I started "Warhammer" over 3 decades ago, I look back at stuff from the 90s, especially in White Dwarf, and I think most of it looks great. Techniques were different then, products used and available were also different sure, but things were no better or worse than today, just different. Obviously the figures weren't as good though - a great model makes your paint work look better. These days it's all "you gotta zenithal prime", "blend blend blend" weather, chip, damage etc. If your displaying online people expect to see so much done these days even just for tabletop, and frankly it's tiresome.

The jousting dragonflies was my creation, I actually used real dragonflies reconstructed around a wire frame & painted, unfortunately they did not make the return journey from derby to Newcastle & were smashed, I also made the salamander standard & red scorpion vehicle.

They painted realistically at first in the late 80's and early 90's (rogue trader era) even swapping out warhammer fantasy miniatures for 40k, like using orges for ogyrns.....then the 'Red Period' happened and they all went insane for about 10 years. Washing everything, and I mean everything, in oranges and yellows over this base coat tomato red. Weapon handles, bolt guns, clothing....everything. It was everywhere and it was painful. Cartoonish. More about looking well painted, than realistic. Then, around the early 2000's I believe, this young woman won the Golden Daemon slayer sword with a BLUE paint scheme, one of the first times using refracted light techniques and highlights. Her model glowed with this 'cool' shade effect and somehow (imo) this snapped everyone out of the Red Period and finally they went back to realism. Things became dirty, oily, rusted, worn. No more red boltguns. No more red wooden spear handles and shields. No more of that tomato soft RED RED RED on everything. That horrible era was no more and thankfully, I doubt if it will ever come back.

The real advancements in painting came from the internet allowing everyone to share and learn from each other. Equipment helps but the modern standard is very achievable with the old paints. What we didn't have was the instant sharing pushing the standard forward at such an incredible velocity. cool to see Dave raising the sword. He's still at it winning swords.

I started miniature painting in about 1986. Did we paint worse back then? No, but what we lacked was the access to techniques and tools that are widely available today due to platforms like KZfaq and widespread shopping options. Really, the only thing we had for tutorials was White Dwarf and 'Eavy Metal, but even that lacked a wide range of techniques we take for granted now. We also lacked a lot of detailed models -- back then, if you wanted detail, you had to go with metal miniatures, which were notoriously difficult to modify, often were one piece (so you couldn't paint in sections, making it very hard to paint in some areas), and not to mention toxic (before they switched from lead to pewter). Injection molding for plastic was pretty primitive, so models were either chunky or lacked detail (some of this informed the design of Games Workshop character styling that still persists to this day). Even simple conversions were noteworthy because it often involved literally sawing miniatures into pieces because very few of the metal ones were produced in parts. Tools were limited. Unless there was a decent art supply store nearby, you were stuck with the absolute crap brushes sold in the gaming stores. Even if you did have an art supply store, brushes were expensive and there were very few options made for the fine detail work of miniatures, meaning that we often had to go for incredibly small brushes -- 5-aught or 10-aught brushes that were ridiculously hard to maintain. Paints. Were. Crap. Acrylic paints for hobbyists was still a relatively new concept, so there wasn't a huge range of colors available. And you had to be careful because a lot of companies making miniature paints did both acrylic and enamel, and hobby stores didn't often pay attention enough to separate them on the shelves -- so if YOU didn't pay attention, you might accidentally go home with some enamel paints that won't mix with your acrylics and required thinner. Games Workshop paints were probably the worst thing on the market at the time. Minis painted exclusively with GW paints often look "thick" because it probably took 10 coats to get full coverage. We didn't have access to acrylic / glaze mediums or flow enhancers... it was just water. So trying to thin down paints without it breaking down was a nightmare. No one was using airbrushes for miniatures because no one could afford an airbrush or compressor. So everything was rattle can primers and brush work. Washes were king. No one was doing anything like "slap chop" because there were no contrast or speed paints. So rapidly painting a group of minis was all base coats and washes and dry brushing -- and often the washes were artists inks because until GW started producing specific washes, they just didn't exist in the hobby. But we did some interesting things with the artist inks. Some of them could be reactivated with water, so one of my favorite techniques was to do a brown wash over a flesh basecoat, then use flesh tones over the top which would reactivate the ink and let me wet blend smooth skin tones. Even so, despite all of the limitations, we were doing cool things back then. I look at some of the minis on my shelf from back then that have survived and I'm sometimes amazed at the work I was able to do back in the "stone age" of the hobby.

Loved this one a lot and thanks for making this video for us that love the 90’s classic painting and Holden Demon heroes like Adrian Wink 😊

I have paints from the late 80's that I still use, todays paints are no better or worse, GW paints may be, but there are and always were other paints. There has never been a worse red than Go-Fasta Red :-) The main thing that has changed is the sharing of knowledge. Recently found a box of 1989/90 Harlequins in the loft, probably should put them on e-bay. I still remember thinking who do these GW guys think they are, they will never push TSR off the top spot, that and DR-DOS and Betamax. Long live 3d printing and sticking one to the man!

1990 I was 6 yrs old. It would be another 6 years until I’d discover Warhammer and WH40k. Great video!!

Bases have definitely improved. It's funny how flocked goblin green bases were the standard back then, how times have changed. I still remember bases with static grass and modelling sand were a big deal back in the 90s, if your army was based in this way you held the secrets of the universe!

I have some relatively old Wood Elf Dryads that were metal kits. The end result, after painting, was somewhat oily looking, but that was from the protective coating I sprayed on to prevent chipping. Maybe I applied too much, but that's what some of these miniatures remind me of.

​ @stompie51 I have some old books about miniature painting, more about military soldier models, and mentioning those new-fangled acrylics with the writer having good experience with artist acrylic paint, with a caveat that oils are still the best and enamels are for beginners. The book had some fun techniques that aren't really explored these days. Such as using thick oil paint to add creases to figures that lack such details. The colour wasn't too much of an issue. You could still get vibrant colours since only a few synthetic colours are actually new, and even then there were alternatives they had at the time, some being toxic but unregulated. I think the reason you think that the paints were weak was due to the ink fading with time on the photos, the cameras being worse and the old printing not being as colour-accurate as it is nowadays. You may also be thinking about transparent paints which require a different approach to painting or the weak hobby acrylics. Mixing colours isn't a problem and results in a more technically skilled painter with a greater understanding of colour theory. Additionally, enamel manufacturers already had premixed colours at the time. Oil washes are superior to acrylic washes. So those wouldn't be an issue if the painter knew about them. The sheen you seemed to hate in the video implied enamel or oil paints. Possibly a varnish or lacquer. In the end, the materials weren't such an issue as you made it out to be. The style was due to current trends and the lacking photo and printing technology.

Hmm, where was I in May 1990? Well easy I was over in Korea for my third tour over there (1977-1979, 1979-1980 & 1990-1991) and the highlight of each month was getting my copy of the White Dwarf. The prior to this I had been introduced to the world of Warhammer at Origins 1989 which was held in Los Angeles. Pick up two free copies of White Dwarf that they were handing out along with a ten man squad of Space Marines and 10 man squad of Eldar along with a copy of Space Hulk. I sold the Space Marines year later but still have those Eldar and copy of Space Hulk.

Brilliant trip down memory lane mate, thanks. Dave Soper eh? He hasnt got worse thats for sure. I remember that giant, horrendous metal kit, I learnt how to pin models with that fig. Not pinning him wasnt an option unless you wanted to pick bits of him up for the entire battle. Cheers.

Would love to see more videos like this, this was really cool.

I have the that book and the previous books to. And still have one of the first citadel magazines. Im 59. Greetings from Belgium. 👍🏻😉

2:49 The Old Brettonian range is now the feudal range at Wargames Foundry. Same moulds.

I met Mike McVey at the old Monkgate shop in York during the Chaos Roadshow. I told him I never highlighted to white which I think surprised him He tried to demonstrate that naturally you should which I don't disagree with. I just didn't because it didn't fit my theme.

May 1990 I was in York. I turned 12 that year, I studied at Huntington Comprehensive. I was looking forward to giving up some of my PE slots to study German. I was still playing Heroquest and didn't move over to Warhammer until the following year.

Nice! Thanks for sharing 👌🏼

short answer ... yes

Painting and modeling fantasy and sci-fi gaming figures has come quite a long way from those ancient days of the late 1980s and early 90s. Very few of those figures would pass for acceptable painting today and gloss coating everything, even banners, is really weird and just wrong. Agreed, some of the figures and displays were too grungy but back then there wasn't quite the selection of specially formulated primers and paints that we have now plus there wasn't quite as good of an understanding of color contrast or how light and shadow work on a small-scale subjects like we do now. Modeling tools were few, what could be found at a corner store because I doubt few people back then thought to walk into a hobby store and buy proper railroad terrain or visit an art supply store. In 1990 Citadel paints were quite nice, the alternative was Polly-S or Ral Partha paints and those sucked, they were quite dull and drab and did not mix well Citadel colors at all! It's nice to see how far things have progressed but I wonder where Adrian Wink is these days.

That Rhino looks so clean!

That was great. Really enjoyed it

Ivan Bartlett was best showcased by his Dragon Ogre model.

Zog of my rock, love it. Might have to reprise that one.

Even by 1995 things were sooooo much better, especially the sculpts.

I've still got that Tim prow weird boy in my army and much preferred painting metal minis.

I've been painting since the 1970s and I can confidently assert that "They" definitely did paint worse in the '90s, and it wasn't because of the tools or supplies. All the important tools and supplies were absolutely available then. The big differences were: * Much less information about painting was available. Over the last 10-15 years, KZfaq (especially) has allowed the dissemination of painting knowledge and a huge increase in innovation. * Scale creep has made it easier to paint miniatures at the default gaming scales. * Sculpting quality has changed some, but much more for injection-molded plastic minis. (The best resin and metal minis from the '90s were quite good - some from GW, many from other companies.) * There is much better availability of larger-scale models (busts, 90mm+ scale, giant monsters) which allow for some truly remarkable art.

Bit early for me that games day , think the first one I attended was games day 1996, coach from Derby store to Birmingham those were the days.

5:35 I always thought the Minderz were 'aiming' the Weirdboy in that sculpt.

11:40 I didn't realise the Grey Knights were a thing in 1990!!

That skeleton construct looks like it's riding an Epic Knight, which was just about a thing back then. There is an example on p35. Skaven were definitely about, they were already in Blood Bowl in 1987 (WD 86?). Likewise Tzeentch...

No just different techniques, paints and styles.. I miss it as I think its more obtainable to achieve that standard than todays or that’s how I feel😁, I was never a painter though.even though great, over highlighted and detail.

Tim Prow looks like David Mustaine 😮

if you look at the products available then vs now, there is a big difference.

That wall rhino wow

Well, I certainly painted worse in 1990s!🤣 To be fair, it is a lot easier to paint fine details on models when they actually stand out crisply, and you didn't have to file off giant sprue gates, and correct the results of misaligned molds on metal miniatures... Imagine all of the casting flaws found in "Finecast" models, but in metal. I've got some old fantasy and 1st-3rd edition 40k models I have kept the original paint job on, as a reminder.

I think the top talents today in miniature painting are way better than back in the day and the beginners are also significantly better thanks to youtube tutorials… Basing also improved. I do however (started really out 5th edition) feel a certain nostalgia for the bright armies of the 1990s. The 80s miniatures with very few exceptions arent doing it for me. Quality of the sculpts just isnt there yet making it challenging even for great painters. But this will soon change with the release of stuff like the marauder giant, night goblins, 4th edition dwarves and the classic ogres. Some sculpts that 30 years later still show up in favorite miniatures of all time lists.

The answer is yes. We all get better over time. So everyone in the 90’s painted worse then they do today

Quite an interesting concept of a video. Interesting to hear your comments how you don't like the 'yukky' stuff'.

That Weirdboy wasn't Kev Adams, it was Bob Olley.

I was there :P

I think that the real loss over the years is that most everything is handed to us now and is overly tied to IP, so there is less motivation for people to be creative.

well be fore GWwhas big hare an you get the paints lot of it whas oil bass like testors my be gloss and other is model master that whas a nuther big on and tama paints you say YAKKY thats and other cant think of what had back when but did ok and yes have ot the minis in book fun to see

Not worse, just differently.

I was there

No in modern times it's not about the miniature it's the fetish for the bases 😂. Who cares about a bases and some get really pissed about bases - when ranked up in a movement tray who cares 😂.

While I'm sure most watching this video love the look back, for nostalgic reasons, I am so glad that I got into the hobby within the last year. Because coming from the eyes of a newcomer... these minis look derpy as all hell. LOL!!!!!