The Anvil of Doom... and our 300th post!

Greetings one and all! When I posted the previous blog entry it suddenly occurred to me that a milestone, long impending, had actually arrived. The next post would be my 300th. Woohoo! And as for a subject... kinda had to be Dwarfs:

Yup, I decided it was time to give Dwalin Gravenrune an Anvil of Doom. He hasn't earned it yet - in the Beard Bunker narrative campaign - but it's there when he needs it! For those who don't know, the Anvils of Doom are Dwarven artifacts, magical foci that allow Runelords to craft their mightiest runic creations. But that isn't all, they can also allow the Runelord to crystallise raw magic out of the air, beat it into complex runic forms and then unleash the effects upon the enemy. With this artifact, even Dwarfs can cast magic.

Of course, I didn't want to bind the Dwalin model to the anvil permanently, so I sacrificed some aesthetics to leave him on his base. This'll help with some of the skirmish scenarios we do too as it'll allow me to move him from his post.

From above you can see that the anvil is stood upon three discs of stone, stepping up to form a dais. I envisioned these as being individual stone tiles, layed out in particular patterns - Stargate style - to focus and draw in the magical winds to best advantage. I used my usual system of varying the base colour slightly in between tiles/planks/whatever to give a hint of natural variance in colour. Use the same highlight colour for all of them and it binds the whole piece together regardless. The anvil itself was a source of much head scratching. I couldn't decide initially whether I wanted it blingtastic - totally a word - covered in gold, enamel, jewels... That could have worked, but I kept coming back to the core of what this thing is. It is a tool. It is a mechanism that allows a Runesmith to craft magical devices and bend the laws of reality. Somehow, it looks better painted an unassuming iron. To me anyway!

I'd managed to lose the shields for the guardians but there is a perfect design on one of the warrior shields. So donation here we go! Not a lot to say about these lads. Unusually for me they have painted woodwork on the hafts of their hammers but that was to get a little more of the army colour scheme on the models. Now, I just have to uncover enough of Karak Hoch (the imaginary, long abandoned hold that we are retaking at the heart of Hochland) to discover the Hearth and Hoard. There... an anvil awaits!

Mulder always fights in the shade. With his skin tone, you kinda have to!

So whoa, 300 posts of random ramblings about painting models. I am often struck by the weirdness of this situation. I've never once felt like a "pro-painter" or "expert" in my life. I'm not a Golden Demon winner, I've just painted models for a few decades. That so many people come here, to read my ramblings, look at pretty pictures of my work and join the conversation in the comments is genuinely humbling. I've learned a huge amount from these interactions and look forward to many many more. You are all people, clearly, of impeccible taste and quality, handsome too I'd wager.

Thanks folks, here's to the next hundred.

TTFN