Fighter F9

Well, I'm kind of involved in an on-line challenge to build a Mordheim band in three months. The previous archer and this swordsman are part of the Mercenay Warband.


We're also supposed to provide a few tutorials: below a step-by-step for the painting of the buckler:

And the warband so far!

Step by step: a Dwarf King

First, as it is my first message in 2014, Happy New Year!

I'm still working on my regiment of dwarf spearmen, but today, I'm posting something different. A short step by step on a commission work: a Dwarf King.

After scratching the mould lines, I have inserted and glued a pin in the minature's foot so that I can held it with a drill bit holder for painting. The miniature is then undercoated with a white spray.


As usual, I work zone by zone. Here, I've started with the helmet, the hammer head and the chainmail and based them with a 50/50 mix of P3 Greatcoat Grey and GW Adeptus Battlegrey. The metal is then darkened with a thinned mix of Vallejo Dark Sea Blue, Vallejo Mahogany Brown and black for the deeper shadows.


A mix of Greatcoat Grey and white has been used to highlight the metallic parts. The gradation is done by adding more and more white to the base, and little by little, the light becomes concentrated in chosen areas to create a shiny effect (well, that's the theory).


Now, the top of the helmet. The cushion is given a Vallejo Oxford Blue base, highlighted with Vallejo Sky Blue then pure white to give a shiny effect like satin. The base of the cushion is made slightly darker using a wash of Dark Sea Blue.


I have based the crown with P3 Menoth White Highlight, then used washes of GW Snakebite Leather and Vallejo Chestnut Ink to create more and more contrast. Finally, some touches of pure white are added to strenghten the metallic effect.


The robe has been painted with the same colours as for the cushion, but without the satin effect (after all, it's a Dwarf King, not an elf!).


All the leather elements have been processed the same way: first, a base of Vallejo Flat Brown, then shading with a mix of Flat Brown, Dark Sea Blue and Mahogany Brown and finally highlights with a mix of Flat Brown and GW Bleached Bone.
The wooden handle of the hammer has received a base of Vallejo Flat Earth, then some washes of Chestnut Ink, then a mix of Flat Earth and Bleached Bone to highlight the wood grain.


The beard gets a Flat Earth base, then washes of Chestnut Ink. The hair's Flat Earth is gradated by adding more and more Menoth White Highlight.
And as you can see on the last picture, I've reworked the helmet with some golden NMM.


The flesh is given a GW Dwarf Flesh + GW Elf Flesh base. It is made slightly darker using an old Citadel Flesh Ink, then two colours from the Andrea Flesh Paint Set and finally, a very thin wash of Chestnut Ink. Pure Dwarf flesh is used to smoothen and correctly define the skin's shadows. The highlights are completed with Elf Flesh and Bleached Bone.


Next week, I'll try to give him a shield and a base ;-)

The dwarf mine syndrome

I don't know if you've ever tried to collect the old Citadel dwarf miners, but they're damn hard to get at reasonnable prices on eBay! My theory is it's all Dave Andrews and Phil Lewis's fault. Their article about the building of a dwarf mine published in WD 132 was so inspiring that 20 years later, I keep trying to buy the models you can see on the picture below to build a copy of this mine, and my guess is that I'm not the only crazy maniac to do that :o)

The full article:
So, have you a better explanation?

How to make simple bases

A short time ago, a member of the Bugman's Brewery forum asked me how I do my bases... the answer to this question gives me the perfect opportunity to write a post without showing any dwarf.

Basically, I glue small pieces of cork to make the stones on which my models stand, and I cover the remaining plastic with thickening medium to add some relief to the base.Once the medium has hardened, I use an old brush to apply water-diluted PVA glue on the places where moss or grass is supposed to grow and I sprinkle the whole base with fine sand.


When the glue has dried, I basecoat the base with Chaos black... and the painting job can start! For the rocks, I apply a base of dark grey, such as GW Adeptus Battlegrey. For the ground, I use dark brown, like Vallejo Chocolate Brown and for the grass, Vallejo German Cam. Dark Green.

I then drybrush the stones with lighter and lighter colours (Codex Grey, Fortress Grey and Bleached Bone) and paint the sand with different tones of green. Et voilà ! Two bases (rather) quickly done.