Frost giants

I think I like frost giants more than any type of giant, even fire giants, probably because of the D’Aulaires’ Norse mythology books I read over and over in elementary school.

I painted the first three guys recently.  Left to right, a Ral Partha, Citadel, Grenadier, and another Ral Partha.

The last one I painted blue a long time ago, and repainted a few years ago, before the other three.

The first RP giant may be the first giant I ever acquired.  When I was a kid, there was a hobby shop in the “Berlin Farmer’s Market” (a sort of flea market/outlet mall, about 10 miles from my house when I was a kid, and the destination of one epic hike/bike ride for me, my brother, and a friend some time around 1983) which had tons of Ral Partha, Minifigs, and Heritage Models in their front window, and I found him there.  I was amazed at the time by the level of detail in RP stuff.

The three recently painted guys all have dead, white eyes.

The Grenadier giant was originally painted in a regular European flesh tone, with a black beard… I wanted him to be generic enough to be any kind of giant, I guess.  I like him much more now.  There was also a very similar version with s hammer instead of an axe.  The axe on mine was broken in the blister I bought — I actually assumed it was made that way to be assembled, but when I opened it up I realized it had just broken in the package. The repair I did here extended the axe’s haft a little, and unfortunately I didn’t realize how bent it was until I was finished gluing and pinning it.

The Citadel giant was a ‘donation’ that I took some time to identify, as he was replaced in Citadel’s catalog by a much ‘better’ Tom Meier sculpt when he visited England and did some work for Citadel.

The second RP mini has always been another favorite.  The mace-and-chain weapon, and the pose (he looks ready to charge head-first), make him look very menacing for a smaller giant.  I would be tempted to repaint him more in the style and palette of the other three, but there is nothing wrong with his current paint job, so he’ll just be a slightly different-looking member of the tribe, or maybe a visiting cousin. <Update: He’s the “Hecatron giant” according to the RP catalogs, so I guess I just made him a frost giant because of the horned helmet or something.>