Lots of Rivendell Knights

These past two weeks I spent mostly in Middle-earth. I finished up the first batch of Rivendell Knights and put the base colours on the next six. I also worked on the Emyn Muil versions of Frodo, Sam and Gollum as well as some Wild Wargs. In between the wanderings in Arda, I also put the base colours on my Aeronautica Imperials Eldar.

Pict 1713: Elrond leads the Rivendell Knights

Pict 1714: Rivendell Knights

Pict 1715: Rivendell Knights

First up, I finished the four Rivendell Knights that were almost done by my last post. I'm really quite happy with them, especially with the free hand pattern on the banner. However, I think by now that I could push the contrast on the grey parts of the cloaks a bit further. Also, I simply was not able to paint in the eyes, the space inside the helmets was simply to small. Still, with the five Warriors, the Rivendell riders are starting to look like an army in my display case!

Pict 1716: Rivendell Knights (WIP)

Next, I want to try and finish up the remainder of the Rivendell Knights. There are still the shiny new plastic Elrond and the beautiful ForgeWorld Glorfindel as well as several sculpts of Arwen waiting for me. But if I finish the Warriors first, these heroes can be the cherry on top. One of the Knights had been converted into Lindir on horseback but in this current edition he has lost the option for a horse. So I took some time to reconvert him back and gave him back the lance bow and helmet. Anyways, the base colours are done and as ever, I hope the washes and highlights go on fast.

Pict 1717: Aeronautica Imperialis Iyanden Eldar (WIP)

After the first test model for my Iyanden airforce, I went into production mode and put the basecoats and oilwashes onto a good part of my current collection: The two further Nightwings and three Phoenix Bombers from the Wrath of Angels box. I also got two each of the original Nightwings and Phoenix Bombers that ForgeWorld produced for the first edition of the game from @smallthingsmodeling. These are of course a bit smaller than the newer plastic models but that works out well since I can make them into Crimson Hunters and Hemlock Wraithfighters by painting them as such. Sadly the appropriate models from the second edition were only sold for a very short amount of time and are really hard to come by.

Pict 1718: Sam, Gollum and Frodo in the Emyn Muil (WIP)

The new book for MESBG inspired me to dig out the Emyn Muil set containing Frodo, Sam and Gollum. They seemed to be the sculpts of these characters fitting most of the scenarios. I hope to finish them soon to try and play some of these scanarios!

Pict 1719: Wild Wargs (WIP)

Lastly, while I did some work with Green Stuff on the Knight formerly known as Lindir, I also used the putty to fill in the gaps in the fur on these Wild Wargs. The white lines on their backs are simply Vallejo Plastic Putty. I hope to give these flat surfaces a bit more structure, but it is an experiment and I might go back in with the Green Stuff depending on how it paints up. I do enjoy these sculpts now that I have them in hand and I look forward to painting them up and use them in some games. A bit like Orcs, they fit into quite a lot of armies and should provide some good mobility!

More Orcs, more Blood Angels

Another two weeks that have been quite productive! I finished some Orcs and three Spectres for my Minas Morgul army as well as some more reinforcements for my Legions Imperialis Blood Angels in the form of Tarantulas and the first Legio Solaria Warhound. I also started to work on some more Blood Angels for the Horus Heresy.

Pict 1540: Spectres and Orcs on the Outskirts of Mordor

Pict 1541: Mordor Orcs, Dummer, Captain

Pict 1542: Mordor Orcs, Dummer, Captain

First up I finished two of the lovley metal Orcs with bows as well as a Captain and a Drummer. The latter might no longer be able to double up with a hero's heroric march, but should still allow my Mordor Orcs to cross the battlefield a bit faster. In the one game I used him, I did make the mistake to also count his drumming to affect the Uruk-hai part of my Cirith Ungol army when it only affects Mordor Orcs. Still, he should come in usefull! Next up will have to be the Taskmaster to fill out my toolkit and of course there are still some more poses from the metal sculpts that I have not yet painted.

Pict 1543: Dead Marsh Spectres

Pict 1544: Dead Marsh Spectres

Formerly known as Dead Marsh Spectres, the Spectres are now availiable to a few more lists. I'm really happy to have these painted, since now I will be able to play my normal Orcs as part of Minas Morgul or Angmar army. I might also expand into a full Shadows of Angmar list by painting some more heroes.

Pict 1545: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Tarantulas and Plant the Standart Objective Marker

These little critters were done quite fast after the last post. I'm looking forward to playing them more - they seem to be a cheap way to hold and defend an objective marker in your own deployment zone at least for a while.

I also worked up the courage to do a free hand of an angel on the little banner for my Plant the Standart marker. While it might not be the the best that could be done, I'm happy with the result. Especially considering the size of the surface I had to work with.

Pict 1546: Legio Solaria Warhound Titan on the Prowl

Pict 1547: Legio Solaria Warhound

Pict 1548: Legio Solaria Warhound

Pict 1549: Legio Solaria Warhound

The first Legio Solaria Warhound is done! After the last post there was not to much more to be done, but glazing on a highlight on the red and white panels always helps to elevate the paintjob. I have already prepared the next few Warhounds by de-chaosifying two Legio Mortis engines that I got second hand.

Pict 1550: Blood Angels Lascannon Heavy Support Squad (WIP)

Pict 1551: Blood Angels Drop Pod and Dreadnought Drop Pod (WIP)

Lastly, I also started working on some more 28mm Blood Angels. Once again, there is a tournament approaching at the start of March and I would like to finish a few more things for the 3k list I want to use then. Since it will be an event that leans more towards the competitive side rather than the narrative, I am painting a unit of the dreaded Heavy Support Marines with Lascannons. I also plan to use a Drop Pod to bring my Veterans and a Leviathan into battle as part of a Day of Revelations deepstrike assault. There is still about one month to finish them up and I already feel quite good about them. The basecolours, decals and the oilwash are done. Some highlights on the details will be done quickly. Glazing and weathering the red armour panels is always what takes me the longest.

Hitting the ground running

The first two weeks of the year are always good for my numbers, since I got to finish projects that were already mostly done. I started out with Gríma and the Amon Hen statue head for Middle-earth and then did the final highlights on some more Legions Imperialis Blood Angels. After that I also started some more stuff in these universes with more Orcs, an Ent and two small scale Cerastus Lancers.

Pict 1527: Gríma Wormtongue at Amon Hen?

Pict 1528: Gríma Wormtongue

The first model of this year was this Gríma Wormtongue. Again, the new edition is a great opportunity to find these smaller projects and update my armies. The old sculpt gave me a bit of trouble. Especially the strands of hair in the face made painting the eyes quite difficult. Its nice to finally have this model painted! I even got to play a game with it and I am very impressed with him. It was against the the Army of the Dead including Legolas and Aragorn. Gríma really did a lot to keep these two heroes in check while my Uruk-hai Berserkers cut down the ghosts.

Pict 1529: Amon Hen Statue Head

Pict 1530: Amon Hen Statue Head

After painting the Solstice28 idols at the end of last year, I was in the mood to paint more terrain in the same colours. Combining this with the Middle-earth hype, I finally got to the fallen statue head from Amon Hen. A very cool scene in the movies and a treat to have gotten this simple little piece of terrain made by ForgeWorld. The statue once again painted up fast over a few evenings – really satisfying!

Pict 1531: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Commanders and Veterans

I am taking part in an escalation campaign of Legions Imperialis in the first few months of this year. An opportunity to get some more stuff painted! During the first stage of the campaign I want to power through the main part of my infantry. The first of them are these four here: two command squads and two bases of Tactical Marines. The latter I build with some special weapons and painted them as Veterans accordingly with golden helmets.

Pict 1532: Procon Vi Cerastus Knights (WIP)

I also had a start on the Knight Household that will accompany my Legio Solaria as well as my Blood Angels. After reading up, I decided on House Procon Vi (having fitting decals on the Solaria transfer sheet certainly helps). The colour scheme is quite simple - mainly steel for the frame and trims, black panels and some blue spot colours - and the base colours went on very quickly. I can see myself painting a lot of these...

Pict 1534: Ent, Orcs and Dead Marsh Spectres (WIP)

I also started to add to my Fangorn collection with this plastic Ent as well as a few more Orcs and Dead Marsh Spectres. The latter will add to my Mordor collection to make it playable as a Minas Morgul list. I love that the Spectres are finally back in Mordor and the list seems quite strong on paper. I'll have to see, once they are done.

Solstice28 Idols

One last post for 2024 – finishing up some more Middle-earth miniatures, that had been unfinished for some time. Also getting to the Solstice28 Icons to do some more terrain!

Pict 1518: Orcs and Wargs

Pict 1519: Solstice28 Icons

Pict 1520: Solstice28 Icons

Since it is that time of the year, I got out the Solstice28 icons sculpted by @4ydra and quickly painted them. They are done in the same way that I had painted for example the Garden of Morr and should fit in nicely on my Realm of Battle board.

Pict 1521: Sharku, Wild Warg Chieftain, Orc Shaman on Warg

These four Wargs / Orcs had also been started this spring and had lain about since then. After finishing the Orcs, I showed of in the last post, I also finished this Wild Warg Chieftain, Orc Shaman on Warg as well as Sharku over a few evenings. The new edition is generally looking quite good and I look forward to adding a dew more pieces here and there to my armies to get them up to speed in the new year!

Pict 1522: Gríma Wormtongue (WIP)

The first of these small additions will be Gríma Wormtongue to slot into my Isengard army. Odd that it should take me this long to paint him up since he performs quite a nice role. But to be honest, I didn't even remember I had this metal sculpt stashed away in one of my boxes...

Mordor Orc Heroes and even more Haqqislam

I finshed up Golfimbul and Grishnákh and then got onto some more Haqqislam figures. I'm looking to bolster my choices there before we play the next stage of our league. After that I started on some other fun projects:

Pict 623: Golfimbul mounted, Golfimbul on foot, Grishnákh

Pict 624: Golfimbul mounted, Golfimbul on foot, Grishnákh

I really enjoyed to paint these miniatures - the faces are especially expressive and I'm very happy with how I managed to paint the eyes. Golfimbul of course has no reference in the films so that Citadel had to imagine something - I think that's why he looks rather like a Warhammer model. Even the fact that he's overweight reminds me of Grom the Paunch, a classic Goblin character.

Pict 625: Tuareg Hacker, Hassassin Govad HMG, Tuareg Sniper

Pict 626: Tuareg Hacker, Hassassin Govad HMG, Tuareg Sniper

And here are the next few models of the next wave of my Haqqislam army. I got myself two Tuaregs since we will be adding the rules for hacking next game and the possibility of popping out of T/O Camo and 'surprise'-hack the opponent seemed quite nice! The Govad with the HMG on the other hand will privide some heavy firepower.
I also experimented a bit with the 'greenery' I used on the bases with the addition of a bit of lichen to get another spot of brightness on the otherways rather dark bases. I like the effect and might have to go back and put a bit of lichen down on the other Haqqislam miniatures.

Pict 627: Sauron Objective Markers (WIP)

Back to Middle-Earth I have a big tournament coming up at the end of April and will have to paint some more additions to one of the armies. Before that however I will also have to paint at least three markers that we have to bring in for some of the missions played. Being me I of course will paint a whole set of six for each of my two armies... (The seventh one  here is the original.) I started with the evil ones by wetbleding a fade from yellow to red for the flames around the eye of Sauron and then picked out the iris in black, Sauron's helmet in a dark metal and the area around the flames with a dark grey. To finish these, I might just put down a wash on the grey and the metal, paint the rim black and then call it a day!

Pict 628: Rath Modar (WIP)

Lastly I got to painting for role-playing games once more. This miniature represents Rath Modar, a Red Wizard from Wizard's Tyranny of Dragons story line. For now however I will use him to play a Fire-Cleric in a Pathfinder game. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at the flames in his left hand - maybe even some OSL? I'll have to see what I can do.

Chicken-Leg Remotes

Well, this week was not quite as productive as the last few. But I still managed to finish the paintjob on my two chicken-leg Haqqislam Remotes.

Pict 619: Fanous Remote, Shaytanyiah Remote

Pict 620: Fanous Remote, Shaytanyiah Remote

Pict 621: Fanous Remote, Rafiq Remote, Shihab Remote

I particularily like the look of these two because I had the opportunity for many glowy bits on red armour panels which makes for a nice contrast. I built them as a Shaytanyiah with the Missile Launcher and a Fanous with the Sniffer but nothing else. I magnatised the guns onto the Fanous, so that I can play them as a Rafiq with Rifle and Light Shotgun or a Shihab with the HMG. The latter will have proxed a little because I didn't want to magentise the 360° Visor as well - the conncetion seemed a little to small to attempt it.

Pict 622: Golfimbul mounted, Golfimbul on foot, Grishnákh (WIP)

With the sucess of the Mordor Orcs I also started on heroes to leed them: Grishnákh to also go with Merry and Pippin from earlier this year and Golfimbul mounted and on foot. The latter currently has no profile, but I imagine he might be a fun hero to play in Battle Companies.

Finishing Barrow-Wights and Restarting Infinity

Five more models added to the tally this week: the Barrow-Wights and a remote for my Haqqislam.

Pict 529: Barrow-Wights

Pict 530: Barrow-Wights

I love putting in the splash of colour with the Hawk Turquois on the tarnished bronze and getting the white robes right was not that bad after all. I'm debating wether I should pick out the eyes in turqois as well - the glow might be nice, but I don't want them to be White Walkers. But for now they are ready to menace some hobbits!

Pict 531: Nasmat Remote (Doctor)

Pict 532: Nasmat Remote (Doctor)

And this cute little robot is the (re-)start of my Haqqislam army for Infinity. My friend over at Out of Curiosity intends to run an escalation league and has persuaded me to join in. Just at the right moment as well - I was thinking of selling them off to make some space! When I first painted them about seven years ago, I went for a colourscheme of earthy colours and reds but I pretty much only worked with a basecoat and a wash. Now that I stripped them all, I wanted to go for something similar but with more definition and this remote is what I came up with.

Quick Update: Nazgûl and Barrow-Wights

This week was another with not to much hobby time but I managed a bit of progress with the Nagûl and the Barrow-Wights.

Pict 528: Nazgûl and Barrow-Wights (WIP)

As you can see at least I got the first layer of black on the Nazgûl and the Barrow-Wights are awaiting their highlights after they have been washed. I also build a few miniatures, but they'll have to get some green stuff, before it's worth showing them of. We'll see what the next week brings...

I also played a few rounds of Battle Companies the saturday with the new rules - it was really fun to try out the Rangers and we are thinking about doing a hex-campaign. I'm looking forward to it and will repport on how it goes.

Théoden and Éomer, Defenders of Rohan

This week, I finished up the Rohan heroes, on foot I had started for that tournament a few weeks back - Théoden and Éomer, both from the Defenders of Rohan box are added to my tally. I then started work on a palette cleanser: black and white ghosties for the Lord of the Rings.

Pict 522: Théoden and Éomer on the Lookout

Pict 523: Théoden, Defender of Rohan

Pict 524: Théoden, Defender of Rohan

Pict 525: Éomer, Defender of Rohan

Pict 526: Éomer, Defender of Rohan

As you can see, the eyes turned out ok. I'm not a hundret percent on the eyebrowns but they will do. I like the more static poses - quite often you are on the lookout for dynamic scuplt and the result is (a bit overdramatised) a dwarf prancing on one foot, hacking at an unseen foe. Don't get me wrong those have a time and place as well. The Defenders of Rohan however manage a resting pose that still is interesting - for exemple the slight contraposto for Éomer and the asymmetrie of sword and helmet in Théodens hands. I might have to do the rest of the box, now that I started it...

Pict 527: Nazgûl and Barrow-Wights (WIP)

I have, however, started with something different first: the nine Nagûl on foot and four Barrow-Wights. I started with the metals (mainly Warplock Bronze and Leadbealcher) since they tend to be a bit messy when you drybrush the highlights and right now the different miniatures look rather similar. With the next step however they will go in opposite directions. The Nazgûl will get their black coats (I'm looking forward to blending in the greys) and the Wights will get the same treatment as the Twilight-Ringwraits did (I'm not looking forward to blending up to white...)