The Perry Twins Leave Games Workshop!

Via their Facebook post where there are more pics.....

We are aware that there are rumours flying around that we have left Games Workshop! Thought we should set the record straight and let you all know that…we have! After 36 years, man and boy, working on Warhammer, 40K and of course, for the last 15 years LotR and the Hobbit we are now able to focus our energy on our historical ranges.This means more time to dedicate to Perry Miniatures, and of course Mr Jackson who we continue to make 54mm WW1 figures for. We had an excellent evening on Friday at The Trip to Jerusalem with GW, and ex-GW, colleagues and friends who got us very, very drunk - cheers!

https://www.facebook.com/perryminiatures

http://www.perry-miniatures.com/

I have been fans of these guys since they started working for Bryan at Citadel in the 70s. I have said this before but apparently they used to sculpt at school in lessons and sometimes got the sculpts confiscated by the teacher. Possibly a few lost Perry figures about somewhere then! They really are most prolific and certainly helped launch Citadel and Games Workshop into their prime positions back in the day. I wish them all the best and can only hope fervently that they decide to branch out into fantasy again...more Slann would be nice......

The twins back in 1979....

Salute 2008, a chance meeting with my idols....

As always; enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Salute 1977, Peter Gilder 1978, Perry Twins 1989.....

A few more pics from various old mags. From the article it seems this was the first Salute for the Warlords. I have another Peter Gilder article somewhere and will post it once I find it. His combover reminds me so much of my old Dad, God bless him. And yes, I have inherited the same.....

Peter Gilder of course was the sculpting machine for Hinchliffe Models. Check the tags/labels for more articles.

A 1989 shot of some Foundry people including a young pair of Perry twins. Top blokes and exceptional sculpting machines both.

Also scanned this Minot ad for the Lost Minis WIKI so thought I'd post it here. 1977 was a good year for minis....

Also found this in an old Military Modelling classified section.....prices you could almost afford...

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Jim Bowen, sculptor and figure painter, has died.

It is with a sad voice that I have to state that Jim died a few days ago. Complained of headaches, went to the doctors and was prescribed paracetamol. He was later found dead in his flat, 9th April. He leaves behind a partner and young son.

I met Jim on a number of occasions at shows. He really enjoyed painting miniatures, red being a favourite colour for some reason however, found sculpting something of a labour... too much pressure to get things completed he told me once. He painted an enormous amount of miniatures for the Perry twins, both for personal and business display and also for Dave Thomas

(many of you will be familiar with Dave's display stand and travelling emporium at various shows across Europe). His main sculpting time was spent with Steve Mussared of Monolith Designs for whom he designed (and painted) the 'Graven Images' range mainly in a '40mm' scale - I am not sure how available these ranges currently are as, although the website seems active, I am not sure if it is being looked at due to personal issues. A fantastic range of sculpts and paint jobs. The Yahoo Group's (edit; now of course gone) intro sums them up;

A group for 40mm gamers! Everything herein is all scaled to 40mm! If you are new here - have a look on the Photos pages - look in the Folders of your favourite ranges to see what is new and forthcoming.

The Official site for all things related to the gaming setting of Disturbia and its sister titles Gotterdammerung and Cliff-Hanger. Find out what's new and read the latest background, all from the mouths of Jim Bowen & Steve Mussared - the men who dreamed it all up.
Disturbia a dark twisted never land home to Bogeymen, Evil Toys and the sour nightmares of childhood.
Gotterdammerung an Alternative WWII - what if the Occult had been real? Brave allies fight it out with depraved nazis and their hellish creations.
Gotterrustug an Alternative WWII where dwindling manpower leads to the development of body armour, and armoured fighting machines are inspired by H G Wells.
Also - new for 2006 - 2 new ranges - Prehistoric Europe and England Invaded (From Arthur to the Normans). What's next? Stick around and you'll find out!

He also sculpted quite a few miniatures for East Riding Miniatures in 28mm scale. 

Postscript; Steve Mussared has just posted on the Jim Bowen's Disturbia Yahoo Group, set up for his and Jim's figure range discussion;

Truly heart-breaking news - all the more upsetting, because it was so unexpected - he was only 40! Jim and I had been friends since 1987.

Since the birth of his son, I had seen in him a new sense of contentment, which makes his passing all the more sad, because he won't now have the pleasure of seeing little Aaron grow up.
As some of you might remember, we paused sales of Graven Images when my son Xander was diagnosed with Autism, but the design work continued, and we amassed a couple of hundred new figures - we had hoped to make a return this year - once again unleashing Jim's work on an unsuspecting world.
Jim would have been very touched, and surprised by all the fond remembrances on various fora. I hope all of you that knew him will toast him, next time you have an alcoholic beverage in your hand - he would appreciate that - he loved going to the pub for a chat - whether it was about history, conspiracy, or music - or our own imaginings.
Rest in Peace Jim!

I leave you with a bunch of various pics of his sculpts and paint jobs...

He also sculpted a fantastic range for Monolith that were to be officially licensed figures for Hellboy although it was around this time that I believe Jim lost his sculpting mojo. The licence was very nearly granted, just more sculpts being needed... I was lucky enough to pick up some test castings as these were never offered for sale.

RIP Jim, you will be missed by many and the world is a poorer place without you.

enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Not strictly speaking fantasy...... Perry Miniatures

I was trawling through various blogs, Facebook pages and related forums when I came across the Perry twins take on the recent find of Richard III's remains......

Classic rendition with a great sense of humour.....take note of the disabled sign on the toilet door.......the body being discovered beneath a public toilet at a car park  in Leicester, England. Apparently the remains had come close to being destroyed by the addition of the toilet foundations......a close shave Richard? Richard III, of course, died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, having gone down in history books as the evil murderer of the 'Twins in the Tower'. 

Anyway, I digress. The sculpt is a typically wonderful one from the hands of the Perry twins, both of whom I have been following for nigh on 35 years now from when they first started sculpting for Citadel Miniatures back in the dawn of time and pre-GW corporate involvement..... apparently they sculpted in the schoolroom under their desks during lessons....probably ending up with a 'could do better' on the school reports.......these are the same guys that gave us the 'Chicken Dragon' and the first real giant...........

Nowadays large sculpts are relatively common however at that time they were very rare.......although there was a similar sized giant sculpted by Nik Bibby for Asgard, Bryan Ansell's earlier figure company...pic courtesy of the Armory 'Buyers Guide to Fantasy Miniatures 1983' ...the ultimate 80's pic reference source for lead addicts.

The Armory Guide can be downloaded free from the Megaminis site here. Johnny Lauck of Megaminis is a great guy and very interested in all aspects of the hobby. He has uploaded a bunch of old catalogues on the site from various sources for everyone to get for free. Greater love hath no man....

Back to the Perrys...............I do look around their site on a regular basis and it never ceases to amaze me at the sheer size of the subjects portrayed. They have just released figures for Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Moscow in 1812......I often wonder why Hitler hadn't read his history books......

I then got looking around the various forges they do...I have a thing for blacksmiths...although only in lead miniature form mind...please don't get me thinking of large muscular men dripping with sweat...not an area I want to visit! 

  

Just incredible sculpting and I really need them all....no, seriously I do. 

Another few blacksmith types are available from Wargames Foundry......email Marcus with any queries, he is the son of Brian Ansell, the lynchpin of the old industry, and very helpful and approachable.

Any collection of course would be incomplete without the addition of this Blacksmith's beauty from Tabletop World

A snip at 88 Euros but a magnificent beast nonetheless......these are limited edition pieces due to the complexity of the molds and should be picked up before they go. They have an infuriating section of the old pieces on their site.....grrrrrrrr. Further to this post it is currently unavailable.....double grrrrr.........

In Germanic and Norse mythology, Wayland the Smith (as opposed to Wayland Games, the online game retailer.....who I like use occasionally) was a legendary master blacksmith who features in the Raymond E Feist novel 'Faerie Tale'.....possibly my favorite read ever. Wonderful story of modern man meeting the creatures of the Fae. If you haven't read it please do so soon with my wholehearted recommendation.

Anyway, that's enough babble for now.......keep the emails coming, I always enjoy the lead related conversations!