Sunday 15 June 2014

Gripping Beast Civilians 02

Following on from my last post, here are the rest of the Gripping Beast 28mm scale civilians that I bought recently. These are not quite contemporary figures, although they could be used as such in a pinch. They are more suited for the early to mid 20th Century. They consist of two sets of four figures and here they are.
First up we have the Squire and his family. An obvious influence for this set is of course the popular (although why it is popular escapes me!) TV series, Downton Abbey. So in an unashamed rip-off, I present the cast of Upton Manor. At the far left is Lord Geoffrey Upton, a glutton, a snob and a life-long Conservative Party member. This portly gent is standing haughtily with his thumbs in his waistcoat pockets. looking every inch the lord of the manor.
His wife is Lady Prunella Upton, a stern and formidable woman who doesn't suffer fools gladly. She is shown preparing to go out to have afternoon tea with her high society friends at the poshest hotel in town. Prunella and Geoffrey are a well matched pair, sharing similar interests and ideals.
Next in line is their daughter, Millicent, who speaks with a lisp and who thus pronounces her name as Millithent. As a special treat she was allowed to buy a red balloon with her pocket money. She is a precocious child and wishes she could ride her pet pony every day instead of just once a week as per her mother's instructions.
Finally, from this set, is the head maid, Gloria Rosewell, who has served the Upton family since she was a mere teenager many years ago. She is loyal to a fault and both a hard worker and a hard taskmaster. She remains unmarried.
This second set is called the School Masters Set and at the far left is one of the school masters, Howard Worthington. He works at an elite boys' school, the very antithesis of the notorious St. Trinian's School, situated only a couple of miles away. Mr. Worthington teaches Latin and History and is well-liked by his pupils and fellow teachers.
Algernon Upton, son of Lord and Lady Upton (see above) is the school's head prefect and is destined for high places. He is an academically gifted student and a keen sportsman, excelling at rugby and cricket. Sadly, he is as arrogant as he is pompous. Someone ought to take him down a peg or two. Someone, say, from a nearby girl's school, perhaps?
Moving on, we come to Rupert Bryce-Smythe from the fourth form. He revels in bullying anyone he thinks is weaker then him. He is a fair brawler but he lacks discipline and a skilled fighter would make mincemeat out of him. The trouble is, given his reputation, few at his school are prepared to stand up to him. I'm not at all sure what the figure is holding in his hands. I just painted it black and assumed it was a little box.
Lastly up is the school nurse, Amelia Flanagan. She is of Irish descent and is a devout Catholic. She is good at her job and has a very caring nature and a comforting bedside manner. However, she lacks ambition and feels she has reached the pinnacle of her career. She does not realise she could do so much more if only she had the drive to push herself forward.
My friend, Hugh/Colgar6, mentioned the School Masters Set to me in a comment he made about my St. Trinian's Schoolgirls. Up till then, I had never heard of Gripping Beast. As soon as I saw this set, I knew that I had to have it. I may end up using the nurse as the matron of St. Trinian's School. She is a good figure but not quite what I'm after. What is in no doubt is that these poor saps will end up as rivals/victims of St. Trinian's. They won't know what's hit them!
These two sets can be found on the Gripping Beast web store under the Products heading of Woodbine Designs TWDC Specials range and they are listed as TWDCSP07 Squire and Family and TWDCSP08 School Masters Set. Both sets cost just £5.50 each

20 comments:

  1. These sculpts have an old fashioned look to them (LATE 80'S EARLY 90'S) Nice to see them painted up and I am sure Upton Manor will benefit from their presence. Never seen them before so it's good to see a decent painter tackle them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I, too, was unaware of this range until Hugh pointed it out to me. They are definitely more historical than contemporary but I'm okay with that. Thanks, Clint.

      Delete
  2. Never knew about them, excellent characters and stories Bryan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fran, it would seem that these have slipped under the radar of quite a few people, myself included.

      Delete
  3. Two interesting sets of figures and even though they may look very dated by modern standards, you can't argue over the price ! They are obviously aimed at the early 20th c.but there is still plenty of use to be had from them for other periods too, though I doubt even the top public schools have any staff in a mortarboard these days.
    I think you missed a great opportunity by not painting the younger boy with a Rubik's cube, but otherwise your paintjobs are excellent as always.

    (You hadn't heard of Gripping Beast ? You've got to get out more !)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given how expensive many figures are nowadays, these are excellent value for money, Joe. Giving young Rupert a Rubik's cube would have been quite a painting challenge and rather anachronistic. I'll stick with him opening a black box.
      To my shame, no, I had never heard of Gripping Beast until Hugh mentioned them to me. See what a sheltered life I lead!

      Delete
  4. Very nice selection of figures Bryan.
    Very well painted as usual. It would be nice to see the Upton's have to get their own hands dirty in the zombie apocalypse. Although the staff would be the first to die, no doubt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt of any of them would survive a zombie attack, Bob, but his Lordship may bag a couple of zeds with his double-barrelled shotgun... if he can reach it in time. But once he fires it I reckon the zombies will take him as he tries to reload

      Delete
  5. Nice looking civilians, great work!

    ReplyDelete
  6. These figures are based on the characters in the Doctor Who episode "The Family of Blood" - one of the best in recent times, I think. They're the 4 members of the eponymous family, plus the small psychic boy (who is holding a pocket watch), the school matron, Martha Jones (disguised as a maid) and the Doctor (disguised as a schoolmaster). But of course the models can be used as anything you want; they strike me as excellent foils and/or comic relief for the girls of Saint Trinians!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, I never made that connection, Hugh. Once again, thanks for pointing out these fine figures to me.

      Delete
  7. Great job as always Bryan. I, too, think that thing was probably meant to be a rubik cube by the way he is holding it. Could also be a ring box - is he going to propose at his age? :O :O :O

    And wow, never heard of Gripping beast? :D You are full of surprises :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A ring box? Don't be absurd, Mathyoo! It's more likely to contain some small animal or frog he's dissected!
      For some reason, Gripping Beast has passed me by all these years. Go figure!

      Delete
  8. I think it is the way you painted the eyes on these...But they really look sinister!

    Well done!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eyes are really hard to get right, Johnny, so thanks for the compliment.

      Delete
  9. You have a knack for showcasing some very instresting miniatures Bryan, thank you. Howard scares me! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Adam. I do like my diversity in figures. I suspect Mr. Worthington scares a lot of people!

      Delete
  10. These are wonderful sets that I never knew existed. Wonderfully painted as always. Perhaps our bully is holding a cricket ball?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert, you're not the only one who didn't know about these minis. Your suggestion that the bully is holding a cricket ball is a very good one and has a lot of merit.

      Delete