tack. Little bugger kept falling over, too (Blu-Tack, it seems, gets kinda soft under studio lights...)
Still love that miniature, though.

A brief note on the Chaos Dwarf characters shown below. Now, I think I did the Sorcerer as I have vague recollections of doing his feet. (For the uninitiated, Chaos Dwarf Sorcerers gradually turn to stone, from the feet up, as they use their magic.) Unfortunately, that's the only thing I can remember about doing these. Whether or not I did any of the others? Well, the Hero kinda looks like my work, but I'm not sure...Incidentally, if someone was to do a modern reworking of these paint jobs, would they really need to have those banners? Asking for a friend...

White Dwarf 166 October 1993

This issue is another one which contains none of my work. Well, none that I'm 100% certain is my work. I think maybe I contributed a couple of the Space Marines for the chapter page (I'm looking at the Imperial Fist and the Silver skull) but I'm far from certain as to whether I actually did paint any of them.

I'm more convinced that the Man O' War Norse Kingship is my work. I vaguely remember doing it (kinda, sorta) and it does at least look like my style.

So, as there's nothing much for me to talk about of my own work I thought I'd shine a spotlight on the page devoted to another of the 'eavy Metal team, Neil Hodgson. Neil joined the team just before I did (yeah, I don't know why my page went in before his did, either) and the page does a lovely job of showcasing some of his own collection. Neil became one of my closest friends and drinking buddies over the years, and was one of the mainstays of our little core group of hard-drinking, pool-playing idiots that spent a large chunk of our twenties burning our way through the Newcastle Brown Ale stocks of many of Nottingham's more famous drinking establishments. I always admired his clean painting style, and especially the speed he could produce such high-quality work. An ace painter and truly one of the good guys.

White Dwarf 167 November 1993

Well, I knew we'd eventually come to this one. The Blood Angels Predator is a miniature that immediately springs to mind whenever someone waxes lyrical about the old Citadel paints. Anyone who says they prefer the old Citadel paints from the early 90's never had to paint a whole tank bright red using only Citadel Red Gore. F***ing Citadel Red Gore. It was a paint that was somewhat lacking in the pigment strength department and was fairly okay when used in small areas but trying to get it smooth and flat over large areas like this was a bloody nightmare.  And don't get me started on doing the blended highlights... This particular job also comes to mind whenever some joker says, "Well, of course, the 'eavy Metal team said they only used Citadel paints but everybody knows that wasn't true..." Believe me, the palpitations I have whenever I think of this miniature are testament to the fact that we did, indeed, use Citadel paints. Seriously, I get cold sweats just looking at a pot of Red Gore.



Elsewhere in this issue, I was also responsible for the two Man O' War Tzeentch flyers. I'd love to be able to come up with some strong memory for these but, to be honest, I can't. They are what they are. I'm sorry for all Man O' War fans out there but they weren't particularly memorable miniatures to paint. Not like that f***ing bright f***ing red f***ing tank.

White Dwarf 168 December 1993

And so my first year at GW came to a close with some ratty guys. To be completely honest, I'm not entirely sure I did all of these. I know I did some of them and a couple of the other painters did the rest. I think I did the front row ones and the other guys filled in the ranks. It might have been one of the retail chaps who occasionally came in and did some painting at the studio, often to see if they had what it takes to join the team. I apologise profusely for not remembering who it was that did them (or the circumstances thereof) but it was an awfully long time ago...

I definitely did the Manowar ships and flyers, though.

I think.

Anyway, that was it, my first year as a member of the 'eavy Metal team! I like to think that my work showed some improvement once I started painting full-time. That was the thing about joining the team (and it's been said by other former members) that, no matter how good you were (or thought you were) when you started, you soon got much better, and you continued to improve, constantly learning from the rest of the painters, as well as the input from the other creatives in the studio. So, onwards into 1994!

White Dwarf 169 January 1994

Well, 1994 didn't get off to a particularly auspicious start, with nothing of mine featuring in the first issue of the year. It does, however, give me the chance to talk about another member of the 'eavy Metal teeam, Paul Muller, whose paint jobs on Arkhan the Black and the Skave Vermin Lord featured in this issue. These days, most people know Paul as a miniature sculptor (and a damn good one) and he has worked for such companes as Morgue Miniatures, Otherworld Miniatures, Heresy Miniatures and many others as well as his own company, Midblight Miniatures but, long before that, he started his career a miniature painter (and a damn good one..) Paul had a unique painting style that was very much based in  traditional art techniques, utilising colour theory in a way that few in the field were doing at that time. He was years ahead of his time in that regard. His work on these two iconic pieces are perhaps not the greatest examples of his unusual techniques, as he painted these ones fairly straight but, if you look closely, you can see the green shades in the shading on the bone, purples in the flesh, and red shades in the grey. For some much better examples of his playing with colours, I suggest you have a look at the original paintjobs for the Naggaroth Nightmares and Champions of Death Blood Bowl teams, or Asurmen and Eldrad Ulthran. A truly great painter, who turned out some utterly iconic paint jobs, and a really nice guy.

 

White Dwarf 170 February 1994

This month I managed to get some work in the magazine, and one piece is a doozy! I really enjoyed working on the couple of skaven characters that I did. They were great sculpts and were loads of fun to paint. On Deathmaster Snikch I almost managed to get away without having any re on him (almost) and managed to get away with doing him in quite subdued colours. In an era when everything was saturated to the max, this was quite an achievement. I just wish i could've got away without having the red strap. Still, it's a great sculpt, that still holds up today (even if it's a little flat compared to the modern equivalent) and it's a paintjob I'm quite proud of. 

My other work in this issue was a page of black orcs. Again, these were great sculpts, with lots of character, and were quite big, compared to other models in the greenskin range, which gave them lots of scope for painting. I was given free rein to do what I wanted with the skin tones so I deliberately made them as dark as possible. Something interesting to note, here, is the way the red tones have been flattened out. Back then we were using traditional cameras, shooting on 5x4" transparencies and we were doing all our own photography, as we didn't yet have a full-time studio photographer. We were also limited by the reproduction and printing technology of the time. This meant that a lot of the colours were often quite washed out or flattened out and this was always particularly obvious in reds. I remember that the reds on these went quite deep in the shadows, but you wouldnt know it from looking at these pictures. If ever you see some of these old miniatures in real life, at Warhammer Fest or Warhammer World, you will see how much better they look than in these photos.

White Dwarf 171 March 1994

I got  bit of a bonanza in this issue. First up are some more black orcs, adding a command group to finish off the regiment. It will come as no suprise to anyone if I point outthat the command group wa painted at the same time as the rest of the regiment. Why they were released in two separate months is beyond me. They were an absolute pig to rank up, if I remember right, as a lot of miniatures of the time were. To get them to rank up we would often have to cut the tabs off the models, arrange the bases in ranks and faff the figures around to rank them up before sticking them to the bases. Once painted, they could be arranged in one way and one way only. That's why you'll soetimes spot figures in some very odd positions on thier bases...

Next up is a hobgoblin chieftan mounted on a wolf. I know they often don't get a lot of love, but I really liked the 90s hobgoblin range and this was a great model. I think they suffered because of the colour schemes used. Like the chaos dwarfs, that the hobgoblins were allied to, they were cursed to be wearing this garish red armour and look loads better when painted in more neutral tones. One day I'll get round to painting my collection of them and, when I do, you can bet the won't be in right red armour...

Lastly we have the tyranid warriors and genestealers. These models were getting a bit long in the tooth (literally and figuratively) and were repainted for a release in the mini unit boxes. Again, the nids are models that get a lot of stick, but I've always had a soft spot for them and enjoyed painting them. Once again, the plattening of colours in the photographs is very evident here. The three warriors were painted in very different shades of red but, in the picture, you can hardly tell the difference. Painting the penis gun was a laugh, and I even managed to sneak some veins in there. Somehow I can't see a model like thatgetting into the range thee days. The warrior had it's hand stuck into the back of it through a sphincter! The genestealers weren't exactly the most exciting models to paint, if I'm honest. 10 identical models, but at least I cold get some variety in the tones used. I still have a couple of these in my collection somewhere.

White Dwarf 172 April 1994

This month there's more black orcs, but this time in Blood Bowl form. Now, I originally thought I only did the black orcs in the Orcland Raiders set but, looking at the photo here (I couldn't get a decent-sized image of the White dwarf page, so I've used this one from a catalogue) it almost looks like the lineman (front-centre) is in my style, but the colours are wrong for my way of painting orc flesh at the time. Maybe it was me copying the colours of the rest (painted, if I remember rightly, by Mark Jones) or maybe I'm just mistaken and I really did just do the black orcs. Who knows?

At least I can be sure that I painted this next lot- the Imperial psykers. Boy, did I have fun painting this little trio! I can't remember what the brief was, probably to make them as bright and ostentatious as possible and I just ran with it. I probbly ran a little too far, on refelection but, what the hell. Sometimes you have to go a little OTT. I'm pretty sure I used every colour in the range at that time, and more besides, on these three and you know what? I'm not sorry 😂. I think the paintjobs on here are one of the few, from my first couple of years at GW, that still hold up today.

White Dwarf 173 May 1994

From one paintjob that I'm still proud of, to another. Ikit Claw was the other Skaven character model I did, alongside Deathmaster Snikch. I'm not sure why he wasn't featured alongside the others, in a previous issue, as he was painted at the same time as them, and I had to lift this picture from an advert for Games Day. Anyhow, this is a paintjob I always liked that was, once again, let down by having to put some wholly unnecessary bright red areas on it. Such a shame, as it's a great sculpt and, apart from the gaudy elements, I really liked the paintjob on it. An interesting aside, this model was recently re-released on a made-to-order and someone painted a new version of him, with all the colours toned down and, whaddyknow, he looked loads better. Vindicated. (Of course, the overall paintjob was considerably better than mine too, but my point still stands...) As an aside to the aside, I think they used my original Snikch model , rebased and altered, for that release.

Next up is the first batch of releases for the Undead army book- the Wights. I have to say these aren't my favourite models, both in terms of the actual miniatures, and my work on them. As was so often the case, I was hamstrung by the demands to give them bright and colourful colour schemes and, it must be said, these were among the more goofy of the miniatures from the undead range of that era. Big chunky weapons, odd armour styles and some cartoony stylng decisions meant they weren't my favourites. I mean no criticism of the sculpting itself, but the styling of them leaves me a bit flat. That's just personal opinion, though, I know people who absolutely love them (there's a painted example here that shows exactly how good these models can look with the right paintjob), but I prefer other models in the undead range. I had fun painting the freehand on the shields, though.

White Dwarf 174 June 1994

So here we have a set of undead models I much prefer to the wights. I really like these wraiths. I mean, obviously, they look utterly daft in their multicoloured glory but imagine them in more sombre, funereal colours and you can see how much better they'd look. Even so, beyond the silly colours, I'm much happier with the painting on these than on the wights. The blends are better, there's more contrast, the colours are better rendered and better chosen, I think. Even so, these are models that I'd love to redo in darker colours, or maybe in the ghostly whites, like the modern Nighthaunts.

    

Next up is a miniature that I'm really proud of, and that I still have sitting on my shelf at home (this is my own photo of it as it is now, chips and all.) When Mike McVey moved away from the main part of the 'eavy Metal team to write his series of painting guide books all the painters chipped in on the work for them. On the Modelling Guide I became the official painter for a lot of his smaller conversions (I even got a proper credit at the start of the book, something that was highly unusual at the time- thanks Mike!) and this was the stanout piece that I got to do. As the conversion (that Mike did- I can't take credit for that!) was based on the Geoff Taylor artwork on the cover of the Eldar codex, I obviously tried to match the artwork as much as possible with my paintjob. And I think I was fairly successful. I didn't quite pull off the tiny filigree work on the abdominal pates, nor the runework on the sword, but I did pull off the filigree on the holster and gauntlets, and made a fair hash of the markings on the helmet. And, I suppose, it's a very early (and not entirely sucessful) attempt at non-metallic metal on the gun. This remains a firm favourite of mine and, from the responses I've had even up to the present day, so too with many others.

White Dwarf 175 July 1994

The second half of the year kicked off with the release of the Orks codex for Warhammer 40,000, and I got a few colour variation models into it. The first of them are these Death Skulls. There will be more over the next couple of issues. These colour variants were fun, as there was no need to do whole squads of them, and I could mess around with the colours a bit more than usual. 

The other big release this month was the 3rd edition of Talisman, the venerable board game. I painted all the plastic characters for the game's release but, as the miniatures weren't available in time for the production of the artwork for the cards, books and boxes, artwork was used in their place. Still, at least they'd all be in White Dwa-oh. Just the Minotaur, then. Arse. Well, if you want to see what they would have looked like, had they been in the magazine, head on over to the magnificent Talisman Island.

White Dwarf 176 August 1994

This month there was another little set of Ork colour variants lifted from the codex, these ones are Blood Axes. Orks in camouflage and uniforms was always a great combo, and these are really fun models. 

Next up is one of the models from Mike McVey's 'eavy Metal Modelling Guide. This Chaos Spawn was a super little conversion and fun to paint. Sadly what doesn't come over in the photograph is the pearlescent varnish I put on the slug body to give it a slimy look. It looked great in real life, though...

Finally this month is a Blood Bowl team, the Skavenblight Scramblers. I love Blood Bowl, and the miniatures produced by Gary Morley (I think he did the entire range of metal miniatures used in this edition of the game) are some of his best sculpts from back then. I would happily go back and paint the entire range. I painted all the models on this page, apart from the Rat Ogre which I think was painted by Neil Hodgson. 

White Dwarf 177 September 1994

We're back for one final visit to the Orks codex for some evil Sunz. It's funny, looking back on these models now. In a few years, the entire greenskin range, both in 40k and fantasy, would be utterly overhauled when Brian Nelson brought his new vision to the range with the advent of Gorkamorka. This codex would really be the last hurrah, more or less, for this style of Orks. 

The only other thing of mine this month was the new plastic Eldar Guardian. I'm not entirely sure if I painted all of them in the group shot, but I've included it here for completeness. I certainly did the one in the individual shot (I'd recognise that wobbly rune on the helmet anywhere...). 

White Dwarf 178 October 1994

Next up is an iconic design which has stood the test of time (and, indeed, was only replaced very recently.) The Eldar Jetbike. While not a huge quantam leap in terms of advancing the standards of plastic GW kits, or the designs thereof, it has become something of a symbol of the shift towards plastic production that really started to take hold at the time, and it was a great kit to work on. 

Elsewhere in this issue, and continuing the Eldar theme, we have these little Nightwings for Epic 40,000, proving that a good colour scheme works whatever the scale!

White Dwarf 179 November 1994

There's a whole lot of stuff in this issue that I'm pretty sure I did, but not 100% certain, so I'll start with something I know is my work: the plastic Chaos Warrior set. 10 models, 2 main colours (3 if you count the gold) and all different. That was the brief, and it led to some slightly esoteric choices! I think I was trying to see what I could get away with...

Now for the stuff I'm not sure about. Firstly, this set of Titans. I vaguely remember doing these, but I can't be absolutely certain. They do look like my style, to be sure. These models look so twee when you compare them to the modern Adeptus Mechanicus models, which I admit I'd love to get my hands on. If someone was to commission me to do a set of the new titan plastic kits I'd probably bite their arm off...

Next up is the Shrieker Jetbike. Again, I have vague recollections of this one, but this time I'm really not at all sure. The red guns look like my style, and there's something about that plume that triggers a few synapses...

Finally, a last bit of Epic 40k, three Stormblades that I'm almost certain are mine. Almost...

White Dwarf 180 December 1994

I only got one page in this month's issue, but it's a doozy. When the then-new Imperial Guard were being developed, there was a real buzz about them. Being (loosely) based on real military uniforms gave them a grounding that nothing else in the 40k universe had, and the Perry's designs more than lived up to expectations. With their vast experience and knowledge of military uniforms the new Guard were an absolute game-changer, similar to the way that Jes Goodwin's Eldar had changed that race forever a few years previously. It gave the Guard their own identity, their own design language, and the knock-on effect of these models is still being felt today, with the latest Astra Militarum models. When the miniatures came in, each painter was given a different regiment to play with, and I got the Catachans. I can't remember if it was my choice, or if it was chosen for me, but I was more than pleased to get to play with these. We were even given a little more leeway to play with the colour schemes and I can remember fighting hard for a) camouflage fatigues and b) no red guns. Seriously, certain people wanted to give them bright red guns, as it was an anathema to the whole ethos of the times to have a single miniature with no red on it, let alone a whole regiment. In the end I had to cave in on the red bandanas, as I wanted to do them the same green as their vests, but at least it wasn't the guns. Looking at them now, they still hold up pretty well, and even the red bandanas don't look too silly...

White Dwarf 182 February 1995

There wasn't a huge amount of my work in this issue, but that beats January, where I didn't have anything at all! First off is this Catachan Jungle Fighter Lieutenant, a real rarity for the time period, being a model that has no red paint on it anywhere! This is a really cool character and, looking at these old Catachans, it's got my fingers twitching to paint the limited edition Catachan models I've got tucked away somewhere.

Next up is a set of Ork Mega-Armour Nobz. These were really fun to paint at the time, although it's a shame there's no detail photos in this spread, as there's loads of details on the backs of these. Once again, the banners were a pain in the arse to do, as they had to be double-sided, so it meant painting six almost identical moon symbols.

Funnily enough, one of these showed up again much later, in a little retrospective feature in the unlamented White Dwarf weekly (issue 22, June 2014 for those who are interested) and really illustrate the scale creep over the space of 20 or so years. It's funny, because the originals were really quite chunky compared to the rest of the Ork range at the time. Mind you, it wasn't an awful long time after they first appeared that Brian Nelson completely revamped the the look of the entire Ork range, when Gorkamorka came out.

White Dwarf 183 March 1995

My work in this issue consists of a handful of Epic Tyranids and there's not an awful lot I can say about them except for just look at that dominatrix! There's no way they'd get away with that these days!

Mind you, it doesn't really matter what work any other painter had in this issue, as it will always be remembered for the issue that first showed the world Mike McVey's Emperor and Horus diorama. I don't think anybody at the time expected the impact or the legacy that this piece of work would have. Mike would go on to do many more dioramas, most that were more technically accomplished than this one but, if you were to ask just about any Warhammer fan what single piece of miniature artwork comes to mind from this era, it would be this one, so I just had to feature it here.

White Dwarf 184 April 1995

During my time at the Design Studio, I only painted a handful of Space Marines. I don't know quite why that was, but it's definitely the case that, these days I paint more Adeptus Astartes in any given month than I did during my entire time at GW. So here's a real rarity: a Dark Angels Apothecary painted by yours truly!

My real favourite this month is this set of four characters I did for Warhammer Quest. Back in the day, I was a real advocate for plastic models. Not many people liked them, limited in detail as they mostly were, but I was convinced that the future would see most, if not all, of the range being done in plastic. It wasn't a popular opinion at the time and it's probably the only time in my life where I've been proven right! These heroes were really the start of a more adventurous (ha ha) approach to what could be done in plastic, and was definitely the genesis of the incredibly detailed plastic models we see today. I'm still rather proud of the job I did on them, too.

White Dwarf 186 June 1995

Skipping ahead a month, as I didn't have anything in issue 185 and this is a page I'm really proud of (and it's a shame that I can't find a decent scan of it). Again, we're in plastics territory and you can't tell me that all of these models featured here aren't at least as good as any metal models from the time (indeed, many people don't realise that they were plastic at all.) They're all fantastic sculpts (although a few of the proportions are a little janky) and I was given free reign to do what I wanted with them, and I really went for it. to this day they remain amongst my favourite works from my time at GW. Incidentally, I don't know if I've got this right, but I'm sure I remember that the reason why these were done in plastic was there had been a plan to release them as a boxed set, either as a stand-alone game, or as a magical supplement for WHFB. It's the reason why they had their own airbrushed logo that was used for the covermount (oh yeah, each copy of this issue came with a random free wizard miniature on the cover-which did you get...?)

White Dwarf 187 July 1995

The only new release of mine this month was this Dark Elf Cold One Rider. If I remember rightly, I only did the one and one of the other painters did the rest of the unit later. I'm not entirely sure why. The Dark Elf range at the time didn't really push my buttons all that much, if I'm honest, although I did like Trish's Cold One sculpts. 

Elsewhere in this issue, there's a bit of an oddity that highlights the difference between then and now. These days, the 'eavy Metal team is much larger than it was back in my day and they, like the rest of the studio, work years in advance. Also, the 'eavy Metal team is supplemented by the Army Painter team, turning out whole armies. in the 90's, we just about had enough time to paint one of everything we got in, and usually it was painted within a few weeks of it being featured in White dwarf (many was the day when Robin Dews, White Dwarf editor, would be literally standing over the painters, waiting to snatch miniatures away as soon as they were done, to get them photographed for that month's issue.) So, when battle reports needed large armies, they often had to raid people's own collection to make the numbers up, hence how it was that my Dark Angels predator, that I had painted for my own army before even joining GW, ended up being used in this issue's battle report...

White Dwarf 188 August 1995

Warhammer Quest produced some lovely character models for its supplements, and I wish I'd had the chance to paint more of them. As it is, this Elf Ranger remains the only one I've ever painted (well, up until relatively recently when John New of Talisman Island gave me a Pit Fighter to have a crack at). It's a lovely Jes goodwin sculpt, and I'm pretty proud of the paint job I did on it. I would like to have a go at the rest of them someday, but the cost of the models these days means that's never likely to happen, unless I get commissioned to do them. 

the big release this month was some truly monstrous er...monsters for the Tyranids. The Hive tyrant was an awesome miniature for the time and a cracking piece to work on, although getting the bloody thing to stay together involved a lot of pinning and gluing. I believe this was the model i was gluing together when I managed to superglue my elbow to the desk... Anyway, I have to admit I went a little overboard on the colour choices, even if I'm rather chuffed with the end result. I've included Dave Perry's version as I think it works better than mine, with the less garish palette and certainly if I was top paint on now, I'd lean more to his version than my own.

White Dwarf 189 September 1995

Just a single entry this month, and I'm not entirely sure it's all my work. I know I did at least some of these Termagants (and I've picked out two that I'm fairly certain are mine as I've got one of them sat on my shelf at home) but I honestly can't remember if I did them all or not, so apologies to any of the guys if I've unintentionally stolen their thunder.

White Dwarf 190 October 1995

The Dark Elf Sorceress on Dark Pegasus. This, to me, showed the dichotomy of the Dark Elf range. I never rated the sculpt of the sorceress that highly- it wasn't bad, but the two halves of the figure (torso section and leg section) always looked like they were off two different models and never quite gelled well to me. the dark pegasus, however, was a superb sculpt. Trish Morrison (now Carden) was really coming into her own as the go-to monster-maker, and this is a fine example, and I really enjoyed painting it, although I'd go with a different colour scheme if I was doing it today.

Elsewhere in this issue was a feature on the 'eavy Metal team itself. It's not often that we painters were dragged into the limelight (with good reason- look at those mugshots...!) so it was really nice to get a feature like this. 

 White Dwarf 191 November 1995

My last appearance in '95 (and what would turn out to be my last appearance for quite a while) was with another spread of the redoubtable Catachan Jungle Fighters with some special weapons and heavy weapon operators. I really liked the heavy weapons when they were used with the Cadians and other regiments, but I always thought it a little odd that these specialist commandos would drag those gun platforms through jungles and rainforests...I didn't paint the one on the top-left of this page and I'm amazed that whoever did it was allowed to get away with not painting the bandana red 😂

To finish the year, there was this Grom The Paunch, as featured in Mike McVey's painting article. He's the one I did some time before, given a slight rebase (the skulls) and some blood splatter added to his axe.

p.s. if you like what I'm doing here, a click on the link below and the donation of the price of a pot of paint would be a wonderful gesture. I'm thinking of adding special stuff to the Ko-fi, like competitions and prize draws, so it'd be a good idea to at least have a look there now and then 😁