Female Wizard Hero (custom sculpt)

I've always wished for a female wizard to join my party of heroes. One project of mine was to completely re-write the Wizards of Morcar expansion turning it into my own Wizard Quest Pack (since the original pack was never released) and featuring a female hero as it happened with the released Barbarian and Elf Quest Packs. This project was then shelved (but not abandoned) as the real drafts for the two unreleased Wizard Quest Pack and Dwarf Quest Pack came to light recently thanks to one of the original designers who shared them with LucaPaschi (which is one of the greatest HeroQuest collectors I know) and Luca involved me with the process of "restoring" them.

 

 

So, let's go back in topic! This miniature was originally inspired by a drawing from Luis Octavio NB - link here but modified a lot of times during the sculpting process.
Then I was sitting together with my friend Valentina Conte aka Valevidart and she started to sculpt the miniature, at first following the sketch, but then we tried to include elements to recall the male wizard too. The intent was to have a mini which could immediately remind to the official HeroQuest wizard and looking as a model coming from the 90's. I have to say I am not easy on liking something so this mini was subjected to several revisions and the whole process was quite long but in the end I am very satisfied with the achieved result.
Instead of using a solid base, I preferred the miniature to feature a slotta base, removable, so it could be used both as a HeroQuest mini and as a Warhammer mini. Valentina sculpted a classic lipped, rectangular, HeroQuest base which is removable and the slotta tab under the wizard's feet allows the miniature to be mounted on its original base or over any standard base (squared or rounded).

Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts

This is the first part of my posts regarding unreleased models and prototypes inspired by Rod Phelps (aka Skyknight) photos. In the previous posts I've shown you the 4ups sculpts for the Barbarian and Elf Quest Packs which are basically the prototypes of the models used to create the final miniatures.
Years ago on Boardgamegeek and the Old Scratch Heroquest Forum there were rumors of unreleased questpacks for the Wizard and for the Dwarf. But first I would suggest to have a look at Toco's website at http://tocoking.be where he reported his searches for proof of existence of the unreleased questpacks.
While he was in search of an illustrator to paint a cover for a custom questpack, he get in touch with Rick Graysons, who painted the Frozen Horror artworks:

"With patience he found out that The Frozen Horror was painted by Rick Grayson. Now Rick Grayson has shared with me a concept sketch of the Dwarf wearing a fur cape and wielding a hammer. He clearly stated that he did not work on "Quest for the Dwarf", but nevertheless claimed the 3 characters were concept sketches for the small plastic movers. Following the publication of the picture, SkyKnight confesses he has seen that Dwarf before. A clear hint to Quest for the Dwarf!"

Then he get in touch with Don (or Donald) L. Kueker who confirmed being the one who draw the Mage of the Mirror artworks and... even more:

"Then I started browsing the internet and after a while I got in touch with a studio where Don Kueker worked. What happended next was one of the biggest surprises in my life. (True!) Don confirmed he had been the artist of the box cover for the "Mage of the Mirror" expansion set, and more! He made concept sketches for what appears to be a "Quest for the Wizard" expansion set!"

Toco continues his searches and talking with a lot of artists and he was able to receive some of Don Kueker sketches for the unreleased Wizard Quest Pack but also permission to post them. They are all posted on his blog I linked above. So it seems Don Kueker's sketches featured a female wizard hero, a giant spider, a skaven warrior, a saber-toothed tiger, and a centaur.
So after many years of rumors and unfullfilled requests, Skyknight finally shared pictures of the unreleased models. Seems there is no model for the Centaur while the female Wizard exists but is currently in the hands of another person. Rod Phelps sayd:

"This is the rumored Wizard quest set... or part of it. The saber tooth!!! I know who has the hero for this set and I’m trying to get a pic of her model for ya."

And few days later he continued: 

Back from fishing so day two reveal. Showed you the Sabre tooth and the sketch of the female wizard (borrowed from Toco, just confirming). So now that we went down the Wizard path, any other guesses on what may have been in that pack? Here’s a hint. Was always surprising with games worskshop involved that this was not included in the mix. Update; ladies and Gentlemen. The Skaven!!!

Please note, I asked him permission to post the photos.
Edit: it is confirmed both questpacks exist! the Wizard Quest Pack is titled "The Sinister Sorcerers".

 Check the links below for more information about these rare figures:
- Barbarian Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Elf Quest Pack - Original Sculpts
- Wizard Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts
- Dwarf Quest Pack - Unreleased Sculpts