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!

A third Mordor Troll Chieftain

Over the last two weeks, I mainly worked on a Black Gate of Mordor army that I took to a tournament last weekend. I finished a third Mordor Troll Chieftain, a Orc Taskmaster and a Morannon Orc Banner bearer. Afterwards, I turned back to Legions Imperialis finishing my Mastodons and converting some more Predators.

Pict 1674: Black Gate Reinforcements

Pict 1675: Mordor Troll Chieftain

Pict 1676: Mordor Troll Chieftain

The lynchpin of my tournament army were three Mordor Troll Chieftains. This third one is not converted as opposed to the other two. Whily I simply repeated my colour scheme from a few years back, I'm really happy with the way this one came out. I added another layer of highlights to the armour, which doea help it look less bland and I'm tempted to do the same with the first two.
The trio was quite the menace once they got into close combat. But since I did not have to much practice with them beforehand, I made some errors placing them. They and the Morannon Orcs were often in each others way. Nevertheless, they were great fun to use!

Pict 1677: Morannon Orc Banner and Mordor Orc Taskmaster

The other two finished miniatures of this army are the Orc Taskmaster (Where there's a whip, there's a way!) and the Morannon Orc with Banner. While not that exciting, they both provide important buffs to army, even if I only ever profited from the Taskmasters ability once. But he did manage to kill a Mirkwood Elf by using his whip as a throwing weapon whilst charging, so I'm really quite happy with him!

Pict 1678: Morannon Orcs (WIP)

The Morannons themselves are not quite done, but I got them to a place where I could put them on the table and not feel bad about it. They have their base colours and a wash applied to them. And as you can see, I have already done their bases. The danger is that I'm now not incentivised to acutally finish them! I will try and finish the details and highlights on them in smaller batches in between other projects. If I can get that done until the end of the year, I'll be happy.

Pict 1679: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Mastodons

Pict 1680: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Mastodons

Pict 1681: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Mastodon Conversion

Switching back to Legions Imperialis, I finished up these two Mastodons. I'm really looking forward to using them in a game sometime soon. I only have four bases of Terminators to fill the converted one. So I might just use them to drive around Leviathans instead.

Pict 1682: Legions Imperialis Scimitar Jetbikes (WIP)

I also started to work on my Legions Imperialis Jetbikes to finally add some Vanguard choices to my painted pile. So far, they are still missing the metals to complete the base colours. I think they and the washes should go on rather fast. As I have leared by now, the highlighting will take a bit longer, but I hope to have them finished by mid-december to immediatly put them onto the battlefield!

Pict 1683: Legions Imperialis Predator Destructor Conversions

Lastly I also converted some more Predators for my Legions Imperialis collection. This time in the Destructor configuration with the additional pintle mounted Heavy Bolters. They should provide some good anti-infatry dakka. I used the bits I had left over from the other Predators, a set of Deimos pattern Rhinos and some plastic card. They are not perfect, for example I did not cover up the door details and simply glued the sponsons into side hulls. But once painted up, I'm sure they will look the part. The one pintle marine with the banner will be my Predator Commander and the HQ choice for my armoured company. I magnetised the cuppola to make transporting the miniature easier.

DreadTober Week Three: Decals and Oilwash

Lots of works on progress today as I am plodding along with the two Reavers as well as two new projects in Middle-earth.

Pict 1660: Legio Solaria Reaver Titans (WIP)

Pict 1661: Legio Solaria Reaver Titan magnetised attachments (WIP)

The finish line is in sight! I finished up the trim over two evenings and then spend a further evening only applying the decals. The oilwash is just about dry – drying takes quite a bit longer, now that the temperatures are lower once again. Still, I should be able to varnish them over the next few days and then put in the finishing touches of highlights, battledamage and weathering.

Pict 1662: Legolas (WIP)

I was toying with the idea to go to a MESBG tournament at the start of November. But with about 800 points per army I did not quite know what I would want to play. Messing around with some options with the help of Tabletop Admiral, I landed on two ideas. The first one of them being the Battle of the Five Armies using mainly Iron Hills Dwarves but getting help from borth Beorn and Legolas. Something I had wanted to do for a while now. Especially the Beorn and Dwarves combo – I had painted my Beorn accordingly. But I was missing a Legolas painted with a fitting base and so I went looking for a fitting sculpt. This one, from the Heroes of the West box set is not quite perfect, sporting the Galadhrim bow and cloak he is gifted by Galadriel. But he will do the job! For now, the base colours are done and I hope to finish him in between everything else on my desk right now.

Pict 1663: Morannon Orcs and Mordor Troll Chieftain (WIP)

The other idea revolves around the Black Gate and another Troll Chieftain. But since the army now can no longer take normal Mordor Orcs, I'd have to paint a whole bunch of Morannon Orcs. I'd like to try nonetheless. Both because I think the Morannons should paint up quite fast and in a big group and because I had a great test game with them yesterday. We'll see how far I can get! 

More Orcs, more Blood Angels

Another two weeks that have been quite productive! I finished some Orcs and three Spectres for my Minas Morgul army as well as some more reinforcements for my Legions Imperialis Blood Angels in the form of Tarantulas and the first Legio Solaria Warhound. I also started to work on some more Blood Angels for the Horus Heresy.

Pict 1540: Spectres and Orcs on the Outskirts of Mordor

Pict 1541: Mordor Orcs, Dummer, Captain

Pict 1542: Mordor Orcs, Dummer, Captain

First up I finished two of the lovley metal Orcs with bows as well as a Captain and a Drummer. The latter might no longer be able to double up with a hero's heroric march, but should still allow my Mordor Orcs to cross the battlefield a bit faster. In the one game I used him, I did make the mistake to also count his drumming to affect the Uruk-hai part of my Cirith Ungol army when it only affects Mordor Orcs. Still, he should come in usefull! Next up will have to be the Taskmaster to fill out my toolkit and of course there are still some more poses from the metal sculpts that I have not yet painted.

Pict 1543: Dead Marsh Spectres

Pict 1544: Dead Marsh Spectres

Formerly known as Dead Marsh Spectres, the Spectres are now availiable to a few more lists. I'm really happy to have these painted, since now I will be able to play my normal Orcs as part of Minas Morgul or Angmar army. I might also expand into a full Shadows of Angmar list by painting some more heroes.

Pict 1545: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Tarantulas and Plant the Standart Objective Marker

These little critters were done quite fast after the last post. I'm looking forward to playing them more - they seem to be a cheap way to hold and defend an objective marker in your own deployment zone at least for a while.

I also worked up the courage to do a free hand of an angel on the little banner for my Plant the Standart marker. While it might not be the the best that could be done, I'm happy with the result. Especially considering the size of the surface I had to work with.

Pict 1546: Legio Solaria Warhound Titan on the Prowl

Pict 1547: Legio Solaria Warhound

Pict 1548: Legio Solaria Warhound

Pict 1549: Legio Solaria Warhound

The first Legio Solaria Warhound is done! After the last post there was not to much more to be done, but glazing on a highlight on the red and white panels always helps to elevate the paintjob. I have already prepared the next few Warhounds by de-chaosifying two Legio Mortis engines that I got second hand.

Pict 1550: Blood Angels Lascannon Heavy Support Squad (WIP)

Pict 1551: Blood Angels Drop Pod and Dreadnought Drop Pod (WIP)

Lastly, I also started working on some more 28mm Blood Angels. Once again, there is a tournament approaching at the start of March and I would like to finish a few more things for the 3k list I want to use then. Since it will be an event that leans more towards the competitive side rather than the narrative, I am painting a unit of the dreaded Heavy Support Marines with Lascannons. I also plan to use a Drop Pod to bring my Veterans and a Leviathan into battle as part of a Day of Revelations deepstrike assault. There is still about one month to finish them up and I already feel quite good about them. The basecolours, decals and the oilwash are done. Some highlights on the details will be done quickly. Glazing and weathering the red armour panels is always what takes me the longest.

Hitting the ground running

The first two weeks of the year are always good for my numbers, since I got to finish projects that were already mostly done. I started out with Gríma and the Amon Hen statue head for Middle-earth and then did the final highlights on some more Legions Imperialis Blood Angels. After that I also started some more stuff in these universes with more Orcs, an Ent and two small scale Cerastus Lancers.

Pict 1527: Gríma Wormtongue at Amon Hen?

Pict 1528: Gríma Wormtongue

The first model of this year was this Gríma Wormtongue. Again, the new edition is a great opportunity to find these smaller projects and update my armies. The old sculpt gave me a bit of trouble. Especially the strands of hair in the face made painting the eyes quite difficult. Its nice to finally have this model painted! I even got to play a game with it and I am very impressed with him. It was against the the Army of the Dead including Legolas and Aragorn. Gríma really did a lot to keep these two heroes in check while my Uruk-hai Berserkers cut down the ghosts.

Pict 1529: Amon Hen Statue Head

Pict 1530: Amon Hen Statue Head

After painting the Solstice28 idols at the end of last year, I was in the mood to paint more terrain in the same colours. Combining this with the Middle-earth hype, I finally got to the fallen statue head from Amon Hen. A very cool scene in the movies and a treat to have gotten this simple little piece of terrain made by ForgeWorld. The statue once again painted up fast over a few evenings – really satisfying!

Pict 1531: Legions Imperialis Blood Angels Commanders and Veterans

I am taking part in an escalation campaign of Legions Imperialis in the first few months of this year. An opportunity to get some more stuff painted! During the first stage of the campaign I want to power through the main part of my infantry. The first of them are these four here: two command squads and two bases of Tactical Marines. The latter I build with some special weapons and painted them as Veterans accordingly with golden helmets.

Pict 1532: Procon Vi Cerastus Knights (WIP)

I also had a start on the Knight Household that will accompany my Legio Solaria as well as my Blood Angels. After reading up, I decided on House Procon Vi (having fitting decals on the Solaria transfer sheet certainly helps). The colour scheme is quite simple - mainly steel for the frame and trims, black panels and some blue spot colours - and the base colours went on very quickly. I can see myself painting a lot of these...

Pict 1534: Ent, Orcs and Dead Marsh Spectres (WIP)

I also started to add to my Fangorn collection with this plastic Ent as well as a few more Orcs and Dead Marsh Spectres. The latter will add to my Mordor collection to make it playable as a Minas Morgul list. I love that the Spectres are finally back in Mordor and the list seems quite strong on paper. I'll have to see, once they are done.

Solstice28 Idols

One last post for 2024 – finishing up some more Middle-earth miniatures, that had been unfinished for some time. Also getting to the Solstice28 Icons to do some more terrain!

Pict 1518: Orcs and Wargs

Pict 1519: Solstice28 Icons

Pict 1520: Solstice28 Icons

Since it is that time of the year, I got out the Solstice28 icons sculpted by @4ydra and quickly painted them. They are done in the same way that I had painted for example the Garden of Morr and should fit in nicely on my Realm of Battle board.

Pict 1521: Sharku, Wild Warg Chieftain, Orc Shaman on Warg

These four Wargs / Orcs had also been started this spring and had lain about since then. After finishing the Orcs, I showed of in the last post, I also finished this Wild Warg Chieftain, Orc Shaman on Warg as well as Sharku over a few evenings. The new edition is generally looking quite good and I look forward to adding a dew more pieces here and there to my armies to get them up to speed in the new year!

Pict 1522: Gríma Wormtongue (WIP)

The first of these small additions will be Gríma Wormtongue to slot into my Isengard army. Odd that it should take me this long to paint him up since he performs quite a nice role. But to be honest, I didn't even remember I had this metal sculpt stashed away in one of my boxes...

Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

These past two weeks, I completed the paintjob on the Legio Solaria Warlord. Afterwards, I also finished up a few more projects that had been lying around, some of them for quite some time.

Pict 1503: Legio Solaria Warlord supporting Blood Angels

Pict 1504: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

Pict 1505: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

Pict 1506: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

Pict 1507: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

Pict 1508: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

Pict 1509: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

Pict 1510: Legio Solaria Warlord Titan

That's my first finished Titan – ready to be used in games of Legions Imperialis. Such a great looking model! The little Marines on the base help to sell the scale even more. As you can see from the pictures, the arms are magnetised; the shoulder mounted guns are as well. I can see myself getting some of the more exotic arms made by ForgeWorld. I am also looking at adding in at least some Warhounds and Knights of House Procon Vi to get the collection ready for Adeptus Titanicus as well.

Pict 1511: Mordor Orcs and Warg Riders

Pict 1512: Mordor Orcs

Pict 1513: Warg Riders

With the new edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle game, I also finally finished the remaining four Warg Riders that have been in my box of current projects for over three years now. It feels great to have them finished now. I even got to play a game with them yesterday as part of the new Army of the White Hand. I also took this chance to finish some more Orc Warriors that I had laying around half-finished for a few months. These conversions of Orcs with both spears and shields might not see that much play, however, since the load out has been removed by the new edition.

Pict 1514: Zone Mortalis Reactor Tile

Pict 1515: Zone Mortalis Reactor Tile

Pict 1516: Zone Mortalis Reactor Tile

Pict 1517: Zone Mortalis Reactor Tile

Lastly, I also put the finishing touches on this Zone Mortalis tile, I had started sometime during the summer. I'm quite happy with the result! After the oilwash, I only picked out a few more details and then added the grey weathering powder that I use for my 30k/40k minatures.

With these ones finished, I have managed to hit my goal of painting 100 miniatures this year – just in time for the look back I will do at the start of January!