"Denim Thief (Tyranid Genestealer)" - My First Ever Miniature

The first time someone shows you who they are,

believe them.

~ Maya Angelou

Welcome back to The Art of Caesura!

I hope you are all well and that everyone (who wanted them) received their e-mail notifications (see last week's post if you don't know what I'm talking about). 

Today is a short post, but it's one that's very special: my very first painted minature!

Regular readers will know that I was back in Victoria, B.C., Canada recently, bringing my daughters to my home town for the first time. We had a fantastic visit, and one of the things that I brought back with me was a carry case of many of my oldest miniatures. 

Now, I must give a little concession here, this isn't actually the very first model I ever painted - that honour would go to the few model aeroplanes and cars that I painted with my dad before this one, but this was my first ever Games Workshop / miniature wargame model!

I know it might sound crazy (as it was about 23 years ago - I think I was around 12 at the time), but I actually remember painting this guy! I sat down the back of the Victoria Games Workshop (which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in the coming months!) with a couple of other noobs and one of the employees said: "paint these parts purple and these parts blue. You can do the claws if you want." End of tutorial. 

The more I look at this guy, the more impressed I am with 12-year old me! I mean I had pretty good brush control for a relative first timer - even having the gumption to paint the eyes and mouth! And where many first-models we see from other artists suffer from the "one thick coat" issue, it looks like I might have actually thinned my paints!

I will, however, fess up and say that those lighter areas on the raised surfaces certainly aren't highlights, but rather areas where the paint has worn off, showing the white undercoat. 

The last mention has to go to the Goblin Green base! Because even in the grim darkness of the far future, everyone still fought on lush hillocks. 

I think this is still the only Tyranid that I've ever painted, but if the current season of Kill Team gets the expansion that I dream of (new Primarised Terminators vs. Genestealers / Tyranids; for that real space hulk feel) then I'll definately be painting more!

Thanks for joining me on this nostalgic jaunt down memory lane. As I mentioned, I was able to find a bunch of old meaningful hobby stuff in my parents' basement, so I'll be sure to share it with you in future posts. 

If you have any memories of your first miniatures I'd love to hear them in the comments below, or better yet, drop links to pictures of them!

Reading: Life is Hard

Listening: Will You Remember Me - The Pine Box Boys

Next Week:

Rats!