Well, back in the early 80's I worked for Games workshop in the Manchester store... it was a great time to be collecting lead and I was literally like a kid on a candy store... I was in charge of miniatures and built a good relationship with a certain John Stallard who was in trade sales at the time. I discovered Shot Tower Studios through (I think) a White Dwarf ad and got permission to order them in for the store. They were never big sellers (except when we put them on clearance once the shop started more to the 'Citadel' only and in blisters times) but they were lovely pieces, drop cast and lacking in quality on any human figures but the diorama pieces were lovely and I only wish I'd kept the listing that I ordered from... I chatted to the owner and sculptor, Jim Dendy, regularly for the few months we stocked them and, as per the listing, wish I could remember those conversions! Lots of the sets had moving parts and some were quite intricate such as the secret trap in the staircase. A French hobby friend has written a booklet on the company and background and will hopefully publish it at some point. It does make great reading. In the meantime here are my pics from over time (a couple off various sources and all kudos to them including the wonderful Karl Tebb). A lot of the pieces were engraved on the rear with Jim's name and some details.
There are also a lot of images on the Lost Minis WIKI and also on Stunties. There really is a taste of the Dragontooth City of Magic sets about these.
7 comments:
These settings are incredible: even an entire room with walls made of lead! And we would like there to be such a fascinating and varied graveyard set on the market now: it would be ideal, instead of struggling to put together many bits from different manufacturers! Despite the large amount of producers and computer design that exists today, perhaps the observation of reality and a bit of handcrafted creativity that Shot Tower Studios' sets showed are missing ...
Great stuff & new to me. Metal scenics, Otherworld aside, seem pretty thin on the ground these days.
Those are some wonderful pieces! Never saw them back in the day. I wonder if they ever made it to this side of the pond? You're right that they have that Dragontoothy City feel.
Do they scale well with "true" 25mm or are they more on the GW side of the scale?
@MisterFrauBlucher - they are pretty small so more tuned to 25mm I think.
Wow... very cool stuff! I've never heard of these before except - I THINK I inherited that Dwarf biplane in amongst my dad's stuff. I don't recall there being a WWI German Officer style figure, but I'll take another look when next I'm back in Liverpool - it's stuff I haven't moved up yet
I remember these. I had that graveyard set. Don't know where it went...
Those diorama sets are amazing. I wonder who has the moulds/masters these days...
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