Barry Minot - Necromancer Fantasy

Back in the early 80's, Barry sculpted some of the last figures he would release under his own name for the wargaming industry. He was engaged in movie work from his workshop at Elstree Studios which was taking up more and more of his time. I'm unsure if he planned expansions to the range or a ruleset however they take their rightful place in lead history.

Victorian Heroes & Horrors

NF1 Sherlock Holmes

NF2 Dr Watson (need this one)

NF3 The ultimate thief, Raffles

NF4 Super rotter, Moryarty (sic)

NF5 Jack the Ripper, with knife and doctor's bag

NF6 The Invisible Man (need this one)

No pic available (and no pun intended.....)

Monsters and Stuff

NF20 Giant horrific demon of the night (40mm)

I blogged an article on this mini a short while back here.

NF21 The Unholy Twins, pair of winged naked female angels from hell

(No pic and need these)

NF22 Dynamo Dan, the electric man

The other ranges released for a short while were 'The Perils of Flasher' and 'Highland Fantasy'. More of those on another post to come. 

Interestingly, he did sculpt the headpiece to the Staff of Ra for the Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark amongst many other movie pieces.

Very interesting article on the piece's after film history through eBay here.

A previous blog post detailing the Thane Tostig range is here. Many more of Barry figures are up on the Lost Minis WIKI where both I and many others have spent a long time sourcing examples for posterity. Mark Dudley has a few posts of Barry's old historical minis on his Ilkley Old School blog. Barry also sculpted a number of the classic historical 30mm Spencer Smith Miniatures lines which are available here. Tell them I sent you!

Barry has more recently written a book; 'Hitler's UFO' - pick up a copy off his site here.

Edit 22nd January 2017 - my PayPal payment for the book was refunded without having being taken by Barry so no idea what is happening there......

If you enjoyed the read, a coffee is always appreciated... https://ko-fi.com/davidwood 

Any thoughts on anything please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk, even if it is to berate me for my penchant for coffee :)

Barry Minot - Giant Horrific Demon of the Night!

I have owned a couple of this miniature for a few years and was unable to identify it. A weird stick-like demon with the code NF20 on the base.

 It had come in a small job lot of miniatures that gave no hints as to its origin either... then I thought 'Lost Minis WIKI'!! I searched on just the NF20 and it came up with one hit in Minot's short lived Necromancer Fantasy range. Of course I then realised I had put the listing up on the WIKI myself... doh! So, another piece of lead history identified....only another gazillion or more to go...I've listed one on eBay here with a day to go in the hope of bolstering my currently fast dwindling finances... there are repercussions to divorce after all!

There was more, however, to discover... whilst trying to identify it on the wonderful Facebook Group - Old School Miniatures, I found it was based on a painting by Salvator Rosa - The Temptation of Saint Anthony...

The demon was also used by a band 'Skeletal Family' formed in 1982 and still soldiering on... reading their biography it reads like my own musical past... very chequered!

They have a very 'Siouxsie & The Banshees' feel - have a listen to their album on Last FM here. The band are playing Manchester's Ruby Lounge in a couple of weeks.

Well, that's all for now. More soon!

If you enjoyed the read, a coffee is always appreciated... https://ko-fi.com/davidwood 

Any thoughts on anything please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk, even if it is to berate me for my penchant for coffee :)

The Quest of Thane Tostig.....a Barry Minot special!

(updated with better pics below 24th June 2013)

Around June 1977, Barry Minot released range of figures for a ruleset entitled 'The Quest of Thane Tostig', by Eric & William Knowles. Barry also did the illustrations for the ruleset.....all based on the exploits of a Saxon Lord whose father had lost his head in a disagreement with King Hengist.....the tale unfurled of his search for the fabled magic sword, Blooddrinker. 

All the pics are mine barring 2 borrowed off Caffeinehog from the Lost Mini WIKI which I will replace as soon as I can unearth my copies of the figures....all of Barry's other gaming ranges are listed under Minot's Miniatures Armoury. I actually built the underground Sprite lair for this out of plasticard back in the day.....back before the lead pile overwhelmed me. Barry still works in sculpting over at Moonshine Pewter although I haven't had a reply off him to various questions over the last few years. Like many in the early days of the hobby he has moved on from the gaming side although still produces some very nice sculpts of a more ornamental nature.

Starting with some 1977 advertisements and articles from Military Modelling and Battle for Wargamers from 1977 (repeated from the last post I'm afraid).....

The rules booklet itself. A great read and well worth picking up if you can find it on evil bay...goes for around £20 or thereabouts so not too bad....

Although the back page was blank it wouldn't be complete without it.......

TT1 Thane Tostig

TT2 Edith, Tostig's Female Companion

TT3 Beowulf of Barkynge with Battle Axe (Caffeinehog's pic)

TT4 Sigurd, Master of the Bow

TT5 Gurth the Serf, with Spear, Shield & Horn (Caffeinehog's pic)

TT6 Cedric the Slosher

TT7 Infang Tostig's Ferocious Dog

TT8 King Debobmik Fen, Seated on Throne

TT9 Executioner with Axe

TT9a Halt, Naked Female Kneeling

TT10 Court Jester

TT11 Palace Guard with Pole-Axe

TT12 Hudekin the Giant Idol, with Blooddrinker Sword

TT13 Naked Sprite with Hudekin Standard

TT14 Naked Sprite with War Horn

TT15 Naked Sprite Drummer with Drum

TT16 Armoured Sprite with Spiked Mace

TT17 Armoured Sprite with Disemboweling Sword

TT18 Armoured Sprite with Broad-Bladed Sword

TT19 Naked Sprite Tribesman with Pole-Axe

TT20 Naked Sprite Tribesman with Glaive

TT21 Naked Sprite Tribesman Archer

TT22 Naked Sprite Tribesman with Rock

TT23 Stretching Rack and Operator

TT24 Wheel of Torment

TT25 Naked Female Torture Victim

TT26 Naked Male Torture Victim

TT27 Sprite Torturer with Whip

TT28 Sprite Torturer with Ripper Tongs

TT29 Brazier with Hot Brandinq Iron & Sprite Attendant

TT30 The Vile Wood Witch, Hangbeffor

TT31 Hangbeffor's Bubbling Cauldron

TT32 Hangbeffor's Table, with Spell Book & Bats

TT33 Hangbeffor's Giant Earwig Familiar

They did move on to further quests involving Merlin and hordes of undead skeletons, monks etc but I'm not sure if the rules ever appeared. This was my favorite part of the range although you will have to forgive the 36 year old paint jobs.......humbrol enamels were the order of the day - the TSR 'official' AD&D acrylic paints came a few years later and boy were they great quality. I have a couple hanging around somewhere and will take a pic at some point. Link here to Robh's far better painted versions on his Displaced Miniatures  website. Well worth a browse.

As always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk