BOYLdrick - The Oldhammer Goblin (and regiments of renown)

So here he is, the Oldhammer Goblin also known as BOYLdrick ! This is actually one of the first goblins I've ever painted (if I don't count the 2nd ed gretchin I painted last year for Orctober). And what better starting point than a model by the Goblin master himself Kevin Adams !

The model was a generous gift from the foundry at the initiative of Bryan Ansell. You can see the green below as delivered by Kev Adams :

Oldhammer Goblin green

The model is actually a conversion from a foundry goblin jester with slight modifications to represent an "old" goblin (he looks almost senile).

Foundry goblin jester

Since the sculpt emphasises the "old" aspect of the goblin I opted for rusted and worn out weapons and metals. For the colours, I opted for my traditional red and blue combo (don't know if I'll ever tire of it). I also left some references to the models of old like the checkers or the red horns on the skull.

I'm really glad I got this model finished because it is the first finished model in about 6 weeks fo rme and at last I did freeze that one with varnish in the end ! I'm also glad I finished it in under 4 hours and less than a month after getting it.

Here's a view from the rear just to prove I did not only paint the front side of him. 

This is actually the second jester I paint (not counting the eldar harlequins here) so here's a picture with its bretonnian counterpart. The level of painting is quite not the same and though the model on the left is reasonably nice, it lacks contrast and "readability" (that must mean I learnt something in about 10 years).

I couldn't help but finish that post with a little bit of naked lead I recently got. And what a unit !

It's actually a 15 man unit of avenging knights of the Cleansing flame which were a regiment of renown in Warhammer Battle 2nd edition. The background story behind them is absolutely brilliant and it is deeply linked with the one of the Disciples of the red redemption I also own (links HERE ). There's a sort of  Lovecraft vibe behind this and it's just a big MUST-HAVE for me.

Just because there are 11 basic troopers in the unit, I wanted to make sure the unit wouldn't look to plain. I decided to base each of the knights differently so they don't rank in perefctly neat lines. It increases the perception of depth of the unit and it makes it look a bit more real imo. The models on the ranks are also turned towards thei side diagonally to break the rank line a bit more. This will be also helped by varying a little the painting scheme between the models.

Maybe a top-bottom view will help you see better :

The sculpts are from Jes Goodwin like the red redemptionists. He worked his magic on those, the troopers are very crisp and all but the command unit is what makes them stand from the rest.

Take a good look at the standard bearer and the musician, they're pretty flat sculpts even though very detailed and excellently sculpted. Now look at the Officer and the champion. Jes managed to avoid making flat models and avoided the basic limits of 2 parts moulds. He managed that on many sculpts but these which sort of early in his career are brilliant examples.

Look at this last picture to convince yourself of his talent, you can see how "flat" the 2 models on the 2 far sides are and how the 2 in the middle keep a very strong 3D identity. Just add an amazing level of detail and you have one more proof of the genious of this guy.
Jes Goodwin did his fair share of very flat models because he had to produce a good load of them but just give the man some time and see the wonders that come out of his hands...

I'm not sure what will come next so just trust me something will come up soon enough !