Tuesday 17 September 2019

Chopper & Trader - Trollgrim Spacefarers

The lack of space trolls in the 40k universe is a glaring omission when you consider that so many other fantasy ranges were ported across. Space elves rub shoulders with space orcs, while space ogres try to avoid stepping on space halflings. Of course, lack of an official model doesn't stop people from making their own amazing space trolls (Mr Papafakis, I'm looking at you!).

All that said, I hadn't given much thought to my own space trolls until a couple of months ago when I stumbled on a sextet of Newbold World Trollgrim at a wargames show. I wouldn't blame you if you were unaware of Newbold World - it was (and still is) a world-building project, involving art, poetry, fiction and miniatures. For a brief period in the early 2000s, a small range of 45mm miniatures were produced, including Trollgrim sculpted by Bob Olley. The Trollgrim comprised 8 for a pulp-type setting and 6 spacefarers - you can check these out over at the Bob Olley Wiki. Needless to say, the Newbold World miniatures range is long OOP, although you can still check out the other elements of the setting over at DeviantArt.

So when I saw these fantastic figures priced at just £1.50 each, it was a no brainer to pick them up!





Coincidentally, shortly after I bought the figures, a painting competition was launched on the Oldhammer Facebook group to paint up Bob Olley figures. It seemed the perfect opportunity to paint up a couple of my Trollgrim!


I chose to paint up Chopper and Trader - both more traditional hulking troll types with big heavy calibre guns. I decided to give them a vaguely mercenary feel, with some military equipment teamed with more individual elements.

I painted Trader with a military green knapsack and webbing, teamed with a white t-shirt and mustard coloured trousers.



I borrowed the skin colour and reddened knuckles, nose, ears and elbows very heavily from Asslessman's ogres and trolls.



With Chopper I went for an orange vest (the same colour I used on Trader's topknot) and attempted some desert camo on his trousers.





I'm really pleased with both how they came out and how pleasurable they were to paint. The details were crisp and clear and the figures are full of texture and character - just look at their faces!

Size-wise, they do tower over 28mm figures, and would probably even intimidate a Rogue Trader ogryn. But they're space trolls, so being big and scary is alright by me!


"Dere were people here a minute ago Chopper. I wonder why dey ran away?"


26 comments:

  1. The skin tone on those is fantastic, a great addition to the RT themed collection.

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    1. Thanks cheetor! I used a combination of paints I'd not used before - a dark grey that I highlighted with a pale green-tinged flesh. I think there's probably room for space trolls in any RT collection, right?!

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  2. Fantastic, space trolls clearly should be part of the fun so these are spot on. They look like peak Olleys too !

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    1. Thanks! You're spot on - they're the perfect Olley sculpts really - plenty of deep detail and minimal odd wrinkles :)

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  3. These are great, and the others should be very useful figures as well! (are they also Olley? They look different somehow)

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    1. Yes, all 6 are by Bob. I guess you'd say that this pair are traditional Olley trolls, where the others are less gnarly and cleaner looking though.

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    2. Maybe different types of trollgrim, with one type being stereotypically stronger, and the other smarter?

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    3. Possibly. I don't know enough about the setting. The pulp type ones certainly had more brutish boxer/fighters and some dapper gent who was clearly in charge!

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  4. Love the shoutout to JB's skintone - very nicely done.

    Good minis and didn't realise they'd be so large!

    Going to paint up the full group?

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    1. Absolutely, I want to get all 6 done at some point. They're great figures and deserve to be painted!

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  5. Fantastic work! I love the camo pants especially, very well done!

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    1. Thanks Bill! I figured the pattern helped add an extra layer of detail.

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  6. Yup, I had no idea these were around Jon. Great find at the con!

    As others have already said, the skin tone is tops. The size of them is perfect for a 28mm Troll too. They're fun to play in game, regardless of their stellar BS :D

    Great work once again mate :)

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    1. TBH, even if you had been aware of them, I don't think they were widely available. Glad you like these grey-skinned brutes. I just need to think of a game to use them in ;)

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  7. Something different! I'm another fan of those cammo pants.

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    1. It's always nice to paint obscure or unusual figures I reckon. Thanks!

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  8. A fantastic find! I really like your color palette on these and the size does seem right for trolls.

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    1. I was pretty lucky really. They were stuck out of sight in a box, but I was prepared to thoroughly root through for gens! Glad you like them :)

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    1. Thanks Riot. The sculpts are so characterful, they were a dream to paint really.

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  10. You really nailed them! Lovely work!! :O

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  11. Excellent work on these figures, especially the skin tones. They remind me or the LOTR orcs and I say this in a good way.

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    1. Thanks very much! I was really pleased with the skin tone (just GW eshin grey highlighted with deepkin flesh). It seemed to add a nice lustre :)

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  12. Not often I can get one over you and shine a light into a dark corner of the classic Citadel ranges, but there was an official miniature for a Troll in the 41st Millennium thanks to the Epic range, which had a plastic one on the sprue along with other Chaos gribblies like the Minotaur.

    Great work on these for the Olley contest. With your bases and the very untorn clothes they come across with a nice Shadowrun vibe.

    What I'm curious to know is how long it took you to choose between all the Olley miniatures on offer for the competition!

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    1. I'd forgotten about the Epic troll. Shame it wasn't much more than a fantasy figure in space.

      It took a long time to decide, until I discovered these. I actually picked them up after the project had been announced, but before I started on an entry. Of course, as soon as I saw them, I knew I was going to paint them!

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