This model recently crossed my workbench again. It is probably the oldest surviving figure that I've painted. I don't remember who made it.
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906a.jpg)
I was working on it because the grass flock had worn off and needed to be redone. It was also done back in the old days when I didn't mind 'wedding cake' figures – you know, the ones that stand on their own little hills – and I wanted to contour the figure's cast-on base into the steel base it's mounted on.
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906c.jpg)
I'm not at all saying this was a great paintjob. But this was a great figure for a newbie. A little drybrushing goes a long way here! There's no 'face' under the cape, and the skeletal hand is cast in relief in the flowing cape.
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906d.jpg)
The horse was simply basecoated black and drybrushed with dark gray, and the cape was done similarly. (I didn't know how to do washes back then!) A 'demonic' glowing eye was simple to paint.
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906g.jpg)
I thought the hooves needed something extra, so I painted them silver. (This is still my original paintjob, I didn't change anything, but it probably has quite a few matte clearcoats over the years…)
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906f.jpg)
The sword was redone in a previous update. The flames were originally reddish, and were changed to their current yellow/white colors.
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906b.jpg)
My work this time was to clean off the old flocking, add new spackle to contour the figure smoothly into the steel base, then paint and reflock the base.
![Mounted Wraith Mounted Wraith](showcase/fanshowcase/2023/857906e.jpg)
I can't even guess when this figure was first painted. 1970s? 1980s? But I have a campaign coming up, and he'll fit right in…