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 

The Defenders of Kachas Pass

 Wood Elf Captain - Erdolas Thringal

The latest elf painted is who is also C08 high elf but is named as Erdolas Thringal, the wood elf captain at Kachas Pass guard. From Blood bath at Orcs Drift fame. Another very nice mini by Aly Morrison and who will act as the commander of the archer unit in my high elf army. 

Erdolas Thringal leads the wood elves of Kachas Pass 

against the Vile Rune orcs.

Thringal by Gary Chalk 

(Copyright Games Workshop)

Not sure which came first the drawing or the mini but they are a pretty good match. 

Mark 1 Captain Thringal taking on the Vile Rune Orcs. 

Rob 

Return to Orcs Drift

Captain of Elf Guard at Orc's Drift

In between painting up Magua from Last of the Mohicans, I also found time to finish of Brommedir. Captain of the Elf Guard at Orcs Drift

Obviously had to include the excellent picture of Brommedir from the Orcs Drift boxed set by Gary Chalk. The character of Brommedir had a special instruction during the final scenario which is pretend to be deaf and make the Dwarven commander repeat any commands. Just to wind him/her up!

Copyright Games Workshop

Brommedir alongside some contemporary high elves.

I popped these two figures in this post, because I was impressed by the smoothness of the zenithal highlights and they fit the Oldhammer theme.  It might be a fairly basic airbrush but the results are pretty good. 

And finally got round to working on Bilbo, from the Hobbits of the Shire set. Some figures seem to almost paint themselves. This is not one of those miniatures. I couldn't paint one bit without getting paint on another bit!

Rob 

Defending Orcs Drift

 Bertolac - Wounded Hero of the Grand League

Bertolac at Orcs Drift

My Bertolac figure started life as a City Guard from Grenadier’s Fantasy Warriors Fighting Men (Still available from Fornlorn Hope).  When I decided that I wanted to use him as the human hero, a bit of conversion was needed. I decided on him because has a similar looking figure to the one in Gary Chalk’s picture. I did find an original on eBay for £25 but that is about 4-5 times more than I am willing to pay. Now if I could find him for a fiver…

The Mark Copplestone City Guard

With the original 90's paint job

I managed to find a sword arm in my bits box and did a simple  the arm swap.  However, he has a 20-year-old paint job, but I really like the shield design, particularly the chequer board.  So, I decided to repaint him without  stripping the original paint job. If I can find a suitable feather I will add it to the helm later.

Another excellent Gary Chalk Illustration

'Bertolac has removed his armour, but a shield is at hand giving him a saving throw of a 6. He is armed with a sword. He has a light head injury, giving a -1 on all profile characteristics.'

Bertolac lead the Walking Wounded

Holding the Line.

Rob 

Legolas Moonlights at Orc's Drift

 Acceptable in the 80s

I painted up Legolas to use as Fembreth - Elven Warrior of the Grand League (they did have a warped sense of humour at GW in the 80s). One of Ferndale Snart's patients at Orcs Drift. He's not one my favourite figures from the Lord of the Ring's range but he will do a fine job helping Ferndale evacuating the wounded.

Original 80's enamel paint job

It seems to becoming a bit of theme with using original paint schemes as a basis for the updated paint scheme. This is not an original paint scheme by me, but certainly fits the style of painting I was doing back in the late 80s. 

Rob 

Accident & Emergency at Orcs Drift

 Ferndale Snart & Beli

As always there is a fox about town.

Second one from my occasional (grand) plan to complete the Orcs Drift scenario with 80/90s figures. This  time the druid Ferndale Snart and Beli (Dwarven patient suffering from shell shock). I have chosen the excellent Druid from the Talisman range. Again this is a figure I got as a birthday present back in the 80s , lost and rebought a couple of years ago (there seems to be a theme developing here...). The other connection is that this is a figure design based on a drawing by Gary Chalk. 

Gary Chalk - Ferndale at Orcs Drift

The original Gary Chalk Talisman Druid drawing

Ferndale is a druid, hired to carry out medical duties for the army of the Grand Alliance but has a drink problem (this seemed Ok in the 80s). But this is probably a nod to the film Zulu with Jack Hawkins's character Otto Witt - the dunkard priest.  He provides the heavy duty magical support for the beleaguered defenders of Orcs Drift but this comes with a price as he is trying to get his patients away to safety during the course of the scenario and is a pacifist. So only has defensive spells. 

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

DIY SOS Part 2

Finished One!

Finished off refurbishing the farmhouse. I did end up adding more windows (in this case four) which doubled the number of windows from the original build. I also finally added some door handles which have been missing for the last 30 years. The door handles were made from little balls of Milliput which I originally made as eyeballs for the Oldhammer shields which now also are used as small toadstools. An increasingly useful scenic item. 

As this was a tidy up rather than a complete repaint, I left the walls and woodwork alone but did do a bit of dry brushing on the roof tiles. I may go back and add a bit weathering. 

It now looks quite pleasant with the flowers borders around the house. 

Now with added wagon wheels

Rob 

DIY SOS

 DIY SOS

A had a good look at my building collection today, I was planning on using one of them as part of the backdrop for the pictures. They are all looking a bit tatty. They were all made in the mid 90's and most of them are based on the buildings from 'Blood Bath at Orcs Drift'. With the exception of the coaching inn from was a design in White Dwarf. I never got round to making the rest of the coaching inn which had a forge attached, May be a nice future project.

Farmhouse and Coaching Inn

Privy, Watchtower, Cottage & Ruins

I have the barn around somewhere which I need to find.

So they all look like they need a bit of repair and general tidy up. The bases were latter additions to the buildings done by someone else and I have never been very happy with them. So I plan to replace the bases, tidy up the damage on the roofs and add some scenic items around the bases. I may add some additional windows as I obviously had aversion to painting windows at the time I made them and i have always thought they could do some more.  I don't want to repaint them entirely just a tidy up for the next 30 years...