Freyja's Wrath painting update - Freyja is finished

Well, there is always an upside to bad weather, and here is the proof.

Freyja will, naturally be the Warlord of my Saga Viking warband, so she has to be on a larger base, but because she is such a fantastic model, I wanted to make the base a bit special, so I added on two of her special cats. The name Freyja is Old Norse for "The Lady". She is associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr (a kind of Norse sorcery that Freyja, a member of the Vanir, taught to the Æsir), war, and death.

Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni, and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers. I did a bit of googling and discovered that a colour often associated with Freyja is russet, so I clearly had to paint her robe in that colour.

Anyway, this model is really lovely, I think that her cloak, with its feathers, is pretty amazing and I love the way her hair has been modelled. I really didn't want to overwork her, so I kept the range of colours to a minimum, but I wanted to link her cats into the overall colour scheme, so one is a similar russet to her robe and the other matches the grey of her cloak.

Freyja's Wrath - my sample figure is painted

I really wanted to paint up the sample Kickstarter Shieldmaiden that Annie sent me on Saturday, so this morning I primed her with Tamiya light grey spray primer and once the primer was dry I set to work.

First, I just blocked out the various areas in base colours, with the chainmail hauberk in black. After sticking the figure on a 2.5cm round base I set to work with the detailed colours, highlights and dry-brushing, before finishing the figure off with a wash of Windsor and Newton Peat Brown drawing ink.

I painted the shield separately and superglued it on before the ink wash stage. Once the ink was dry, I flocked the base and added a couple of small clumps. Finally, I varnished the figure in matte spray varnish and gave the finished article a good spray of Testor's Dullcote. Unhappily, this never seems to completely remove the shine in close-up flash photos, but I can promise you that in the flesh, she has a proper matte finish.

Anyway, here she is;

OK, not as professional a job as Ralph Plowman or Paul Sanderson could achieve, but I am pretty pleased with the results. Now, all I need to do is logon to the Kickstarter once it is open at 18:00 tomorrow (23rd January).

Freyja's Wrath - A Bad Squiddo Kickstarter

OK, now this is really exciting stuff. Annie Norman of Bad Squiddo Games is launching a new Kickstarter on 23rd January. 

I am sure that many people already know Annie's company and the kind of figures she sells, but for those who don't, here is Annie's own description of Bad Squiddo;

"Hello! Welcome to Bad Squiddo Games, home of Believable Female Miniatures, Baggy the Bag and Annie - The Dice Bag Lady. Bad Squiddo Games provides gamers and painters around the world with the largest selection of female miniatures out there. As well as manufacturing my own line, I carefully hand pick stock from over 50 different manufacturers. This means you have as wide a choice as possible to get that perfect miniature, and it’s a great way to bring many companies to work together in what is a small and friendly industry.
Just like a large portion of the industry, Bad Squiddo Games is a one-person business set up, owned and run by me – Annie Norman. However, I do work with some absolutely outstanding sculptors, casters, painters and concept artists – both in talent and personality – which make up the “Bad Squiddo Family”.
Phil Hynes, John Morris, Alan Marsh, Shane Hoyle, Jo Brumby, Tim Prow, Martin Baker, Delaney King, Kev White, Mark Evans and Andrew May are the putty pushers behind the madness so far, with Paul Cubbin and Andrew Taylor (and John Morris again!) bringing them to life with stunning paint jobs. They all deserve a mention and clap here as the company would not be what it is without them.

The number one aim for Bad Squiddo Games is to create and supply the miniatures that would have made the hobby far far better for my 10 year old self. To welcome more young girls and women into wargaming and miniature painting, as well as providing diverse options to the entire gaming community. And yeah – cool toys!"

So, on to the Kickstarter news. I had a hint of what was coming when I chatted with Annie at Reveille II last November, at the time it was all hush-hush, but now, all can be revealed. The Kickstarter is a comprehensive range of Norse-themed 28mm figures, entitled Freyja's Wrath; Swordmaidens of all kinds, archers and slingers, beasts, goddesses, the range is going to be huge.

Bad Squiddo already has a range of Swordmaidens, and very nice they are too, so it is great news that these new figures will be completely compatible with the existing ones.

I am lucky enough to have been sent a preview figure, and she is fantastic.

My first impression was "Wow!" The casting is incredibly clean, absolutely no flash at all and the detailing is crisp and unfussy. One thing that I love is that her spear is a steel wire one rather than a moulded piece (which are fine but do tend to get bent). I am really looking forward to painting her up (which I hope to do ASAP in the week) and getting some pics posted, but for now, here she is with her shield attached with a blob of Blu-Tac.

Yes, she is a Viking warrior, but I can see lots of other possibilities for these figures. After all, when it comes to Late Antiquity and the Early Mediaeval, there are plenty of similarities in the dress and equipment of most of Western, North and Central Europe. These could also feature in all manner of fantasy armies, from Middle Earth to Frostgrave.

For me, the first things that spring to mind are Dux Brittaniarum and Saga (and there is a new version of Saga being released by Studio Tomahawk very soon), but I am sure that everyone has their own favourite set of rules. They would easily work in a Sword and Spear (or S&S Fantasy) setting too.

So, if you want to get on board, the Kickstarter will be active at 18:00 (UK time) on 23rd January.