Weathertop

The lost watchtower of Amon Sul. 

Another piece of Middle Earth scenery, this time a hard foam product from Ziterdes bought from Mighty Lancer games. It arrives ready painted and with flock attached but the paintjob is really just a grey spray. 

Fine for pick up and play - but we can do better. 

First a quick highlight drybrush and then a black wash. Then some more drybrushing and it's already looking good. 

Then some weathing pigments, fixed in place with airbrush thinner.

And then some modelmates Moss effect

And finally a few grass tufts to finish. 

The ForgeWorld one costs a couple of hundred quid. I reckon this one looks pretty good for 35 or so. I'll definitely have a look for some more of their stuff. 

Wormtongue

"At [Théoden's] feet upon the steps sat a wizened figure of a man, with a pale wise face and heavy-lidded eyes....He laughed grimly, as he lifted his heavy lids for a moment and gazed at the strangers wirth dark eyes."

This is the second Grima I have painted and, like the new Saruman, it was a joy to work with. The old metal one was a lovely likeness but this is a work of art. 

Once again painted with Contrast paints but with a a couple of little details - a dark flesh wash around the eyes to give the haunted look and a highlight of bone to make his skin paler. 

I also wanted to add some texture to his tunic; the robe is black in the film but his tunic has a brocaded pattern. I changed the tone of the black by giving it a tint over the white basecoat...

...and then adding a small repeating pattern. I painted over this with the black contrast which leaves a very slight texture. 

I haven't as yet decided on a basing theme; as part of my evil army it would make sense to base him like the rest of the Isengard force; however the way the character actually plays is that he is fielded as part of the Good side to weaken them so should he be based as my Rohirrim?

Decisions, decisions....

Saurman the White

We've been here before. But the new plastic kit of Sir Christopher Lee was too good to resist. 

This kit was painted entirely - apart from the Eye of Sauron in the palantir - with Contrast paints. I used heavily thinned Skeleton Horde in the robes, with unthinned for the darkest recesses, and various whites, blacks and flesh tones.

Like all the recent Middle Earth Kits this was an absolute joy to put together and paint and looks incredibly dramatic on the table. 

The kit also came with a mounted Saruman

From a purely gaming point of view this was something I was sorely lacking as I quite like to run a pack of Warg Riders and having Saruman being able to ride along with them opens up a whole world of possibilities... 

The Way Is Shut

"The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut."

This was another simple painting project after the massive conversion job on the Knight. I've been meaning to get round to these for a while - indeed I played with some Glow In the Dark pigment for them a while ago  - but in the event I decided to just crack out the airbrush.

Three colours mixed in various shades for coats, a wash and then a final highlight over spray and voila! Two complete warbands of the Dead of Dunharrow.

Oliphant!

"Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Trees crack as I pass.
With horns in my mouth
I walk in the South,
Flapping big ears.
Beyond count of years
I stump round and round,
Never lie on the ground,
Not even to die.
Oliphaunt am I,
Biggest of all,
Huge, old, and tall.
If ever you'd met me
You wouldn't forget me.
If you never do,
You won't think I'm true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie."

As I mentioned earlier, the boys and I spent the Christmas holidays watching the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings more or less on a loop. The youngest - age 4 - was very taken withe the Mumak. So very taken, in fact that he immediately started asking for one.

It's a fascinating model - for years, one of the biggest that GW made and almost an entire army in its own right. So I didn't mind using my hobby budget to buy one. The sculpt is showing its age - there was quite a lot of filling needed. Once constructed, I broke out the airbrush for the base colours and highlights and followed it up with some drybrushing for texture.

It was a relatively fun little project and led to a happy customer.

Next up, another project for my other son and then - finally! - something for me.