Draggin' out the dragon

I remember when first I saw the John Blanche painting of the Zombie Dragon...

It was about 1991 and at the time there were no Fames Workshop stores anywhere near where I lived. It wasn't until three years later I would visit an official GW and by then the Flying Cabbage had been releasedso I never knew there was an earlier model for the dragon... one bearing a stronger resemblance to the art... one sculpted by the legendary Tom Meier.

When I discovered (after the rise of the internet) that the beast existed my heart was set on owning one. But I didn't have my undead army any more and older minis were getting expensive so the though went out of my mind. Then, recently, I began to think of reviving (re-animating?) my first undead army and was delighted to discover that Ral Partha Europe still stock the original Meier Zombie Dragon! I had to have one, my army would have had one when I was younger if I'd had the cash to splash, and it had to be painted as per the Blanche illustration. So last week I set to work.

I haven't based him yet as I will be making some terrain to go with the Lichemaster stuff and will base everything at the same time so they everything matches. I also bashed out a not-Mikael-Jacsen to lead one of the units, following in the footsteps of Nico and Pil and green stuffing some flames onto the head of a skeleton. He's not as definitely a character as some interpretations of Jacsen but of all the skeletons I surveyed he seemed the most appropriate to me. I painted the sword so it is heating to an orange glow in the heat of his fiery hair, the better to smite his foes. His shield colours draw some inspiration from a certain cultural reference I'm sure you won't miss...