From FrederickC - Gandalf the White and the Black Riders [Black and White] (40 points)

 Strolling east from the site 'Under Construction', we have arrived at the 'Black & White' studio with two Black Riders and Gandalf the White. Gandalf and the mounted Ringwraith are both Games Workshop metal miniatures that I picked up years ago. The Ringwraith was still in its original blister pack and came as the three piece 'some assembly required' figure. The fit of the two halves of the horse and rider (the sword arm was a separate piece) was a bit off, and there were a few gaps that had to be filled with epoxy putty. The figure of Gandalf is from a 9-figure set called 'Heroes of the West' that also included Aragorn, Faramir, Éomer, Éowyn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry and Pippin from The Return of the King. The Ringwraith on foot (aka 'The Ninth Nazgûl), is a conversion I recently did from an old D&D figure from the 1970s that I found in my bits box. I have no idea who the manufacturer is, but it was originally some kind of spectre consisting of what looked like a monk's habit, but with empty sleeves and cowl. It was a bit smaller than the Games Workshop miniatures, so I built it up with epoxy putty and added armoured hands and a sword. I already had eight Nazgûl in my inventory, five that came with an 'Attack at Weathertop' boxed set, and three others that I purchased from my nephew when he sold off his miniature collection, so this one is the Ninth Nazgûl.

 All three figures were primed black with Vallejo Surface Primer using an airbrush. I then used Vallejo acrylics with a lot of dry brushing to apply the black, white, and various shades of grey to the figures. Gandalf's face and hands were painted with Flat Flesh and given a wash of Citadel Reikland Fleshshade. Finally gun metal and silver were used to paint the swords.

 

Gandalf flanked by Black Riders on foot and mounted

Black Riders deciding 'discretion is the better part of valour'.

The 'Ninth Nazgûl' with the other eight in the background

A Black Rider acquired years ago with the newly painted one.

 

 

 The points being claimed are as follows:

2 x 28mm foot figures @ 5 points each = 10 points

1 x 28mm mounted figure @ 10 points each = 10 points

Studio lot 'Black and White' @ 20 points = 20 points 

 

Special Challenge progress so far

Minion Miles: Lots of LOTR today - and that makes it a good day indeed!

RobH - Nine Rings for Mortal Men - LOTR (35 Points)

Would you believe three Nazgûl of the nine. Each year for the AHPC I endeavor to summit at least one entry from the Lord of the Rings. This year I have three foot figures that were crying out to be submitted as an entry in the field of Black & White cinema. I don't think you can find figures from cinema much blacker than these, especially at heart. It was just a hop over from Studio Sci-Fi.



I believe these figures came from the Attack on Weathertop package by Games Workshop and are close to 20 years old. I have collected a lot of LOTR dark forces, but I have been slow in getting them painted. The minis were sprayed flat black, painted with Vallejo Black, dry brushed with German Grey, followed by another light grey dry brush. Swords and armoured fists were painted Gunmetal Grey.




Points

3 x 28mm Foot Figures = 15 Points

1 x Black & White Studio = 20 Points

35 Points

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Great looking Nazgul, Rob! A perfect pick for Black & White, and it checks your box for your LotR submission for AHPC XIII. Well done!

- Curt

From Barks: The Lair of the Fell Beast (50 points)

And behold! it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, lingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood, apt to evil.

JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King (1955)

And behold! I have painted a fell beast.

The Lord of the Nazgûl

Armoured Fell Beast

I did some dark magic with magnets which allows a choice of rider. I also made a base with four 25mm washers buried within, for added heft and to drop the centre of gravity.

Alternative Nazgûl

I snapped the clear flight stand during priming- some rather colourful Australian colloquialisms were voiced- and had to trim it shorter and angled down more. Taking advantage of your advice a few weeks ago I repainted it flat black.

I started from a pale grey undercoat and added thin coats of dark greyish browns to taste. I'm not entirely happy with the wings- I'd prefer them to be a bit more tan.

Now to work out how to store and transport this...

Théoden and Snowmane for scale

I'm claiming this as 25 points for a large 28mm mount with two riders.

+20 points for The Lair of the Beast

GW Side Challenge: +25

Onwards, to defile the Snowlord's Altar!

From RobH: Six Assorted Fantasy Foot Figures and Curtgeld - (55 Points)

My First entry into this winter's painting challenge is ready. The first three weeks of the challenge was spend mostly in bed due to a nasty cold and flu combination. A great way to spend the Christmas holidays. Otherwise a belated Happy New Year to all.

1) One Leprechaun and a pot of gold. My Curtgeld for this year. There are so many miniatures in my pile of lead, that I have lost track of where they came from. The source of this figure is a mystery to me.

2) Two mushroom men. More mystery figures. My thoughts are that Ming the Merciless has to harvest the spores for the Purple Death from somewhere, and they would be a fine source. Future allies of Flash Gordon.

3) Three Nazgûl on foot, in the middle of the night. They will correspond to the three mounted ring-wraiths, which  I entered in previous editions.

The sun was low on the horizon when I went to take the photos, and I found that my tablet was not charged. The images are from my iPhone, which isn't as good as my tablet for this task.

Scoring six 25mm foot figures @ 5 points each plus 25 points for my Curtgeld.

***

Hello again Rob, and welcome to Challenge Edition X.  The flu sounds like it was pretty awful, so good to see you are back at things, and that your brushes are back in action! Quite a variety here - including a mystery leprechaun! But I like the Nazgul most...so chilling and ominous, such a great part of the incredible LOTR story.

I sympathize with your challenges when it comes to getting photos done, always a bit of a pain, no matter how much they advance the cameras on our assorted iPhones etc. 

55 points for you, welcome to the fray!

GregB