"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.