Post 587

White Rider & the Dark Lord

Ironically the 'modern' Gandalf the white 

was painted twenty years before the classic one. 

Ok, quick post tonight before I sit down with a beer. Finished off both the mounted Gandalf and Sauron minis. 

Friday night's delight

Rob 

WIP

Getting Started

Started on the next couple of Oldhammer Lord of the Rings minis, which has become a current obsession. And after purchasing a few more to fill in some of the gaps. Next up is Sauron on his throne and Treebeard. 

I hadn't really looked at the Sauron on his throne mini until I started to paint it. And I realised it is covered in wailing ghost like figures who put me in mind of Hieronymus Bosch. And I was also reminded of the less controlled nature of the design process for 1980s Citadel miniatures. Remember this was the same era when  GW would produce a scantily clad female sorceresses called Samantha Phox*. In fact both are in the same Citadel Compendium. This doesn't seem very 'On message' for today's GW. 

Anyway back to Sauron's throne, I wanted to have dark shadows around the wailing figures, so dry brushed up from black and threw on a load of washes. So, far so good and now need to turn Sauron himself. Who will need some colour added when I get to the obviously black robes. 

*To spare any of my readers an embarrassing internet search, she (is) was a famous topless model in the UK in the 1980s.  But if you feel you must do the internet search then no judgement!

A quick mock up of Treebeard sacking Isengard before he went into the paint stripper. 

Rob 

RIP John Blanche

Just heard that John Blanche died, on the 1st June. 

Obviously the father of the Grimdark style and it is hard pick just one picture but it all started for me with the Warhammer box art.

Rob 

 

Orcs vs. Dwarves

Normal Service is Resumed

Got back to painting this week, with a couple of orcs and my alternative Oldhammer Balin finished. Since I had a couple of extra Mordor and Isengard orcs, I decided paint them up using the paint scheme from the other group. So, the Mordor orcs gained an orc from the White hand and visa versa. 

The orcs settle a theological debate in typical fashion. 

And I also finished the Talisman dwarf who will be acting as Balin in my Oldhammer company of Thorin Oakenshield. 

Rob 

Not Friday Night & Not Beer

Singapore Sling At Raffles Hotel 

Obviously not many posts in the last couple of weeks, as I was away for business in Singapore. But I did manage to sample a few local delights such as a Singapore sling in the famous Raffles bar & hotel.  Which will not be a replacement for a classic Friday night beer but nice for a change. As well as being famous for the Singapore sling, it also famous for chucking the peanut shells on the floor. So, when in Rome...

Normal posting to resume shortly.

Rob 

Bits of Many Projects

No Clear Idea!

So when I sat down this afternoon for a quiet couple of hours. I couldn't quite focus on any one project, so ended spending a little bit of time of several different projects. I had a couple of things nearly finished and didn't have the mental focus to really paint anything too demanding. 

So in no particular order.

Finished off the classic Lord of Rings Easterling. He only really needed a few touch ups and the base doing. So not much to get him done. 

Another ganger for my very slow moving gangs of Rome project. I decided early on that these minis need to have a quick painting style and try to lean into a zenithal painting style . But then my airbrush broke and I haven't quite got restarted properly. Anyway I quite like the 'spotty' appearance of her tunic caused by the airbrush clogging. Which I think adds to scruffy her appearance. 

A Slann way marker which has been sitting on the paint desk since (Colours??) and I still have another two to do. And then one of two Slann might make it back onto the painting queue...

And finally started looking at the dwarves (that I also picked up at Colours??) which I was planning on using for another play through of Blood Bath at Orcs Drift. When I played it a few years ago it was very much with whatever minis I had to hand. And I would like use a few more appropriate minis. These are I think are old Harlequin (?) minis from owner who was selling them cheap.  Because he said he was shutting up shop and selling off all his old stock. 

Right time to sit down and get ready for next week. 

Rob 

Horde of Orcs

As Long as Two Counts as a Horde 

Finished off two of the orcs from ME-51 Orcs of the Red Eye. I have been deliberately painting different skin tones for each of the different sets of Orcs. To be honest these orcs are looking a lot more purple in the pictures compared to real life.  

I started with a black leather (from Scalecolor) had blue tone which is why I moved through to the purple but I thought the Deathclaw brown would offset that. obviously not as much as I thought. But I am ok with the final result.  

Much happier with these eye of Sauron shield designs. I want them to look crude (they are orcs after all) but still have some artistic merit. 

And I have been looking forward to this one, as it is from a small(ish) brewery near to where I used to live. And never disappoints. 

Enjoy the long weekend (if you are in the UK). 

Rob 

Balin Takes a Battering

Time for Choices & Repair

After the new alternative Balin makes it out of the paint stripper. It is time to take a good look at him. And it turns out he has had a tough life. I hadn't noticed he has got a bit crushed at one stage. So, time for a bit of green stuff repair. The broken arm got pinned as I had no intention of putting that in the paint stripper as it would be bound to get lost!

I had a bit of debate about trying to make a new wing for the missing one. But in the end decided it would be good to make him a bit different from the classic Talisman dwarf mini. And painting continues on the Oldhammer orcs. 

Rob 

Painted it Black

More Oldhammer Lord of the Rings Goodies

So, no surprise it didn't take long to finish off the Black Rider when I finally managed to squeeze a painting session over the weekend. And I also got time to finish my Oldhammer Thorin for the start of my alternative Company of Thorin Oakenshield. 

Thorin & Balin tackle goblins of the Misty Mountains

I decided that I wanted to try and stretch my freehand skills a bit by putting the names of each of the dwarves in runes on the bases.  So, after a quick internet search I was able draw up a list of names. 

These feel like very different minis! And how tall does the film version look compared to a classic 28 mm dwarf. 

And I came across a new Badger beer over the weekend - Iron Hart* pale ale (very enjoyable) and had to double check that they were also still doing my favourite - Hopping Hare pale ale. Fortunately still seems readily available (Phew!).

*I wonder if there is a Burrows & Badgers - Iron Hart? 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

Rob 

Paint it Black

 Again with Another Ringwraith

Not a great deal of time for hobbying at the moment with work in general and trips in particular. But at least I am trying a few different beers! And I did manage to paint up Strider. 

Rob 

Alternative Classic 80s Lord of the Rings Miniatures

It is Dangerous (& Expensive) to Think About this for Too Long...

Now, as I was thinking about the range of classic Lord of the Rings miniatures from Citadel in the 1980s and it occurs to me that there are some notable gaps such as Galadriel, Arwen, the company of Thorin, and the goblin king. And this then leads me think are there some alternatives from the 1980s that could be used to fill some of these gaps? 

Galadriel 

This is a bit of tricky one to start as there are no elven magic users from the mid-1980s as Citadel had already transitioned to a wargames focus in the C08 Elven range but they had not yet started to create a range of army characters such as wizards. However, Tom Meier comes to the rescue with Syndil Starsynne who was still available through Citadel in the mid-1980s. Now I had a look on eBay and there are a few about but as part of bigger sets so a likely candidate if I can get hold of one at a reasonable price. 

Goblin King

This is an easy one, there were plenty of interesting goblins in the C12 goblins range including a range of characters that were produced in 1987. So, if I am willing to stretch my rules to this time point then I could include quite a few characters. Citadel lost the rights to Lord of the Rings by 1986? So, I will have to choose a cut off point if I want to keep it 'legal'. Plenty of choice on eBay, so it just about waiting for the ‘right’ one. 

Arwen

Arwen is another tricky one as there aren’t many obvious choices on first inspection. There was a range of pre-slotta warrior maidens from 1983, some of which might fit the bill but by 1985, the only female fighter in the C01 Fighter range definitely does not say Arwen to me!

Not very LotR!

Some of the barbarians from 1986 might have some potential but still look a wild for Arwen. So, may require a bit of greenstuff and chopping. Another option would be the low-level AD&D female fighter. Who actually looks pretty good but is quite niche and is probably quite difficult to get hold of at a reasonable price. One to look out for in future. 

The Company of Thorin Oakenshield

Another easy one to finish off with, while there is an official Thorin mini (Which I already have two of!), none of the rest of the company had a mini. However, there are plenty of useful dwarves in Citadel range at this point. 

And I plan to repair the second excellent Talisman dwarf mini as Balin. 

And Some Final Thoughts

There are still some other obvious gaps such as Bert, Bill and Tom but I can already use some of my favourites from the C20 troll range.  

Tom, Bill & Bert discuss the 'merits' of mutton. 

And Thanks to Stuff of legends & Collecting Citadel Minis wiki for most of the pictures and saving me rooting around the loft for old copies of White Dwarf. 

Rob 

Rescuing Scabby Minis

 One More for the White Hand 

Orcs and Uruk-hai surround Boromir

This time it is one for the orcs of White Hand. I picked him up recently and knew he was scabby but I didn't realise just how scabby until he turned up. However, once I got some paint on him I feel much better about him. 

One scabby orc. 

The problem  with putting all of these minis along side each other. Just highlights how much my painting has moved on since returning to serious painting. And these half-orcs are some my favourite minis from the Oldhammer Lord of the Rings mini range. But now look a bit basic however for now they will escape the paint stripper...

And another thing, I don't understand why these are listed as Half-orcs of Saruman and yet the Uruk-Hai are clearly in the service of Sauron. Surely these should also be Uruk-Hai?

While I had a bit of green stuff left over from gap filling, I upgraded the next EM4 dwarf. I am enjoying thinking about different ways to improve these minis. So, after adding cloaks to the last batch, I decided this chap needed a bit more luxury. So gave him a fur lined cloak and a new breastplate. 

And still working through my stockpile of Hopping Hare on a Friday night. 

Rob