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.

Minsc, the beloved Ranger and his fearless companion Boo!

At long last I had some time to relax while painting. I got to some inividual miniatures such as the amazing Minsc and Boo as well as Boromir and Gimli - the remainder of the fellowship. After that I started a big project I'll try and finish over my summer vacation.

Pict 475: Minsc & Boo

Pict 476: Minsc & Boo

Pict 477: Minsc & Boo

 As soon as I saw that Gale Force Nine would release a miniature for Minsc and Boo, I wanted to get and paint it. They are some of the best companios not only in the Baldur's Gate series but in any videogame and recently had a run in the D&D comics as well. I went with the aesthetic of the comics and I'm pretty happy with the different purples on them.

"Go for the eyes, Boo!"

Pict 478: Boromir

Pict 479: Boromir

Pict 480: Gimli

Pict 481: Gimli

And here are two more heroes. This time it's more for the Middle Earth SBG. With Boromir and Gimli done, I'll have to get to the diorama base soon. They were quite pleasing to paint - the sculpts from 17 years ago do show some age, but still hold up nicely. Strangely enough I had already painted at least one of each of the Fellowship but  Boromir, so that I had the pleasure to collect source material (i.e. watch the Fellowship movie) to get a feel for the colours.

Pict 482: Gants and Gaunts (WIP)

And lastly here is the start of my next big project. The last remnats of grey Tyranids will have to succumb to my brush this summer. Right now all the skin parts are mostly done with serveral layers of drybrushing to get my usual effect. Next up will be carapace and claws - the black always takes to longest, so I'll break up the 35 critters into smaller chunks as to not wear me out.

Zuggtmoy the Demon Queen of Fungi

Things are slowing down with the real-life and the heat taking my time and energy to paint away. But I found the time to paint another miniature from the Dungeons and Dragons Collector's Series: Zuggtmoy, the Demon Queen of Fungi.

Pict 471: Zuggtmoy, Demon Queen of Fungi

Pict 472: Zuggtmoy, Demon Queen of Fungi

Pict 473: Zuggtmoy, Demon Queen of Fungi

Pict 474: Zuggtmoy, Demon Queen of Fungi

I tried to emulate the colours of the oficial art of Zuggtmoy's monster entry. I really enjoyed painting with the vibrant colours and blended them wet on the miniature - something I usually don't try. Here, it seved as a great foundation to built on with serveral layers of washes and other diluted paints. After that I only had to pick out the details like the eyes and the shelf-like fungi and lighter patches.

Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin (and a Bloodhawk)

This week saw the completion of the four Hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. I also painted one more miniature from the Diablo II line.

Pict 467: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin

Pict 468: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin

The Halflings were a quick paint since the colors were already decided upon and I only had to do the highlights. As ever the faces proved to be difficult and the impending end of my usual detail brush's  life, didn't help that either. I like them a litte more colourful than my usual Hobbits esspecially Pippin since he's from a rich family and sould be able to afford the red dye for his cloak. Having one colour for each also makes it easier to distinguish them during play.

Pict 469: Bloodhawk (Diablo II)

Pict 470: Bloodhawk (Diablo II)

I also went ahead and painted this Bloodhawk. He's a neat little miniature with his devil-face instead of a bird's beak and I'm pretty happy whith the reds on his wings. Other than that I didn't have to much time, so that other projects that came along are not even ready for WIP pictures.

More D&D Monsters and Adventurous Hobbits

Riding the wave of D&D miniatures, I finished some more monsters for my menagerie: one Diablo II Goat Demon and two Displacer Beasts by WizKids. I also got started on the four Hobbits in Balin's tomb.

Pict 461: D&D Monsters

Pict 462: Goat Demon

Pict 463: Goat Demon

Pict 464: Goat Demon

I wanted this Goat Demon to be different from the Beastmen I have and thus opted for black fur. I'm rather happy with the contrast between these dark areas and the lighter skin. The demon is part of the same set of Diablo II monsters as the skeleton I painted in march. The complete set consists of only four more, so maybe I'll try and complete it within the next few weeks?

Pict 465: Displacer Beast

These two were rather quick to paint since the main area is simply black, highlighted with a very dark blue-gray. The casts themselves are ok, but you could improve them by smoothing out the seams where different parst meet - and you do have to clean up quite a few moldlines. But they are alright as gaming pieces and with the paint and bases, they are ready for some action.

Pict 466: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin (WIP)

Lastly I made a start on the Hobbits from the original fellowship for the Balin's tomb display. I have put down the main colours and washes and after they have dried, I hope to get some highlights and details on them today as well.

More Gnolls and Revisiting my New Year's Resolutions

This week's progress consists of two more Gnoll Warriors. I started them when I did the one last week, but then they were not far enough along to warrant a picture. I kept the coulors pretty much the same as before but these miniatures by WizKids do stand out since they are bigger.

Pict 454: Gnoll Warriors

Besides that: With this week, half of the year is over I wanted to take the opportunity to check in on my New Year's resolutions. I know that I didn't get to all and I hope this post will maybe help me to priotise them. At the start of the year I wanted to get to a few of last year's projets: the Tyranids, the Iron Hills Dwarves and the Hunter Orcs.

Pict 455: Tyranids

Pict 456: Iron Hills Dwarves

Pict 457: Hunter Orcs (WIP)

I'll count the Tyranids and the Iron Hills as sucesses, but I'll still have to finish twentyfour Hunter Orcs on foot and five mounted on Fell Wargs. I also still have a whole bunch of Termagants in a box and I'd be happy to get to them in the second part of the year but I don't see them as a necessity.

Pict 458: White Council in Dol Goldur

Pict 459: The Fellowship in Balin's Tomb (WIP)

The dioramas however will have to be finished. The White Council in Dol Guldur was completed at the end of May but Balin's Tomb still looks way to pale. At least I finished Aragorn; but Boromir, Gimli, the Hobbits and the base itself are still left to do.

Pict 460: Hobbit Archers

Lastly I spoke of plans to put together a Battle Company of Hobbits. I'm not sure if I still want to do those now that I completed the Arnor company. I think an evil force might be more interesting... But I guess my fancy will take me to new and different projects anyway.

Something's breaking through the Trees!

I had this particular Dragon standing on the back of my desk for some years now and with the Carmine Dragon screaming to be painted, I decided I really should finish the green one first.

Pict 445: Breaking through the Trees

Pict 446: Forest Dragon

Pict 447: Forest Dragon

Pict 448: Forest Dragon

Pict 449: Forest Dragon (Head)

It wasn't that much work to get him finished, but I never got around to it. Since he's got very large flat areas he was one of the first miniatures I tried my hand at wet-blending. The result wasn't the greatest which discouraged me at the time. Now, more than four years later, I only had to higlight the greens and get to the details like the horns and teeth.I'm pretty happy with the result as it stands but of course the blends could be better in some places. Thankfully the Carmine Dragon has more sculpted detail so that the big surfaces are broken up and will be easier to paint.
The miniature will most likely see play as an Adult Green Dragon in D&D, but if I'm ever able to play a Storm of Magic game I'll be happy to field him. Originally I had planned to do a conversion of Naestra and Arahan to ride the beast but right now I like the classic model for them better.

Pict 450: Gnoll Warrior

Pict 451: Gnoll Warrior

Pict 452: Gnoll Warrior

Pict 453: Gnoll Warrior

The second figure I painted this week is this Gnoll Warrior. He's the last piece of my Illithid Raiding Party set. The cast is quite detailed but in some spaces I had to resculpt parts after the fragile pieces had come loose when washing the moldrelease of. I used the picture in the 5th edition Monster Manual as a guideline - it's virtually the same Gnoll - and I liked how they introduced the red cloth as a splash of colour. I then added some verdigris to the bronze in order to contrast the red.