NICK Lund is the Marmite of fantasy miniature sculptors, much more so than Bob Olley, for whom that dubious label is often and unfairly reserved, and even your humble scribe finds it a thankless task defending his Kobolds, which brazenly exhibit many of the negative attributes so often (and mostly erroneously) associated with preslotta miniatures by the untermenschen. Still, the rest of his Chronicle range aren't nearly so rough and I harbour a particular soft-spot for some of the 'CF Adventurers' series (see my 'Wants List'!), from whose quirky ranks today's subject is drawn. Although advertised as 'CF8 - Ranger with sword, shield and bow' and despite carrying a full quiver the model is actually bow-less, which I find rather amusing. I am also taken by his striking resemblance to Tony Iommi, although this is probably just a whimsy of my own and due in large part to the fact that I was listening to 'Sabotage' whilst painting him. Probably my favourite 'Sabbath album, barring 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' and 'Heaven and Hell'. Chronicle were bought by Citadel sometime in the mid-eighties and Mr. Lund was set to work amongst the slavering luminaries of the Citadel Design Studio, before leaving to join Grenadier Models UK Limited in 1986 and it is for his work there that he is best remembered. Sadly he stopped sculpting in the early nineties due to health problems and this seemed to mark an end to his involvement with the miniature gaming industry. Today he answers to "Nicola" and lives in a ramshackle cottage on stilts in the Fens with a tribe of semi-aquatic wild cats for company [note to self: this needs to be fact-checked]. As ever your comments and views are much appreciated!
My favourite sculptor I think. His dwarfs are brilliant. Nice work on this fellow.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike! Can't say I'm a fan of all his work (particularly the early stuff), but he was responsible for some classics and, perhaps more importantly, had an instantly recognisable style (I have heard it rudely described as "soft"!). Like I write, I do very much like some of his Chronicle adventurers.
DeleteI'm a huge fan of Nick Lund - though honestly mostly due to nostalgia; the Ugezod's Death Commandoes set was the first box of miniatures I ever bought, followed closely by the Grenadier Fantasy Warriors Orcs boxed set.
ReplyDeleteHis Chronicle Orcs are pretty awful, though, and look kind of like bulldogs rather than Orcs. For some reason I like his Kobolds!
I forgot about the Death Commandos. There're actually some incredibly sweet sculpts in that set, although I think Guzrod Dogchild is my personal fav.
DeleteAm a Lund fan and have a good-sized collection of Lund figs, including hordes of Fantasy Warriors orcs and dwarves but also some chronicle ones, including some still in baggies I nabbed on ebay. Hard to bust open an old pack like that even if it's just a staple to remove, hah.
ReplyDeleteThis ranger is really great, just wonderful. I like the different greens. The gravel base is great too.
Love the death commandos.
Thanx Ryder - pretty far from your own awesome standard of brush-wizardry, but I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out. I'm looking forward to you painting up some Lund minis in the near future!
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