"The mightiest man may be slain by one arrow... "

The Steward's Son

Well it has been awhile since my last update as life has gotten in the way of hobbies. I have been working, just at a slow pace, and here and there. Also the models you are about to see took a lot of fiddling to get just right in my opinion. As I mentioned in my last post I painted Boromir, however at the last minute I decided to paint the Dying Boromir model as well. In hindsight this was a good choice as I had a lot of mixed colors which would have been hard to duplicate again if I had waited. The reason it took so long is that there were a lot of different area's to paint on these models, not to mention the horse for the mounted sculpt, which is essentially a model in its own right.

Boromir as a character is an interesting one for me as I used to hate him. This is partly due to Peter Jackson. In the films, Boromir is portrayed as kind of whiny, not Tatooine Luke whiny, but whiny nonetheless. Furthermore I don't think the films did a good job of showing why Boromir was so easily corrupted by the Ring until the Two Towers, after he is dead, making it hard to connect with him. However after a closer reading of the books at a later age, I came to realize how awesome and tragic his fall is.

Basically, Boromir was just doing his best to protect his homeland. He had seen brutal warfare in the fighting for Osgiliath, seen friends die, and watched as his country slowly lost a long war. All of this while dealing with his bat-shit crazy father, and trying to look out for his younger brother, Faramir. When he decided to make for Rivendell and the Council of Elrond, he was essentially looking for the last option he could. When he then learned that the Ring was found, it is only natural that he would covet it, being a desperate man, open to gaining whatever advantage he could over the Enemy. To put it in modern terms, this would be like Hitler finding a hidden atomic bomb in his basement as the Allies invaded Berlin, you're damn right he would try to use it, but he could have no clue of the consequences. Also the atom bomb in this scenario has a willful malice and a dark sorcerer spiritually connected to it.

Finally Boromir redeems himself at Amon-Hen. After trying to take the Ring from Frodo, he realizes what he has done, and sells himself dearly to defend Merry and Pippin from the Uruks. Again, here is a link to some more information about Boromir from a canonical standpoint. Also here is a link to a great operatic interpretation of the death of Boromir:

 

"I ask only for the strength to defend my people."

So I approached this project with a little bit of apprehension as I haven't painted a decent horse and rider in a long time. I don't count the Nazgûl as the riders are so incredibly easy to paint. Other than that these models were fairly straightforward besides having quite a few different shades of brown to figure out, as well as the hair. I think the parts which turned out the best were the black cloaks. I used Reaper Master Series Pure Black for these. What sets it apart from Chaos Black is that it really is pure black. Very matte, and very dark. I've always thought Chaos Black was a bit glossy personally. Black is a tough color to work with, although I think I did a pretty good job in this case, although the pictures here don't really do it justice. I'll shut up now and show you the eye candy (scheme to follow per model as usual):

 

Cloak: Reaper MS Pure Black, 2 progressively lighter highlights using Codex Grey mixed in.

Cloak Lining: Codex Grey

Under Robes: Wazdakka Red/Doombull Brown, Wazdakka Red highlight, tiny Blood Red highlight on the front.

Gloves/Boots: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown.

Silver bits: Boltgun Metal, Chainmail, Mithril Silver (big surprise there).

Skin: Bestial Brown, Dwarf Flesh, Elf Flesh.

Hair: Doombull Brown, Doombull Brown/Fiery Orange highlight.

Belt/Shield Strap: Doombull Brown, Doombull Brown/Vomit Brown highlight.

Gold Bits:  Shining Gold, P3 Flesh Wash, Burnished Gold

Horn: Vomit Brown, Ushabti Bone, Skull White streaks.

 Horse: Scorched Brown, Doombull Brown, Doombull/Ushabti Bone highlight.

Tack/Bridle, etc.: Bestial Brown, Balor Brown

Metal bits: Same as above.

Blue Heraldry: Mordian Blue, Mordian/Skull White highlight, Skull White livery.

"...and Boromir was pierced by many."

 As I mentioned above, I finally decided to do this model just to get it through with. And given that I used literally the same pallet which the exception of the arrows and cloak, it wasn't really that difficult except the time involved. Plus I'm glad I finally gave in as I think its an excellent model and turned out really well.

Elven Cloak: Codex Grey, Fortress Grey, Astronomicon Grey

Arrows: Same as belt from above.

Flights: Skull White

Blood: Wazdakka Red

On Deck

The coolest thing about finishing these models is that I now technically have every member of the Fellowship painted (most more than once!). I will still be doing another version of the Hobbits, but I think first I will be painting Glorfindel or Arwen, but most likely Glorfindel because he's AWESOMESAUCE! But really really for real, I will paint both for my next update. I also may include a post of my WHFB High Elves simply to keep everyone happy while I work on Glorf-Arwen.

Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu!

Axe(s) of the Dwarf(ves)

So after tackling the taller parts of the Fellowship, I have to move on to everyone's favorite dwarf, Gimli, Son of Gloin. As most of you know, Gloin was a member of the party of dwarves in the Quest of Erebor (The Hobbit), and Gimli is his son. Dwarves are very long lived, not as long as the elves, however Gimli was not allowed to participate in Thorin Oakenshield's quest as he was deemed too young (a measly sixty years old!) by dwarf standards. Although relegated to comic relief in Peter Jackson's trilogy, Gimli is remarkably notable in the story of the Third Age. Most notable is the fact that he was the first dwarf of his age to readily fight alongside an elf (Legolas), and to later leave on the ships into the West, to the Undying Lands!! Probably the most important thing about Gimli as a character is his relationship with Galadriel. I have already touched on Galadriel's massive importance to the saga a few posts back, but it is speculated that it was Galadriel's influence amongst the Valar which gave Gimli leave to visit Valinor. Before I get too long winded I'll go ahead and point readers to this page to read the rest of Gimli's history.

Tiny Beards, Big Hearts

So, as with Aragorn and Legolas, I chose to paint two different sculpts of Gimli. The first, the normal Fellowship sculpt, and the second, the Amon-Hen version. The only real difference is that the Amon-Hen sculpt is wearing an Elven cloak, which obscures much of the rear detail on the model, meaning it was quite a bit easier to paint.

At first I had a terrible time painting these models, as I had to mix a lot of colors. Furthermore, like Aragorn, it seemed like I was just painting a bunch of different shades of brown and it looked bad and muddled. However as I got closer to being finished the scheme really started to come together and I think it really came out well for the most part. I particularly like how the gold detailing on the upper sleeves appears, as well as the cloak on the AH sculpt. On to pictures and scheme discussion to follow!:

 

Jacket: Dark Flesh, Wazdakka Red (Red Gore)
Boots, Gloves, Shoulder Straps, Helmet: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown
Axe Hafts: Doombull Brown, Bestial Brown, Bestial Brown/Ushabti Bone mix
Axes, Helmet, Mail, Metal bits: Boltgun Metal, p3 Flesh Wash, Chainmail and Mithril Silver drybrushes
Gold Bits: Shining Gold, p3 Flesh Wash, Burnished Gold
Skin: Dwarf Flesh, p3 Flesh Wash, Elf Flesh, p3 Flesh Wash, Elf Flesh
Beard: Doombull Brown, Doombull Brown/Ushabti Bone mix, 3rd Highlight w/ more Ushabti
Top Sleeves: Reaper MS Pure Black, Shining Gold
Backpack, Elven Cloak: Codex Grey, Fortress Grey, Astronomicon Grey

On Deck

Next update expect Boromir! I may do the mounted version as well simply to save time, although I will probably NOT be painting dying Boromir at this time as he isn't really essential and is more of a diorama style piece. Following that I will paint better versions of the 4 Hobbits and then eventually move on to some Elves.... (*looks at Glorfindel*)

Legolas of the Woodland Realm

Planning and Research

With the exception of the Dúnedain and Nazgûl, I have been using the schemes provided in the Journeybooks almost exclusively. Any parts of models not covered, or which I think look stupid get a redux using my oft ill conceived color schemes (remember, I'm color blind). I also tend to fiddle with some of the browns, typically going for darker shades or mixes to paint leather straps and packs. I took some freedom with Legolas, mainly because the scheme given in the Journeybook is wrong. It calls for painting all of his tunic with Dark Angels Green (Caliban Green), however in the films Legolas is actually wearing a brown leather covering over the front of his outfit, as well as soft leather pauldrons on his shoulders. I thought this was funny so I turned to a book I've been using when I can't quite figure out what the sculptor was going for:

 

I picked this book up ages ago on a whim from Barnes and Noble, not knowing how useful it is. Its about 220 pages with lots of commentary and good photos of props used in the movies, including stuff from behind the scenes, such as Gil-Galad's armor, and some good full color concept art. So I went to the section on Legolas, and I confirmed my suspicion about the leather coverlet over his tunic. I also remembered (and confirmed) that the sculpts I would be painting had different bows. The first has a Mirkwood style short recurve bow. The Amon-Hen scuplt has Legolas wielding a Lorien bow, made from mallorn heartwood, and much stronger, longer, and stouter than Legolas' earlier bow, however it lacks the gold detailing of the shorter Mirkwood bow.

With these two I tried my hand at painting inside out. Meaning I started with painting the skin, something I usually leave until last. I really enjoyed doing it this way as the model started feeling more "done" ealier on, which is always heartening. I think from now on I will be painting inside out with characters and one-offs, and outside-in for batch painting as it usually involves drybrushes and washing which can mar an underlying layer. On to the scheme discussion and pictures!

Skin

Skin: Bestial Brown, Dwarf Flesh, Elf Flesh.

Hair: Vomit Brown, Ushabti Bone (Bleached Bone) drybrush, P3 Flesh Wash.

The scheme in the book recommened the final high light be a mix of Dwarf and Elf flesh, but I like my elves to be really brightly skinned, so I opted not to tone down the final highlight. Notice the lack of eye painting, again that's because I am terrible at it, and the true-scale the LOTR models used (as opposed to Warhammer's heroic scale) means you can't really tell at gaming distance if the model's eyes are painted or not.

Everything Else

Underclothes: Shadow Grey, Fortress Grey

Tunic: Caliban Green (Dark Angels Green), Caliban Green 50/50 mix with Ushabti Bone (Bleached Bone)

Leather Coverlet/Shoulders/Boots/Gauntlets/Quiver: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown

Leather Straps: Scorched Brown, Doombull Brown (Dark Flesh)

Fellowship Sculpt Bow/Arrow Hafts: Dark Flesh, Bestial Brown

Amon-Hen Sculpt Bow and Quiver/White Knife Handles: Bestial Brown, Ushabti Bone, Reaper Ivory

Arrow Flights: MM Acryl Dark Green, Interior Green

Elven Cloak: Codex Grey, Fortress Grey, Astronomicon Grey

Gold Details: Shining Gold, P3 Flesh Wash, Burnished Gold

Silver Details: Chaimail, Mithril Silver

All in all these were a joy to paint, much more fun that Aragorn(s). In the coming days look for an update as I start painting Gimli(s), at which point he only Fellowship members left to paint will the Boromir, and additional Hobbits! I also am acquiring, through a trade: Balin and Khazad guard, 3 Knights of Dol-Amroth, 3 Fountain Guard, 3 Rangers of Gondor, Gandalf at Khazad-Dum, and Haldir in Lorion (unarmored). Super excited about that.

Elfstone and Olórin

The Fellowship Emerges

So after the first 2 scenarios in the Fellowship of the Ring Journeybook, which solely involve Dunédain and Nazgûl, and the next couple, which involve the 4 Hobbits, we come to the first appearance of Gandalf and Aragorn.

These are both crucial characters to the story, and I feel good now that I've got them out of the way. There is way too much history to cover in a blog post so I recommend going here for Aragorn, and here for Gandalf, and you can learn all you want!

The Grey Pilgrim

I had an absolute blast painting Gandalf. I love painting long robes. It is easy to get a good result, and you get to play around with mixing colors, which is something I usually stay away from. I currently only have one version of Gandalf the Grey, although I hope to eventually get the Khazad-Dum version, mainly because its awesome. If I can find a good deal I would also like the Rivendell sculpt, as well as Gandalf on his cart. And I just remembered I have the new sculpt from the Hobbit box set, so I may paint that up as part of this project as well. One thing I have decided to do from now on is to use a white undercoat for almost everything. I seem to paint neater with it, as well as it making the colors pop a bit more.

 I went with the scheme straight out of the book, with a few exceptions. MightyChad pointed out that the beard and hair are a bit yellow, but I think I like it, as Gandalf never really had white hair, it was always a fading blonde. I think it makes it pop, if anyone thinks it looks terrible let me know and I may try a slightly lighter drybrush to lighten it a bit more. On to pictures and scheme!

 (Base/Layer/Highlight format as usual)

 Robes: Reaper Pure Black/Codex Grey mixed, Codex Grey, Fortress Grey

Hat: The Fang (Shadow Grey), Codex Grey

Skin: Dark Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, Elf Flesh

Beard: Snakebite Leather, Ushabti Bone (Bleached Bone) drybrush

Glamdring: Boltgun Metal, Chainmail, Mithril Silver

Staff: Doombull Brown (Dark Flesh), Bestial Brown

Belt: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown

Crystal: Fortress Grey, Skull White

 "'Round here, folks just call him Strider."

Ah, good old Aragorn. Basically a hobo with a sword, who happens to be a huge badass, and the savior of the Western world. However I absolutely hated painting these models for some reason! Yes I chose paint three sculpts of Aragorn all at once to save time, and I am glad I did because for some reason he just wasn't that fun to paint. They turned out so-so in my opinion. I think the main reason is that the multitude of greens and browns kind of blend together in my eyes (remember I'm color deficient) and it doesn't seem like I make any progress. I also think I should have painted them inside out, meaning starting at the skin, and working out. I usually start with the biggest surface, and I'm not sure why I do things that way, but in this case I should have broken the habit. I'll know next time I suppose. This was also my absolute first experience painting fire, and I think it turned out pretty good. The trick with fire is that the lighter colors go on first, and you go darker as you grade up. If you would like to know more just shoot me a message or comment on here.

The sculpts I used were: The Fellowship version, Aragorn at Weathertop, and Amon Hen Aragorn. Here are the pictures, followed by a group picture and the scheme breakdown.

 Cloak/Trench coat thing: Caliban Green (Dark Angels Green), MM Acryl Dark Green highlight

Jerkin/Tunic: Doombull Brown (Dark Flesh), Bestial Brown

Boots and Bow: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown

Leather belt, Straps, scabbards: Reaper Pure Black, Pure Black/Scorched Brown mix, Scorched Brown

Quiver: White basecoat, Watery coat of MM Acryl Dark Green

Pants and Bedrolls: Pure Black, Codex Grey drybrush

Sword and Metal Bits: Boltgun metal, Chainmail, Mithril Silver

Skin: Dark Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, Elf Flesh

Hair: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown

Sleeves (Amon-Hen sculpt): Shadow Grey, Codex Grey

On Deck

 I was going to include it in this post, but I didn't want it to be too long or to make all my loyal fans wait too long for an update. But next post I will have at the minimum two sculpts of Legolas, and possibly two versions of Gimli as well. Following that I will move on to Boromir, the 4 Hobbits, then Arwen and Glorfindel. And on the long game I will have some wild wargs to paint, as well as starting work on moria goblins and a troll, but thats a long way off. I also recently acquired through auction the following:

- Gamling on foot.
- Arwen mtd. w/ Frodo (hard to find model)
- Another mtd. Ringwraith (Yay! only 5 more after this one is painted)
- Galadriel
- Celeborn

The Nine Have Returned!

Return of the Nazgûl

So after a looooong hiatus from painting, due to...well...life. I have gotten some inspiration and time to do some more work on my project. I didn't want to tax myself too much, and I wanted to finish a big chunk of models, so I settled on finishing the remaining 5 Nazgûl I had waiting on me. I'll get to painting in a bit, but first, a little bit about the history of the Nine.

The Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths (Sindarin: Uliari) were originally nine Kings of Men who were given rings of power by Sauron the Deceiver. They greedily took them (because men are like that) and were immediately enslaved to Sauron's will, as in crafting the nine rings he had secretly slaved them to the will of the One Ring. Essentially what happened was their souls were cursed to never die and eternally serve their master. You can read more about their goings on prior to the Lord of the Rings here.

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

I decided to use the same approach to the remaining 5 'wraiths I used with their 4 brethren I painted last fall. That is, 3 heavy coats of black wash, followed by a drybrush of codex grey. This time I went heavier on the codex grey drybrush, which I thought looked better (I actually went back and touched up the older guys too). I also painted another mounted Ringwraith and this time spent more time on the mount, which I think turned out really well. Unfortunately I couldn't find the other sculpts I needed for the 'wraiths so I have a few duplicates, but I would rather have them all painted and ready than have to wait for months for them to show up on eBay. In the future I plan to get all the named versions that GW has made just to have variety. I'll shut-up now and show you pictures, then give a more detailed color breakdown after.

Primer: Gray

Cloaks: 3 HEAVY coats of Nuln Oil wash, drybrush codex grey.

Metal Bits: Tin Bitz base, Boltgun metal drybrush.

Leather bits: Bestial Brown base, Balor Brown (snakebite leather) highlight.

Horse: Scorched Brown base, Doombull Brown (dark flesh) highlight.


Now here are some more pictures of the Nine in all their glory, as well as a shot of my three mounted fellows.

What to look forward to?

Well as I've officially started another stint of painting madness (probably followed by another few months of nothing...I jest, I jest) I am going to try to keep the flame burning, I just finished a wild few weeks of work, and various other life issues, so I should have time to paint (fingers crossed). I just primed the following models listed in my last post:

I also decided to go ahead and add the Amon-Hen versions of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and Boromir (dying Boromir actually) as they use virtually the same palate so I can save time by knocking them out now. I will actually be painting 3 Aragorns at once, so that will be....interesting. I almost decided to do the Heroes of the West versions as well, but I want to save those as I will have hopefully improved, or come up with better inspiration for them by the time I get to the RotK book (should be about the time I retire).

I am going to start with Gandalf, then the 3 Hunters and Boromir, followed by the alternate Hobbits I will be doing, then Arwen and Glorfindel. In between I may decide to paint some basic foot troops that I have already primed, some Warriors of Minas Tirith, Men of Rohan, and maybe some Moria Goblins.

Nerdy Postlude

I've been reading lots of Tolkien lately, most recently the Book of Lost Tales 1. And I gotta say, I think all the pre-history stuff is so much better than Lord of the Rings. I mean I think the Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece, but the epic feeling of age and power you get when reading about Turin slaying Glaurung, or about Fingolfin fighting THE FUCKING DEVIL hand-to-hand, is downright incredible. My current list of favorite characters is as follows:

- Galadriel: Most people don't realize how incredibly awesome she is. I wish Peter Jackson had included a scene of here tearing down Dol Guldur in the LOTR movies, because yes, she tore down a goddamn mountain by herself. Not to mention when Fëanor wanted to use the light of her hair to make the Silmarils, she told him to fuck off! Oh yeah, Fëanor then went on to basically cause the first world war of Arda because of some treasure, so he wasn't exactly someone you said no to. And another thing, Galadriel was on the earth before the fucking Sun and Moon were in the sky! How about that for some age and power!

- Turin Turambar: Ah the Master of Fate, Slayer of Glaurung. The ultimate tragedy. Basically a guy with super shitty luck, but a lot of badassery, and a really strong sword arm. You need to read the Children of Hurin to really understand why Turin is so awesome.

- Glorfindel: Most people who have read Fellowship of the Ring, know Glorfindel as the elf-lord who rescued Frodo in the Wild after being stabbed by the Witch King, and who sped him to safety in Rivendell, being one of the few who could ride openly against the Nine. That in itself is super badass, and its a shame that he was replaced in the movies by "whiny Arwen" (hereafter named). But what most don't know is that Glorfindel is actually so badass he is reincarnated! Thats right, he already died once. Originally he was Chief of the House of the Golden Flower, one of the noble houses of the Hidden City of Gondolin in the First Age. When Morgoth Bauglir decided to wipe Gondolin off the face of the earth with an army of Dragons, Balrogs and Orcs, it was guys like Glorfindel who simply shrugged, suited up, and started taking as many of the bastards with them as they could. Unfortunately things went south and Tuor (Elrond's granddaddy) fled with his son, Eärendil, and wife, Idril (daughter of King Turgon) through a mountain pass to safety. Well Glorfindel vowed to help them escape. Even more unfortunately they were pursued by a Balrog and ambushed in a pass. Glorfindel decided to stop running and after a running battle, managed to cast the Balrog from the mountain, being pulled to his death in the process. However his sacrifice let the other refugee's flee to safety, wherein Eärendil later helped bring about the fall of Morgoth. So yeah....Glorfindel rocks.

I am done for now, look for my next post in a week or two.

"Aure entuluva!"