Last Minis of the Month

 Sculpting Attempting Mark 2 - Lesser Forest Spirit

A Druid providing helpful and friendly instruction

Finished my second attempt at sculpting, this time a lesser forest spirit.  Unlike the Fungoid Shrooms, this sculpt has legs! As before I made a metal armature from paperclips. This armature was more involved than the previous ones with upper branches and hands. 

The metal armature

Again I covered the armature with Milliput to form the bulk of the figure.  The pose is a bit stiff but this I think is a feature of the metal armature I made. Which I will attempt to make more animated next time. Ironically it is also a bit thin! 

The exposed metal parts, I planned to cover with Green Stuff. I made all of the fingers from metal to give them strength but it may have made them too thick. Overall I quite happy with the Milliput stage but I think I need to spend more time on the Green Stuff stage, as some of the fingers/branches are bit misshapen for my liking. 

Tree Spirit alongside a scenic tree for a dryad base

Alongside an Excellent Mark Copplestone Elven Druid

On the Paint Bench at Month End

WIP including a 2nd Forest Spirit

Rob 

Thief in the Night

 Blood Bath at Orcs Drift - Silas Meel

Sneak thief

Like many people I have played through the Blood bath at Orcs Drift. Whilst I bought the scenario pack when it came out I didn't get a chance to play it until a few years ago. Also I am big fan of Gary Chalk's illustrations. 

Silas Meel by Gary Chalk

When I played it I mainly used figures from my Lord of the Rings collection. But I would really like to play it again with figures closer to the ones around at the time. The official miniatures are going for silly money but there are many good alternatives produced by Citadel (and others). So as a bit of an on and off project, I have started collecting suitable alternatives.

Ready to Strike

First up is Silas Meel the half orc spy. He is a C04 Thief from Oct 1984. Labelled as an Assassin. This is another of the miniatures that I had back in the day and rebought a couple of years ago. It is a hefty miniature with sizable amount of lead. 

Rob

Rolling a Double 6

First 100 Views

Well I have finally made it to 100 page views & got my first comment!

It has been interesting to write about wargaming stuff I have been doing. As it has made me think about what projects to take on and has spurred me on to finish stuff that might have otherwise sat on the shelf. Particularly those figures from the Duel mini-projects which have historically sat on the 'To Be Painted' shelf  for years (in some cases decades). 

Onwards to the first 1000 page views...

Completed the first on the wolves for the wild hunt. This is a 'freebie' for the Fae army as these have been in boxes in the loft for at least the last 5 years. So I haven't been counting them against the initial £30 spend I planned for the first phase. Although I have already bought a couple of extra impulse buys after the Prodos games Fae.

Second of the Prodos Games Fae
(Could be  Dryad Linebacker for Bloodbowl)

Rob 

Emerging From the Woods

Army Building in Progress

The Fae of Darkling Wood

With the first unit finished  and the dryads well on the way, I can begin to see the army emerging.  Still need to work out an army list but I may just work one out for WFB 3rd Ed or Fantasy Warriors. Obviously also need some Ents and/or smaller tree spirits. 

Needs some form of standard or focal point

Now I have the four 2x2 bases, the remaining ones will be 1x1 to give me flexibility, but some of them will be non-Dryads to add variety. 

Fox about town

I like the fox as a familiar for one of the wizards. It is actually a wolf but I can't remember  which manufacturer this is from but I bought a small pack of them years ago. The remainder will get used for the Wild Hunt. 

Various sitting a box for years mini's

I still have a pile of wolves to paint but am deciding if I want to paint in 'ghostly' tones or more naturalistic. I have found a nice Spirit animal which would make a interesting unit leader. 

Rob

Old Jack's Fungus Patch

 First Fae Unit Finished

With the completion of the troll, I have now finished Old Jack's Fungoid Shrooms. This has been an interesting project with my first attempts at sculpting and trying to build a unit with a narrative theme. 

Rob 

Triple Points Score

Filled a Bingo Square on a Triple Points Score

Three more bingo squares completed 

Repaint a pre-painted miniature.

Triple points for this one as he is also  part of my Duel No 4  mini-challenge and I have decided to use him in my Fungoid Shrooms unit and he is the last one so finishes off the first unit.  I think I need to buy some matt varnish as the inks are bit too shiny for my liking. But he fits in nicely with the Shrooms. 

Buy a model and paint it within 48 hours.

Bought a set of Prodos games Fae on eBay, it was a bit of an impulse buy because I liked this figure in particular from the set of 6. I hadn't heard of Prodos Games before but a friend informed me that they have a very chequered past with Kick Starters. This is the first resin figures I have bought and was surprised how light they were even compared to plastics. Very nicely sculpted and a crisply cast.  

Make something for your hobby that’s not for the battlefield. (Cut foam trays display shelves, a paint rack etc.)

Like many my paints have lived in a box for over twenty years however as I started painting again quite I started to acquire a few more and finding the one wanted was becoming a chore. So 30 minutes, a glue gun, a trusty Stanley knife and a sheet of A3 foam card  produced a paint stand. As you an see I still use a wide range of paints from broad period of time. 

Rob 

Let me Think About It

 'Hey Ho' Tom's On His Way

Tom Sees off a Couple of Barrow Wights

Sometimes it can help to leave a figure for a while. I first painted the classic Citadel Tom Bombadil Figure last summer as I was starting painting again. But was never really happy with the final result. So he has sat on the shelf just in the corner of my eye. So I finally decided to have a go at 'improving' him.  

Mark 1 Finish - Not a Great photo!

One of the biggest changes is that I have started using new paints such as Citadels new inks. Rather than thinned down normal paints for washes. I have to say the results are much better. So I was able to wash over the original browns and greens. However I didn't have any blue so I did resort to my trusty blue wash from Grenadier which is now over 20 years old!

Last of the few with over 20 years service

I also have a number of better brushes and was able to paint the eyes which I think makes a great difference. Also back to the traditional black for the slotta base rather than the dark brown common for Lord of the Rings figures.  He will also make a great addition to the Fae army as hedge wizard. 

Tom after 'Improvements' 

Rob 

Measure Once...

 Or Do the job Twice

Just getting ready to start painting the movement tray for the Fungoid Shrooms. When I thought I just fit all of the mini's to see how they looked ranked up. However I realised that the tray was only about 98mm wide instead of 101mm.  After double checking everything this left two choices cut the bases of the remaining figures down or remake the tray.  It didn't take long to realise remaking the tray was the right choice. 

Finished the first two multi-bases of the Dryads. The idea is that I will do four 2x2 bases and four 1x1 bases. That way I can continue remove casualties for games like Fantasy Warriors / Warhammer but get some of the cohesive look from multibasing. 

Dryads face off against the Hobgoblins

Furious Charge!

Rob

Duel No. 3 - Get OFF My Land Part 2

Citadel C11 pre-Slotta Halfling

This is the mid-eighties Citadel halfling. A nice little figure before the Citadel halflings tipped in parody of themselves. Only saved when the Lord of the Rings figures came out 2000's. 

Original Picture from the 1984 Advert

This duel was all about the halfling attempting to steal vegetables from the nearby dwarven farmer. Its hard to think Citadel making figures like these today. Perhaps its still a nod to their role playing roots at this stage. Creating characters which are not elite fighting heroes or just cannon fodder. 

Leave my carrots alone!

The next duel was put together because I was cleaning some old figures for my Fae army and decided clean a couple of figures which have been waiting for a while. The Lone Wolf  Bandit is another figures which I bought pre-painted and the other is a C20 Troll. Named Shakined Bone Bender which is the figure I have decided to repaint for my Wargames bingo. The troll I painted about fifteen years ago and have never been happy with the look. So seemed a good choice for repainting.

Rob

Old Jack in the Shade

 Background to the Fungoid Shrooms of Darkling Forest

Old Jack & his Offspring

‘Old Jack of the Shade is malign spirit living in shady hollows near the edge of the wood. Unwary travellers will see an inviting fire and the sound of friendly laughter at dusk. As they venture closer seeking rest, they can’t get a clear view until they enter the hollow. Once they enter the hollow, they are drugged by Jack’s hallucinogenic spores.

Old Jack takes the form a large sentient toadstool with the skeletons of unwary travellers around his base. Whilst he is too old to move much, his helpers ensure his ‘guests’ never leave.  Adventurers might seek Old Jack because of his deep knowledge of the woods and the gold from previous victims. Old Jack has fondness for strong liquor so may be bribed to let the odd traveller escape.

Trolls can often be found in the company of Old Jack as they have much in common and Jack doesn’t mind in a Troll has a quick snack on an occasional Mushling.’

Having finished the first group I am thinking to expand this unit up to twenty. Whilst paint stripping an old C20 troll, I realised he would be  a good fit for this bunch. So I decided to increase this unit. In line with the background I added previous hapless adventurers and gold coins to represent lost booty.

Old Jack

Spore Zombie

Mushlings

Rob 

Magic Mushrooms

 Or Having a go at Sculpting

One of my aims for the Fae army was to create some interesting and different units. Also to try and stretch my skills a bit.  After seeing a number of different Fungi-men from different manufacturers I thought would have a go at trying to sculpt a few for myself. 

First Finished Fungoid Shroom

I haven't attempted to sculpt any figures before but my thinking is the Fungi-men (or Fungoid Shrooms as I have taken to call them) is that they don't have a particularly refined humanoid anatomy and I have gained some experience in sculpting faces from the Oldhammer shields.

a.k.a. Baby Tooth

The 'body' was base coated with a light contrast brown with off white dry brushing. I am pleased how it has picked out the texture which was created with an old toothbrush directly on the Milliput. 

Step 1 - Basic Construction. They started life as a paperclip armature and washers stuck to the bases. I used Hot melt glue mainly because I am not patient enough for epoxy glue to dry and it does provide a nice strong bond. 

In front - A Spore zombie based on a Kings of War Spectre / Scarecrow

Step 2 Milliput Basic Sculpting - In an effort to save Green Stuff, I used Milliput to sculpt the bodies and  then used the Green Stuff to sculpt the detail. 

First Batch sculpted with Milliput

I used a pair of arms from an old Genestealer for the arms of the Boss Shroom (Old Jack) and left a bit of wire free on the other one to add a spear which I made from several lengths of twisted wire and a very small stone. I raided the bits box for a few scenic items including one of the awfully fiddly skeletons (see previous post - Bloody Skeleton's feet). Plus added some gold coins made from very small discs cut from a plastic rod.  

Step 3 - Green Stuff Detailing

I Forgot to photograph them before undercoating!

As you can see I added another rank which boosts them up to a unit of 12. Overall it has cost me a couple of quid for the plastics and a bit of Milliput/Green Stuff but I have a nice little unit. I may try and add a few more and I quite like the idea of bodyguard of spore zombies. 

One painted the rest left to go.

Rob 

Duel No.3 - Get OFF my Land

And Leave my carrots Alone! 

Finished off the Dwarf Farmer. These are one of those mini's that I painted back in the 80's?  I don't ever remember finishing him and subsequently re-bought a couple of years ago and then he sat on a shelf. The original was lost long ago...

Ironically the veg patch is part of a scenery set I put together for a short Scouring of the Shire campaign I did a couple of years ago.

Rob

Wargames Bingo in March 2021

 Come in Number 6 Your Time is Up!

Managed to complete another three squares in March. Bringing the total to six. 

Add a new unit to your army and paint it completely before using it on the battlefield.

To be honest I could have completed this square with any of the units from the Chaos Undivided army. However I have chosen the Hobgoblin unit as I don't plan to add any figures to this unit in the near future. Plus I like having Chaos Champion lead this unit.

Paint a model for an army that you don’t already collect or play (This might be the first model in a new army).

Well I have decided to start a new army and this is the first figure. So I think this pretty much qualifies.

Sculpt something on a model. (A fur cloak, shield icon, fire, hair etc. Just use putty for more than gap filling).

Again I think I can cover this square with a couple of different choices but I will choose the Chaos Cultists as I swapped the heads and sculpted the hoods from Green Stuff. I also sculpted a Skull Shield for the leader. I may even get round to making the shields for the others!

Skull Shield Green Stuff Master

Rob