Dear Tony Blair

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Bob Naismith old fantasy sculpts....updated.

I was very lucky to pick up a collection of Bob's fantasy sculpts....including the dragon at last.....so thought I'd update the original post....problem is you don't know an earlier post has been updated unless you go and look for it...curses. So, I've copied the original text, expanded a little and added the new pics......still a couple of 'not sure' sculpts which could do with some confirmation......

Back in the late 70s and early 80s Bob sculpted a number of now out of production fantasy pieces for various companies. I am led to believe he first sculpted for Wargames Publications (Scotland) Ltd. He sculpted a large amount of historical, both in 15mm and 25mm under 'Naismith Design' label which were distributed by Navwar Productions Limited. The 15mm are mostly still available however the 25mm are long gone and Navwar have never been able to supply any information regarding the masters etc. I would assume they are gathering dust in one of Bob's Highland hideaways......the man is a true Scot through and through. He has sculpted for many different companies over the years including being responsible for the first Games Workshop Space Marines (should I insert a 'TM' there?) - the old classic Womble helmeted ones. He left GW around 1990 to become freelance. He sculpted a large Sci Fi range 'Cobalt' that has recently been picked up by Black Hat Miniatures...they are expanding it and they are superb. He is currently producing plastic for both Fireforge Games and Mantic Games although has branched off into his own very nice range of Sci Fi 'Overunners', available on his new website;

http://www.bobnaismith.com/

These are what I have of the fantasy he released under Naismith Design.....If anyone has any other variants please let me know.

F1 Dungeoneer Duck

F2 Adventurer Elf ready to travel (versions 1 and 2)

F3 Superhero in cape & tights (version 1 and 2)

F4 Thief Adventurer with loot and pack

F5 Skeleton Warrior with sword and shield

F6 Knight of the Order of the Chaotic Pig

F7 Hunchback half troll prowling

F8 Unarmoured troll advancing

This one has no markings but seems to fit the description for a second version?

F9 Armoured troll striking - 2 variants, first one is confirmed.....a little assumption with the second....

F10 Troll with shoulder plate marching with a possible 2nd variant below?

F11 Mutant four armed adventurer (versions 1 and 2)

F12 Green adventurer with "muscles" & sword (versions 1 and 2)

F13 Knight of the Order of the Chaotic Ant (versions 1 and 2)

F14 Wizard casting spell

F15 Witch, invoking the spirits

F16 Orc standing guard

F17 Orc marching, half armoured

F18 Orc in chainmail & plumed helmet advancing

F19 Dwarf with Axe

F20 Armoured Dwarf drawing dagger

SD1 Dragon - Something Special.................

And an unknown hunchback......I don't think he quite fits F7 Hunchback half troll prowling although someone may know better??

Unknown......from his size he belongs to the trolls but there is no code for him.....he doesn't seem to completely fit the 'Knight of the Chaotic Pig' stance when comparing him to the Chaotic Ant Knight above.....thoughts?? I've now put him as F9 Armoured troll striking up above but the jury is still out....

Two different base inscriptions (I know, I am very sad and lonely). One had the code added which is always useful....

The previous post is here and has pics of some of the wonderful Amesomerican ranges Bob sculpted.

There is a nice interview here at the Magpie & Old Lead blog, another here at the Realm of Chaos 80s blog and a recent one on the tabletop Gaming page here.

The historical ranges are available via this site http://naismithandroundway.co.uk/ - I haven't ordered as yet as I didn't get a reply to an email so if you do order please let me know.

As usual enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

Saturday, 20 April 2019

Oldhammer Fantasy Tribe Gnolls......a tribute and more.....

Well, a good hobby friend, Mark Hides, has invested in the talents of Martin Buck (sculpts my Noggins of course) to produce a range of old school style Great Gnolls with separate weapons and heads.....this is to be encouraged as the old Citadel Fantasy Tribe ranges were some of the best ever.....

For the Great Gnolls, the mighty Martin Buck was commissioned to sculpt the range, which is being launched with a great selection of infantry. Martin is currently sculpting a range of Great Gnoll cavalry mounted on Wild Boars. We reckon that with the optional parts from the infantry, you could make around 1200 unique cavalry. (No that's not a typo).

Beyond the Gnolls, there will be another reimagining of another classic fantasy tribe. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

If you grew up in the 80s you'll certainly recognise where the inspiration for our models comes from. Satanic Panic Miniatures is not only reimagining the 'Golden Age Of Gaming', it's doing it in a bigger and better way than anyone has done previously.

The modular approach means that we can continuously add optional parts to existing ranges. For example, a basic 4 figure pack has somewhere around 100 possible configurations from the parts supplied

Other ranges are already being discussed, and all our ranges no matter how large or small will be multi-part. And trust me, when Martin told me the innovative things he could do with an 18mm high model, I had to do a double take.

The Kickstarter backer's badge.....