Unknown Painter: Amazonia Gothique

Unknown painter is a series of posts featuring figures I picked up that are painted by others. I did not paint these.

Kickin' off a series of posts showing figures in the state I acquire them. Most of the figures I pick up go right in bath of Simple Green ASAP without a second thought. A few, though, have paintjobs worth sharing here even if I strip them in the end. This for kicks and to help in some small way our record of how figures were painted in yesteryear.

This first post is going to set the bar really high, though, so don't think they are all going to be this good. Don't worry, she's not going anywhere near the bath! And in that respect I think she's the first. She might even get a spot in the display case.

Manufacturer: Citadel
Line: Limited Editions
Set: LE15
Figure: LE15 Amazonia Gothique
Release date: 1986
Sculptor: Michael Perry
Painter: unknown
Date painted: unknown
Notes: This was sculpted after a John Blanche painting that appeared on the cover of White Dwarf issue 79. Minor restoration done in 2012.

So you can see the figure is not only painted well, but it's done after the painting. And the shield, while different, is pure Blanche in style.

I really lucked on on this one. I got in line for the Kublacon 2012 fleamarket way too late and with the fire code restricting how many people could be in the room at once it was about forty minutes after opening that I got in. Which means hundreds of clamoring, sweaty gamers passed over this before I came around and picked it along with six Citadel gnolls (which I may share later on) for just $15. A friend was looking over my shoulder trying not to smirk as I made the deal, but I made no attempt to haggle and the woman turned and checked it with her husband before handing them over so I am guilt-free. It was only after I got the figure out of the convention hall that I realized their was a decent paintjob under all the dust. For a Blanche fan like me it was a solid win! The fig and the painting have been favorites since way back in the day.

For those into the old school methods this paint job is instructive and demonstrates what can be done with a technique that relies heavily on washes and glazes. The greens are especially vibrant as the white primer is doing the highlighting work. The stocking looks like it is simply flesh colored glazed with black.

Also, I have to take a little credit fixing up the base. The earth colored foam you see was there already, but sides of the base had sloppy, thick brush marks and bits of debris caught under the paint. This kind of thing ruins a figure for me so I sanded the sides down and repainted them. She also had little holes either side of her tab as the tab is smaller than the slot, and that's another thing I can't stand for. I added a little more earth colored foam and a little static grass, and finished it off with a tiny bit of green foam for contrast.