Citadel Colour: An Interview with Mike McVey

Mike McVey's painting inspired my own meagre efforts more than anyone else. It was his work that I poured over and failed to emulate through the later part of the 1980s and beyond. We forget now, in this age of communications technology, just how limited our source material was back then. You had White Dwarf and the supplements that came with the games you bought. That was pretty much it!

And there was the waiting...

The waiting for the month to turn, so I could make the mile long trip to the newsagents and pick up the next issue of White Dwarf. I had a ritual. I wouldn't open the magazine until I got home and when I did, my first port of call was 'Eavy Metal and Mike McVey's painted models.

So you can imagine, dear readers, that Mr McVey was a the top of my list of individuals to interview and he was one of the very first personalities that I approached. Way back then, Mike ensured me that he would, one day, get back to me and I am very pleased to say that he finally has.

Mike's work dominated the final 'Fantasy Miniatures' hardback book in 1990, as this page illustrates.

RoC80s: How did its all start? Eighteen is a very young age to begin anything professionally, so how did you end up working for GW as part of the 'Eavy Metal team?

MMc: I was very young, and still living at home at the time. It was an advert in White Dwarf that started it all - I can't remember what issue (I really should go back and check…) but it was later in 1986. I painted some miniatures especially for it, and sent them off to the Studio. To my complete amazement I got a letter back asking me to come to Nottingham for an interview - that was all the prompting I needed to leave home and move close to Nottingham. My sister was at college in Loughborough at the time, so I moved in with her before the interview. The interview itself was pretty terrifying - I spent all my youth pouring over the pages of WD, and all of a sudden I was surrounded by the people who made it. Sitting there in John Blanche's office, with his paintings on the walls and his miniatures on the shelves. The thing I remember the most clearly was his Chaos Minotaur conversion - the one with Mona Lisa on the banner. I had stared at that for hours in the pages of WD, and here I was in the presence of the real thing… I also remember the sculpting studio - Nick Bibby, Jes Goodwin, Bob Naismith, and Ali and Trish Morrison - all sitting round laughing and joking, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was pretty wet behind the ears back then!

The interview didn't go great - I was very young and inexperienced, and was more than a little tongue tied talking to John - so I was pretty pleased when the whole thing was over.

I received a letter about a week later, informing me I hadn’t got the job - but that Bryan would like to talk to me about the possibility of doing some freelance work. I duly rang him up and he told me he'd keep me on file in the event of any work being available. So there I was living in Loughborough, and not working for GW…

The next thing I did was apply for a mould making job over at the factory in Eastwood - I figured if I got in there, it might be easier to transfer across to the studio (as my good friend Richard Wright eventually did, though I had no idea at the time). So I got several busses and trains to travel from Loughborough to Eastwood and had an interview with Steve Bruce and John Ellard (I think…) - who told me they couldn't employ me living so far away…

I had been in Loughborough for about two months (so that would be April 1987), when out of the blue I got a call from John Blanche asking if I would be interested in two weeks work in the studio. They had a big project coming up (which turned out to be Rogue Trader), and needed some help with it. I jumped at the chance, and that two weeks turned into 13 years…

Mike McVey has always stood out from the crowd.

RoC80s: You ended up running the painting team. During your time with the company, how did the way miniature painting was organised change?

MMc: Everything about the way the company worked has changed out of all recognition since those early days. John ran the art department when I joined, and that included the figure painting studio. Back then there was Colin Dixon (who was the first full time painter), Sid (who got the job I didn't), and myself. Really it was just Sid and I doing the painting though - Colin was mainly doing artwork, and only painted miniatures when there was a crunch on. Then there was Dave Andrews and Tony Ackland drawing and painting. I remember my first day in the Studio so clearly - walking into that room with Sid, Colin, Dave and Tony - all bearded with long hair, surrounded with cigarette smoke - and there I was a very fresh faced 18 year old. I was scared out out of my wits! I don't think I spoke a single work for about 2 weeks...

I was employed on the understanding that I would be able to paint five miniatures a day - but some days I painted far more. I remember painting the units for the first plastic regiments box set - where you got 20 each of several different Warhammer races. Most of those were painted in a single day for a unit of 20. Learning to paint at that speed, taught me a huge amount about economy of painting, and it really helped when I slowed down and spent more time on individual miniatures.

The miniature painting and art room was a pretty chaotic place - but we did get a lot done. Everyone went to the pub most lunch times (at least it seemed like that looking back), so the afternoons were definitely more 'relaxed'. I can't remember exactly how things were organised - but John would dole out the work and give us briefs for colour schemes. These were pretty open and we had a lot of freedom as to how to paint things - which was great.

The deadline was always - 'soon as you can'.

There was never any teaching of how to do things, but John would critique work and have us make changes when needed. I was keen as mustard though - this was my dream job and I wasn't going to screw it up.

As time went on over the years, the whole company got more organised, and that was certainly true for miniature painting. I was pretty much running it (under Phil Lewis) just before we moved to the new studio on Castle Boulevard - I think there were 5-6 of us at that point. Myself, Tim Prow, Dale Hurst, Ivan Bartlet and Andy Craig - I think that was everyone. Only Tim and I made it to the new studio though - the others were 'let go'. The whole studio move was a brutal experience, and lots of people didn’t make it - as far as I remember, they only found out a day or so before we moved.

When we got into the new place, we started re-building the team and I ran it properly for a couple of years. Or as properly as I knew how - considering I had no training in management what so ever. It was different place by then - much more organised and formal. We worked in an open plan office, so we weren't hidden away like we were in the original studio - that place was like a rabbit warren and you got get away with all sorts of 'high-jinks'!

These miniatures, and their famous paintjobs, must has launched the painting exploits of millions of gamers!

RoC80s: You were (and indeed still are) rightly famous for your gorgeous blended painting style. How did you develop this? Did you arrive at GW with the skill or did it develop through inspiration or through training?

MMc: When I got to GW, I was pretty competent painter - but I looked at the work of people like JB and Colin, and thought I would never get anywhere close to their level. It's amazing how fast you improve in that environment though - painting eight hours a day, surrounded with like-minded creative people. You absorb information by osmosis. I never remember much in the way of training - you would look at the way someone else did something, and work out how they did it. Everyone was very open with information, but there wasn't the culture of learning and forensic direction there is with miniature painting these days. It was very young hobby in a lot of ways. People had been painting miniatures for years for wargaming, but it was pretty basic stuff - they never focused on quality in the way we did. That was for larger scale painting.

As for blending - it was something that John showed me with enamels, using a second brush to thin the edge of a colour to create the look of a smooth blend. I just transferred that to painting with acrylics. If I remember it right, the fist place I did that was on the original Imperial Guard Sentinel, which I painted blue. I remember Bryan complaining that it wasn't highlighted, as it was bit on the subtle side!

Once I'd mastered that technique, everything else fell onto place though - it was the cornerstone of my painting. It wasn't until I got to spend a bit longer on the miniatures that I felt comfortable with it though - the first time that happened was probably painting the Eldar - that’s when I thought my paining really ‘clicked’, on the aspect warrior miniatures especially, but also on some of the Harlequins.  I was in the fortunate position of being my own boss with painting - so I could spend the time I needed to on miniatures - that allows me to really perfect that technique, and in the end I could produce multi-layered, smooth blends very quickly. 

The original Citadel Colour range.

RoC80s: According to our research, you were credited in helping designing the very well loved original Citadel Colour Range (Citadel Colour, Creature Paint Set, Monster Paint Set etc...), is this the case? If so, what was the process of development?

MMc: Not quite. The original Citadel Colour paints were released before my time at GW - round about 1985 I think. At that time I was painting with Humbrol Enamels, so switching to acrylics was a revelation. No more smell or long drying times. I worked a lot on the first expansion to the range - the inks, washes and metallics - and re-worked a lot of the colours to be a more comprehensive spectrum. That would be early nineties I think - maybe late eighties. From that point on, I was responsible for the entire paint range design. I spent quite a lot of time in the paint labs of several different companies - developing new formulations and colours. I designed about five ranges while I was there - but only two of them saw the light of day. One was a re-design of the entire original range, and the next was when production switched to a new supplier.

RoC80s: Andy Craig's amusing tales of life in the studio have been very popular, do you have any amusing stories or memorable moments to share?

MMc: God - where do I start! I pretty much grew up working at GW, so a lot of my formative memories are linked to that place. When I think of amusing stories, I mainly think of Sid though - he was a pretty hilarious guy.

I remember there was a youth training office above the painting room and he used to terrorise the trainees. They had to walk past our window pretty regularly - we were on the first (second for any Americans reading) floor and they had to walk out under us to the bins at the back of the building. He used to bombard them with anything he could get his hands on - and had various projectile guns to shoot them with. He also used to chase them round the corridors when he met them - and it culminated with the manager taking him to task outside our door, and ending up in a fist fight with him!

Then there was the occasion he built the 'first 40K tank' - which consisted of a large cardboard box, that had holes for his head, arms and legs - he just happened to be taking that for it’s first test drive round the floor of the figure painting room, when Tom Kirby walked in with some important guests...

Sid was never a great painter, but he was endlessly entertaining to work with!

Then there was the time John Blanche disappeared into the spray room to varnish a new drawing, and used black undercoat by mistake.

There are so many more stories involving different members of the GW studio, but many of them are not really repeatable…

The painting room was a bit separated from the rest of the studio, so in some ways we were a bit of a law unto ourselves, especially for the first year or so and it was Colin, Dave, Sid, Tony and me. It was a great place to work.

RoC80s: Who were your inspirations when it came to miniature painting? Who are they now?

MMc: Without any doubt, the largest influence on me was John Blanche. Back in the early days he was just on a different planet to everyone else (and some think he still is), the work he was creating was streets ahead of what anyone else was doing. Colin Dixon was a close second though, as his was the work that directly proceeded me in White Dwarf and in products. I still distinctly remember looking at his work when I started and thinking I’d never be that good. What you have to remember back then though, is that the only good painting you saw was on the pages of White Dwarf, or in the Journals, there was no internet. I grew up in the Lake District, so there were no game shops with display cabinets either. Getting White Dwarf Magazine and the Journals was huge for a budding painter like me - and I used to devour every scrap of information I could. A few of the designers were good painters too - Aly Morrison and Nick Bibby in particular. But, for sure - John was The Man, without him I don’t think miniature painting would have taken off in the way it did.

These days I don’t keep up with the painting scene like I used too - it’s just too big. The standard is incredible, and the amount of information out there for painters is just never ending - which is such a good thing. As a learning environment for painters, it’s a fantastic time to be in the hobby.

RoC80s: Fraser Grey has become somewhat of a legend among enthusiasts. What was your opinion of his work and what are your memories of him?

MMc: Fraser was such a lovely guy, and great painter too. What amazed me most was how clean he could get the colours with enamels - I painted with them before acrylics and always hated them, but I never had the patience he did. He put a lot of time into those miniatures, and it showed. I always looked forward to his visits to the studio, and seeing what he’d been working on.

A classic '80s Jes Goodwin Ogre hiding in one of Mike's '90s dioramas.

RoC80s: You produced many dioramas during the 90s, many of which are still on display. Why did you produce so many of these? Was it direction from management or something you just wanted to do?

MMc: It was my job for over a year - maybe 18 months, and I still count it as the most fun I have had in my entire career. I got pretty burned-out running the painting team, and really wanted to get back to creating, rather than managing. I had total free range to do what I wanted, I just looked at what projects were upcoming (like army books for Lizardmen, Dark Angels, Wood Elves, etc) and do a diorama based on that subject. It was fantastic!

I could make them whatever size I wanted, so really I could let my imagination run riot. The most challenging thing was to produce dioramas that would work well in front of the camera - it’s no good making something that doesn’t reproduce well on the pages of a magazine or book. As a matter of fact - that was pretty much how I lived my painting life, developing a painting style that reproduced well.

The dioramas were a lot of work though - the Warhammer Quest one was several months work, and I remember being completely sick of the sight of it by the end. I made a decision at the start that I was going to use forced perspective to give the illusion of depth - and I regretted it every day after that, it was so much extra work!

One of Mike McVey's early Rogue Trader dioramas.

RoC80s: Later, you moved into sculpting models. Was this something that you always wanted to do? How did you train?

MMc: I was quite happy as a miniature painter, but I reached the top of what they were prepared to pay me (which was very little!) - so they suggested I move into sculpting instead. It was a really hard decision for me - I spent my whole working life painting, and was very proud of what I’d achieved, so it was tough to give that all up and start from scratch.

There was a trainee sculptor program at GW, but it was a little haphazard - and really I was pushed into making production miniatures before I was ready. I learned a lot from Gary Morely, but it wasn’t until I started sharing an office with Jes and Brian Nelson that I found my feet a bit and started producing models I was proud of. The only ones I actually like are the Eldar miniatures I sculpted just before I left.

RoC80s: After leaving GW, you did a wide range of painting work for other companies (including a relocation to the US), was this a positive experience?

MMc: That’s not quite what happened. I left GW to move to Seattle in the US and work for Wizards of the Coast. They were setting up a miniatures division and wanted people with experience to staff it. I was employed as the lead studio sculptor, but was quickly made the Art Director. The first project we worked on was Chainmail, but it was fairly disastrous - WotC didn’t really understand the miniatures market and we were never properly supported by the upper management of the company. That ended fairly badly with one of the round of redundancies that were sweeping the company at the time - and they decided that pre-painted plastics were more their thing (which was probably the case). I art directed the D&D and Star Wars miniatures lines, but it really wasn’t what I wanted to do.

I’d become very disillusioned with working at WotC, and got involved with Privateer Press very early in their development. The three guys who set it up commissioned me to make a promo miniature of a Steamjack (a steam powered robot) from their D20 adventures. They really loved it and agreed to make me a partner in the company, and we started making Warmachine. That’s far too long a story to write here - but it taught me a valuable lesson of only working with people I liked in future!

RoC80s: Eventually you set up Studio McVey. Was this always an ambition of yours? How did you go about creating the company and designing the products?

MMc: Ali (my wife) and I, set up Studio McVey when we moved back to the UK in 2007. It was really a response to working on defined miniature ranges for the past few years - you just get a little tired of making miniatures for the same world/setting. I wanted to create a range where we could make the miniatures we really wanted to paint - and not have any restrictions on style, setting or genre. It was really fun, and I think that range we created was really solid.

The down-side was that the resin collectors pieces only really appealed to painters - and when it comes down to it, most of the people who are buying miniatures were gamers. That lead me to starting the Sedition Wars sci-fi line - and that was really enjoyable, creating a whole setting from scratch. It was a pretty steep learning curve though - working on a game and miniatures line as a one-man company (Ali was concentrating on her illustration work by that time) is a HUGE amount or work, especially when it becomes very successful in a short amount on time…

Horus vs the Emperor

RoC80s: Probably the hardest question for any artist. Which painted model do you think best defines your time at GW and why?

MMc: For single miniatures, I guess that would be The Green Knight, though Tyrion and Teclis brought in a whole new type of miniature - so they would run it a close second. The Green Knight was an important piece for me - it was the first production miniature Michael Perry sculpted after he lost his right hand, so it had great significance to all of us in the studio. I can still clearly remember painting it now, and it must be more that 20 years ago. Mark Gibbons produced the original illustration for it, but that was black and white - so I had to capture the feel of that in colour.

Without any doubt though - the work I get asked about more than anything else are the dioramas - and The Emperor and Horus in particular. I guess they are also the thing that I enjoyed working on the most, and put most of myself into. It’s really great they are still on display at the GW museum too - I’m very proud of that.

Tyrion and Teclis

RoC80s: What's next for Mike McVey?

MMc: Studio McVey is now effectively a miniatures design studio - we are partnered with Guillotine Games making miniatures for board game projects. We launched Blood Rage and The Others on Kickstarter last year, and we’re currently working on an Oriental themed game and HATE - based on Adrian Smith’s graphic novel. I’ve been working with Adrian again for the last couple of years - he’s the sole artist on Blood Rage and did 90% of there art for The Others. It’s really great to be in the same creative team as him again - he’s certainly one of the best artists I have ever worked with. The depth of his imagination is staggering.

I’m not painting or sculpting any more - my eyes just aren’t capable of that level of fine detail any more, but I still get a huge kick out of the creation process - and turning fantastic art into amazing miniatures. I still love it as much now as I did when I started at GW in 1987.

As always, I would like to thank Mike McVey for his contribution to Realm of Chaos 80s and taking us back to the Golden Age of Games Workshop. Years in the making, this interview really does go to show that good things come to those who wait!

Orlygg

The Harlequin: An interview with Darren Matthews

Iconic cover art from the original Rogue Trader released harlequins. But what do they have to do with Darren Matthews? Read on. 

Oldhammer is a product of two things. Nostalgia and Social Media. Without both of these, we wouldn't have the community that so many of us enjoy today. And it's an international community too, with regular events held in the UK, US and beyond. The ease of communication that modern technology allows has fuelled our considerable growth over the last three years and facilitated the organisation of events, trades and research impossible a decade ago.

We must owe the existence of this latest Old School interview to Social Media as its subject, Darren Matthews, became part of the online Oldhammer Community through the Facebook Group. In case you do not recognise the name, he was one of the original members of the 'Eavy Metal team way back in the later part of the 1980s. But Darren's connection to Citadel and Games Workshop doesn't just begin in the later part of the decade - he was involved from practically the beginning, as we shall see.

Thankfully for us all, Darren was more than willing to exercise his memory and draw deep into the Warp to bring us some recollections of his time with the company - doing the job all of us really wanted to do: paint miniatures for money. So, on behalf of Oldhammerers everywhere, I will thank Darren for giving up his time to talk to us about his time at Games Workshop.

RoC80s: So what first got you into fantasy gaming and miniatures?

DM: I first got into Fantasy via watching movies and my Dad was a massive fan of Jason and the Argonauts so I suppose it went from there. I bought my first Citadel minis in around 1980 at a little shop on Steep in Lincoln. They were the Fantasy Tribe Skeletons. Kobolds were my next purchase and things sort of went from there. A Toy Shop in Lincoln started to sell blister packs and it was an open road from then on. Around 1985, I met Chaz Elliot in Lincoln and he got totally hooked on fantasy miniatures and I was in awe of his painting and practiced to emulate. A shop also opened in Lincoln that just dealt in fantasy miniatures and games so I started painting for the display case in the shop for lead. Also, I read the Colour Of Magic in its first ever release by a certain Mr Pratchett and was totally hooked after. I never got into gaming or could get my head round it but was collector and painter from the start.

Fantasy Tribe Skeletons: Darren Matthew's first Citadel miniatures.

RoC80s: So you were rather experienced with fantasy miniatures and their painting by the time you began working for Games Workshop. How did you get the job of painting professionally?

DM: In early 1987, when I was in my early 20s, I moved back to Nottingham and enjoyed collecting and painting miniatures. The work I had been doing in archaeology had come to an end through a cut in funding and I decided to send a sample of my painting in to the studio but with no real hope that it would lead to anything. A week later, John Blanche turned up at my front door and offered me the chance of working in the studio!

I was stunned to say the least at the time and until then thought my painting was nowhere near good enough for White Dwarf.  Sean Masterton, who was the then editor of White Dwarf, turned up with John. It was after work I found out later and they were going for a curry!

My first day was one of nerves beyond belief and a real baptism of fire meeting the established painting team. At that time, The 'Eavy Metal studio was comprised of Mike McVey, Colin Dixon, Dave Andrews and Sid and John Blanche was our boss. Tony Ackland and H also shared the studio and I really felt out of my depth. After a few weeks I understood most of the banter and what was required of a full time painter in the studio. 

Some of the other 'Eavy Metal boys from Darren's time. Lee 'I have a magnificent set of '80s curtains' Dudley was helping out during his summer holidays. Lucky bugger!

RoC80s: You mentioned the elusive Sid the Painter. We don't know much about him beyond a few photographs and an article or two. What can you tell us about him?

DM: Sid was called Tim Croxton. I think that is how you spell his surname and he came from Eastwood. He was a very intelligent guy, but a bit of a rebel. He was very good natured deep down when you got to know him.He was big into his motorbikes and cars. I don't know what happened to him after he left and I left not long after as the studio vibe had started to change.

RoC80s: What were the early days like training to be a Studio Painter?

DM: For the first few weeks I finished off old projects that had been on the back burner; such as the Wood Elves, Orcs and Snotlings from the fantasy ranges. Gradually, I was given new releases to paint before they would appear in White Dwarf, normally the following month. I also started on a few things in my spare time and meeting the Perry Twins who worked in a different part of the studio started me off on collecting historical miniatures. Bryan Ansell was the owner of the company and we always got on well when I met him. John Blanche encouraged me to experiment with paint and inks and try new painting techniques that I hadn't thought of using before. 

I have always considered John the total master of painting and Mike McVey a very close second. We all had different painting styles at the time and don't think there was a house technique to painting at the time. Gradually we saw the artwork that Tony Ackland was working on for Realms of Chaos and gradually the miniatures arrived in the studio to paint. Some of the sculpts I adored but others I wasn't so certain about and but still enjoyed painting a lot of it.

Darren's iconic colour scheme for this Ork noble. Come on, how many of you have copied this one? Below we have examples of his Chaos Dreadnought and an early Imperial Guard Sentinel. 

And here is the same model in digital form. Photograph by Steve Casey. From The Bryan Ansell Collection, Wargames Foundry, Stoke Hall Stables. 

The sentinel too, though a little blurry. Photograph by Steve Casey. From The Bryan Ansell Collection, Wargames Foundry, Stoke Hall Stables. 

RoC80s: Were you able to work on more personal projects in the Studio? We see a large number of dioramas and things coming out around that time - what did you work on?

DM: I was also working on my own related projects in my spare time (for my own collection) and had the idea one day to convert a plastic Rhino AFV into one that had been overtaken by Nurgle. I liked the idea of melding a tank with living things and ended up sculpting green stuff maggots bursting from the hull. It threw a few people at the time when they first saw it but I just went with it. 

I loved painting tanks and completed some of the first few Rhino AFV's and the Predator. Khorne and Nurgle were my two favourite Chaos elements and enjoyed painting miniatures for both. At one stage for inspiration, Kev Adams sent Phil Lewis to come and take photos of us all pulling faces and they were used for his inspiration for some of his Chaos sculpts. Each day was different and I enjoyed the variety of the painting and kit making. The first plastic 40k Imperial Guard were released to mixed reception in the painting studio and part plastic miniatures were becoming a regular thing and they were always a challenge to work on. Titans were also slowly lifting off and epic scale was also being developed while I was there. A real challenge was painting all of Jes Goodwin's first Eldar Harlequin miniature's for the boxed set in one bank holiday weekend. It took every ounce of my painting ability and threw it together, but looking back still think they were a bit rushed. 

The back of the RTB6 release. Darren's patterns and ideas here still influence painters to this day, so it is a real pleasure to give credit to him here. 

RoC80s: Did you just say you painted the original Harlequin models over a Bank Holiday weekend?

DM: Yes, they were the Harlequins from the very first boxed set release and they were given to me on the Friday afternoon and I delivered them back painted on the Tuesday morning - much to everyone's shock! My girlfriend at the time was away and I just sat and painted for 12 hours solid each day until they were done. I had a very small brief from Jes Goodwin and I was left, more or less, to my own colour schemes and patterns. I got a bit of a telling off for painting nipples showing through on one of the female eldar's torsos, and I was told to paint them out - but i don't think I ever did. I understand that that box set was one of the biggest sellers they had ever had and in some way I am proud that my painting helped sell them. Jes Goodwin's sculpts were stunning and very advanced for the period in regards of the poses he used. Looking back at it now, it was a lot of work - but i enjoyed it!

RoC80s: You mentioned the 'Studio Vibe' - what was it like to work in?

DM: The working environment was great, but it was something I wasn't really used to as I had worked outdoors in archaeology with very mixed teams. At the time I first started, I wasn't that confident in my painting ability and it showed to start with. I have always been very self critical of my painting and don't like to rush things. The banter took some getting used to and I suppose Sid gave me a bit of a testing time teasing for the first few weeks but it came to a head and I stood my ground and we became great friends after. Seeing Sid leave when he did was one of the worst days, if not the worst, I had in studio as we had become a very good friends by then. 

Some days we could each have a single miniature to work on, but on others we had a batch to get done for deadline and that could be a lot of pressure to get finished on time for a publication date. After a few months, I settled in and enjoyed the small level of chaos and the minor anarchy which was the painting studio at the time. We were a superb team and worked well together and were mostly the same age group, so we all had a similar sense of humour and outlook.

The Golden Demon days we did in the 80s, I always found a bit scary and overwhelming to be honest. I was fairly nervous of people but used to put a front on, I also dreaded painting in the shop or in public in those days. I think I could handle it now if I could see to paint well these days. Bryan was an excellent boss though and so was John Blanche and both put up with my nerves. I met Fraser Gray and he was great bloke, I loved his work and was totally blown away by what he could achieve. He visited the studio a couple of times while I was there.

Darren's Nurgle Rhino makes an appearance in this diorama from the back of White Dwarf 113. 

RoC80s: So how did that vibe change with time?

DM: Things had started to go a bit corporate towards the end of my term to some extent and a studio painting style was emerging which not all of us fully enjoyed or felt totally comfortable with. Before that I think people had been trusted to deliver the goods constantly and they mostly did. If you were not happy with something you ran it by the team and got a honest response and the lads were always superb for that and it was highly valued. I suppose by time I was ready to go I wasn't enjoying it as much as I did.

RoC80s: Were there any other stand out ranges that you worked on that really excited you as a painter?

DM: I enjoyed working on the miniatures for Space Hulk. The first terminator miniatures blew us all away when we first saw the sculpts. Sapce Wolves were my favourite marine Chapter and I as one of the first people to paint the black wolf head on a yellow background. By mid 1989, my life had changed and I was commuting between Lincoln and Nottingham and this was putting a lot of strain and pressure on my work. In a rash moment in 1989, I decided to leave and I suppose at the time I wasn't thinking too clearly but had worked for the company for 18 months and needed a change. Looking back, I have no regrets about working in such a fantastic environment and working with so many good and talented people. I will always remember it fondly and enjoyed my time painting miniatures for one the best miniature companies in the world, at that time.

I also enjoyed working on a slow-burning solo Space Wolf project but I never got around to totally finishing it, what with all the other work I had on the go on top, but it was intended to be a full chapter. Some photos were taken by Phil Lewis and I think one got on to a back cover of White Dwarf. I also enjoyed painting the Marauder Dwarves for Trish and Aly Morrison. This was 'in house painting' but don't think we ever got credit for it as painters. Mike McVey's Empire troops he did for them were mind blowing at the time. Mike was the best painter on the studio floor.

One of my personal favourites of Darren's time at GW. This magnificent ork gargant. 

I am almost certain that this model was in Bryan's cabinet display of his genestealer cult last year at BOYL.

Chaos warriors are iconic in Warhammer. And the painting schemes were never really any more chaotic than this. Another favourite of mine. 

The White Dwarf 100 Free Poster

I had quite a lucky find the other day. It is this - the free poster given away in White Dwarf 100. I have long owned the issue, collected over ten years ago when McDeath could be bought for the price of a bus ticket (joke), but the poster was always missing. 

Quite by accident, I managed to find a near mint copy and have just had the pleasure of looking at it properly in daylight. As Howard Carter might have said if he was into 1980s metal wargaming figures, it is full of 'wonderful things'. 

I took the liberty of taking a few snaps of the poster and a couple of close ups of things that picqued my interest. Now, I am no expert of White Dwarf magazines but I know a fair bit. Some of the minis on offer on the poster were previously published in the magazine. Some of the miniatures shown are very famous, even today, such as the grey eldar who appeared in the Combat Cards Space War deck. 

Others are not so well known, and it was towards those that I moved, camera in hand. 

This first photograph contains six chaos dwarfs painted by the great Fraser Gray and are totally new to me. I cannot recall seeing these painted models elsewhere before and so it was a real pleasure to see them. The naked dwarf with the tentacle arm is just incredible! How did he do work of this standard with enamels!?

There is more of Fraser's incredible work elsewhere on the poster, including this fabulous orc with the equally fabulous painted 'ogre face' shield. Though it was the undead skeleton/wraith thing that caught my eye initially. I don't recall seeing the model before and the combination of the orangey red rags and bright greens punk hair is as madly '80s as it can get, and really sums up the 'in-house' painting style during this period. 

Sure, some of the models here are very well known, and it is always nice to see the unreleased Combat Card dwarf wizard again. My eye was drawn to the zombie and the chaos sorcerer (based for Rogue Trader) as I cannot recall seeing either  painted models before. Very good work on both. 

As for the poster? Well, it is going to hang above my painting area as inspiration for a while. I am aware that the conservatory with all its sunlight isn't probably the best place to keep it in the long term, but it is there for now. 

Now, here is a question to consider. What OTHER posters did GW and White Dwarf put out in the 1980s. I am certain that there is a Warhammer Third Edition one, as I have seen one or two for sale, but beyond that I cannot be certain. 

Do any of you readers know?

Orlygg

'Eavy Metal Special: White Dwarf 132 - Rogue Trader before the GrimDark, Stuart Willis, Space Crusade and Orks, lots of Orks...

Welcome one and all, to a return to the very early 1990s and Warhammer 40k before it went all GrImDaRk. In fact, I cannot say I even came across such a term until these internet heralded days of the twenty-first century. 

Still, there was once a time without any 'grim' and the 'dark' had yet to be cloaked around us. 

Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader was a bright young thing literally as well as figuratively, as these images will testify. With the publication of the first ork hardback books, very much in the vein of Realm of Chaos, the Citadel sculptors went crazy producing a wide range of models bursting with zany new ideas. The rules writers too created some highly original and amusing concepts - anyone remember 'the drop'?

Today, we delve deep into the pages of WD 132 to have a little look at how the game 'used' to look. Let us start with a little visit to one of those miniatures painters who earned the ultimate accolade - getting a spread of painted miniatures published in WD. 

Stuart Willis.

It is always nice to see a familiar model re-imagined after a great many years of familiarity. Its something that makes Oldhammer special in my opinion. There is always another way to paint an Ambull, and no matter how many of use slap a little paint across its limbs, there is always someone else who will do it a little better! Stuart's Eldar really fit this thought for me, and though they have shades of Paul Benson about them, really stand out. The warm soft colours encourage the models to almost 'glow' with energy- and you can almost feel the heat of those energy weapons! The ork is a welcome addition too, and like any goblinoid, is marked by the tone of its green skin. This one has a lovely healthy glow, like he's just dined on a great glob of snot, and burns brightly from the page in characterful colour. 

But it is most definitely the terminators that are the stars of the show here. 

White is never easy to paint well. Especially on power armour and the models here just pulse from the page. I think this scheme is so successful because Stuart has stuck to the 'warm' feel he has used elsewhere. It makes the white solid enough to not just be an undercoat but a 'proper' colour, if you know what I mean. As something I have always struggled to pull off well (and I tend to use blue to shade white) I am always very interested to see how others do it. I shall be certainly trying something like this again in the future.

My stand out piece here just has to be the terminator with the Nemesis  Force Sword. The way the white of the armour is off set by the red of the helmet is just divine, don't you think? An excellent figure indeed. 

Loads of 'cray-zee' ork gubbins going on here from the Studio staff. I adore the converted Bloodbowl goblin top left holding the banner. Lovely. Here we see the first real serious attempt to do plastic arms for minis and to be honest, they didn't do to bad did they? Though there were to be some really awful single-pose plastic models (and even some metal ones) in the not to distant future, these early multipart orks are well made. 

Its worth pointing out here just how sophisticated the ork iconography actually was at this point, with a fully functioning language (phonetic and symbolic) released in support of the models. Its pleasing to use this to decipher the scrawlings on much of the banners shown here and in the ork books. 

All that detail for no other reason but the sheer hell of it, eh!?

Do I have a favourite model here? Of course I do, and it has to be that crazy conversion by Tim Prow in the middle of the page. The Mek. Painted in glorious 'almost red period' red. 

I bet it definitely 'goes fasta'. 

I will leave you with this spread of images from Space Crusade. A game that just doesn't seem to get the same amount of Oldhammer love as Heroquest. I have always thought that strange as the game was nearly (not quite) as ubiquitous as that veritable dungeon basher back in the day. Its nice to see these plastic minis painted up so well isn't it? One thing that strikes me looking at these again after all this time is just how much the plastic Chaos Marines look like the modern versions, compared with the earlier Realm of Chaos renegades?

Come on, how many of you wrecked yours with layers and layers of Humbrol enamels?

Orlygg

'Eavy Metal Bonanza: Fraser Grey, Richard Pickup, Francis Ellyard, Paul Robins and the 1990 Studio Staff!

If you were anything like me, then the blue marbled pages of old school 'Eavy Metal were the first pages you thumbed to when you got your hands on a new issue of White Dwarf. Its odd looking back from where we are now in the twenty-first century in the midst of the age of the internet. Its just so easy to access information. Pick a theme, type a keyword into a search engine and you will be confronted with hours of text to digest at your whim. 

Back when these pages were put together, print media was still the only real source of visual and written information and the wait between issues of White Dwarf could be long and tiresome. Still, after absorbing whatever the cover art offered, my eager thumbs would flick through to the photographs of painted miniatures. It was really what I bought the magazine for and I would gaze at the images for hours in confusion about why my attempts at miniature painting did not resemble those of Mike McVey or Tim Prow! 

Twenty-five years later and my painting is still not resembling those of the 'Eavy Metal painting team back then but I am still trying. And so, the old 'Eavy Metal article pages still fascinate and encourage me in a way the more modern presentations do not. One thing that I enjoy about these old articles is the breadth of style between different painters and the studio and guest painters who contributed work. There is always a lot to see and seldom do the pages focus on just the latest releases. A new model may well share space alongside something from the early 1980s! 

The first page I have shown above highlights the work of the GREATEST of all miniature painters, Fraser Gray. Now here is a gent I have written extensively on in the past and his work still amazes me all these years later. This is a spread of models that I think we have seen before here at Realm of Chaos 80s but I am sure that you will not mind seeing them again. 

Richard Pickup is a name that jumps out from the Fantasy Miniatures books from the late 1980s and very early 1990s and is someone we haven't discussed here before. At first glance its Richard's bases that jump out at the viewer, largely due to their realistic tones and use of natural components. The Troll Champion at top left is a prime example of this technique and isn't something I have explored myself beyond using a few pieces of slate on a base. 

Mr Pickup obviously liked his Big Uns as there are two very well painted ogres on show here too. The top example is the Shaman figure by Jes Goodwin as is part of his incredible ogre range from the mid 1980s, the second, below it, has been taken from Marauder's very different take on how an ogre should look. I love the dark browns to be found on the shaman's skin and the way they merge in with the base to create a pleasing finish. I found brown quite a challenge to paint and get right, especially on bigger models. One problem I find is created by adding too much white to the mix as this results in a rather washed out look. The ogre captain is wonderfully bright and contrasts very well with the dark skin tones we have just discussed. The power of the pose, with its shades to Henry VIII and Hans Holbein, along with the colour harmony behind the scheme make this one of my all time favourite paint jobs. 

Its nice to see some Rogue Trader stuff on show as well as the fantasy models and his marines are just as good as his ogres, if not better. The techmarine stands out from this bunch due to its original and intriguing colour scheme. I love zany '80s armour styles like this but find them really fiddly to create myself. 

The stand out models on this page are, for me at least, the two Nurglings painted as individual models. Despite their small size, Richard has been able to cram everything his is good at into the models. The natural bases (cleverly raised up to bring the model more attention) to the dynamic use of colours. I don't think you will see Nurglings shown in this way in any other contemporary publications. Great stuff. 

Francis Ellyard was very good at painting horses, as this page illustrates, and it seems she was also a dab hand at the scenic base. Like Pickup before her, this page gives us a great range of models from both of the Warhammer Worlds, and the Rogue Trader Commisar and Guard Officer are excellent. They also show just what is possible with those chunky old plastic Citadel horses - note the converted tail on the Imperial Guard Officer! 

She clearly spent a great deal of time researching the patterns that appear on animals. The speckled effect on the horse we we just discussing is brilliant and something I would like to try myself at some point. But its is the zebra stripe effect employed on the centaur and Slaanesh champion that really impresses. Getting the stripes looking right takes real skill as you cannot just paint random lines on a white horse and hope for the best - believe me I know this to be true, as I have tried it! 

My personal favourite here? It has to be the Space marine Scout. I love the way that the camouflage painted on the figure matches so well with the scenic base. I can tell you, with the materials at their disposal back then, this wouldn't have been as easy as just buying up a few packs of basing material and just sticking them on! 

A great model!

Paul Robins is another newcomer and has a style that reminds me of Steve Blunt's work. The smooth muted colours seem to merge together and produce a warm, living figure ready to step off the base and into some adventure. This pages shares an eclectic range of models from his collection but is dominated by that fantastic dragon and its outstanding scenic base! 

Its like something from Skyrim - only twenty-five years too early. 

Marvellous! 

With the guests out of the way let's have a look at what was going on in the studio at the same time. As this was the age of the Ork books it is no surprise to see quite a few goblinoid models on show. The Gargant dominates the page and just looking at the model reminds me about just how satisfyingly heavy they were to pick up, a feeling that modern resin models can only compete with their fragility. The smaller Gargants bring back fond memories for me as the group I played the Enemy Within with were also keen players of Space Marine and we had a fair few battles with these. 

The Gretchen and Weirdboy and Minders are great models, full of character and invention but the plastic Cyboar is just hideous, just like much of the plastic ork range that was released around this time. Ugly multipose things that they were. 

Rather strangely, the White Dwarf model from some years previously turns up on this page. An unexpected surprise for me considering I painted my version not so very long ago. As does an old Lord of Battle. They just go to show that a classic model is a classic model and deserve painting. 

The stand out models on this page (but sadly not so the paint jobs) are the Bretonnian models that may or may not have been connected to the Medieval game that was being mooted at the Studio around the same time. This range, by the Perry Twins, remains the best Bretonnian collection ever produced in my humble opinion, so its great to see them here. 

This page is of note as it mentions Norman Swalyes, a member of the design team who I have not really heard much about. It seems that he produced an update to two of the older Rogue Trader models - namely the Tarantula and the Rapier. I was never one for big guns and vehicles but these models really do show how more closely related they are with modern 40k than Rogue Trader, don't they?

The Eldar, painted by Tim Prow if I am not mistaken, have been seen before in these discussions as has the plastic terminator models from the Genestealer expansion for Space Hulk. The minotaur champion is an old, old model and is not as good as the Colin Dixon or Aly Morrison versions we have seen before. I do love the Harpy conversion here though, as it shows us how a very simple change, in this case the wings, can create a very different model indeed! 

Again, many of the models on this page have been seen before and have been taken from both the Citadel and Marauder ranges. They all look a bit static and unimaginative in my opinion, especially when sharing a page with the 40k snotlings. Don't they steal the show, utterly? They look like a lovely range of models that I know absolutely nothing about but by the looks of it, A lot of the ideas on show here are still being recycled for modern tastes in the gretchen.

This final page shows off some of the more alien looking colour schemes that are possible with Eldar models, These all look rather impressive and varied to me, with the green and yellow Iyanden and the orange and blue Saim-Hann standing out most strongly. 

But it is the Bretonnian stuff that once again draws my eye. Aren't they wonderful? As I have said before, as have many others, for fantasy to be believable it needs to be based in some way in reality. The Perry Twins clearly understand this rule. 

Sadly, too few others seem to appreciate it these days. 

Orlygg.