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!"

Back in the game!!!

Wow. Its been awhile...

Well I would like to say that I'm ready to put in a little bit of work on this project again. I've been inspired lately by reading The Book of Lost Tales 1 and the Children of Hurin.

I'm still here!!

Hey gang,

If anyone happens to be following this, I am still here!! I haven't kept up with this project lately for 2 reasons:

1) I need more paint to paint the next models on the backlog.
2) I started a second job, leaving me with less free time.
3) I took on responsibilities as Commander of a unit for the upcoming Mechwarrior Online. Which basically means I've been playing video games in my spare time instead of painting!

Well the whole two jobs thing has paid off, so I'll be able to get some paints this week at some point, and hopefully start working on the next batch of models following that. In other news, I found the plastic Ent box set, and a box of 6 plastic warg riders for $15 each, so stay tuned for more LOTR and...stuff!!

Dúnedain

"Survival" Story 

 

Okie Dokie. So, if you don't know I live in New Orleans, and if you don't live in a box you know we got hit by hurricane Isaac this past week. The city itself didn't suffer much in terms of flooding but because the storm was so slow we got pounded with high winds for 2 days. So like 90% of the parish lost power. Isaac since went on to do a lot of damage and levee bursting further north, which sucks. On top of that I only just got power back last night.... Now the funny thing about New Orleans is that its really F'ing hot in the summertime here. And no power means no A/C, which means sweaty, angry, depressed people. I literally sweated non-stop for almost 3 days unless I was in a cold shower. Not too fun. However I did get some good painting done!

History of the Dúnedain:

 

The Dúnedain (as I am presenting them) are the descendants of the original Numenorean exiles to Middle-Earth. The name is a compound word which in Sindarin means, "the men of westernesse". Adûn is a Westron word meaning Westerner, while Edain is the proper name of the elder race of men in Arda (whereas the elves are the Eldar, and the dwarves the Naugrim).  After The Voyage of Eärendil, wherein the mariner convinced the Valar to send aid to the elves of Middle Earth in defeating Morgoth Bauglir, the Men who aided the Valar were gifted with the land of Numenor. Eventually some of the Numenoreans got all angsty and broke some rules, so the Valar sank their continent (they have a habit of doing this when you piss them off). The faithful who survived settled in Middle-Earth under Elendil and became the Dúnedain. Elendil is the father of Isildur, who eventually strikes down Sauron and takes The One Ring from his severed fingers. Pretty epic stuff. If you want to know more check out: The One Wiki to Rule Them All or even better, read Tolkien's Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales. If you can make it past the Ainulindalë chapter its a goddamn awesome, epic book, if a bit flowery in the language department.

Anywho the kings of Gondor and Arnor (Numenoreans) slowly dwindled, and eventually Arnor collapsed all together. The distant and sundered descendants of the kings of Arnor took to the wilds and became the Rangers in the North, of whom Aragorn Elessar was the leader. They tasked themselves with guarding the northern borders of Eriador from the encroaching darkness of Angmar, and ultimately Sauron. This was mostly centered around protecting the nigh defenceless hobbits of the Shire, and the folk of Bree and the outlying areas. Which is why they feature in The Fellowship of the Ring at all. Now on to the models, with paint schemes to follow!

Bristles in the Dark

 

As I had no power starting last Tuesday afternoon I put on my trusty headlamp and banged these guys out over Tuesday and Wednesday. I think they look great for having been painted under LED light in a totally dark room.

So there you have it. I mixed the cloak and tunic colors to provide a bit of variation after all these guys are supposed to be fairly solitary, and don't have a uniform as such. Anyhow here's the schemes I used, all are over a black base coat:

Grey Cloaks/Tunics: Codex grey, badab black wash, codex grey drybrush

Green Cloaks/Tunics: MM Acryl Dark Green, Thraka Green wash, MM Acryl Interior Green Drybrush.

Leather Armor/Vambraces/Boots: Scorched Brown, Bestial Brown highlight.

Leather straps/pouches/etc: Vermin brown, Vomit Brown highlight.

Pants and quivers/arrows: Reaper Master Pure Black, Codex grey drybrush.

Spear and bow staves: Reaper Master Pure Black mixed with scorched brown, Scorched brown highlight.

Steel: Boltgun Metal, Leviathan Purple wash, Chainmail highlight, Mithril Silver Highlight

Gold: Tin Bitz, Leviathan Purple Wash, Shining Gold highlight, Burnished Gold highlight.

Skin: Tanned Flesh, Flesh Wash, Dwarf Flesh.

So what do you guys think? I think they could've looked a little more weathered, but either way they look pretty neat in my opinion. Notice I didn't paint eyes, and probably won't on a lot of these LOTR models, as their a bit smaller in scale than Warhammer and 40k, so its less essential typically. Plus I suck at painting eyes.

Lots of work ahead of me

 

So yesterday I also received that trade I mentioned. And boy is it awesome. Not only did it include everything I wanted, the guy threw in a bag of random goodies from blisters that had fallen apart. I got ALOT of awesome stuff. Here's a picture:

In that box you see:
3 Cave Trolls!
72 Warriors of Minas Tirith
18 Riders of Rohan
48 Mordor Orcs
20 Uruk-Hai
12 Warriors of Rohan
5 Knights of Minas Tirith
Ambush at Amon Hen
Attack at Weathertop
Heroes of the West
The Fellowship of the Ring

And lots and lots of awesome metal models too. Too many to list actually. But there were dwarves, elves,  lots of heroes, and some of the awesome OOP metal orcs. I've got a lot to paint, but my next big goal is to get the wargs and Moria Goblins I need to finish some scenarios. I also need quite a few more mounted Nazgul and some alternate sculpts for the foot guys.

Thats a lot of robes!

Just a bit of humor there for you (a la the post title)

Anyhow, down to business.

This post is mainly just to show off the finished Nazgul Riders, and the spruced up Ringwraiths on foot! Now, as my camera is terrible (its my phone camera, 5.1 megapixel) you may not be able to see a difference from my last post. However all I've done is add a drybrush of codex grey. I think this game them a good pop as they were looking a little bit boring in my humble opinion. Below are two lighting options as well, one with flash, the other with just my desk lamp. I thought about adding some dirt around the bottoms of the cloaks but don't have the colors I would want to use for that. I also got lazy and I'm really tired of painting Nazgul (which is funny because I have a lot more to paint).

Now here are the mounted guys, all finished and done. I got really lazy on them, as I despise painting horses (too many hard to reach places with large surface area). Also one of them was kind of miscast on one side but you can't really tell from the pictures. Anyhow, dont judge too harshly. I also ended up adding the codex grey drybrush on the rider's cloaks as well. However I do regret that I did the horses in black now however, as all the GW pictures I've found show dark brown horses, so on the rest that might be what I do. You can also tell from the detail shots that the primer coat got really grainy, probably due to humidity (its hot here). So I'll try to avoid that next time. I'll shut up and show you pictures now.

So that's all for now. Look for an update sometime later this week or next as I'm itching to start my Dunedain/Rangers.

Nazgul and beyond

Catch-up

So, sorry it's been so long for an update, but life takes precadence over painting unfortunately. My vacation was lovely, and I spent some time at home in the mountains and managed to find some old supplies with which to build some terrain. Also the previous trade I mentioned fell through :( However I set up another one on www.bartertown.com and I just shipped my end today! This trade has a ton of good stuff and will mainly satisfy the later books. Anywho on to the painting!

The 4 (out of 9)

So the idea of painted a dude whos just wearing a black cloak and hood sounds kind of boring to me. So I decided to switch it up a bit. The normal way I would paint a model like this would be to start with a black undercoat, and work up through mixes of grays and blacks using dry brushing. However thats way to easy. I also don't have any black primer, so that option was out as hand basing takes forever!

However I do have grey spray paint. So I did the only natural thing and decided to paint these guys inside out. That is to say, start with gray underneath and go from there. How you may ask? Well a long time ago I saw MightyChad painting some sort of beastman or something (It might have been a PP model) and he was painting the skin by layering on thin layers of wash over a white undercoat. Well I had a gray undercoat and black wash (badab black to be precise), and VOILA! I ended up doing three coats to get the color dark enough, and that almost cleaned out a pot of the stuff as I layered it on very heavily. However I think the effect works great. I got lazy when spray coating them so there were some spots where the metal showed through, but like I said, its hard to get excited about a guy that looks like a 90's horror movie killer without his mask.

I think they turned out pretty good! The metal bits (swords and armor) were painted by applying a layer of Tin Bitz followed by a drybrush of boltgun metal. Usually I would have proceeded to a further drybrush of chainmail, however I wanted these guys to look extra grungy and nasty (as Nazgul should).

I also painted two mounted Nazgul at the same time. However I haven't made it to the horses yet, but they'll be coming soon. Here's a sneak peak!

In other news...

My previous trade I had lined up fell through, however I have another one which should be here by sometime next week. Its a whopper amount of stuff and includes the following, mostly stuff thats useful for later scenarios. Also, as soon as I'm done with these Nazgul I'll start painting up some Dunedain (I'll be using plastic ranger models as the Dunedain are hard to find and expensive).

Blisters:
Merry & Pippen VS Grishnakh
Moria armoured goblins
Glorfindel mounted and on foot
Gandalf on Shadowfax
Elladin and Elrohir
Mounted Boromir
Eomer Mounted
Legolas and Gimli on horseback
Gandalf the white
Warg Riders x3
Uruk Hai Warriors (LoTR)
Sam, Frodo, Gollum on rock (two towers) x2
Cave troll
Cave Troll w/ spear x2
Rohan Royal Guard on foot
RingWraith on foot
Lurtz
Gorbag and Shagrat
Sam and Frodo in orc armor

Box sets
Heroes of the West
Ambush at Amon Hen
Attack at Weathertop
Fellowship of the Ring

Starters
Return of the King x2
Two Towers x1

Army Box
Forces of Free People