Mertaal's Wip: Barrow Wights and Tom Bombadil p17

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:52 am

The last few evenings I've come home shattered- no stamina! So I've been sticking to something very simple- armoured Uruk Hai! Just a dry brush for the armour, and then picking out skin, hair, leather and wood. Then some obligatory white hands followed by a brown wash all over.

So far I've completed the armour, put down the first coat for the skin, and the second coat of the skin is complete on all the models on the right hand side of this image:

This represents two evening's work so far.

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:12 pm

I know how you feel but seem to be shaping up nicely none the less.

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:29 pm

All progress is good progress right? They're not the most enchanting miniatures to paint, but that's why it's possible to get LOADS of them done! Once I've finished these 48 armoured ones I have 24 scouts, 12 berserkers, 6 Warg Riders, 1 troll, 2 Ballistas and a battering ram.

Oh, and Saruman and Wormtongue. Need to make a Saruman mounted conversion as well at some stage I guess.

But for now I'll content myself with the plastics, and get to the rest at a later date.

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Wed Jan 08, 2014 11:27 pm

Moving along nicely and as you say all progress is good progress.

mertaal · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 8:11 am

Thanks! I'm hoping to have them finished before Saturday- should be possible with tonight and tomorrow night. Then on to Tom, Bert and Bill for the January challenge, who will be painted nicely

.

mertaal · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:03 am

Last night I got bored of painting leather and tried a few white hands:

Happy with te two on the left, but the helmet one isn't so great. Funny surface to paint on. Perhaps a bit of practice. Anyone have any tips?

Rognarr · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:05 am

It's indeed a bit tricky to paint the white hands on the helmets.. and needs a bit of routine as i found out myself. I used movie shots for orientation and sense of "feeling right" ^^ Just imagine, what a flat hand, pressed on such an uneven surface would look like and have a go.. there's no wrong IMHO

Although not the best painting, here's some orientation maybe:

mertaal · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 10:27 am

Hmmmmm… I notice your hands are a lot smaller than mine- the effect of the bottom right model (a Captain I assume?) is very effective. I was doing as you said, and attempting to impress the same hand shape as I thought it would fall on to the helmet if naturally placed, but while the fingers are discernible I think the thumb is gone totally. Partly at least, this is because unlike you, I was going for an oversized hand. I quite like that on the shields, but on the helmet it's definitely a problem. Yours is a lot better, because it's small enough that you can see the individual elements clearly.

Tonight I need to finish the leather (a job I'm finding really boring for some reason), but then I'll have another go at your scale, and see what I come up with! Thanks for the assistance!

Rognarr · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 12:09 pm

Glad that I could help you!

And yes, it's a captain conversion made from a fighting Uruk-hai on the bottom right.
In return I thank you for the idea of "oversized" hands on the shields! ^^ That looks pretty cool and is something I might add to my Uruks

garmenhord · **Posted:** Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:13 pm

the white hands the uruk-hai have always reminded me a bit of native american/indians.
So might be cool to mix some war-colours or painting on it.

mertaal · **Posted:** Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:06 pm

Aaaand we're finally finished! Drybrush and tufts are a big cop out on the basing work, but as mentioned previously, the target here is to get models presentably on the table, not create high quality work.

That means so far this month I've painted 85 models. I'd be smashing my "buy 1 paint 2" New Year's resolution, if it weren't for the fact that I just bought a collection of models. Some Easterlings, which are painted already, and in which I have little interest, but it'll be good to have for Pellenor fields, many are characters I already own (Rohan, Mordor, ring wraiths) but also some old dwarves, which I'm very happy about.

I have a playdate on the 19th, so I shall be getting some Bolt Action jeeps painted, but as a lot of that will be weathering which needs to wait to dry, I think I'll have time to get started on Bill, Bert and Tom as well.

Then I may go to the 10 Uruk Berserkers and characters which are hanging around. I've all but forgotten about Thorin's Company and the Fellowship, and I just received some magnets, so there's nothing stopping me from cracking on with the 4 more forest bases I need to do!

Erunion · **Posted:** Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:57 pm

Cop out or not, I think these look really good, especially at tabletop distance. I have a whole Isengard army that was my first painted army. The minis don't look too bad, but I need to re-base the whole lot, and I've been dreading doing it for a while.

Excellent job on painting so many miniatures this month! You mentioned the eBay splurge...how many did you end up picking up?

cuchulain84 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 11, 2014 5:25 pm

You're a machine Mertaal!

Gandlaf the Grey · **Posted:** Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:57 pm

Crikey you have done well. And to say you have painted a lot this month is an understatement. I need to take a leaf out of your book.

Barnsley Burglar · **Joined:** Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:32 pm **Posts:** 126

Looking great! Really like the white hands.

Crucium Giger · **Posted:** Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:33 am

Wow that's some speed, great job

mertaal · **Posted:** Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:10 pm

Thanks guys! The splurge wasn't too bad- there are about 20 Easterlings which are already painted to an acceptable tabletop standard, and I don't feel like stripping and re-painting. Then there are some models I already have as doubles, which will go on the trade forum.

As far as models I intend on painting, I think there are probably only 20 or so, mostly dwarves but there are also a few Mordor heroes. I really need to sit down over the next weekend and catalogue what I've bought vs what I've painted, but I feel confident I'm on target.

Yesterday I painted some Bolt Action vehicles, and assembled the remaining troops I need for a 600 point game we're playing this Sunday.

However, I also assembled Bill, Bert and Tom. I started to greenstuff the gaps on Bert, and am somewhat unhappy. the gaps are SO tiny (a good thing) that there's not much to fill. However, working with such small quantities of greenstuff is (for me anyway) very difficult. Even using colour pushers I find that the greenstuff doesn't have enough mass to adhere to the model more easily than the tool. I don't really want to overfill and sand down, because so many of the areas the seams are placed have great detail I don't want to loose.

I used to use Vallejo liquid putty, which would be much better for this job. I think I will be buying some more!

I also have trouble getting the greenstuff really smooth against the model. in the past i've just filed it afterwards, but in this case, the models have such big plain surfaces, I don't want to do too much filing.

Some pictures to follow.

mertaal · **Posted:** Mon Jan 13, 2014 1:16 pm

Here we go:

They really are huge. And the problem areas:

[imghttp://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p588/mertaal/IMG_5016_zps19054368.jpg[/img]
The hand join is a bit rough, but i think after a bit of filing it should be ok. I probably don't need to file it really, but will for good measure. I also did a bit of a weapon modification- I don't like the "cutlery" the trolls use.

Happy enough with the "apron" seam. This was a big enough area that I could use a decent quantity of greenstuff- it's the tiny amounts i have problems with. I keep the colour pusher wet too, but still find it tricky. The seam below that is in an inaccessible place, and so there's not much chance of my being able to file it- I need a little sanding sponge or something.

This one has come out more or less ok, but i think I'll have to file it.

In the end I decided to prime them without seam work, and see how they look- it's hard to tell without primer, which ones are so slight they don't need working on. Anyway, the apron looks seamless, the hand area is a bit dodgy and the arm seam does need filing. Of course they'll then need re-priming in the areas which have been green stuffed and filed, but with an airbrush I should be able to do this without any unsightly overspray or loss of detail.

Vallejo liquid putty ordered! I hate greenstuff!!

Just for funzies, here are the bolt Action things I did this weekend, with a gloss coat waiting for weathering:

Sithious · **Posted:** Wed Jan 15, 2014 3:57 am

Sweet Isengard force. I think mixing in the smaller white hands do help, and it breaks up the troop painting a bit. I used them on my force and kept it up with my trolls, character marks.
Forgive me but I have been trying to see a lot of WIP threads today as this is where my interest lies on these kinds of forums. So I can't wait to see more of your forces, the named trolls look like fun to paint, I may have to pick up a set of those, it is cool that you are showing the gap filling and assembly (something GW doesn't teach yet expect new players/painters to learn).

mertaal · **Posted:** Wed Jan 15, 2014 9:49 am

Thanks! Yep, I'm really looking forward to painting them. Just waiting on the Vallejo liquid putty to arrive before I can get started. In the end I decided to reserve greenstuff for large gaps only.

I've undercoated them black, which actually does help to analyse what needs filling and what doesn't. So they're due another undercoat before I can get going properly, and then of course, there's the bases to consider!

Mertaal's Wip: Barrow Wights and Tom Bombadil p17

Who is online