Thursday 9 August 2018

Strontium Dog - Wulf Sternhammer & Gronk

Johnny Alpha's partner for much of his career, Wulf Sternhammer was a Viking warrior brought to the future during one of Johnny's forays through time to hunt down the outlaw, Max Bubba. Wulf's loyalty to Johnny was unshakeable, as was his fondness for cracking skulls with his favourite weapon - a huge hammer he called "der Happy Stick." Here, I present three versions of Wulf, made by various companies.
At the far left is the Wargames Foundry version of Wulf. This is a cracking good sculpt of Wulf and he is dynamically sculpted in an advancing pose as he swings his hammer. When I reviewed the Stix Brothers and Johnny Alpha in my two previous posts I stated that the Wargames Foundry versions of them were my favourite sculpts of those characters. In this case, whilst I do like this sculpt a lot, I actually prefer the figure in the centre of the group, who was produced for the Indyclix game. It does same that both figures were sculpted by the same person, Shane Hoyle. What I particularly like about this figure is the way his face has been sculpted. His stern expression is beautifully realised.
At the far right is the official Wulf figure produced for Warlord Games' Strontium Dog game. Reading comments about this particular figure there has been a lot of negativity regarding the sculpting of him. The posing of his right arm is what displeases most critics, and having seen the figure in the flesh, I have to agree. The way the arm is attached to the body looks wrong. It is such a shame because the rest of him is nicely sculpted, although his hammer is a lot smaller than the Foundry and Indyclix versions. I doubt very much if I'll be using this particular figure in any of my games. He really sucks!
Occasional companion to Johnny and Wulf was the strange alien known as the Gronk. Though prone to fear-induced but non-fatal heart attacks, the meek Gronk nevertheless proved a useful ally. Able to digest metal and lick his way through steel bars, he rescued Johnny and Wulf from tight spots on occasion, but it was his medical skills that saw him become a useful member of Alpha's band of allies.
At the far left is the Wargames Foundry version of the Gronk. He is a lot larger than the Warlord Games version and so I've named him Big Gronk - a relative of my other Gronk. Warlord Games produce two versions of the Gronk, one on foot and one on the back of a skimmer. The one on foot, carrying his medical bag, is my favourite version. The size looks right and having him with his medical bag is an excellent choice. The Gronk is next to useless in combat but his medical skills makes him worthy of inclusion in a game. At the far right is Wulf and Gronk riding on a skimmer. Rather nicely, the Gronk is leaning to one side to see past Wulf. He doesn't look very happy! This skimmer is much longer than the single-seater version that Johnny rides. It is primarily a resin sculpt with a few metal parts - Wulf's upper body, his arms and handlebars and the Gronk's upper body.

19 comments:

  1. Big fan of Gronk but I never really liked Wulf. He just to me (at the time( seemed like a musclebound meathead. But now looking at them I quite like him and the dynamic poses he is sculpted in. You may have changed my opinion.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. I always loved the Gronk and found Wulf a loyal and useful ally. The Foundry and Indyclix sculpts of him are great, as is the Warlord Games version of him on the skimmer.

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  2. Nice painting on the Wulf's Bryan, my least favourite sculpt is the Warlord one as he looks like a mutant with his head coming off his right shoulder. The gronk's look great as does the speeder

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    1. Many thanks, Dave. I've yet to find anyone who likes the Warlord Games' figure of Wulf on foot. He really is awful.

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  3. Some wonderful looking models & a great paint job Bryan :)

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  4. Yes... with the three Wulfs side-by-side you can indeed see how poor the “Warlord Games” sculpt is compared to the others, Bryan. That outstretched arm is definitely too short, so I’m surprised “Rebellion” agreed to the mini tbh. Still, some of their “Doctor Who” range have sadly been equally as shocking, and the actual actors agree to those likenesses!! :-)

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    1. Thank you kindly, Simon. I agree with you 100% on all counts. You are right about there being some duffers amongst the "Doctor Who" range, which is disappointing.

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  5. Lovely job.

    The Warlord version does have "issues". His right arm is definitely too short to be fully outstretched. I don't know why they didn't have the arm (or arms) seperate. It would have avoided the squashed pose. They did it for some of Bubba's crew so why not here?

    The bikes are lovely though did you notice the smaller gronk?

    I was thinking that a sled design a la Flash Gordon's (1980) rocket cycle would be ideal. It would allow you to just pop the existing standing miniature on the back. A magnet or a slot would secure them.

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    1. You make some very good points, Jason. Thank you for your comments.

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    2. Jason - you wouldn't have lived near Rotherham a long time ago would you, attending the local wargames club?

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  6. Great comparison shots Bryan, I have to agree about the Warlord version being a bit "ropey" I think I like the Foundry version best myself, I always rather liked the Gronk "Oh my poor hearties" probably spelt wrong (sorry).

    I always thought the skimmers looked a bit like lawn mowers, myself.

    Great painting as always, cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers, Roger. Gronk's actual comment was "oh, my poor heartsies!" so you weren't far off. :-)

      I'd never noticed the similarity between the skimmers and lawn mowers but now you've mentioned it I can see where you're coming from.

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  7. Good stuff Bryan, again I don't like the Warlord Games figure but the other 2 are great, you have made a very good job of painting them as well.
    Congrats

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    1. Greatly appreciated, John. Thank you for the kind words on my painting.

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  8. Comparatively that Warlord Wulf doesn't measure up. It's embarrassing when you can't keep up up with older sculpts but shameful if you can't measure up to a clix figure. Hopefully they will have a bit more care with other models in the range but, that is a prominent character character from the series. Glad this one isn't really my bag.

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    1. I totally agree with you, HP. Warlord Games' Wulf is truly awful, which is odd because all of their other figures in this range are very good.

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