The Great Host of Khazad Dum

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:33 pm

Hey folks, I've been lurking around here for the last like, 7 years, but never got started on making a WIP thread until now. For the past few months (actually years, but I just recently kicked it into high gear) I have been collecting as many Khazad-Dum/Moria Dwarves as humanly, or perhaps dwarfishly, possible. If I count the ones that I have en route to me, I'm sitting pretty at somewhere around the 400 model mark, all plastic and metal, none of that stinkin' Finecast, and I'm planning on painting it all up in the classic scheme from Shadow and Flame, bright green and yellow all the way. Gonna be using this page to keep myself motivated, because there's a lot of painting to do.

This isn't the full list, I haven't accounted for my latest shipment, but this is a good idea to start with of what I've got so far.

Plastics
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Dwarf Warriors with Two Handed Axes: 47
Dwarf Warriors with Shields: 46
Dwarf Warriors with Bows: 45
Dwarf Rangers with Throwing Axes: 21
Dwarf Rangers with Bows: 20
Dwarf Rangers with Two Handed Axes: 22
Gimli: 2

Metals
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Khazâd Guard: 44
Iron Guard: 16
Vault Warden Teams: 7
Archers: 15
Warriors with Shields: 17
Warriors with 2 Handed Axes: 8
Ballista: 4
Gimli: 5
Balin: 6
Durin: 3
Mardin: 2
Dain: 2
Dwarf King: 4 (different sculpts)
Dwarf Captain: 3
Banner Bearer: 3
King's Champion: 2
Shield Bearer: 1

And don't think that I don't have any pictures to show, I'm thinking I'll drip feed it, and start y'all off with the few painted models I actually have for this army.

You might notice these aren't especially well painted, and still have a ton of mould lines, just a side effect of a) buying them used like, 10 years ago and not bothering to clean them and b) using them as a test bed for Contrast paints, I think I'm gonna be switching to traditional painting from here on out though. We'll see! Watch this space!

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Thu Sep 05, 2019 6:41 am

I know replying to your own post is a bit taboo, but I'm still working away. Got a WIP on my Balin (well, one of my 7), and figured I'd post it. Till gotta work on shading and highlighting the metallics, and fixing his face (especially the eyes). I am pretty happy with the cloak though. C&C is very welcome.

Mapper · **Posted:** Fri Sep 06, 2019 10:26 pm

Awesome start to what will be a great army!

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Fri Sep 06, 2019 10:50 pm

Thanks @Mapper! Hopefully I won't disappoint! I've been steadily receiving more dwarves in the mail, so I took some time yesterday and set them out, snagged a picture, and labeled them to give an idea on the kind of backlog I'm working with here.

It's... hefty to put it lightly, and with ≈50 more on the way it's starting to feel overwhelming. but I'm gonna try to stay motivated.

Kuribo · **Posted:** Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:09 pm

400 minis!?!? That is truly brave, Carlos!

Are you planning on playing some larger scale scenarios or points matches with them? The dwarves you've shown look great so far and I look forward to more.

If you're looking to try more traditional painting techniques and improve your skills further, I would recommend using layers instead of washes for the shadows on the cloak. It takes a bit more time but it will really make those cloaks look great and so many LOTR minis have cloaks that its a handy skill to master! If you have questions about it or want more info, I can try and describe the process I use as well

Keep the updates coming! :-D

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Fri Sep 06, 2019 11:26 pm

Oh I'm definitely switching away from contrast for the remainder of this army Kuribo. Prolly gonna break out the airbrush to speed up the process a bit. I'm planning on wet blending for cloaks on characters and such (just got the new Scale 75 range and it makes wet blending an absolute dream) but I'll probably do some basic airbrush highlights touched up with a brush as I go along for the chaff. I'm trying to decide which portion of the army to focus on next, so if you want me to paint anything specific just let me know and I'll get on it.
I honestly don't have many plans for this army, beyond running the scenarios from Shadow and Flame, might build a WOTR force at some point too though. I guess the eventual plan for when I'm done with this force is to start in on a Moria Goblin force to oppose it. I've already got 30 or so goblins, drums, a shaman, and the Balrog so it seems like the logical next step. What use are dwarves without goblins after all.

Stewhr · **Joined:** Wed Apr 10, 2019 4:17 am **Posts:** 92

Good luck on your project Carlos.

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Sun Sep 08, 2019 6:18 am

Thanks @Stewhr!

Mr Gimli · **Posted:** Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:25 am

Looking good, you can never have too many dwarves!

Mapper · **Posted:** Tue Sep 10, 2019 3:44 pm

CarlostheDwarf - you have quite a task you have set out for yourself. Here are some methods that have helped me when I have had a large amount of one army to paint.

Multiple poses of same character (Gimli probably) - paint them all at once to be consistent with your colors.

Only have a manageable amount of figures on your painting table/workspace at a time. You will have to work out what that number will be, but if you have too many it gets discouraging to see them and not make progress because life will get in the way.

On that note, have out of sight the unpainted models. If you see how many there are to go, it really gets discouraging.

Set yourself a reasonable timeframe to get so many models painted. Life will get in the way. I tend to frame my painting not by so many a week but by some other method. What worked for me for a long time was watching where my name was on the Work in Progress thread, once it dropped too far down I realized I should get my rear in gear and do something.

Do a variety of poses at a time. Just painting archers gets really boring for me.

Take a break and paint something else.

Modify some, especially the plastic models. Swap some weapons, cut the axe arm and reattach at a different angle, something.

Again, this is what has worked for me (somewhat), others might have their own methods that have worked for them.

Remember - life will get in the way of any goal.

Keep posting!

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Tue Sep 10, 2019 4:13 pm

Thanks for the great advice Mapper! I'm doing pretty well staying motivated so far, and making some decent progress. I went ahead and got my airbrush set up, and figured out a method for painting Khazâd Guard that seems to work pretty well, and a batch size that I'm happy with. I think batches of 12 are the way to go, it's not too many to get me discouraged, but it's enough that I see very noticeable progress when I've finished the batch.

That first image is my test model for the Khazâds, still gotta do a couple of highlights on the bronze I think, it's still too dark to match the paintjobs in Shadow and Flame, and maybe a couple of highlights on the axe, but otherwise I'm very very happy with him, and it didn't take very long at all. If I can get to the same kind of standard on the rest of my models, I'll be a very happy man.

Advice and comments are always welcome! I'm out of town for the next week, but I'll be back to painting soon enough.

Kuribo · **Posted:** Fri Sep 13, 2019 11:09 pm

I can see a big difference in this new dwarf versus the old! The brushwork is solid all around and I think he is quite the imposing little guy.

I completely agree with your thinking on adding more highlights to the axe and to the bronze will improve this dwarf further. Edge highlighting would make the helmet look great though you could also just highlight it normally too. You might shade the inside of the top part of the axe a little bit and then put your highlights in on the edges and top part which should make it look even sharper. I hope this feedback helps and I'm looking forward to seeing more

Feanorthenoldor · **Joined:** Wed Sep 02, 2009 6:44 pm **Posts:** 879

I agree with Kuribo. Also maybe glaze some green (same you used for the cloth) into the mid-tones near the cloth to represent the reflection on the metal from the clothing.

CarlosTheDwarf · **Posted:** Wed Sep 18, 2019 7:29 am

I'm back from my vacation! Had a hell of a time, and it was kind of a rollercoaster of emotions in all honesty. Went for singing onstage at a concert one night, to standing with my girlfriend and her family while her grandfather died the next day. But now I'm back and had some time to work on Dwarves and take my mind off it.

I've been working more on those Khazâd Guard I posted last time, and I think I've gotten them all to tabletop quality. Definitely more highlights to do to really amp up the quality, but with 39 left to go I think that'll have to wait until later. I'm definitely gonna do those edge highlights and axe highlights suggested by Kuribo, but it's getting late and so that will happen tomorrow. I'm also waiting for the sand on the bases to dry (not pictured) so I don't wanna mess with them too much until it does. Without further ado though, here's the pictures for y'all.

Hope you like them! I think I'm going to move onto some warriors next, and come back to these dudes in a couple of days.
Thanks again for the advice!

Kuribo · **Posted:** Sun Sep 22, 2019 6:03 pm

These are looking great, Carlos! I agree with the edge highlights if you want to make them look even better. I would maybe deepen the shadows on the metal armor as well to make them "pop" even more. You're making great progress on this project and I'm looking forward to your next update!

The Great Host of Khazad Dum

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