“Blax the Kleric’s, top ten of 2018”

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since Dick Garrison first permitted me momentary access to his wonderful hobby blog “Rantings From Under The Wargames Table”, and I extended a similar invitation to him with my own website “Fantorical”. During that time Roger has both sculpted and painted some seriously awesome models, and once again his output during the past twelve months has been no less impressive. Indeed, I think his “Top Ten” for 2018 arguably contains some of his best work yet, and certainly gave me some headaches as I carefully traversed his “Into The Wasteland Project” and marvelled at the man’s annual additions to his ongoing “He-Man” project…

(10) “Colonel Bill’s Wargames Depot” “Belt Fed Gaming” – Morag, Una & Fiona Gaelic Witches (July 12th):

Gore fans amongst you will doubtless approve of this terrific trio being given a place within Roger’s Hall of Fame, as their pointed fangs and blood-stained lips clearly distinguish them as potential pin-ups within the world of the Undead. Lovely deathly-green skin tones, a possibly still beating heart in one hand, and even a bit of bare bosom shows just how very well Roger can paint the walking dead.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/07/12/the-saga-of-constanzi-katerina-elena/

 

(9) “Mantic Games” – Rordin (September 1st):

I was nowhere near as successful as Roger in his endeavour to paint his “Dungeon Saga” boxed set. However, when I do come to paint my own Dwarf hero, I will be repeatedly visiting his posting of Rordin to see just how it’s done. I am not a fan of the plastic used by “Mantic Games” for this figure, so know precisely how hard it can be to paint, so that makes this excellent tutorial in dwarf armour all the more impressive. Tremendous work.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/09/01/axe-hammer-bow-book-sagatember/

 

(8) “Statuesque Miniatures” – Dame to die for  (July 22nd):

Roger has painted a fair few damsels over the past twelve months, but none more caught my eye than his Jessica Scarlet. The shimmering red dress is absolutely top-notch stuff, and contrasts splendidly with her visible black stocking and long white gloves. The face is also tremendously well-painted, and completely avoids the oft-seen error of simply slapping some red lips on a figure in the mistaken belief that’ll suffice to represent femininity. A really beautiful miniature.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/the-d-a-and-the-dame/

 

(7) “Tin Man Miniatures” – Cave Girl and her pet T-Rex (April 20th):

There’s an awful lot to admire with these two miniatures. Be it the Raquel’s subtle skin tone and fur-skins, or the fantastic blending from green to yellow of Rex’s scaly hide, both models are extremely well painted. In particular, the fact that you can actually see the dinosaur’s claws, as opposed to having them half-submerged in grit and flock as with my own figures, shows the care which Roger took to make sure the models were appropriately based too.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/04/20/raquel-and-rex/

 

(6) Lancashire Games – Snakemen (28th May):

Admittedly, I had never seen these miniatures before Roger painted/posted about them, and as a result, I immediately fell for the scaly-skinned space aliens. Disappointingly, these days “Lancashire Games” seem far more interested in historical ranges, so I haven’t been able to source any for myself. However, I am able to visit Roger’s colourful chaps from time to time and dream…

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/of-swords-and-snakes-week-46/

 

(5) “Crooked Dice” – Temporal Travellers (May 17th):

As Roger is a fellow “Doctor Who” fan I have taken great delight in the past sending him the odd spare set of figures I’ve uncovered in my collection. One such bag was the now Out of Production Temporal Travellers by “Crooked Dice”. I was especially pleased to gift these to Roger as the group contained a smashing likeness of Sarah Jane Smith, as played by the much-missed Elizabeth Sladen. Roger’s subsequent paint-job on the Third/Fourth Doctor’s companion did not disappoint at all, and put my own efforts on the figure sadly to shame…

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/companion-piece/

 

(4) “Wizkids” Dungeons & Dragons – Firepelt Cougar – Cringer  (June 29th):

It is sometimes incredible the difference a simple paint-job can do to a pre-painted plastic miniature. Roger’s stunning transformation of a dark-furred “D&D” big cat into the impressively green companion of He-Man, Cringer, was outstanding. And whilst the figure is still available at a cost, I have yet to pull the trigger so as to replicate Roger’s palette swap for fear of my own skills falling far short of his brush-work. Just look at those strips and the face – spectacular stuff.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/its-not-easy-being-green-or-grey-for-that-matter/

 

(3) “Moonraker Miniatures” – Powered Armour Troopers (April 6th):

Personally I love a bit of rust on my models when I can get away with it, especially when it means I can apply my “Mig Productions” Extreme Rust Wash. Roger however, used no such trickery upon this pair of awesome robots and instead relied upon his skill with a paint-brush to ‘weather up’ these automatons amazingly. They really are stunningly painted, and look awesome when photographed amidst some of Roger’s excellent-looking “Into The Wasteland Project” terrain.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/banged-up-bots/

 

(2) “Roger Webb” – Merman (June 29th):

I am a sucker for Merman. I even own a “Funko Pop!” figure of Skeletor’s ineffective minion. So when I saw Roger was sculpting one from essentially scratch, I was all eyes. The final result did not disappoint in any way shape or form, and was in many ways Rogers “Master(piece) Of The Universe”. Mind-bogglingly good green-stuff work and an excellent paint-job make Merman a real eye-catcher, and debatably any other year, this would have easily been my favourite model.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/its-not-easy-being-green-or-grey-for-that-matter/

 

(1) “Moonraker Miniatures” – The Professor  (March 30th):

One of Roger’s first postings of 2018, my favourite model of the year has to be Roger’s wonderful reimagining of “Doctor Who” for his “Into The Wasteland Project”. Not only is the figure passionately pigmented, but I absolutely adored Edmond Atkinson’s fictional background and the gas-mask wearing explorer’s kit-bashed time-travelling machine. Marvellous stuff, absolutely marvellous.

https://rantingsfromunderthewargamestable.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/the-professor/

 

As ever, there are many other models which Roger has painted to perfection which still haven’t made this list. So before I retire once again to my own blog, I would like to highlight the entirety of Roger’s stunning-looking “Into The Wasteland Project”, his masterful work on the contents of the “Dungeon Saga” Boxed Set, and wish you all a Happy New Year…

Simon.

(As usual I’ll just stick my “oar in” at the end to say a massive thank you to Simon, for not just writing one but TWO! Top Tens this year, and to thank you lot out there in the “cyberverse” for reading this high prose’, and my usual nonsense, you really do keep me honest, productive, and make this such a joy to do. All the very best too you all for the new year.

Oh and be sure to check out my “Top Ten” of Simons output for the year at…

https://fantorical.blogspot.com/2018/12/top-ten-miniatures-of-2018-rantings.html

Thank you, cheers Roger.)

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