I got into the hobby in 1994, a few months before my 14th birthday. My future brother in law introduced me to Space Crusade, and then onto Blood Bowl. I picked up issue 174 of White Dwarf and haven't looked back since. 3 months later I had my first encounter with Golden Daemon. I still remember now eagerly looking through the magazine at what Blood Bowl material it had, and there it was. This.
Roy Scorers 'Hell Fire' Dreadnought. This blew me away like very little else. The paint job screamed out at me pure awesomeness, and I've never forgotten that model since. Today, I looked up online and discovered an image of it along with a few other influential models that I had not forgotten about. I still love the way this Dread looks. The black to red blend, the bright orange highlights, I still think this paint job is ageless, and is testament to how good it is.
Another model from the same White Dwarf, Neil Thomason's Rune Priest won first in the 40k single miniature category. I had seen a little of the Space Wolves, and they held much appeal to me as a chapter. This, made that appeal much more stronger!
This Dire Avenger Exarch was also by Neil Thomason but won 1st at the 1995 Golden Daemon. The thing that struck me, was the banner and how different it was. Its a very moody peice, and looking back it reminds me of how the Eldar fought the Necrons, like the female character thinking back to those times in a very evocative way. Whether the Necron/Eldar history was developed then I'm unsure, but its a cracking model.
What Roy Scorer's Dread did for me and Space Marines, Ben Jefferson's Wraithlord (although I think then it was a Dreadnought) made me look at the Eldar in a new way. I still love this paint job and it jumps out at me just as much as it did back then.
Looking back, the models that I loved back then haven't aged much at all today. This isn't far off 20 years ago, which speaks volumes for just how well these guys have done. I'll be doing more of these in the future, not just some of the older models but perhaps some of the more recent ones too. Til next time!
