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!

The Fellowship of the Ring – 20th Anniversary of the Movie

Today is the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. To celebrate the occasion, I painted a new set of the four Hobbits: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybock and Peregrin Took.

Pict 1107: Ambush at Amon Hen

Pict 1108: Frodo, Pippin, Merry, Sam

Pict 1109: Frodo, Pippin, Merry, Sam

These four Hobbits were great fun to paint – looking up screenshots of the film, looking at models I painted before and just getting to be in Middle-earth again. The models all come from the Breaking of the Fellowship set sculpted by Juan Diaz. They might get used in some scenarios (especially the Ambush at Amon Hen). But for now, they were a great little project to celebrate a hugly influential film!

Pict 1110: Jelson Darrock

Pict 1111: Jelson Darrock

I also got to the next Cursed City hero with the Witch Hunter Jelson Darrock. I feared differentiating the browns but I'm very happy with the way he turned out. I migh even be tempted to get some more of the modern Witch Hunters.

Pict 1112: Qulathis the Exile (WIP)

I also made some good progress with Qulathis the Exile and should be able to finish painting her soon. (Please don't mind the eyes – it's all part of the process!) I really would like to finish the Cursed City box before the end of the year. But to do that, I will have to focus on just those three missing heroes over the christmas holidays.

Rangers of Shadow Deep and Shelob's Lair

These past weeks I painted a bunch of the official Northstar models for Rangers of Shadow Deep - a Skeleton Knight, two robed skeletons as well as eight giant flies. Like many others, who are into the Middle-earth SBG, I was very exited by the release of Quest of the Ringbearer and painted up part of the Shelob's Lair box.

Pict 930: Skeletons of the Dungeon

When I first saw the Skeleton Knight by Northstar, I immedeately fell in love with the sculpt. Seen from the front the miniature has an elegant curve through the flowing robes. The diagonal of the sword follows this movement but gives it a hard and imposing edge.

Pict 931: Skeletons of the Shadow Deep

Pict 932: Skeletons of the Shadow Deep

The robes of the skeletons reminded me of the skeletons in the Capuchine Crypt in Rome and I had to paint them as such. Why catholic monks would have need of ceremonial daggers I don't know, but it simply fit! You can see that the sculpts were done digitally but they are still chunky enough to paint up nicely and have a unique feel to them.

Pict 933: Giant Flies

Pict 934: Giant Flies

These flies are also very cool models but sadly only availiable in one pose. I tought about converting them but when assebling them I was to lazy to do so. To make them somewhat distinguishable I looked at different fly species and painted the eight flies in differing colours. The Giant Fly miniatures are used in one of the Rangers of Shadow Deep campaings, but I will probably also get use out of them in D&D.

Pict 935: Sam and Frodo (Shelob's Lair)

With the new ME SBG book, my butterfly syndrome demanded that I start a new army. Quest of the Ringbearer has new rules for a Legendary Legion of Cirith Ungol with animosity between the Uruks and Orcs as well as the option to take Shelob. Obviously I had to go for that and painted up the Hobbits from the Shelob's Lair box and thus nothing to be used in this army... Sam and especially Frodo, however, painted up very fast.

Pict 936: Shelob (WIP)

I also started to wok on Shelob. I allowed myself a bit more time and looked through pictures of Shelob on the internet as well as the concept art for the film to do justice to this amazing Trish Carden scuplt. For now I simply established the base colours on the body and plan on blending them together to get a nice gradient from the belly to the back of the beast.

A Whole Bunch of Uruk-Hai

I had quite productive weeks since I posted my look back at last year and my resolutions. I focused on getting paint on more Uruk-Hai and played two games with them as well. But I also got to some other odds and ends!

Pict 807: Uruk-Hai Army

Pict 808: Uruk Hai Commanders (Lurtz, Captain, Scout Captain)

Pict 809: Uruk Hai Commanders (Lurtz, Captain, Scout Captain)

First up are the Uruk-Hai heroes I had started in the old year and that were quite quick to finish. I'm pretty happy with the faces and how the eyes turned out, especially with the two versions of Lurtz.

Pict 810: Uruk-Hai Siege Troops

Pict 811: Uruk-Hai Siege Troops

The next thing, I started were some Uruk-Hai siege troops. The models aremade from plastic and came out in January of 2003 (!). Painted up like this and in a group, they still look quite good. You do have to guess at some of the details however and while they painted up rather quickly, I'm not looking forward to painting more Uruk-Hai plastics.

Pict 812: Feral Uruk-Hai

Pict 813: Feral Uruk-Hai

Pict 814: Mauhur's Marauders Command

Pict 815: Mauhur's Marauders Command

I then started to work on the next six Feral Uruk-Hai as well as a Scout Uruk with Banner and an Uruk Drummer. Once they had the base colours and washed applied I got to play two games with my Isengard army as it stands right now. Of course those games went against Rohan armies styled for Helm's Deep! I found myself slaughtered both times since that Rohan / Lothlorien alliance with lots of throwing spears really dishes out shots that I couldn't respond to. I had fun nonetheless and the games got me pumped to expand my Uruk Collection with some bow-wielding Scouts. And of course I found the time to finish the models since that might have been an issue too – I'm sure I'd have had more luck if all my models were highlighted and based as well!

Pict 816: The Ringbearers (invisible)

One fun little project I picked up while gaming are these invisible versions of some Ringbearers. The models are event exclusive by ForgeWorld and my opponent picked them up for me at the end of last year. Of course they were finished quite quickly since there is not much to be done exept for the bases, but they look quite nice and I look forward to using them in games when putting on the One Ring with the corresponding models.

Pict 817: Sekban, Naval Group (WIP)

And since I also want to get ahead with my painting in the Infinity universe, I started to work on the five Sekban. I really like the look of them even if I don't plan on using them in any games soon. Before putting them together, I didn't realise that (excluding the Rocket Launcher) there are only two types of bodies with differing weapons even though I had looked at pictures of them pretty much since I started playing the game!

"If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom."

This week I returned to Middle Earth to paint two characterful versions of Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee each: Both in Orc Armour and the two of them at Sammath Naur, seemingly ready to get rid of the one ring once and for all.

Pict 607: Sammath Naur, the Cracks of Doom

Pict 608: Frodo and Sam (Mount Doom)

Pict 609: Frodo and Sam (Mount Doom)

I really enjoyed painting these - the dishevelled look about them, the expressions - all in all really great miniatures and quite a quick paintjob too! Gollum from the first picture was already done for quite some time and I love that the set is now complete and can go onto my shelf.

Pict 610: Frodo and Sam (Orc Armour)

Pict 611: Frodo and Sam (Orc Armour)

I had this version of Frodo with the basecolours almost done lying about for nigh on two years now. But as with the other pieces of the last weeks, inspiration struck while reading and I quickly painted both Frodo and Sam. I'm done now with the Return of the King and I'm looking forward to see what the appendices are going to inspire me to do.

Pict 612: Mordor Orc (WIP)

After finishing the Hobbits in Orc Armour, I wrote down the recipe and got to work on these Mordor Orcs. I don't really have any ambitions to play a Mordor Army any time soon, but now that the opportunity presented itself, I wanted to use the practice I got with the Hobbits. Obviously the Orcs are a bit different that Frodo and Sam but I got through the basecolours and the washes pretty quickly nonetheless.

My Haqqislam Army and a few Characters from Middle-earth

These past weeks I finished my Haqqislam Army (fullfilling my first new year's resolution) as well as some more Characters from Middle-earth.

Pict 600: Haqqislam Army

Fist up is a picture of all the models I have for my Haqqislam right now. I only had the three Ghulams finished last week and those three alone didn't seem the warrant a blogpost. Since then I also got around to the Najjarun Engineer with his little Nasmat Remote, a Djanbazan Sniper and a Jannisary and Asawira for some more heavy hitting power.

Pict 601: Ghulam Infantry

Pict 602: Ghulam Infantry

Pict 603: Asawira, Jannisary, Najjarun, Nasmat and Djanbazan

Pict 604: Asawira, Jannisary, Najjarun, Nasmat and Djanbazan

With all of those finished, I fullfillied the first of my new year's resolutions - but I'm pretty sure this was only wave one for the Haqqislam since I'm still part of an escalation league and Corvus Belli really produces some amazing miniatures.

Pict 605: Gimli, Legolas, Merry, Pippin, Éowyn

Pict 606: Gimli, Legolas, Merry, Pippin, Éowyn

And here are the heroes from Middle-earth. I was inspired to complete the old Three Hunters set with Legolas and Gimli, the both of them mounted on Arod as well as the Merry and Pippin on the run from Grishnak when I read the Two Towers in the past weeks. With my Haqqislam hype I neglected Middle-eath a bit as far as painting goes and I am now onto the Return of the King with my reading. Luckily Éowyn also has some scenes here, so that I had a good reason to paint this version of her (I doubt I'll ever play with this miniature since the armour is pretty much a must).

Spooky Twilight Ringwraiths

Again with some progess this week - I painted some more old Middle-Earth SBG miniatures: The three Twilight Ringwraiths. Other than that I also made headway with more Termagants.

Pict 490: Attack at Amon Sûl

Pict 491: Twilight Ringwraiths

Pict 492: Twilight Ringwraiths

I had these on my table for some time now - I put them off because I didn't want to highlight the white parts. It always takes so many layers... But I finally powered through and I happy with them how they are right now. The contrasts and shadows are quite stark - more than I'd usually do them. It's a bit of a different style - maybe if I had additional copies I'd do them differenty, but for now they will do.

Pict 493: Termagants

And here are some more of the Termagants. As usual, I followed my standard for Kraken - with one exeption: One of the Gants has an additonal highlight of Wild Rider Red on the carapace. I'll use him as a specialist in Kill Team and wanted him to stand out some more.

With the release of a new edition of the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, I might focus on that in the next weeks. First up I want to dust of my Rohirrim and maybe add some Riders.

Balin's Tomb Diorama - finished!

So I finally managed to finish the Battle Games in Middle Earth Diorama for the original Fellowship miniatures.

Pict 483: The Chamber of Mazarbul

Pict 484: Balin's Tomb Diorama

Pict 485: Balin's Tomb Diorama

Pict 486: Balin's Tomb Diorama

Pict 487: Ori, the Book of Mazarbul and Balin's Tomb

I had this diorama for quite some time now and I already started to paint it for almost as long. Now that I had gotten around to the Fellowship miniatures the diorama base jumped right ahead to the front of my paint queue. One of the challanges was the GW logo in the back. It is scuplted roughly like the current one but to get all the colours and lines right I had to have one ready to compare. It was a strange experience - that logo is one I looked at almost every single day for years, but I never even noticed the strange font. It's rather whimsical with round 'e' and the 'm' and 'w' with their swelling lines. My paintjob of the logo is not perfect but it'll have to do.

Pict 488: Termagants

After finishing something for the ME SBG I wanted to get back to 40k and finished these five snap-fit Termagants. As always I'm really happy how the carapace looks once the second set of red stripes are on. Now there are only 30 more to go!

Pict 489: Termagants (WIP)

And here is a quick WIP of my progess with the rest of the Tyranid project. I started with the black parts on these nine Termagants and added a few washes and spot colours. The black always takes the longest so that I had to break the pile of Gants up into smaller groupings.