I've been restoring a truly ancient miniature over the past few days, and while the Flickr album is linked from my signature, I thought some folks might enjoy seeing my progress here.
This is the original picture that was posted on eBay. The seller only knew that it was a "vintage Ogre tank miniature" for Steve Jackson Games. (Amusingly, he also listed it as in "new, mint condition.") It looked like no Ogre mini I'd ever seen, so I bought it immediately for a mere $25 plus $10 shipping. I shared the photo with the good folks at the Steve Jackson Games forums, and got a few guesses as to its provenance. Some thought it was a knockoff, I thought it was the front end of an old piece mated to a newer rear end, and our own Paint-it-Pink believed it to be an original Martian Metals Ogre Mk V.
A bit of background here: Steve Jackson wrote Ogre for Metagaming, who published it in 1977 as their first "Microgame." Metagaming licensed the miniatures to Martian Metals (founded by the late Forest Brown), and their first line hit shelves in 1979, with a follow-up in 1981. Around that time, Steve Jackson had a serious falling-out with Howard Thompson, the owner of Metagaming, and went his own way, taking Ogre with him. The newly-founded Steve Jackson Games purchased the molds for the miniaturess from Martian Metals and cast their own versions in 1982, including a brand-new sculpt for the Ogre Mk V that has survived almost unchanged to this day. Sadly, Martian Metals suffered a warehouse fire in 1983 and went out of business.
Before the line went to SJ Games, Martian Metals made two different versions of the Ogre Mk V. The first used a one-piece hull, very similar to the latest plastic miniature from SJ Games. The second had about 40 parts to it!
Okay, back to the pictures and current events.
As soon as the package arrived, I knew I had something special. The seller had just wrapped the piece in bubble wrap and stuffed it in a big plastic envelope, and it was
still ridiculously heavy. I recalled something Steve himself had said on his forums a couple days prior: "[The Martian Metals Ogre] had the right feel, but it was not crisp and it used a LOT of metal..." I allowed myself to start getting excited. I quickly unwrapped the monstrous piece and immediately dunked it in acetone. A cursory scan of the model showed that it was all metal, so I wanted to get that horrible paint off FAST.
After a couple of hours of soaking and scrubbing, I saw what looked like a maker's mark half-hidden under one track. I started concentrating on that one track, really working to get it free. Finally, after another 90 minutes of soaking, scrubbing, and a bit of prying, the track fell free...
...revealing the information I'd barely dared to hope to see: "(C) 1978 MM". I had, in my hands, an original Martian Metals Ogre Mk V, sculpted the very year I was born. It was clearly the first version, too, with the super-solid one-piece hull and all the detail directly sculpted on.
Hours later, I had removed pretty much all of the paint that I cared to bother with. The remaining three track units were still solidly attached with some sort of epoxy. Still, it was looking better already. I had to trim away a bit of the sensor tower and reattach the ball to the top, but I don't think I lost more than 1/8" in height. But man, I wanted to get those tracks off...
Here's the Martian Metals Mk V (right) next to the current (2017) plastic sculpt. They're the same giant tank, but the differences are striking.
I've tracked down a few of the original miniatures for Ogre. Here is the original 1979 lineup: the Ogre Mk V, and a GEV, heavy tank, and missile tank.
After a LOT more work, I managed to get the tracks free. This involved days of soaking and scrubbing, along with heat treatments and some prying with a sturdy knife. It then took me some time just to clean the old glue off the parts, mostly by carefully slicing it away with a sharp knife. I then put on gloves and a facemask, broke out my hobby files, and set to work cleaning up the piece as best I could.
...and this is where I stand today. The missing main batteries have been replaced with metal cannons from a 2001 Ogre model. The tracks have been mounted slightly offset, to both mimic the current Ogre profile and to give this machine a wider, meaner stance. All that's left to do are the secondary batteries (the long, skinny tubes you see on the tan Ogre, above).
It's been a hell of a week, working on this thing. I really feel like I'm holding history every time I pick it up. I cannot wait to finish repairing it, and then giving it a better paintjob than it has ever had before.
