Trollsday Tidy Up

 Another Troll Tidied Up

Balin the troll slayer

This Bob Olley marsh troll by Reaper has been on my redo list for some time as I have never been happy with finished result. But at the time I couldn't work out how I wanted to improve him. In the end it was a mixture of adding detail to key points such as the fish and cloth plus redoing the base in a much more overgrown way. It was also a chance to use the new vallejo water texture. I may add a few more layers later (three layers done in the pictures). 

Bob Olley is a bit of a Marmite sculptor but this is a cracking sculpt with a very nice folklore feel to this troll. Without any of the comic overtones usually found in troll models. 

Before 1

Before 2

After 1

After 2

The white bird mark was an accident but I thought added to the organic feel of the base, so I kept it. 

After 3

Trying Stuff

After reading a bit about taking care of brushes, I decided to buy some brush cleaner. Now I am not sure how much difference it will make but I certainly managed to get a good deal of crap out of even dry brushes. And the brushes seemed to hold their points better after cleaning. So, now we will see how much improvement this brush cleaner makes in keeping the brushes in service. In case you are wondering the vegan brush cleaner was the cheapest one on Amazon UK. 

And on a grumpy old git point, why tell me its a 100% vegan because if it wasn't 100% then it couldn't be vegan anyway!

Dirty, dirty brushes not anymore

Also, some vallejo water texture arrived today, so this major obviously played a part on which troll got tidied up today! As we all like to play with the new stuff. 

My precious

On the Paint Bench

As I started the next group of miniatures, I was struck by the over forty year range of miniatures currently in progress. From the 70's Ral Partha high elf to 2010's Citadel Thorin with a pleasant stop in the 90s for some classic Oldhammer figures. 

Something for all ages

Rob 

Wood Elf Army Themes & Testers

Not Many Wood Elves in a Post About Wood Elves

All six test painted revenants

I am most of the way through collecting the wood elf army. And so far, I have managed to stick to my main aim which was a 90's inspired metal wood elf army. I have managed to get a mixture of 90's and sculpted in the 90's figures.  And I plan on adding another couple of different ranges and probably a few more eBay purchases to finish this first phase off. Pictures to follow when I get round to it. 

The best one!

One of the remaining challenges is the wood elf cavalry.  The Elven Lords are a more heavily armoured and armed cavalry unit than the traditional wood elf cavalry figures (particularly the ex-Grenadier miniatures that I am planning on using). Which look a bit  like scouts or light cavalry at best.? I did think about using either the high elf or dark elf models but not really sold on the idea at the moment. However, I quite like the conversions done by Iron Mitten on his blog. The Elven Lords will need to be armed with lances and could be up-armoured with green stuff.

Finally a wood elf in a wood elf article.

So now on to painting. I am sticking to the pale skin colours I used with the Fae and  have been trying out different colour schemes on these revenants. I did find an interesting tutorial on the Citadel painting website (Some Citadel Pale Skin type). Used for the new Citadel Sea elf types (?!).  

My first attempts were a bit too pale and had to be darkened down with a coat of Nuln oil to try and up the contrast. But when I followed the instructions from the video (swapping out  Apothecary white contrast paint which is a pale grey for Gryph Charger grey contrast paint) it looked a lot better. In my defence I didn't have any Gryph Charger grey so thought I would try the Apothecary white instead. 

Also not Wood Elves!

My initial thoughts were for a winter themed colour palette with greys, dark blues and greens. With some dark reds as a contrast.  So, I painted up a series of the revenants as a test. These would also make suitable alternates for an Army of the Dead and beef up my small undead force. 

I do plan to continue to use bronze colours without any irons. This makes them look a bit more archaic in design which fits the bronze age look of both the ex-Grenadier and Celtos figures. With bright silver and gold for decorative items.

First attempt at a winter base

I am now wondering about if I want to change this winter theme and mod it a bit. This was the first time I have used the Citadel snow paint and winter looking theme. I am quite happy with the winter bases on these revenants but I also wanted to try a couple of different base schemes as this can really set an army off. Not thinking that I will use any of the test bases as the main theme but might take some elements. 

Some of these would look quite
good in the Fae army

Something for the Year End

Just started to look at all of
my painted figures this year

Rob 

Old & New New Citadel Lord of the Rings

Friday Night Round Up

Painting has definitely slowed this week with only two figures finished. But hopefully quality over quantity. Ok maybe not but I did at least paint something this week. 

Newhammer Dwalin

Dwalin, at your service.

Making steady progress with Dwalin finished (No.11), I will not get the whole company finished by year end like I planned at the beginning of the year but shouldn't be to far off. I decided that they also need a display base. So, this will have to be added to list to finish this project.

Ambushed by warg riders

Old (Hammer) Tom

Finally got round to finishing this mounted version of  Tom Bombadil.  Definitely one of the stranger characters from Lord of the Rings. And shows that you can take a few side turns in a book which is difficult to do in a film. 

“Say rather that the Ring has no power over him. He is his own master. But he cannot alter the Ring itself, nor break its power over others. And now he is withdrawn into a little land, within bounds that he has set, though none can see them, waiting perhaps for a change of days, and he will not step beyond them.”

Tom is master

“Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!

By water, wood and hill, by reed and willow,

By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us!

Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!”

Tom to the rescue

Rob 

Trouble with Trolls

 A Monday Night Monster

Work continues on tidying up my trolls, this time - Grog Stuntycrusher.  Unlike the previous trolls, Grog doesn't have many trophies or snacks. But is a great looking figure in a really dynamic pose.  Ready for a bit of troll diplomacy. 

David the hobbit and a troll called... 

I tried using Carroburg Crimson shade to create a bit of redness around his spots and around the joints to give the impression of a bit of soreness.  Other that that it was a bit of highlighting on the skin and a quick wash on the fur. 

Not surprisingly didn't take long to finish off Saruman's orc. As I only had to sort the base out and paint the shield. This is the only one from the set, I currently have so need to find the other two. Time for a eB*y. 

A nice and simple white hand design. 

Rob 

Friday Painting Round Up

 After this Time for a Beer

Another 80's Aly Morrison high elf. 

The colour shift paint doesn't show up that well in this picture but does look ok when viewed face on. 

Definitely high status noble

What I like about these figures is that every figure is an individual which tons of unique features such as animal skin over the shoulder and the war pick. You can see that the high elves became much plainer in later models. And then finally moved to a very uniformed appearance in the first plastics. 

Two more wood elf test paints. Still not wood elves!

The flesh tones of both revenants were painted in the same way except the one on the left was given an extra wash of Nuln oil to darken the skin. Still don't think I have got the right flesh tones that could be used on the wood elves (but getting closer)  and now thinking I might have work out some woad patterns for their skin. 

Not all orcs are green

I gave the flesh tone some low lights with Carroburg Crimson wash because it looked a bit flat,. Interestingly the wash shows up much more in the photo, so will have to do a bit more blending in. 

ME-42 Orc of the White Hand

Obviously need to add a white hand to this shield. 

Rob 

Getting on With Painting

On the Paint Bench

Managed to finish a few of the items on my paint bench over the last couple of nights during the week. 

Hold Fast Young Peregrin

Latest of the C20 trolls to get a face lift and first of the Oldhammer hobbits to be completed. 

Love his collection of dead heads

Trying out Wood Colour schemes

Starting to think about paint my wood elves but wanted to try out some colour schemes.  The wood elf was painted ages ago, so is a bit brighter than revenant I just finished. I still haven't settled on a skin tone for the elves. It also has got a few revenants painted up. 

Trying Green Stuff's colour shift Paint. 

Bought some of Green Stuff's colour shift paint (Borealis Green), in my excitement I painted it on the first model that came to hand, and it looked rubbish. I then read the instructions and realised that you have to paint it over a black undercoat. Then it looked quite good. But you have to apply very thin coats and so might work better with an airbrush. 

The Brothers Not So Grim 

Finished off Bombur (and his beard), only three dwarves left to paint.

Rob 

Oldhammer C20 Troll Tidy Up

Time for a Quick Make Over

Anyway, why this post. I often find that these trolls make the perfect adversaries for whatever Oldhammer figures I am painting at the moment. When it comes to a quick picture. However, they were painted quite a few years ago and I now think they are beginning to look a bit dated. Certainly, compared to figures painted more recently. But with plenty of other figures to paint, I don't really want to repaint them, and they still have a bit of charm for me. So, I decided that a quick compromise could be reached with a new base and a 30-minute tidy up. 

So, this is the first of the trolls to benefit from such a service. With a limited amount of time, I had to focus on what seemed the most distinctive features which in this case I thought was the face, club and clothing. 

Before 1

Now without a doubt the C20 trolls from which he (Scuttlescree  Soresmeer) came are the best trolls ever. Obviously, in my opinion. I think they mix the right levels of humour and brutal viciousness. Sculpted in 1984 by the Perry twins. Trolls after this time, I think tended much more the comical and lost some of the casual cruelty of these figures. Trolls after all should be something to be scared of.

After 1

After 2

After 3

Bombur escapes the Barrel

After a quick dip in the IPA, Bombur was suitably clean and now back on the painting table. 

Bombur away from the IPA

Rob 

The Terminator & the 5 Minute Paint Job

 I Get Distracted into Little Side Projects

After a couple of false starts, I settled on a 30 mm base made up to look like space hulk decking.  This then led to an in-promptu session to make a couple of wall sections, base board and speed paint job on a genestealer in order to create a quick back drop for photographing the terminator. 

The unseen enemy aboard a Space Hulk

Finished

Having enjoyed painting up this guy, I need to look for some more...

finished with purity seals*

* Just realised that after I took these photos that I need to add a bit text onto the purity seals! Which you can see on the 'action' shots. 

Close up on the base

The base was a thin layer of Milliput textured using the grip pattern on the metal sculpting tools rolled onto the wet Milliput. The card edging strips were added and the rivets were thin slices from a plastic spear plus a genestealer skull from the Citadel skull set. 

5 Minute paint job 

The genestealer was already zenithal highlighted from an earlier attempt at zenithal highlighting, so I just decided to give him a quick going over with some contrast paints.  I have to say he looks much better than I was expecting, and I am beginning to get that you could paint an army like this in a couple of evenings. Ok, no Golden Demon's but good enough for the table. And you could go back and add some more detail / refinement later.  Ironic that the terminator was painted in the exact opposite to the genestealer i.e., slowly and carefully.

Normal Lighting

Orcs in the under hive

Rob 

The Classic Blood Angels Terminator

I'II be Back

So, I went with a classic Blood Angels terminator, for this figure. Which brings back happy memories of terminators being stalked whilst investigating derelict space hulks. The first edition Space Hulk game which I had, was (is) one of GW best games. As the saying goes, simple to play but difficult to master. And we had many tense games as the terminators tried to complete their missions.  The biggest flaw in the game is that everyone wanted to play the terminators but still a classic. 

Not a lot of time this week to paint but I have made steady progress on this figure. I still need to add some purity seals and work out how I want the base to look. 

For the Emperor

I still like this figure; he may not have of the dynamic movement of current terminators but looks solid in his service to the Emperor.  The only feature I am not keen on is the storm bolter which is a bit too flat. But at least it gives opportunity to paint some detail on to it. 

Hazard stripes to be added to the power fist.

Purity seals needed against foul Xenos

Rob