The Plan
Back in the dim, dark days of 1978 I found myself in the Tangley Model Workshop in Guildford where I was introduced to the world of fantasy gaming and miniatures. On display were dioramas of painted 54mm miniatures depicting scenes from Lord of the Rings, Conan and other fantasy settings. I found these both fascinating and inspiring but confined myself to the smaller 25mm miniatures where my horrible attempts at painting wouldn't be so noticable. None-the-less the appeal of these larger miniatures stayed with me. Over the years I've painted a few, some were decent. Today, as 2020 draws to a close I've decided to finally buy and paint some 54mm miniatures to use as Gods and Goddesses for my fantasy games. When everything's complete I'm going to design a pantheon around them. I've chosen to concentrate on the Phoenix line of Atantean miniatures as these were the ones I liked the most back in the day. Luckily for me, most of the range (barring some furniture) is still available from Sands Models. I can ignore the pitfalls of eBay for the time being. I believe this range was sculpted by Tim Richards. I had a couple of miniatures in a drawer, a batterd Khan, a Thorian captive and a captive woman (a recurring theme of these ranges) from Sanderson, so I began by painting them. Khan became a statue because he was a bit worse for wear but the other two came out nicely so I took the plunge and ordered a few more.
Whilst I was preparing my fist order I bought some more. Here's the complete first batch ready for colouring.
And here they are finished.
Here's everyone including the original two captives and a dancing girl that I've had for a long time.
Happy with the results I started on the next lot.
The third (and final?) order.
Here's everyone together.
|
My first order from Sands Models.
The satyrs. I have the first one here already.
The princess set.
Here is the Phoenix catalogue that I've had for years.
The ones I'm not getting
There are some miniatures in the range I haven't bought. Some of the vignettes aren't to my taste as I'd want to separate the miniatures and some are posed awkwardly. More importantly, nearly all of them are on big sculpted bases and look like they'll be a pain to get to sit on a flat base. I'm also not going to bother with the serving girl with the wine jug or the fish dinner as the couches and table to make a proper banquet scene are not available. This is a shame because I'd like to do this as a setting. The Satyrs
I like the satyrs so I might get them eventually. I have one already to be Pan for my Greeks. I'm worried the girls may be off-scale though. I ordered the girl with the mirror and she's much larger than the other sculpts I have. Consequently, I've avoided getting the princess in her chair with her maid although I might take a chance on this set later. There are some cavorting satyrs and maidens from Sanderson which are not great sculpts but are quite fun pieces which could be combined with the Phoenix satrys but they're eBay only and not cheap. Once again, this is a remote possibility. |