"Rusty Dragon Inn, Dancing Girl" Topic

I just got this miniature, and I'm pretty happy with it. The sculpting is pretty good, and paint job has a nice blend of colors. The face is well done.

The nice thing about this piece is her versatility. Although she's meant for use in a fantasy game, you can use her in a variety of genres. She'd fit right in an espionage or science fiction game, entertaining James Bond or Jabba the Hutt.

Even better, she doesn't just have to be an entertainer. The position of her arms could make her a spellcaster or martial artist. She'd make a great spy or assassin; I can easily see her as a Mata Hari-type. She may even be recoiling in terror from an otherworldly menace.

The main downside is that she's pretty hard to find right now. I got the last one from Cool Stuff Inc. (sorry, guys!), but Troll & Toad still has one in stock. She may also be available on e-bay. Grab her before someone else does!

Got a pic of the actual miniature?

I'll post pics of my miniature in a couple of days. In the meantime, I found this:

link

What happened to her right hand?

Hafen I think that is the bracelets that have been painted over.

Really nice figure and paint job.

She would work great for a Ren Faire game. Mud Eaters vs Musicians/Dancers. Ha Ha

Pvernon,no,the bracelets on the miniature are painted gold,all right,but the hand looks to be not fully cast. Maybe it's just the angle.

Here's one from a slightly different angle:

Hand still looks a little stubby,but tkdguy will be able to enlighten us.

I'm curious: does anyone repaint these,or at least touch them up,or give them a wash?

Of course, that would destroy the resale value for rare figures. I see the bartender listed fo $26 USD!

BTW,for anyone who just wants a dancing girl miniature, Tango01 posted one of the Brother Vinnie set a few months ago:

TMP link

Although it's an "Arabian" style figure,rather than "Gypsy" style. I realize these are two different gaming genres/markets.
Anyway,these are €14.00 EUR for three:

link

At least one of them might also a martial arts fighter.

"work as". Sorry.

Actually, there's not much detail on the hands in my miniature as well. Also, the gold paint tends to blend in with the flesh. I had to do a little painting and filing off flash, but it's a pretty good miniature all in all.

Here are the photos as promised.

Front view (sorry about the blurry image)

‌100_3031 – Copy by Carlos Ortiz, on Flickr

Back view

‌100_3040 by Carlos Ortiz, on Flickr

Gazing into a cystal ball

‌100_3043 by Carlos Ortiz, on Flickr

Dancing by a bonfire

‌100_3045 by Carlos Ortiz, on Flickr

Summoning a spirit

‌100_3046 by Carlos Ortiz, on Flickr

Trouble with the law

‌100_3049 by Carlos Ortiz, on Flickr

As for music, I like this one:

YouTube link

Evocative pics.
Thanks for the AELIS link. I'm going to look at some more of them--I like the period music.

If you want some with an actual dancing girl,try this--a little different genre,but I was waiting for another excuse to post Katerina:

youtu.be/ggkRpRmyXPE

Glad you liked the photos and the AELIS link. I just discovered them recently, although I was familiar with the piece they played.

The Dancing Girl miniature is back in stock at CoolStuffInc, but there are only 2 available. Act fast if you want one.

Hafen, thanks for posting that video. I haven't heard of Katerina before, but maybe I'll look at some of her stuff.

If I ever get the Half-elf Bard miniature from the same set, maybe I can do a scene like this in the game:

YouTube link

Here's a photo of the bard:

OK,tkdguy,now you've gone and sent me down another musical rabbit hole!

Don't let me mislead you,Katerina Stikoudi is really a model (Miss Hellas 2005) and pop singer--this isn't her typical milieu. The clip is from a Greek TV show,and the people at the "party" are apparently all well known celebrities,doing Tsifteteli and other traditional Greek dances.

I stumbled across the video in the course of trying to track down recordings of ancient Greek music for someone here:

TMP link

Lots of these videos on the net.

The singer is interesting--Dimitris Bassis,who,unusually for a Greek popular singer,got his training in the Orthodox Byzantine Church,where he began in Byzantine chant at age 9. He's made some recordings in that genre that you might find interesting :

youtu.be/AUN1-dwZSB0

I must admit I like his performances of the traditional songs,though. And the dancers don't hurt,either!

youtu.be/s_JI2iUaUIU

youtu.be/Qj_ZvK54BgU

Sorry to go way off topic,but hey,you started it with that link!

Two more points,one on topic,one off:

If someone made a 28mm miniature that looked like the rendering in your first pic, I'd buy that for sure.

As I said, I like the styles of music you linked to, and look forward to exploring them further,but my idea of the inn performances in a game would lean towards something a little more rambunctious and prone to drunken melees--like this (from Prague,I think)--complete with "wargamer" band!

youtu.be/QlsQDR10Cx4

Thanks for the info and music, Hafen. I can always expand my meager knowledge in music.

Back on topic, the Rusty Dragon Inn set seems to be pretty popular. I received an email from CoolStuffInc. about the dwarf bard being available again; it was out of stock again by the time I logged on. I also bought the Aristocrat and Cutpurse from the same set. I may review them as well soon.

There's still one Dancing Girl available as of this posting.

Reaper does have its own range of civilians. I picked up this set (innkeeper and serving girls) years ago. Singles are also available.

link

If you need dancing girls, you can find them here.

link

I know a couple of them have been posted here before.

It's just that the one from the Rusty Dragon Inn caught my eye for some reason.

It is a nicely posed figure.

Carmina Burana? Too modern, but it may work.

Of course,there are a number of "original" medieval versions,some sedate,some more or less raucous:

youtu.be/Y9dvU9TP8Y0

And there's a whole subgenre of "medieval inn music":

youtu.be/VnwD8zsGl2Y

Poking around the early music recordings can yield some more things--here's one you may like:

youtu.be/QqS_DH8zxy0

Although that first track usually makes me picture a line of camels in the desert!

BTW,it also appears on a sort of sampler 3CD set put out by Naxos :
link

Fairly inexpensive way to get some medieval music,depending on your tolerance for Gregorian chant,which takes up disc 2.
There are samples on youtube. From disc 3:

youtu.be/rcL6s4yyYaU

Naxos has recorded several by Ensemble Oni Wytars:

youtu.be/sHWxliJKGy4

And Ensemble Unicorn:

youtu.be/V3U8ggdmJHE

I mention them because Naxos is an inexpensive label.

Farther north is Joculatores Upsalienses,from Sweden. I have a comp set from BIS. I like them--they give a different flavor,as,IIRC, they are not professional musicians,but "amateurs". Here's a performance, if you have time to kill:

youtu.be/xN_EiYdVy24

Thanks for the links, Hafen.

Sure. Sorry I kinda went overboard!

Back sort of on topic,how much work do you put in improving these figures? As said above, I understand the collectible game figure genre is a different market from "normal" wargaming miniatures but I'm curious about whether most wargamer types leave them as is,or give in to the urge to improve what is,about what terms all,about what is after all, pretty rudimentary paint job.

Well,shucks--I just came across this mix somebody put together--might be enough for a whole game:

youtu.be/xaRNvJLKP1E

I can't resist just one more:

youtu.be/afLcpMZfedI

That's all,I promise!

(I don't know what Auto-Dolt did to my last post).

I generally leave figures alone if the flaws are minor, or if there's a risk of ruining the miniature. In this case, the miniature only needed a minimal amount of paint for the hair and a little bit of flash removed from the chin. I won't bother with shading or highlighting at this time.

I plan to review a couple more miniatures from this set this week.

Looking forward to it!

My new review is up.

TMP link

I bought a couple of booster packs and got a second dancing girl. And I bought one of Reaper's dancing girl miniatures.

Now I need more musicians.