Oldhammer undead - early 90s skeletons, wights and Vampire Lord

The terror is real this weekend as I sit upon a grizzly chair, in a horrifying room, surrounded by the most dreadful creatures of the night ever cast in lead - yep, it must be some classic undead fresh from the painting table! 

These guys have been a real treat to work on - there's a lot of character in these old models - I've painted them to match my Vampire Counts, which I've been working on revamping (unintentional undead pun), for about 2 years alongside many other fantasy projects. 

For some reason, I really love Wights! Something about those dorky helmets and overblown armour just screams 80s metal album cover art. The old wraith isn't far behind. I painted him I the early 90s style with a bright robe and some patterning like the good old days. I also added red for the weapon shafts for thrse models as it's a nice way to get a nostalgic splash of colour on there. 

The models were actually given to me by my bother who was recently gifted a treasure-trove of old models from someone looking to given them a good home. These guys have been restored and will soon be headed to the battlefield again, so will be seeing action the way they were intended in plenty of games of old fantasy.

While working on these guys, I also dug out one of my personal favorite models of the era - my old Vampire Lord. He was always my general in the 90s Vampire Counts army and has seen so much play, I can't even begin to recount it. Multiple games a week for a good few years. During that time, he killed thousands - probably the most blood drenched model I have in the entire collection. In fact, when I striped him for painting, the metal underneath was tarnished a dark black that cloud never be restored - which I'm taking as evidence of his dark and naughty history! 

Anyway, here he is all back in shape and ready for action. Many years ago, he always was equipped with the Frost Blade and Carstein Ring, so in honour of that, I've painted his sword in a magical icy blue. It's not the best photo I could do, but everything is packed away for an impending house move, so the light is what it is and his Cape is a bit obscured.

To top it off for some rare warhammer stuff, these photos are shot in the proper citadel graveyard that I bought to go with the army when I built them back in about 2000 maybe. Up next is hopefully the Black coach and some Grave Guard with halberds. 

These old skeletons are great though - all armoured as well. They go back a long way - some time in the 80s and long out of print before I ever started I  the hobby, which is rare to find. I just wish I could get my hands on a few more to fill up the unit!