In November of 2024, I started work on my biggest miniature project so far. I mean that literally: Grenadier’s Goblin War Giant is something like seven inches tall and weighs nearly 3.5 pounds. It took a little over two months to complete.

Goblin War Giant, Fantasy Warriors, Grenadier

I first saw this guy in advertisements in Dragon magazine and it just always blew my mind. A giant so big that goblins just hang out on him! The photos made him seem truly massive, to the point that when I finally bought a vintage set (no way was I going to risk modern casting flaws for this guy) I was a tiny bit underwhelmed by his in-person stature. Still, he’s a crazy miniature, hard to hold, full of detail. There is a significant amount of putty smoothing out the seams and, unlike the Shoggoth from the previous year, I have a hard time seeing those spots now.

The paint is a mix of everything I had on hand, on white primer. In a lot of ways, he’s a lesson in being careful to not over-paint, which is a real danger with so much detail (a lot of which gets obscured by the platform. On a different miniature, I’d probably have done a lot more with the sleeves, but I think leaving them without a lot of detail work makes the eyes really focus on the legs, which are more interesting anyway.

I am a little annoyed I was like halfway through the goblins before I realized I had given them a Simpsons color scheme (and honestly, someone might have pointed it out to me, even). The thinking was that they needed to look different from my purple orcs, but also needed to feature an unusual color combo and, well, welcome, Cult of Marge.

I’m still extremely pleased with how the giant’s leathers turned out. I used Buff on the edges and it conveys the sense of rawhide so very nicely. The process for the wood grain of the platform worked out well, too, though while I was doing it I felt like I was committing a painting crime. I didn’t photograph it, though, because it has accumulated a fair amount of dust and I am just terrified of cleaning it. Maybe with the airbrush? I dunno.

Finally, this is the first time I’ve really free-handed anything. The heraldry on this shield was inspired by the sleeve of a 7-inch by the punk band Brux. They look passably like a hammer and teeth! It cracks me up to think of this as both the emblem of an army and they symbol of goblin (or giant) dentistry.

And damn, look at all that dust! I should get a bell jar, maybe?

Anti-Paladin (03-034), Fantasy Adventurers, Ral Partha
Fungoid (MM27), Monster Manuscript, Grenadier

The Anti-Paladin took a couple tries to get right. This version was done primarily with Vallejo’s version of magic paint, Xpress Color. I had previously been using Army’s Speedpaint, which is fine, but I was also using Vallejo’s Game Color for my normal paints, and the color systems aren’t very compatible. So when Xpress came out, I was keen to try it out. I love it. It flows and levels in a way that makes more sense and is more controllable, and I just understand the hues and intensities better than the Army system. Anti-Paladin here came out pretty nice for a short painting time and very little fussing. Same with the Fungoid, though he has a lot more normal paint on top of the Xpress.

Green Slime, Dungeon Dwellers, Grenadier

This frickin’ thing. I love the sculpt, it’s so full of motion and horror. In practice, though, one of the hardest paint jobs I’ve attempted. So much…gradient. Is it good? I dunno, it has a certain eye-catching presence in person, but I think it could all be smoother. I painted for hours though, and I can’t bear to do any more, so it is “done.” I think this one will look a smidge neater when I figure out how to shoot proper rotating video.

Necromancer (51007 b), Fantasy Warriors, Grenadier
Sludge Serpent (2010 j), Dragon Lords, Horrors of the Marsh, Grenadier

Bob Naismith necromancer for the Fantasy Warriors line. When I posted him on social media, folks thought he was an orc shaman, because I guess orcs are so hard-coded green now, but my thinking was this human creep spent so much time in the graveyard he’d gone slightly ghoulish in coloring.

Could make the argument that the Sludge Serpent is my miniature nemesis. I have painted and stripped this miniature at least five separate time. I still don’t love this result (the yellow underbelly got smudgy) but it was good enough to call done, so it’s done. Good riddance.

Minotaur (717 a), Julie Guthie’s Personalities, Grenadier
Hell Beast, Nightmares, Grenadier

This minotaur came in a blister pack with the sword-bearing one I painted the previous year. Again, I struggled with this one but the result was pretty satisfying. I like how there is a distinct tonal difference between the brown fur and the brown skin. This guy is also part of a larger decision to move away from metallic paint. I have no desire to learn non-metallic metal techniques, but I’ve started to feel that the glittery metallic is too limiting to the palette. I haven’t had much success with adding metallic medium to normal paint to create metallic colors and I don’t want to invest in them (I have more than enough paint, thanks). Honestly, the choices I made here are in the spirit of the original LJN D&D toys. Warduke’s armor is just blue and yellow, not metallic blue and gold, and he looks fine. So does this minotaur!

Cthulhu here was only Cthulhu for a few years before Grenadier lost the official Call of Cthulhu license. After that, they kept producing the miniature under the name Hell Beast. It’s a great sculpt, though nowhere near the proper scale. This is the second time I painted him. The wings are a bit shit, but then bat wings strike me as always being tough. The skin texture is nice, though and I like the mottled dots on his head. Tentacles probably need another highlighting pass.

Troll (2010 f), Dungeons & Dragons, Denizens of the Swamp, Grenadier

A classic D&D troll (this is two views of one miniature composited in PhotoShop so you can appreciate the shnoz). I love this guy. I have one with a vintage paint job, but recently had the opportunity to get an unpainted one and leapt at it. The sculpt is so good, especially for something from 1980; he looks a bit like a man in a suit, like he’d fight Toho’s Frankenstein, or maybe like his skin is all just gonna slough off. The facial expression is a mix of haunted and hungry. Love it. What a horror.

To be continued!