The Nazgûl of Dol Guldur are ready

Man, it's been some time since I had the chance to write up what I painted. But real life taking over meant I also did not have to much hobby time the last few weeks. Here's hopeing it will get better the next few.
Anyways, I managed to finish painting my Nazgûl of Dol Guldur as well as the remaining five Tactical Marines to complete the first squad for my Blood Angels Legion.

Pict 1210: The Nazgûl of Dol Guldur

Pict 1211: The Nazgûl of Dol Guldur

Pict 1212: The Nazgûl of Dol Guldur

These Nazgûl were quite a nice palette cleanser in between all the Space Marines. I used an oilwash on the metals – but I think, with all the highlighting I did afterwards, I could have probably achieved the same effect with Nuln Oil. I also experimented with painting on texture on the all the black cloth to give it some more visual interest instead of my usual method of doing the Ringwraiths. And I have to say I'm pretty happy with the result! With some more experience they would look even better, but for now I'm looking forward to getting them onto a battlefield.

Pict 1213: Blood Angels Legion Tactical Marines

Pict 1214: Blood Angels Legion Tactical Marines

Pict 2115: Blood Angels Legion Tactical Marines

Looks like I'm finally getting how this whole glazing thing works. It's really not that easy to get the right cositency of paint and the right amount of paint on the brush. These five Marines painted up rather quickly and while that might also be the fact that they only carry Bolters and are not that detailed, I also think I'm getting more confident with the scheme by now. Super happy to have finished the first proper squad!

My first Blood Angels Legion Tacticals

These past two weeks, (these past two days, if I'm being honest) I managed to squeeze in a bit of hobby time and finished up the first few Blood Angels Tactical Marines as well as getting a start on a new Middle-earth project with the Nazgûl of Dol Guldur.

Pict 1205: Blood Angels Legion Tactical Marines

Pict 1206: Blood Angels Legion Tactical Marines

Pict 1207: Blood Angels Legion Tactical Marines

Here are the first five Tactical Marines for my Heresy Blood Angels finished. Of course they include all the neat little toys: a nuncio-vox, an augury scanner, a vexilla and of course the sergeant with his shiny helmet. Afte the vexilla snaped of the second time during painting, instead of simply gluing it back on, I magnetized it to remedy that problem. Seems to be the way forward, when building more of these banners in the future.

I also experimented with a new way to apply the weathering pigments onto the bases using water to dissolve them into first instead of simply brushing them on. I still need to practise this method – I always seem to apply to much at first – but I'm happy with the way the pigment is holding on.

Finishing the remaining five to complete the squad should be next. But first...

Pict 1208: The Nazgûl of Dol Guldur (WIP)

But first, I wanted to come back to Middle-earth for a moment. And the Nazgûl of Dol Guldur seemed like a quick and managable project in between all that power armour. Next up will be some shading to the armour and then onto the highlighting.

Pict 1209: The Dark Headsman and Abyssal Knights (WIP)

I always find myself really appreciating the sculpts on a different level once I get to paint them. And while some of these Nazgûl are somewhat generic, I really like the Dark Headsman with his big axe and the helmet with the menacing nose guard and chainmail hanging from it. But the real stand out are the two Abyssal Knights (Weta listed them as the Ringwraith from Khand – very cool!). I love the armour design with the circular details on the shoulder pads and the striped details on the breastplate. It looks very unique and could almost be from the mind of HR Giger; something that would not look to much out of place as part of the Alien francise.

Rohan Reinforcements, Nazgûl and a Blue Angel

Pict 829: Rohan vs. Wraiths

Not to be overcome with Uruk-Hai, I painted some reinforcements for my Rohan army and put them to good use in a doubles tournament this past saturday. I also quickly whipped up a few wraiths from Mordor while I was in the Middle-earth mindset. I also put the finishing touches on Bertrand and Hugo that were almost finished during my last entry. To round out my painting, I then got onto a planetar for my D&D games.

Pict 830: Dernhelm and Merry (mounted)

Pict 831: Dernhelm (mounted)

Pict 832: Éowyn (Death of Gothmog)

I started painting the Rohan heroes of with Dernhelm since I needed her for the tournament. My doubles partner (you can see more of his over at SmallThingsModelling) could have lend me his version but nothing is better to motivate me to paint than a deadline such as a tournament. I then threw in the crawling Éowyn from the 'Death of Gothmog' diorama.

Pict 833: Théodred and Rohan Captain (mounted)

Pict 834: Théodred and Rohan Captain (on foot)

After they finished up rather nicely, I went into my drawer of primed Rohan miniatures and took out Théodred and the Captain. Up until now I never had a reason to paint them but the former got a cool new Legendary Legion in the 'War in Rohan' supplement and I might just use the Captain in an all-hero army. I'm still lacking a painted Gamling with the royal banner however so that model might jump the queue?

Pict 835: Riders of Rohan

Other than Dernhelm, the two riders had to be painted for the doubles tournament. While they are not my best paintjobs, I'm happy with how they look. There are now only four more Riders of Rohan primed and if I painted them, I would have 24 in total. That seems like a reasonable amount (there are quite a few more in my box of shame though...) and it might even be doable in the coming weeks?

Pict 836: The Shadowlord, the Knight of Umbar and Castellans of Dol Guldur

Pict 837: The Shadowlord, the Knight of Umbar and Castellans of Dol Guldur

The other list we were running at the doubles event called for a Castellan of Dol Guldur. I knew I had these two primed and ready to be painted but they were rather far down my queue. However since I had them on my mind from the list building process, I decided to slap some paint on them. Of course they are pretty much only metal and dark cloth so they painted up rather fast. Spurred on by the quick success, I also painted the two named Ringwraiths I sill had lying about: the Shadowlord and the Knight of Umbar.

Pict 838: The Bowmen of Bergerac - Bertrand le Brigand, Hugo le Petit and Gui le Gros

Pict 839: Bertrand le Brigand

Pict 840: Hugo le Petit

Bertrand and Hugo pretty much done with my last post. They had to sit idly on my desk though while I went on my Rohan and Morder painting spree. But after I had varnished everything above, I finished the two of them. Again: the models are really amazing, especially for their age (the first mention in a catalogue was from the 1997 Annual with a copyright from 1996, they had profiles in the 5th edition of WHFB). I suppose, they will only be used in D&D but if I ever get around to play Mordheim or Warhammer Fantasy Skirmish, they would be first in line!

Pict 841: Planetar (WIP)

Speaking of D&D: I have some of the bigger models that are primed and ready to go sitting on my desk at all times. (Amongst them a Beholder, a Carmine Dragon as well as two Balrogs.) They always accuse me of not getting a move on and painting them... Last week I finally gave in to their cries and started to work on this planetar made by Gale Force Nine for the D&D Collector's Series. I have to say that the older models of the product line were a bit better: The detail on the planetar's greaves and braces was slightly washed out and I had to resculpt some of the feathers where a big moldline was running right through them. Nonetheless the model looks quite cool and I look forward to finishing it next week.

Hunter Orcs and Ghosty

This week I got a little time to get to some of the Hunter Orcs from last week. Other than that, I got started a Twilight Ringwraith to play as a Nazgûl of Dol Guldur.

Pict 438: Hunter Orcs

These Orcs are finished for now - the first twelve of thirty-six. I pretty happy with some of the war paint but I'm starting to run thin on ideas for new ones. Maybe I'll have to repeat designs in a different colour. Could be a way to tie the red of the banner back in. But I fear that it could be to flashy.

Pict 439: Twilight Ringwraith (WIP)

I had the Twilight Ringwraiths for some time now but painting them was always a bit daunting. I'm not quite sure about the colour choice. I'll see how it looks once I put down some washes.

Mean Mind Flayers and Happy Hobbits, and another Dark Lord

I managed to get along with last weeks pojects rather quickly so that I had time to sneak in a little bit more progress.

Pict 417: Hobbit Archers

First up are the colourfull Hobbit Archers. The basic colours were almost done when I showed them last week, and after I completed that stage, they had a wash of Agrax Earthshade all over them. Once the wash dried, the highlights went really fast, since the Hobbits are rather small miniatures. Since I completed all the miniatures for the Arnor Battle Company, I went ahead and varnished them all. I usually skip this step, since I don't play that much. But even with the little handling they had to endure, I had to patch them up.

Pict 418: Illithid

Pict 419: Illithid

And here are the finished Illithid from last week. That Mage is somewhat tricky to photograph, but I hope this one is a bit better than the previous. Other than that I'm happy with how they turned out - I can't wait the get them to feed on some hero brains.

Pict 420: Sauron, the Necromancer of Dol Guldur

Pict 421: Sauron, the Necromancer of Dol Guldur

After finishing all of these miniatures, I highlighted Sauron the Necormancer of Dol Guldur. The black cloth / smoke looks fine enough - had I been braver, I had tried to do a blend from yellow to red to black starting at the armour. Like this he was ready faster to chill the souls of some enemy warriors. The base fits in with my other Dol Guldur miniatures even if it looks a bit blad.

Pict 422: Malbeth and Arvedui (WIP)

Lastly here are some work in progress pictures of the projects I'll be working on next. The conclusion of the Arnor warband are these two heroes - Malbeth the Seer and the last king Arvedui. I'm considering to expand the company into an army but for now these should be enough.

Pict 423: Gnoll Warrior (WIP)

And here is what will be the conclusion to the Illithid Raiding Party: a lowly Gnoll Warrior. As last week, I hope to get on with these projects early next week, so I can work one some more things.