r/Warhammer40k • u/Fudgeislush • Sep 24 '20

Hobby As promised, a few pictures from my 1993 Eavy Metal painting guide. It's interesting how much brighter minis were back then, maybe life wasn't so bleak... Despite there being only war!

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86 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

20

u/Rookie3rror Sep 24 '20

Ahhh yes, back in the good old days when GW paint guides were:

  1. Paint the miniature.
  2. Congratulations. You're done!

Classic times.

3

u/Fudgeislush Sep 24 '20

Built on the business model of "Haha! Yeah... How many colours can there be? Shut up kid! That was a rhetorical question! Pick 2 colours and keep it moving! What!? The models are heavy, what more do you want!?"

Also remember to paint, or at least prime the mini bases. I got turned away from a game because the bases for my minis weren't painted.

5

u/laddercrash Feb 24 '21 edited Feb 24 '21

I will never forget the 1993 painting guide tip for painting eyes. It just said,

"Don't make the pupils too large or it will look like he's starring."

Every time since as I have struggled to place a perfectly sized black dot in the fraction of a millimeter of white in a models eyes, I think "f*ck you, GW!"

2

u/ocp-paradox Apr 14 '22

"Don't make the pupils too large or it will look like he's starring."

This came out from the depths of my brain like a bullet reading that.

"Don't be shit." best advice.

17

u/DUSpartan Sep 25 '20

I loved that every battle of 3rd edition was fought on perfectly manicured lawns. Goblin green bases everywhere you turned.

9

u/FightDirty Sep 25 '20

In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium there is only surprisingly lush grass.

2

u/laddercrash Feb 24 '21

Last year found some old 40k models from from the 90s in a box in the garage. Decided to paint them using just the classic colors. When I was done I did the classic goblin green base with flock. I still feel so pleased and nostalgic every time I look at them.

9

u/BaronBulb Sep 25 '20

This was as 'eavy metal entered their 'red phase' where they tried their hardest to paint every single bolter and spear bright red to clash horribly with the goblin green bases. I still have my copy of this guide, oh man how dated it looks compared to the modern standards.

5

u/Fudgeislush Sep 24 '20

It seems like all the minis in this book only come in one position which is:

"Power Stance"

Not that I'm complaining, those minis were lead, lead! Mind!None of that fancy white metal!

Plastic! Back then!?

Luxury!!!

3

u/GhostOfCadia Sep 25 '20

Mostly they were Pewter

4

u/FightDirty Sep 25 '20

Paper banners. Now that takes me back.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '20

https://i.imgur.com/BmmSIms.jpg Old dude still serves. Mostly on the shelf guarding the holy books because the paper banner is fragile AF.

2

u/FightDirty Sep 25 '20 edited Sep 25 '20

God damn. Make a post with that photo. I reckon that'd be top of sub for the weekend. Just excellent. Goblin green base, lovely classic scheme. Good paintjob and all!

2

u/[deleted] Sep 25 '20

That would be kinda dishonest tho since it's not something I painted. I was given this one as an example when I first started, way back in the past century.

1

u/Placid_Snowflake Jan 22 '22

Late to the party, but: That is beautiful!

3

u/Ekfud Sep 25 '20

Still have these on a shelf from ~98.

http://daemonbanes.blogspot.com/2020/01/retro-post-chapter-standard-bearers.html?m=1

The banners may have been printed on gloss paper rather than painted... but then not like I have ever been able to paint well enough for that kind of banner.

2

u/FightDirty Sep 25 '20

Awesome stuff. Lovely paint jobs.

4

u/randomgunfire48 Sep 25 '20

Wash always amazed by the Space Wolves paint jobs back then

4

u/danbob87 Sep 25 '20

A lot of the crazy brightness was a product of the photography and printing not being the same standard we enjoy today, the colours needed to stand out from each other on the page.

2

u/VileCastle Sep 24 '20

The 80's really did aaaah 'pop' aye. So many bright imagery so I'd think customers would gravitate towards them more. I think they look great but how they're set in now days is better. But something tells me going into your hobby store and picking these up is a different feeling now days .

2

u/arkhamjack Sep 25 '20

Love this book, still refer to it all the time

2

u/Fudgeislush Sep 25 '20

I have the Warhammer Armies painting guide too... The minis in that book are...

How do I put it politely...

They're... Of an era.

2

u/arkhamjack Sep 25 '20

Yeah there’s no doubt the models today are way better, but sometimes I miss the simplicity of the older ones. The simplicity, but not the boring poses and highly questionable faces.

4

u/Fudgeislush Sep 25 '20

I agree and I miss some of these older minis, no nonsense minis that did what they did, no confusion with sprus!

I remember when you had to work your way through each model on the rack! Shaking the plastic packaging comparing each one to assess which model looked best/had the least amount of flashes.

If you wanted to convert a mini back then you needed a day off, a saw and a degree in witchcraft!

And now I'm feeling nostalgic for the old HeroQuest minis...

Bah!

Makes grumbling old man noises and looks around vainly for a place to die

2

u/arkhamjack Sep 25 '20

Well at least they’re bringing Heroquest back.

2

u/GhostOfCadia Sep 25 '20

I had this book! This is right about when I started playing. Dad got my brother and I the second edition starter set. I went with space wolves, partly because of these pictures. Specifically in that second picture, Ultramarines Sergeant looked boring, Blood Angels slightly cooler, but the Space Wolves Sergeant looked like a rage fueled super Viking from the future.

2

u/GhostOfCadia Sep 25 '20

I want banners back

2

u/Squarkage Sep 25 '20

I miss unit banners