Umber Hulk Smash!

Well, this week I finished the experiment on what happens when a gorilla and a beetle really like each other: You get an Umber Hulk. And after that I got to do something for Middle-earth as well.

Pict 683: Umber Hulk

Pict 684: Umber Hulk

Pict 685: Umber Hulk

I started painting this Umber Hulk back in January and it really good to have him finished. He sat there sulking on my desk to whole time and finally I took heart and finished him. I had two things that were bugging me about him: I didn't blend the base and I felt like the armourplates looked like one big jumble without differentiation. The first problem was easily fixed with simply a new layer but the armour plates were more difficult. In the end I went with a slightly more pinkish tone on the parts that seemed more exposed and with the bright orange eyes, I think the creature came together all right.

Pict 686: Arnor and Rangers (WIP)

And here are the rangers from last week with some paint added. The miniatures went right on top of my queue after converting them and I look forward to playing some more battle companies with them. To that end, I also pulled out the remainder of my Arnor and got them the same treatment as the Rangers of the North.

More Critical Role Miniatures and New Projects

These past two weeks were I didn't have that much time for the hobby. I however managed to paint two more miniatures from Steamforged Games' line of Critical Role miniatures. After that I started the work on some more stuff for my Haqqislam and while that was going on, my Made-To-Order models from the latest batch of Middle-earth miniatures arrived and I got to building.

Pict 679: Calianna, Kashaw

Pict 680: Calianna, Kashaw

Here are the two miniatures I finished: Calianna of whom I showed a work in progress in my last post and Kashaw, the next one down the line in my set of Critical Role miniatures. I liked putting in the pink bows in Calianna's hair to contrast the greens and browns of her clothing, but I'm not that happy with how her skin turned out. My Pallid Wych Flesh seems to have very big chunks of pigment in it so that the skin doesn't look as smooth as it could. With Kashaw, I liked the bronze armour - I find mixing different metallics together great fun to get a somewhat tarnished look.

Pict 681: Ragik, Muyib, Al Fasid, Djanbazan Hacker, Djanbazan, Hafza (WIP)

Here is the next leg in my Haqqislam journey. These six I wanted to paint because, I liked the models not since I'll be using them in an upcoming game. I managed to put down the basecolours and washes rather quickly and without getting overwhelmed by the sameness. I hope to finish them up during the next week and the getting on with other stuff again.

Pict 682: Rangers of the North (Conversion)

And lastly here are some Ranges of the North, that I ordered via GW's Made-To-Otder programm. I really like the opportunity to get some models I didn't get the first time they were around. And since I didn't pay an arm and a leg for them on eBay, I can justify to convert them a bit to make six unique poses. I especially like the fourth guy in the row - after removing the spear I gave him the sword of a Rohan Warrior while the left arm is a leftover from a Lindir-conversion.

He's Captain Haqqislam!

Since I'm playing the next Infinity league day today, I painted up a few more miniatures for my Haqqislam, among them Tarik Mansuri, Khawariij Amir, Captain Haqqislam.

Pict 672: Tarik Mansuri, Khawarij Amir, Captain Haqqislam

Pict 673: Tarik Mansuri, Khawarij Amir, Captain Haqqislam

"We can rebuild him, we have the technology!" Surely that's what the Akhbar Doctors said when they started working on Tarik. This miniature has a cool pose and I'm looking forward to using him in my games today. Just looking at the stats and reading a bit online, he seem so be a hard hitter but maybe also a bit fragile. I went for a brighter red on the turban to make him stand out a bit more and I think that will be the way I go about when painting Khawarijs in the future. The face again was a joy to paint - Corvus Belli relly knows their business (also, I think he looks somewhat like Joe Manganiello - might be a good casting?).

Pict 674: Hassassin Muyib (HRL), Hazmat HVT, Al Hawwa' (AHD)

Pict 675: Hassassin Muyib (HRL), Hazmat HVT, Al Hawwa' (AHD)

I also wanted to play with some different assets like the Muyib with heavy rocket launcher and the Al Hawwa with assault hacking device. They painted up quick enough - I really have the recipe down now and can go through the stages rather quick. The problem then becomes that the process is rather monotone and I quickly want to paint other colors.
I also painted up the Hazmat HVT from the fith Dire Foes box. For now she's going to be used in the intended way. But if I ever get myself (or when?) a Maghariba Guard, the miniature may see use as the pilot. And as with Tarik, I really love the face!

Pict 676: Vanessa Cyndrial

Pict 677: Vanessa Cyndrial

And here is a bit of a respite from all that time in the desert of Bourak: With Vanessa Cyndrial, I complete the third miniature from CR. I still the others that were released in resin and I hope to finish them up before the Kickstarter arrives (hopefully) next month. And to get even closer to that goal, I put the base colours on the half-elf / half-dragon Calianna.

Pict 678: Calianna (WIP)

Graz'zt, The Dark Prince, Demon Lord of the Abyss

For my post this week I had to do something special, because with this first photo I'll be hitting pict number 666! Of course I had to search for a devil to paint up. I found Graz'zt who is technically a Demon and not a Devil in the D&D cosmology, but with his horns he looks devilishly enough.

Pict 666: Graz'zt, The Dark Prince

Pict 667: Graz'zt, The Dark Prince

Pict 668: Graz'zt, The Dark Prince

And here he is: Graz'zt the Dark Prince. I really liked painting another Demon Lord and just with Zuggtmoy, I tried something new here. There is a great painting tutorial by GaleForce 9 themselves and it features a freehand on his skirt. I simplyfied the design, but went for it nonetheless. It looks cool, but I sure need to do this more often to feel more comfortable with the technique.

Pict 669: Naergoth Bladelord

Pict 670: Naergoth Bladelord

After I had finished Graz'zt I found some time to do the highlighting on Naergoth Bladelord here, whom I had started two weeks back since he came in a set with Rath Modar. The skin was an experiment, since I started from a base of Genestealer Purple (as you can see at the bottom of this post). I then highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Genestealer Purple and Rakarth Flesh and finished it up with pure Rakarth Flesh. I like the effect I was able to achive, but I don't know where I ever use this method again.

Pict 671:Vanessa Cyndrial (WIP)

And lastly here ist a quick WIP of Vanessa Cyndrial, another miniature from the Critical Role universe. I'm always on the lookout for cool Tiefling miniatures and this one could almost be used in a modern setting with the cool pose and the trenchcoat.

The last member of the Fellowship of the Ring

Only a quick update today since I did not have to much time to paint this week. But I managed to paint the last missing member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Pict 664: Bill the Pony

At least since I painted the Balin's tomb Diorama last year, I had a version of almost all of the heroes of the Fellowship. But the one miniature I was missing from the list was the humble Bill the Pony. I painted him less with the Middle-earth SBG in mind however but as a beast of burden for my Pathfinder character (he's so weak!).

Pict 665: Kiri (Critical Role)

After that I also finished up Kiri the Tengu from Critical Role. She reallly has huge eyes and I had to look at a few birdeyes before I knew what I wanted to do with them. I'm happy with they turned out but the big pupils are of a bit more comical style than I usually paint.

RPG Miniatures and a few Rohan additions

This week I have to show some more models that I painted for the Middle-earth tournament. Since they were painted after I wrote last weeks post but before the weekend, I had some more time this week to get to some RPG miniatures.

Pict 653: The Necromancer and Twilight Ringwraiths in the Mists

But first, I also had the chance to play with some dry ice and take nice pictures of my miniatures in order to make a new header for this very blog. I pretty happy with the mood they evoke and you can see the result above.

Pict 654: Rath Modar

Pict 655: Rath Modar

On wednesday I got the chance to play in a Westmarches campaign unsing the Pathfinder rules with cap at sixth level. I really love the miniature and thus couldn't bring myself to try and do some OSL. I think it wouldn't really work anyways because the robes are mostly red themselves. I experimented with the shadows however and didn't use to many washes but mixed in some green in with the orange to enhance the orange with the complementary colour.

Pict 656: Rohan Royal Guard

Pict 657: Rohan Royal Guard

Pict 658: Riders of Rohan Dismounts

Pict 659: Riders of Rohan Dismounts

These here are the last few additions I wanted to get to for my Rohan army. They consist of the Royal Guard on foot I used for Déorwine on foot, five more dismounts for my Riders of Rohan. They were done quite fast and I think I could do better, but they will do.

Pict 660: Meriadoc Brandybock, Knight of the Mark (Death of the Witchking)

661: Meriadoc Brandybock, Knight of the Mark (Death of the Witchking)

Pict 662: Death of the Witchking

While I had the paints out, I also did Merry from the Fall of the Witchking diorama. He is quite cool, but since Dernhelm carries Merry with Shield as a passenger he didn't quite fit and I used an older model. I also took a photo of the diorama put together to show how they look right now - I might have to build a base for the three of them to really make it come together.

Pict 663: Naergoth Bladelord and Kiri (WIP)

Lastly here are two more works in progress that I want to use with RPGs. The one on the left is Naergoth Bladelord, coming from the same boxset as Rath Modar and himself a cultists of Tiamat. The one on the right is the sweet little Tengu-child Kiri from Critical Role made by Steam Forged Games. The skin colour for Naergoth might be a bit odd for now, but I hope it will turn out well with the highlights.

Théoden's Army taking to the fields of the Pelennor once more

This week I'm off to a large Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game tournament. And because I still needed some more Rohirrim, I finished the seven Riders I had started a few weeks back. I also finished the fourth Ghazi and then went on to some more miniatures that I might want to use at the tournament

Pict 644: Théoden's Army

Pict 645: Bolg's Army

Pict 646: Riders of Rohan

Pict 647: Riders of Rohan

These Riders still had to get their washes done and then were missing the highlights and detailing. The washes went on fast enough and I managed to blast through the highlights by batchpainting them one colour at a time. The first pictures here show the armies I took to the tournament: Théoden, Éomer, Dernhelm and Déorwine with a bunch of riders on the good side and Bolg, Yazneg, Fimul and Narzug with even more Hunter Orcs.
I also magnetised all of the bases with neodymium magnets so that I was able to easily transport them to the tournament and in between games.

Pict 648: Ghazi Muttawi'ah

Pict 649: Ghazi Muttawi'ah

This last Ghazi was pretty much done last week, but I didn't have it in me to finish her in time for the post. On monday I only had to do the bright armour and the black parts as well as the base and the glow. Finally I also marked the arc where the miniature is looking. Usually I like my bases to be a solid colour but for gaming purposes this makes things a lot easier. Thankfully all of that went pretty fast so that I could focus on the Rorhirrim the rest of the week.

Pict 650: Éowyn (Fall of the Witchking)

Pict 651: Éowyn (Fall of the Witchking)

Speaking of Rohan, here is an other Éowyn I painted up quickly. I wanted to play Dernhelm but the model was not released in time to paint up for this weekend. Thankfully the organiseres were kind enough to allow me to use the normal Éowyn on horseback as Dernhelm but I then wanted to have the correct model on foot. This one is from the 'Fate of the Witch-king' Diorama and fit the bill perfectly.

Pict 652: Royal Guard (WIP)

Lastly here is a WIP of a Rohan Royal Guard on foot. I wanted to finish this one because I played Déorwine, Chief of the King's Knights - his model is also not yet released. I used a converted Háma on horseback as the mounted version but that wouldn't do for the one on foot. Obviously he is missing the highlights at the time of writing but I hope to have him finished in time.