Escape from Goblin Town

Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted. They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones. They can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually untidy and dirty. Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes, tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well, or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and slaves that have to work till they die for want of air and light. It is not unlikely that they invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them, and also not working with their own hands more than they could help; but in those days and those wild parts they had not advanced (as it is called) so far.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I finally succumbed and purchased the ‘Escape from Goblin Town’ boxed set. Initially I was reluctant to buy such a large set as I didn’t want to end up with lots of models that I never got round to painting and ‘Escape from Goblin Town’ contains 36 goblins! In the end I resolved to find a quick and easy way to paint the goblins, allowing me plenty of time to devote to each member of Thorin’s company. Although I usually paint each and every model to the best of my ability I knew that if I attempted this with so many similar models I would never get through the lot.

In order to speed up the process I adopted a technique I read in an old White Dwarf and affixed each of the goblins to a long stick using Blu Tack. This allowed me to prime them all at once and apply the initial basecoat to all 36 goblins using an airbrush. This whole process took about an hour (including drying time) and I then when to work washing and drybrushing the models. Below is a rough guide to the process:

1) Basecoat Dheneb Stone using an airbrush.

2) Wash the whole model with a heavy application of Baal Red.

3) Drybrush the goblins Elf Flesh.

4) Give the goblins a lighter drybrush of Pallid Wych Flesh.

5) Apply purple, red, sepia and blue washes and glazes over the rotten and diseased parts of the goblins as desired.

6) Paint the details.

This was a very quick process and produced some good results. On the whole I am very pleased with these and, although not my best work, they are painted to a pretty decent tabletop standard.

I hope you like them,

Andy.

Radagast the Brown (and Sebastian)

Here is my latest model from The Hobbit range, Radagast the Brown. This is probably my favourite of the Hobbit releases so far. It’s a really elegant sculpt and the little model of Sebastian (the stricken hedgehog aided by Radagast in the film) really adds something to the spirit of the piece.

Because in the film Radagast’s robes are all very similar in tone I decided not to try and replicate the look from the film exactly as it would result in a very boring, undefined miniature; what works as a costume on film doesn’t necessarily work on a 25mm model, it’s just a question of scale. With models like this I think that the overall effect is more important than exact verisimilitude to the film. However, hopefully my paint job captures something of the essence of the character.

My precious…

Another of my Hobbit themed models, this time Gollum. As with the White Council, this model is taken from the Lord of the Rings release rather than the new range of models released for The Hobbit. This was a fun little project and quite quick to paint (the whole model is largely one colour).

The rock was drybrushed first and then I painted Gollum himself. The skin started with a basecoat of Tallarn Flesh with a bit of Codex Grey added to remove some of the warmth of the colour and make Gollum look a little less healthy. This was washed with thinned Dark Flesh followed by a more precise application of Scorched Brown in the deepest recesses. I then highlighted the model by adding increasing amounts of Bleached Bone to the basecoat. I then added a tiny bit of White Scar for the final highlight.

In the photo below you can see the scars on Gollum’s back. These were picked out with Tanned Flesh and highlighted by adding Bleached Bone. I also used a little bit of Baal Red around the edges to add to the effect of the scar tissue.

I added some clump foliage and flock to the base to match the look of Emyn Muil in the film and to tie Gollum in with my other LotR/Hobbit models. It also adds a bit more realism tot he rocks which are rarely as bare in real life as they often are on model bases.

I hope you like Gollum and my other Hobbit models. In my next blog post I will be returning to the grim darkness of the 41st millennium with some more Dark Angels.

All the best,

Andy.

The White Council

As mentioned in a previous post, it was my intention to try and paint all of the White Council before the release of The Hobbit as a kind of ‘count down’ project. Well here they all are finished. As these have been completed ahead of schedule I have started work on Gollum who will hopefully appear in another post later in the week.

Here is the final model to be painted for the White Council, Elrond of Rivendell. Now I know this isn’t the ‘official’ model of Elrond, rather it is meant to represent Celeborn. However, I don’t really like the unarmoured Elrond model GW produce and so I was searching around for an alternative and I found this model in my collection. I think it suits Elrond very well.

The model has quite an unusual colour palette which I would not have chosen had there been no existing depiction of Elrond to work from. The lilac robes were painted with a mix of Space Wolf Grey and Warlock Purple highlighted by adding white and a little bit of Bleached Bone to stop the colour becoming too cold. The warm brown robes were painted Dark Flesh and highlighted Vermin Brown followed by a Vermin Brown and Vomit Brown mix.

All the best,

Andy.

Galadriel

With only one week to go to the release of The Hobbit here is my version of Galadriel for my White Council project. This is such a simple, elegant miniature and it was a joy to paint.  Unlike Saruman, who was painted with off-white robes, Galadriel’s garb is much brighter. The model was primed white and shaded with Fortress Grey followed by Codex Grey and then blended back up to pure White Scar.

Next up is Elrond to complete the White Council.

Saruman the White

Continuing with my Hobbit countdown here is Saruman the White. The robes are Dheneb Stone shaded with Vallejo German Camo Pale Brown and highlighted by adding increasing amounts of White Scar to Dheneb Stone all the way up to pure white.

For Lord of the Rings and Hobbit miniatures I favour a more natural, realistic finish to the models to capture the look and feel of the films. Because of this I used very soft blending for the highlights rather than the starker, more stylised highlights found on my Dark Angels, for example. I think it’s really important to adapt your painting style to fit the model at hand in order to bring out the qualities and character of the model.

One of the interesting things about revisiting Middle Earth after so long (nearly ten years since the last film) is that it really shows how much my painting style and ability has changed over the years. To illustrate this, below is on older model of Saruman that I painted eleven years ago back when The Fellowship of the Ring was released.

And the two side by side for comparison.

The Hobbit Countdown

December is upon us and it is only a couple of weeks before The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits our cinema screens. I’ve been very excited about this for some time now (just ask my wife). Not only does this mean a new Tolkien film from Peter Jackson et al (which is exciting enough in itself) but it also means that the Strategy Battle Game that was launched by GW alongside the Lord of the Rings films will be reinvigorated. Since it’s initial release back in 2001 this has been one of my favourite GW games and I strongly believe that the LOTR models are some of the best GW has ever produced.

In order to celebrate the launch of the new film I have decided to embark on a special project to count down to the film’s launch. I have decided to paint the White Council between now and 14 December and post my progress on the blog. These are some of the principle characters from Tolkien’s world and promise to feature strongly in the forthcoming films so it seemed only appropriate to paint them. Also, I happen to have models to represent all of the characters from the release of Lord of the Rings. I may even paint up Gollum (another important character who features in both trilogies) if I get the time.

First up is Gandalf the Grey (pictured above) who was already painted. Hopefully more to follow soon.

Andy.

Plans for 2012

Well, it’s the end of the year. So what have I got planned for 2012? Next year will bring a lot of big changes to my life. I will be finishing my PhD soon (I’m hoping to submit my thesis around Easter time) and will also be looking for a job. However, I do have a number of hobby plans as well. First of all I have a number of unfinished projects which I am hoping to complete such as my Dreadfleet set and my Mordheim project.

I got a job lot of Mordheim models from ebay recently which included enough undead models for a starting warband. I plan on painting these up for a friend to play with when I start my campaign. Here are the models as they were when I received them. As you can see, they have a very basic paint job which will need stripping and repainting.

Rumors of Chaos

If internet rumors are to be believed, a new Chaos codex is planned for release in 2012. If this is indeed the case expect to see a return to my Death Guard army. My enthusiasm for this project stalled a little as they simply aren’t fun to play with. Hopefully Codex: Chaos Legions will make it possible to play with a fluffy army which is also competitive and fun. I plan on finishing painting my current units and adding a few new models as well. I have my eye on the fantastic  Plague Hulk and Daemon Prince models from Forge World.

An Unexpected Journey

Obviously the big news for next year is the release of the first installment of The Hobbit movies. The first trailer has already been released and looks brilliant. The trailer has been reposted on several blogs so I won’t repeat it here but if you haven’t seen it it is definitely worth a look. It doesn’t really give anything away but it is nice to see Tolkien’s world back on film. As a massive Tolkien-nerd I’m very excited about this and the news that GW will be producing a range of models for the franchise.

Happy New Year!

Andy.

Exciting news of our furry-footed friends

I was very excited to hear that today Peter Jackson released a behind-the-scenes promo video for the forthcoming film of The Hobbit documenting the beginning of the filming process. You can read all about it in The Sydney Morning Herald and the video can be found on Youtube.

Of course,the really exciting news for the hobby community is the fact that GW have acquired the license to produce models based on the film. This was announced back in February as detailed  here. Lord of the Rings has always been one of my great loves so I’m really looking forward to delving back into Middle Earth once more in 28mm scale. In the meantime here are some of my LOTR minis.