Along with the likes of Trish Carden (Morrison), Aly Morrison, Jes Goodwin and the Perry twins, Kevin Adams is one of my favourite sculptors, and when it comes to Orcs and Goblins, he is without doubt the master! Born in Chiswick, London, Kevin grew up in Haverhill, Suffolk, where he attended the local Castle Manor School. A surprise to many perhaps, given his stunningly creative models, he left school with the lowest CSE marks in art. Kevin left home and settled in Cambridge. Having been a model enthusiast from a young age, it was while in Cambridge that Kevin’s adventure into the world of fantasy models began… He never looked back. Enter, the Goblin Master!
The Goblin Master! A Talk With Kevin Adams… Part 3 (continuing from Part 2).
SylCreate are a UK company that produces a range of high quality craft and model making supplies, from modelling putties through to casting and mould making products. Kevin recently provided the hobby supplies business with an interview, details which can be found HERE. I had not been previously familiar with SylCreate, and being a keen hobbyist, I was interested to ask Kevin more.
Kevin Adams: SylCreate are the company who I buy Green Stuff from as well as Milliput and occasionally superglue, their coloured putties were fun to use for shields when I worked on the Foundry Warmonger range and making the designs in different colour combinations was interesting. There are a lot of shields, most were made from Bryan Ansell’s original Sketches. A few months ago when I was ordering I noticed a discount for customers who could provide examples of their work or reviews of their products so I submitted quite a few pictures of models that were made in Green Stuff.
With a career that goes back to the early 1980’s, Kevin Adams is a sculptor that is much in demand, and his designs highly sought after by collectors. Well known for his association with Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures (Bryan Ansell gave Kevin his sculpting break back in the day), Kevin has since provided miniatures to a multitude of model companies. I was keen to ask about some of his clients and the ranges he has worked on over the years.
Kevin Adams: I have three regular Clients in the US, one is Joe Corsaro who has his own shop and a company called Dragonbait Miniatures, you can see his painted Grunty Goblins at the top of the SylCreate article (HERE) and there are also some pictures of fantasy adventurers that I made him; Mike Burns who owns Dark Fable Miniatures did the excellent characterful concepts which were fun to work from.
Then I have a client and friend who has yet to release quite a lot of head turning models, he is Joel Cassel and his company is Molten Mayhem Miniatures and he will be releasing models later in the year. He gives me a lot of creative freedom and I enjoy making models for him.
There is also the Kar-Keel zombie range that I’ve made for Brian Kirkell, which is a fun project and ongoing. Zombies are entertaining to make and I like working on Undead models. I’ve also made some interesting models for Andy Coleman, who also gives me a lot of creative freedom. His eye catching website is known as 4A miniatures and he sells a lot of characterful models which are well worth looking at.
Midlam Miniatures are another company who I make a variety of models for and they have a shop too, and sell lots of original looking models. Recent projects have been Goblin Wraiths and Vampire Dwarfs. An enjoyable recent range were the Tenoch that I made for Dave Wood (The Little Soldier Company) they are reminiscent of the old Citadel Slann range which are a big part of my miniatures history as I painted them for Bryan Ansell, which led to later making early models, and Dave gave me some fun ideas, including Froglings to make, and I do love frogs and toads
- More on Tenoch HERE.
For several years I’ve worked on the Crooked Claw Goblins and have built up quite a large range, including wolf riders, a chariot plus variant and two war machines. There’s also the models I’ve made for Uscarl Miniatures that are worth checking out, including a Chuck Norris inspired 40K Dwarf plus variants with different weapons, Genestealers, Snotlings and a Greenskin Bloodbowl team.
There are also quite a few projects that I’ve worked on over the years including multi-kit renaissance Halflings for friend, Sebastian Rowland, who is known on miniature forums as WK. I also made the first models for Otherworld Miniatures, which were D & D copies and a range of Night Goblins for Black Hat. I should also mention the Banana Tyrant, I made him a model with a banana shaped gun and he set up a blogspot called the Kev Adams Challenge.
There were a few of Kevin’s projects that I was keen to get some greater insight into, such as the background stories and inspiration. The pieces that I initially had in mind were the Treadmill of Hubris, Wily Waggeries and the Baleful Boglet Bounders.
Kevin Adams: Citadel usually had an amusing narrative to go with their characters and models, so in keeping with that tradition I attempted to maintain a similar feel based on Old World humour and charm with the Goblin Master range. The models are inspired by ideas from those times, while using my own descriptions rather than copying the original names. I’m aware that there is still a lot of love within certain sections of the fantasy wargaming community regarding the Citadel years, and the models I make are a tribute to that, and my love of that magical period of models is alive and kicking.
The Treadmill is a new variant of the Snotling Pump Wagon, which was at the time my own design, this time I thought that a pair of captive Dwarfs chained above a Treadmill barrel that propelled the waggon was a new amusing idea and it dovetails with the animosity between Greenskins and Dwarfs. I actually love Dwarfs, and they are fun to make, so there’s no real bad feeling involved, it just illustrates how Boglets would like to get one over on a tougher foe in a comical way, and later on the Dwarfs will be out for revenge in future ranges.
Wily Waggeries, like the Treadmill wagon, is from a thought that sprung to mind, it’s a progression of Jolly Japes V2, which was a hilarious somewhat risqué set suggested by Bryan Ansell when I worked at Enfield Chambers. This was a pair of Snotlings who had stolen a Dwarfs’ boots and Helmet, one taking a leak in the boots while number two was sat on the helmet and using it as his potty. Much to my amusement, it caused a fair amount of indignation with certain unknown members of management, who obviously considered it unsuitable so the set was tamed and it must be very rare. It perfectly illustrates the mischievous nature of the Snotlings, who delight in getting up to a bit of devious payback. The narrative with Wily Waggeries is a Dwarf wizard being the victim, but the Boglets have no idea of the terrible revenge the wizard will inflict on Goblinkind .
Enter the Oddgobins, a whole new world of chaotic mayhem and badassery. The Bounders are a version of Snappers crossed with a raptor, hence the longer legs and tails. Many years ago, I made Squigs for Games Workshop which had short legs and ferocious mouths, the Foundry Raptors came to mind and along came the Bounders, who have a dodgy selection of Bounder jockeys.
From what I’ve seen online, Kevin’s Dark Fable Miniature’s Pig Orcs and Allies look wonderful. The Pig Orcs, in particular, strike up visions of some of the beasts described in passages of HG Wells’ ‘Doctor Moreau’.
Kevin Adams: I was introduced to Mike Burns through Andy Coleman of 4A Miniatures. Mike is an Archaeologist by trade and has a passion for all things ancient Egyptian and historical, the first models I made him were Egyptian Eunochs and later my first female models.
I would need to make many human models on a regular basis to learn how to get the right feel so these were a rare challenge considering most of the models I make are far from human, the few humans I make aren’t as convincing as standard human models due to lack of practice.
I was asked to make Pig Orcs for Otherworld years ago from the D & D Monster Manual drawings; copying other peoples ideas doesn’t appeal to me, so when Mike wanted Pig Orcs and gave me some wonderful original sketches with lots of charm I was immediately inspired and there is a growing range of them. They are more original looking fantasy models with a historical feel, so that’s why the weapons are smaller than average. Mike has a fantastic website and there are many amazing painted miniatures on display from the talented hands of Paul Sanderson who also paints the Goblin Master models.
- An ideal way to treat a loved one (or yourself!) Kevin Adams provides a commissioning service, offering clients the opportunity to own some truly unique models. Anyone interested in this service should contact Kevin HERE.
Following years of encouragement to launch his own miniatures company, Goblin Master is Kevin’s official website. I asked him to describe how the website came about, also about current and upcoming projects and when/ how items will be available.
Kevin Adams: For years people have said that I should have my own company and because I prefer to spend most of the time making toy soldiers the idea of running a company hasn’t really appealed because its really a grey area and the creative process is more fun. Over the years, working for many different people with their own ideas hasn’t always been easy because this creative mind doesn’t enjoy being inhibited by strict guidelines and it can run wild at times while concepts need to be strictly adhered to.
Many clients will provide all the freedom I need to work from the creative pool, so I do enjoy working freelance, but it’s more appealing when I can have an idea and get it on paper for later use where I can come up with a model that can sell on the website. Ideas flow on a regular basis and sometimes I will get out of bed to write an idea down or sketch something. My brother kindly offered to organise setting up a company along with my nephew, who works on the website and social media, and we decided to begin with a Kickstarter which is the launch of our website where new ranges will eventually appear. Meanwhile as ideas flow, the scraps of paper build up ready for future use. Dwarfs are planned, so Boglets beware!
To be continued… Part 4 HERE.
Follow Kevin Adams on Facebook HERE.
Official Goblin Master website HERE.
Official website for Knightmare Miniatures HERE.
Official website for Dark Fable Miniatures HERE.
Official website for Warmonger Miniatures HERE.
Official website for Upstream Games House HERE.
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Copyright © 2020 John Wombat & Ruth Moreira
John Wombat 
The original pump wagon was one of my first models and is still one of my favourites. I can’t believe he had his own KS with an updated version and I didn’t know about it 🤦♂️
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You’ve got good taste! 🙂
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