The Butterfly's Tally 2020

As is customary, in this first post of the year, I take a look back at what I did last year and make resolutions for the new one.

Pict 971: Uruk-Hai Army

Hobby Tally 2020

If you want to have a look at the tallies of the past: The Tally 2017, The Tally 2018, The Tally 2019

And these were my resolutions for 2020:

• Paint all of my Infinity models
• Paint the Uruk-Hai army to a playable level of 600 points
• Paint 25 miniatures for D&D, concentrating on the Critical Role miniatures
• And of course paint more models than buying them...

Pict 972: Sekban Naval Unit

Quite obviously I did not manage to paint all of my Infinity miniatures. In fact I bought some more and only painted the five Sekban in June. Since I played almost no games of Infinity, I lacked the motivation to do more, even with the release of a new edition of the game.

Pict 973: Uruk-Hai Army

Pict 974: Lutz and Friends

The Uruk-Hai however are quite a different story! The same week I finished the Sekban, I also put the finishing touches on a phalanx of Uruk-Hai Warriors. But the stand out for this project will have to be my conversion of Mauhur. All in all, I painted about 1850 points. Great sucess!

Pict 975: D&D Miniatures

Almost all of my miniatures could be used in D&D, but some of them are specifically to play RPGs. I'll have to add in the Shadow Deep miniatures as well as Valten and Bertrand's Bowmen of Bergerac to reach the 25 I wanted to do. But I will still count this resolution a sucess even if I did not paint that many CR miniatures. My highlight here has to be the Hill Giant - I'd venture to say he's my best painted miniature, barring maybe the Unicorn from the end of 2019.

And lastly, as you can see with a look at the Tally to the left, I once again failed to buy less miniatures than paint them. I did however sell quite a few as well and thus improved my ratio of painted to unpainted miniatures nontheless. And 283 painted models in total is also quite an impressive number!

Last year, I also decided to swich my postings to every other week. This shedule worked better with my life outside the hobby and I pretty much kept all of the dates. I count this as a sucess as well and will stick to this shedule in 2021.

Hobby resolutions for 2021

Seeing as I could not quite keep my resolutions this past year, I think I may have been overzealous especially with the goal to paint all of my Infinity miniatures. So for 2021, I will try and keep it simple: As per usual I want to paint more miniatures than buying new ones. Other than that I will only add one more goal. I want to paint a 4x4 gaming board and at least 4 pieces of terrain to play smaller skirmish games on.

Ten Years After: The Island of Blood

As I said in my last post, I wanted to participate in the Skaven and High Elves Painting Challenge and with a bit more time during this week's evenings I not only managed to finish Prince Althran but also my conversion of the Island of Blood mage as well as some other bits and bobs.

Pict 917: High Elf Heros in Lustria

Pict 918: Prince Althran on foot

Pict 917: High Elf Mage (Conversion)

I had quite a bit of fun painting these two and I'm looking forward to painting some more High Elves! Finishing Prince Althran did not take very long and I can see myself repeating the colours not only on heroes but also warriors. First I had to try and make the white work on a bigger surface - the converted Island of Blood mage seemed like a good enough test model. It was less masochistic than expected. I did the highlights on the white as the very last thing on the model and thus could smooth out any spots where I had not been quite as neat as I wanted.

Pict 920: Shadow Warrior (WIP)

I also started on a Shadow Warrior to implement the colours on a warrior instead of a hero. I don't plan on having a real army of high elves so I should be able to take my time and only paint the models I want to a high level.

Pict 921: Bandobras Tuk, Fredegar Bolger and Hobbit Militia

After so much time in the Old World, I wanted to get back to my usual Middle-earth. And what better way to do that then painting a bunch of Hobbits. I had a version of Bandobras on foot for quite a while but never got around to the Bulllroarer on horseback. With him, I also pulled out the remainder of the hobbit militia I had in a box and of course Fatty Bolger, with no weapon other than is girth.

Pict 922: Uruk-Hai Warrior and Raven

My friend over at smallthingsmodelling also donated a crossbow to the Isengard cause as well as a raven. The former was promtly used to convert a second Uruk-hai Warrior. And the latter might get used as an animal compaintion in Rangers of Shadow Deep.

Pict 923: Adult Red Dragon Base (WIP)

Lastly, I also did a bit more work on the Adult Red Dragon's base. With the gold on the coins, the next step will be  a lot of tidying up of the ground... After that: Only the gemstones and some other small details left now. The big problem will be the Dragon's paws - I haven't quite decided on how I'll paint the big scales and the claws...

Painting a Preyton

I finally got back to swinging the paintbrush and took out a Warhammer Preyton from the drawer of onloved miniatures. I also started to work on the Adult Red Dragon's base, but this seems to be a larger project...

Pict 912: Preyton

Pict 913: Preyton

Getting back into painting always takes me some time. This Preyton languished in a box for quite some time and I never really had a good idea of the colours I wanted to use. But simply starting by throwing some brown tones on the model got me started and the blue wings came naturally as a nod to the chaotic nature of the beast. The base fits my Wood Elf army since the monster was originally planned for a Storm of Magic game that never happened.

Pict 914: Adult Red Dragon Base (WIP)

For the dragon's base, I started with the ground and the stones, using the same technique I used on the stones of the Blacksmith's Workshop. Painting the base, however, I noticed how it's somewhat unlogical. A mound of stones with a wall running through it? A treasure chest sticking out of the stone in the ground? - Oh well, it's not too bad because eventually a big red dragon will take up all the attention!

Big Red Turkey

These past few weeks were not that productive hobbywise once more. But I managed to fill the gaps on two big D&D miniatures: the Adult Red Dragon I showed of last time and a Zombie T-Rex.

Pict 908: Adult Red Dragon (WIP)

I also put in some extra time and primed the Red Dragon. For now he's still of the base to have better access to the underside while painting. But I might just start with the base - I dread painting all of the coins and differentiating them from the ground.

Pict 909: Adult Red Dragon (built)

Pict 910: Adult Red Dragon (built)

And here is an additional picture of the big flying beast before priming and the Tyrannosaurus Zombie at the same stage of having filled in the gaps. I used green stuff for the bigger gaps - especially on the wings since they came in two parts. I filled the smaller gaps with Vallejo Plastic Putty and also used it to smooth out the borders between the resin and the green stuff.

Pict 911:Tyrannosaurus Zombie (built)

Also: the concept of a Zombie T-Rex is simply ridiculous. I love her and have decided to call her Betty (short for Beatrice).

New and old Projects

I did not have that much time for the hobby and did not touch a brush to a model during the past two weeks... But I managed to strip some new and old friends and build a few more models to take up space on my table.

Pict 907: New and old Projects

As you can see my model selection is somewhat eclectic once more: some Warhammer High Elves, one Bretonnian, six more Rohan Royal Guard, Jarlaxle Baenre and of course that montrosityof  a Red Dragons in the background... Next I'll have to get out the green stuff and fill in some gaps. Fortunately the dragon fit together pretty well after some hot baths.

Legions of Isengard

These past two weeks, I spent some more time with the Legions of Isengard and built and painted a batch of Uruk-Hai Warriors.

Pict 893: Armoured Uruk-Hai

Pict 894: Uruk-Hai Captains (Conversions)

First up are the two commanders I put together to lead the warriors into battle against the Rohirrim. They are both converted – the armoured one is a simple headswap of the Uruk-Captain I painted I february with the Battle Games in Middle-earth conversion sprue supplying the helmeted head. The scout captain is a bit more involved and combines parts from both a cut up Uglúk and a cut up Lurtz that were left over after my Mauhur conversion. Even the head is Uglúk’s – I clipped it of and thought about using an imprint of the official scout captain’s helmet. But after removing most of the hair I liked the remaining top knot and put the head back on resculpting the leather around the shoulders and the back of the head.

Pict 895: Uruk-Hai Captains (Conversions)

Now since the captains wont win Saruman the keys to Edoras alone, I also needed some more warriors. And in fact I managed to paint up twenty Uruk warriors with shields in only one week! That’s not only great news for Saruman but also for my tally that now is back into the green numbers!

Pict 896: Uruk-Hai Warriors

As a big group, the models really hold up quite well considering they are from 18 years ago and some of the first plastics of the range and the individual poses are great for basic warriors. They had some very obtrusive moldlines however and getting the whole posse ready for priming took about a week’s worth of hobby time.

Pict 897: Uruk-Hai Warriors (WIP)

And because painting 22 Uruks at the same time, didn’t break my spirit, here are another 37 Warriors, this time armed with pikes. For now, they are still a bit shiny with only the #metal# applied, but they already make for an imposing phalanx.

The Uruks really are not painted to the highest standard I could achieve. But they do look great as a group and they are predominantly meant to be played with. After finishing the warriors with pikes, I’ll have to get myself a batch of crossbow wielding ones as well. With them, I pretty much have everything, I need to assault Helm’s Deep!

Pict 898: Otherworld Packbearer

And to get a bit of respite from Uruk-Hai, lastly here is the finished Packbearer by Otherworld Miniatures. Once again a beautifully characterful miniature that will be used in D&D or even Rangers of Shadowdeep.

Eclectic Painting for Dungeons and Dragons

So another quick post today showing what I painted when I needed a break from the Blacksmith Forge from last week. I focused on painting an eclectic bunch of miniatures mainly for Dungeons and Dragons, but I may use them with other systems such as Rangers of Shadowdeep as well.

Pict 891: Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures

Pict 892: Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures

First up I want to talk about two models on the right made by Otherworld Miniatures. They really have some amazingly characterful faces and were a joy to paint up. That Rat-chatcher has such a grat face while the Were-tiger simply has an amazing pose.
The guy secend from the left is another Critical Role miniature - the Gentleman. I debated whether to put a gloss varnish on his skin since he's supposed to be a Water Genasi. In the end I didn't because I could not imagine it turning out great.
And the last guy in the group is a Dwarf Fighter made by WizKids. I already painted the first iteration from that set pretty much two years ago to the day! This one is slightly converted - I added spikes to make him into a Battlerager - basicly a dwarf barbarian weaponising their armour.

Pict 893: Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures (WIP)

And here is what got started during the same time: Two more Reptus Skullbreakers by Reaper Miniatures to be played as Dragonborn. A Packbearer by Otherworld - again I love the face! And the last CR miniature from the Steamforged Games Vault - Caduceus Clay. This last one is not to far along since the colourscheme is quite different to what I usually paint.

Myah! (Painting Skeletons)

Well, that was unexpected - I didn't think that I would paint up a batch of old Warhammer skeletons, but here they are! But I also finished up the Morgul Stalkers, a few more Rohan models including Helm Hammerhand and Captain Avantika from Critical Role. After that I started on a bigger scenery project with the blacksmith forge made by Tabletop World and a converted Vampire to fit in with the skeletons.

Pict 869: Skeletons (Detail)

Pict 870: Skeletons

Man, these are some classic miniatures! And I know it's a sacrilege to put them on round bases instead of square ones. I love how chunky they are, but the best thing the Champion who's clearly superior because of the fancy hat! I tried to match my scheme from about three years ago, but I didn't write down the recipe then and the new ones came out a bit lighter. I remedied my mistake this time around and posted the recipe here on the blog. It's really quite simple and the batch didn't take that long.
The eagle-eyed will have noticed that one of these skeletons is not like the others: I also found a single Mantic skelly clawing it's way out of the dirt in my bitsbox and while I was at it, painted it to. I love how it's giving the thumbs up with the right hand but it's quite a bit flimsier than the others.

Pict 871: Morgul Stalkers

After all these creepy undeads, I went right along and finished the creepy orcs from the last post. The Morgul Stalkers came out quite nice and I look forward to seeing them alongside other Mordor Orcs.

Pict 872: Helm Hammerhand and Helmingas Command

Pict 873: Helm Hammerhand and Helmingas Command

I wanted to play Helm in a tournament that had to be postponed. While that's sad, at least I had a bit more time to paint him up. He has several different layers of armour and cloth and I enjoyed taking my time with him. Originally I wanted to give him a white or at least bright cloak to hint at his role of defending the Hornburg against Dunlendings duing the long winter. But simply didn't like the look and wanted to tie him in with the rest of my Rohan a bit more.

The command group of a bannerbearer and the hornblower were painted alongside Helm. While quite a bit older than the model of Helm, they do fit together nicely with the scale mail armour. I'm even tempted to get myself another of the Helmingas command pack to convert the banner and horn onto a horse...

Pict 874: Captain Avantika

Not forgetting to paint more D&D miniatures, I also got around to painting Captain Avantika from Critical Role. In my new years resolutions I wanted to focus on Critical Role miniatures, since up until now, I only painted one mini from the Kickstarter. But for now it's one more from SFG's Vault. At first I was unsure about the colour scheme, but she came out ok if a bit colourful.

Pict 875: Vampire Conversion (WIP)

I had this conversion in my head for a few years now. I had bought some Vargheist wing bits to convert myself some Tyranid Shrikes and apart from the bigger ones there was this small pair. And since I was able to pick up the Vampire lady at the start of january, I finally had all the pieces. It took me a while to decide on the colours, but now that the basecolours are down I hope to finish painting her in the next days.

Pict 876: Tabletop World Blacksmith Forge Bits

Pict 877: Tabletop World Blacksmith Forge (WIP)

And lastly here's a WIP of the next big project. I got myself the beatiful blacksmith forge made by Tabletop World and started with the smaller loose bits and bobs like the anvil and the bellows. I also started to work on the roof, but there is still quite a bit of work to do. And I documented how I painted the different details and how I plan on painting the rest of the model.

Picking up a few things throughout Middle-earth

I used the past two weeks to pick up a few projects and finishing others with a focus on Middle-earth. I managed to paint Eorl and a few Warriors for my Rohan army, the Moria Goblins of a few weeks back as well as some more heroes. I also painted two more models for D&D and started on a few more.

Pict 859: Rohan vs. Moria

Pict 860: Grôblog and Armoured Moria Goblins

Pict 861: Grôblog and Armoured Moria Goblins

First up are the armoured Moria Goblins. I really like the models - the mail coifs are an element that didn't extend towards the plastic goblins and makes these stand out.
With Grôblog, the guy with the tactical dwarven ruin, I particularly enjoyed painting the flowing cloak. But as is tradition with finecast, before priming I had to carve out the detail on the pillar because it was to washed out. I was very pleased however how the whole batch turned out and what was at first meant to be a small group to be played as hobgoblins in D&D might now get turned into an army? I already stripped the paint of about 70 plastic goblins, so that might be a reality...

Pict 862: Eorl, Warriors of Rohan with Horn and Banner

Pict 863: Eorl, Warriors of Rohan with Horn and Banner

After having painted Eorl on foot, of course I had to paint him on horseback as well. Intrestingly GW painted their version with a brown horse while Felaróf is clearly described as white. So that's what I went with. I also painted two more warriors - a bannerbearer and a hornblower. The banner will surely see play while the horn is a bit on the expensive site pointswise.

Pict 864: Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf the White, Aragorn

Pict 865: Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf the White, Aragorn

I then pulled out some more Middle-earth heroes from various armies and simply painted what took my fancy. The three poses of Aragorn were painted at the same time and now put me at nine painted Aragorns - only five more left to go and I painted all of the official poses that GW put out!
Of Gandalf I also showed a WIP. I'm not perfectly happy with the eyes, they are sculpted to be rather small on the model and now he looks a bit surprised. But after several tries, that what I ended up with. Gildor Inglrion was painted with the scenarios of the Fellowship Journeybook in mind. The colourscheme combines elements of my Highelf and Woodelf miniatures, since he's able to include the latter in his warband.

Pict 866: Dragonborn Rogue, Halfling Ranger

Pict 867: Dragonborn Rogue, Halfling Ranger

And to make a few steps outside the Legendarium, I finished up this Dragonborn Rogue and afterwards painted this Halfling Ranger. Once again, the miniatures are made by Darksword and a joy to paint!

Pict 868: Morgul Stalker (WIP)

And lastly here is a WIP of some Morgul Stalkers that I just started. The miniatures are a bit comical but I like the design choice to have spiky hoods and gauntlets. The faces with the big teeth just scream for a skull-motive face paint. I'll see what I can do!