Back to limping

Three more Minas Tirith swordsmen I managed to sit down and slap paint on this weekend. Hopefully this is the start of a more productive painting trend.

What's this thing do??

In case you haven't guessed, I haven't gotten much painted recently. Work has been moderately crazy and I haven't had a lot of energy for projects in my off-hours. The Gondorians are still on the table, though, and I intend to get back to them.

Three more, reporting for duty

(heh, 'duty')

Continuing to work my way through the LOTR Minas Tirith archers. Very simple rack painting. 

Fire!

I finally got the first of the Minas Tirith archers painted. It's not much to look at, but it'll provide a template for the next batch. It was a basic speed paint and wash. All very rank & file.

I also cleared out two more from my Reaper Bones pile. The hydrophobic nature of the resin takes some getting used to, but I love having more gnoll minis almost as much as more orcs.

Finally, there is a Space Marine that has been lingering forever. I was slightly pleased with his power sword, otherwise he is a very average Ultramarine (except for having an actual face to paint).

Apologies for the tint in the images. I used an old camera with sub par lighting.

What?! Minis Painting!?

Apparently that's something I do from time to time.

At least, I used to! The last month or so has been mildly nuts, but I promise I'm going to get some more stuff done. I just restocked a few colors I was getting low on, so my excuse list is dwindling.

I have a Gondorian and a couple of Bones gnolls that are nearly done. I should wrap those up first. After that, I think I will try to alternate between all these Bones and the rest of the Minas Tirith boys.

Flight of the Gondor

I finished the first few of the Minas Tirith soldiers last night. It was a quick and simple paint job, but should do the trick. They still need sealing, though.

(I'm not sure about the ruins piece as a photo prop. I think it's too busy.)

Bones 3: Electric... Christmas Tree?

Or whatever.

ANYway! I pledged for the Bones 3 Kickstarter this AM. So around this time next year I should have another crazy influx of minis. Maybe my goal should be to get through the Bones I have?

Back in Black

So, in keeping with my earlier statement about working on LOTR stuff, I decided the Minas Tirith soldiers were a decent place to start minis-wise.

Originally, I had primed them white, following the whole "prime good guys in white to make the colors brighter" theory. Looking at them again, I realized the black made a lot more sense, since their uniforms are supposed to be black and silver. So I re-primed them all black (less the color scheme test I did a while ago). One of the spearmen had lost its weapon so I pinned a sword to the empty hand. Otherwise, they are pretty much straight out of the box (24 total.  A mix of bows, spears, and swords).

The bases are completely plain, but I figure on doing a simple static grass flocking after they are painted. I know they aren't part of Moria, but they are definitely JRRT.

That's a wrap!

Sealed the gargoyle. Here they all are in their glory:

First up, the forces of Chaos!

Next we have the ever-popular Fimir!

Another crowd-pleaser: The undead!

Let's give a warm WAAGH of applause for your favorite and mine: 

The GREEEEEEEENSSKINNNSS!!!

And rounding things out, the Heroes!!

Let's hear the for the whole crew!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program of LOTR-themed minis and way too many Reaper Bones!

Goyles will be goyles

aaaand done!


The gargoyle is finito! Granted, it still needs sealing, but it's been raining all day here. Maybe tomorrow. After the varnishing, I'll take a pic of the whole set together.

Overall, the piece came out OK. I went for the flame/balrog-y look. I was pretty pleased with the red shading on the wings and the fiery blending on the whip. 

And gnoll for something completely different

Just a Reaper Bones gnoll I knocked out for funsies. I loves me hordes of gnollses!

(Chaos) Sorcerer Supreme

Complete with the "Eye of Chaos" on his helmet! 

(Don't leave your evil tower without it!™)

Spray & Pray

No painting, but the humidity dropped to below 70%, so I got to seal the HQ greenskins. Hopefully the varnish sets up OK. As per my SOP, I used a layer of gloss for a hard shell followed later by a layer of Matte to kill the shine.

Gobbo Gobbo! GOBBOS!

No, not "Gabbo!"

Gobbos!

Okay, it was a lame pun.

Anyway, the Heroquest goblins are completed. It's still WAY too humid to spray seal minis, though. Next up, I think I'll work on the necromancer.

Orcs x 8

All the HeroQuest orcs are finished! I still need to seal them. Just 3 goblins, the necromancer, and gargoyle-boy to go!

Moar Orcses!

Is moar betterer!

They follow the color scheme I set up before. I still need to clean up a couple spots the wash made and seal them.

Some progress

I painted two orcs last night (morning stars). I left them with the wash drying. I'll take some pix and post them tonight. The weather here has been cool and wet, so varnishing may have to wait.

Ugh!

No painting in WEEKS! I need to get back to this. It looks like the regular gaming night tonight might get canceled. If so, I need to crank out a couple more orcs or something.

All they wanna do...

...is eat yer brains!

Skin: TAP Necrotic Flesh

Vest: TAP Leather Brown
Pants: TAP Wolf Grey
Handle: TAP Oak Brown
Belt & Hair: TAP Matt Black
Metal: TAP Gun Metal
Base: TAP Uniform Grey
Wash: TAP Strong Tone

Gobbos!

First few of the HQ goblins are done. They follow the orc color scheme. Readers of this blog know how much I love these little runts.

Gorgonzola

OK, not "zola", but a Reaper Bones Gorgon ready for petrification duties!

One-eyed, one-axed, lizard purple people whackers

Fimir are done.

The one in the center is the original.

Bones & Bandages

More HeroQuest baddies. Mummies and Skeletons complete!

The other skeletons pretty much followed the original's color scheme. 

The mummies were covered in TAP Skeleton Bone, then the exposed areas (under the bandages) got a coat of TAP Desert Yellow. Everything was washed in Strong Tone. When that was dry, the bandages got highlighted with a 50-50 mix of TAP White and Ash Grey. 

They'd be tender, they'd be gentle...

…if they only had some hearts.

SO I GUESS THEY'LL HAVE TO HACK SOME OUT OF PEOPLES' CHESTS!

HeroQuest Chaos Warriors done.

They were primed with TAP Plate Mail.

Horns: TAP Skeleton Bone
Metal Trim and Rivets: TAP Weapons Bronze
Axe Haft: TAP Oak Brown
Leather: TAP Matt Black
Base: TAP Uniform Grey

Strong Tone Wash

Murder Hobos, ASSEMBLE!

Here are the "PC" minis in all their glory. The elf and wizard still need sealed.

I added a small translucent bead to the staff's top as a "magic crystal." I also did some very basic gem effects on the wizard's cloak clasps, ring, and headband; the barbarian's sword hilt; and the elf's belt.

Skellington

Here's one of the HeroQuest skeletons. I've alway like the scythes on these. It's a super-simple paint job. The model was primed black, then base coated with TAP Monster Brown. I did the base with the usual TAP Uniform Grey before the other colors were added.

Bones: TAP Skeleton Bone
Wood: TAP Oak Brown
Metal: TAP Gun Metal

Strong Tone Wash over everything except the base.

I also painted the PC Barbarian, but the pix were so blurry, I'll have to re-take them and post later.

Dwarfy Goodness

This is the "PC" dwarf from the HeroQuest set. It was a bit odd painting it because I had primed it and the chaos knights with TAP's Plate Mail spray primer. It's the first time I'd used metallic primers. The theory was it would make faster going on an armored mini, but I found painting over it difficult in places. The smooth surface didn't allow easy coverage. I'm not sure if I'd use it again. Anyway, Here is the dwarf!

 

As stated before, the steel is TAP plate mail.
Flesh: TAP Barbarian Flesh
Beard/Hair: TAP Ash Grey drybrushed with TAP White
Gold: TAP Weapon Bronze
Tunic/Pouch: VGC Cobra Leather
Wood: TAP Oak Brown
Gloves/Belt/Boots: TAP Matt Black
Base: TAP Uniform Grey

The eyes are just white and black, and the whole thing got a TAP Soft Tone wash.

HQ Fimir

Here's the test for a Fimir. This one was a little trickier because I was using the TAP Purple Tone wash, but only on the skin. The rest got washed in Soft Tone.

Skin: TAP Uniform Grey w/Purple Tone Wash
Eye: TAP Demonic Yellow and Matt Black

Leather: TAP Matt Black

Metal: TAP Gun Metal or Weapon Bronze

Wood: TAP Oak Brown

Teeth, Tail Knobs, and Claws: TAP Skeleton Bone

Base: TAP Ash Grey

HQ Orc color test

The orcs were spray-primed TAP Goblin Green. I touched up one or two areas where the color was thin.

Leather: VGC Cobra Leather
Belt and arm band: TAP Matt Black
Metal: TAP Gun Metal
Tusks and skull buckle: TAP Skeleton Bone
Eyes: TAP Demonic + Matt Black dots
Base: TAP Ash Grey
Cleaver Handle: TAP Oak Brown

Everything got a TAP Strong Tone wash.

Total brush time was about 20 minutes. The rest will go faster when I'm rank painting them.

HeroQuest Prime(d)

Warm enough to spray prime! (barely)

I used the TAP colored spray primers to hopefully speed up the painting process.

Barrow Wight

From the batch I bought for my Moria/LOTR stuff. I was going for an incorporeal-glowy green look, but I don't think it quite worked. Still, like orcs, you can't have too many undead minis!

Spooky wolf

From the Bones pile, a "shadow wolf" (or whatever). It was a quick and easy paint, but since it was the first one I finished from the bunch, I thought I'd share:

A glow is supposed to be coming from his eyes and mouth, like he isn't really an animal, but rather an evil spirit.