Big Lad

This is the Mordor troll from the new Middle Earth Box set. Although an old sculpt it's still a lovely kit ot work with. It makes a nice change for me to be painting a troll for myself!

The painting was just a load of wet blending of various ochres and then liberal washes to create a textured skin. I suppose I could have sponged or stippled some more texture on but really I just wanted to get him finished.

Into The Fallen Realms

A while ago, I got hold of the Battle Companies supplement for Middle Earth. By raiding the massive stash of old LOTR miniatures I had lying around, I was able to pull togther three interesting Companies to play around with. I've been playing around with them on and off over the last couple of months between other projects and now they're finally finished.

Uthreg's Rievers. 

A force of Angmar orcs, owing loyalty to the Witch King of that dread realm, Uthreg leads his motley band into the lands of Men seeking sport, loot - and meat.

Eodred's Raiders

A young nobleman of Rohan, Eodred the Wild was disowned by his father and exiled by the King. Now, with his remaining retainers, he seeks glory enough to win back his name. 

Abbas the Drake's Rock Serpents

From the burning lands of the East, they answered the call of the Dark Lord. Abbas the Drake promised them fortune and glory in the rich, fertile lands of the soft west and they mean to collect their due. 

And finally a couple of action shots. 

The Gates of Minas Morgul have opened...

"Before them went a great cavalry of horsemen moving like ordered shadows, and at there head was one greater than all the rest: a rider, all in black, save that on his hooded head he wore a helm like a crown that flickered with a perilous light."

Tolkien, The Two Towers

After all the recent conversions and sculpting, it was nice to get back to simple painting. These were a birthday present from my wife nearly six months ago and they are lovely miniatures. They really pack a punch visually, and fit really well with the Morgul and Nazgul aesthetic from the movies.

I used the weathering and corrosion technqiues I'd learned doing the AOS28 and INQ28 stuff to dirty them up and I think the marriage of those weathering techniques to a more realistic paint scheme worked well.

One thing I did do was, when I based them, I added a trail of dead grass where they'd passed. This, I think, was vert in keeping with Tolkien's conception of the Shadow.

Annoyingly, the effect is so sublte that unless someone points it out to you, you don't notice.

Finally, just for fun, I looked to see if they matched the look and feel of the Mouth of Sauron:

Nice, fun little project and it's always lovely to get back to Middle Earth.