Oldest and Fatherless

Iarwain Ben-adar

        This post is going to be relatively short, I just wanted to quickly throw these pictures up to get them out of the way.  I concurrently painted Tom Bombadil as well as FINALLY finished the 4 paralyzed Hobbits from the Fog on the Barrow Downs kit. With these models done, I actually have all the models needed for the scenario of the same name.
        Tom and Goldberry are seemingly out of place characters in the greater story arc of the War of the Ring, however they are very Tolkienesque. Being strongly connected to nature, loving song, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life. There's also the part where Tom is an incredibly powerful spirit of some sort, over which the Ring holds no power. Lord Elrond refers to him as Iarwain Ben-adar, Oldest and Fatherless. Its unclear whether Tom or the Ents were in Middle Earth first, but they definitely go way back.

As far as painting, both models were wonderful to put to the brush. The detail on Goldberry's hair lended itself to a good result for not much effort, and the clean lines, and expectedly bold colors used for Tom means he really pops (I'm not happy with the pictures but I'll survive). The 4 paralyzed Hobbits were done very quickly and more or less as objective markers so they aren't much to look at, but they're neat little models. Now for pictures (I'll post full schemes after).

So for Goldberry I simply followed the formula I've been using for blonde hair, but added an additional drybrush of Ushabti bone over top of the washed down hair. Her dress is simply a gradient from grey to white, the white being done in A LOT of very thin coats.

Tom was a bit more complex, but only needed mostly flat, bold colors. All the brown was base coated in Scorched Brown, with his jerkin taking a further coat of Dark Flesh, and his hat Bestial Brown. Then the coat and feather took Reaper Ocean Blue, followed by Mordian Blue and finally some small Lothern Blue highlights. That left Tom's iconic boots, which were Vermin Brown (I think) followed by Vomit Brown. I think he turned out marvelously.

The four Hobbits were very slapdash. Basic faces and hair, a coat of Ushabti Bone on the robes, and a wash of Reaper Master Series Flesh Shade Ink (got a bit heavy on one of them).

Here is a picture of all the Fog On the Barrow Downs models, which it feels good to be able to show off as they're a complete set. I wish I had a cool diorama to photograph them on, but that's for another day. Be sure to catch the community spotlight after the jump.

Community Spotlight/Shoutout

         For this post I'm combining the Community Spotlight and Shoutout section into one as the subject kind of meets both categories. I would like to take a second and shout out the Great British Hobbit League YouTube Podcast. They are a group of guys (chaps) from all around Britain who produce some of the best, most entertaining video's of The Hobbit/LotR SBG. Their battle reports are interseting and engaging, and their two separate 1 hour plus weekly podcasts are funny and insightful. I strongly recommend checking them out on YouTube: GBHL Podcast. Also if you like their style and are looking for EVEN more of the like, GBHL James has a separate channel which covers SBG as well as other systems, and features hobby updates and discussion check it out here: Hot Gates Gaming.

That's all for this week. Be on the look out for another post soon as the models are done and photographed, I just need to write it up. Lets just say you'll think I'm barking mad.