LOTR - Moria conversions wip

HazDruz
I wanted to try sculpting some robes in water and then attaching them to the mini instead of sculpting a blob on the mini, I  thought a goblin shaman would be handy enough. I used the character Druzhag as a starting point and had great plans to emulate the sculpts cloak and general appearance with bats and all, as you can see though he does not look like that character. Initially I was disappointed with the end result because it diverged from the plan of a nice clean looking sculpt, but the tattered look isn't all that bad and fits the character background.

 The staff is melted and stretched plastic sprue. It makes some fine bow string also.

Bat Swarm
The bats where made using a press mold of spares from the Reaper Miniature Bat swarm. They only have detail on one side. They were suppose to be apart of the Shaman conversion, further emulating Drughaz, but it wasn't going to happen without the goblin looking awkward and even messier.

Molds


Sculpy iii was used to make the molds. I used Vaseline (petroleum jelly) so the GS wouldn't stick to the mold. First time using Sculpy and it seems cool enough, easy to use, simple to set and all that. Looking forward to sculpting a figure with it because it doesn't set until you bake it.

Spider Broods

see the finished Goblin conversion here.

HeroQuest - Lustrian Crusaders wip



These are coming along very slowly but their nearly ready for painting. I just based them and was inspired to add a bit more to the Chef after seeing SidtheSloth's fantastic dwarf conversions, in which he made reference to dwarf conversions from Hdr Tabetop.  fantastic sculpting from both

LOTR - Behemoth in the Dark



The second Dweller was painted like the first one with the exception of more orange being used.


LOTR - Dweller in the Dark wip



It's near enough finished with just some head and base details remaining. Winsor & Newton acrylic paints Mars Black and Titanium White were used on his skin. Additional colours are the same as those used on the Balrog.

LOTR - "Like unto the Balrog in apperance..."


These are some quick sculpts of Dwellers in the Dark. I took the very vague description of the creature from the Moria and Angmar book as a starting guide "Like unto the Balrog in appearance..." and used references such as gorillas and bulls for size and build.

The basic elements I use from the Balrog where big (but not as big) and full of molten lava. These are magical animations of evil so their anatomy doesn't have to be perfect which lets me get away with being abstract in sculpting.



For the Dweller's I made a wire frame consisting of two legs and a body section, the frame was a 'Y' shape which was stuck into a 60mm cardboard base. I shaped the legs first and then body around the wire. I then added another wire to the base which ran up to where the shoulders are so I could sculpt the arms, like in this tutorial from Massive Voodoo.
 

HeroQuest - Empire Crusaders



For his hand I used Scibor Miniatures tutorial on how to sculpt hands and feet. I followed the guide on how to make a foot but of course shaped it into a hand instead. The side bags come from the Dwarf Thunderers command sprue. The hammer on the chef below is also from the same sprue.


Theres a few gaps to fill and other things that need tidying but after that and some base work their ready for painting.

HeroQuest - Lustrian Crusaders




The Captains pouch and Chefs bag were made like the Pathfinders backpack by making a slit or cut and pushing the GS down over it.


For the Chefs rolled up cloth I wrapped straps around the piece before attaching it to the miniature unlike with the Pathfinders were I attached the straps after the GS was set.


A pocket and strap were added to the Pathfinders pack. The pocket was made just like the pack and the strap from a small piece of GS shaped into a rectangle on the pack with a rectangle indentation made on its front. 
 

HeroQuest - Lustrian Crusaders


   
Captain, Chef and Pathfinder.

The Pathfinders lantern came from a anvil on a banner from the Warhammer Dwarf Thunderers command sprue. The captains gun was made from a double barrel hand gun from the same dwarf sprue. The chefs hands, cleaver and honing steel are from a Mantic Zombie sprue.


The Backpack was made by putting a square piece of GS on his back. I pushed it firmly into place and used a flat edge to bring it back to the square shape.
The flap was made by slicing a line across the top front and sides of the square.
The top of the square was then gently pushed over the slice on both sides and front so the GS hung over the slice a little.


The rolled up cloth is a sausage of GS stuck on, the sides are flattened and then a spiral shape was pushed out.
The indentations for the straps were done while the GS was soft, I waited until it was hard before applying set/hard GS straps with super glue.

LOTR - Balrog



The whip was painted using the same colours as mentioned in the previous Balrog post with the addition of Chaos Black for highlighting. The Balrogs flames where also painted some more using the same colours. 

Additional Kommando Khaki and Bleached Bone was used on the horns. The mouth received a wash of Red Gore.

An inky Blood Red mix was used for the bits on his body. Scorched Brown glazes where applied to the wing membranes, water down black was used for shading after.

Warhammer - State Trooper


Heroquest Fimir

This Fimir was coated black ages ago, felt a little like redemption after painting the wizard, the state of him.

LOTR - Moria Dragon



HeroQuest - Heros and Monsters

Painted the Dwarf first then the Elf, the Gargoyle and the Chaos Sorcerer. Still to paint are the Barbarian the Wizard and 9 more monster.

The Lord Of The Rings - Gamling


Skin: Tallarn Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, Scorched Brown mix.
Hair: Scorched Brown, Chaos Black mix followed by Scorched Brown.

Space Hulk - painting Sergeant Gideon




The usual brush through Codex, Fortress and White.


Brush.
The brush on the left is the one I've been using to pre brush the miniatures, the one on the right is a GW fine detail brush (with about 4 hairs) for comparison. The brush I use is a cheap water colour brush that has been cut down to where the bristles are stiff and compact. They do have a slight amount of give though.

Mix.
Usually, and in this case with this guys armor and skin, I mix water and paint at a ratio of about 70/30 or 1 part paint to 4 parts water. This much water means it takes at least 3 coats to see the effect but I must add that this is a safe mix (loads of water) because too much paint will ruin everything by smothering the pre brush and, if theres loads of water, it will pool in the areas you want to remain black.
So, when applying these watered down mixes, you must ensure you are not using a loaded brush.

Before I put any paint from a brush onto a miniature I always wipe it a few times on my thumb to actually see how much is coming off because its the minimal amount your after for a subtle build up of layers that don't destroy (much) of the pre brush. When you get familiar with what your mix is doing and how it works you can add more paint to use less layers or more water if unsure how a mix is going to behave.



Skin: Tallaran Flesh and Dwarf Flesh mix, about 50/50. took about 4 or 5 layers. Watered down Ogryn Flesh wash. 2 layers.

Hair: Scorched Brown and Chaos Black, about 70/30. 3 layers.



Armor: Graveyard Earth. safe mix, so lots of layers.



Metal: Devlan Mud. between 2 and 3 layers.

Armor Artifacts: Bubonic Brown. safe mix.



Blood Drops: watered down Brown Ink. this was also applied to other metal parts on the armor and hammer. 2 to 3 layers depending on how dark you want it.



Shield: Devlan Mud.
Boarder: Brown Ink.
Skeleton: Fortress Grey. small amount of Space Wolves Grey (The skulls on his armor where also painted this way).
Wings: Bubonic Brown.
Parchment: Desert Yellow. Bleached Bone.



Finishing details.
Hammer Grip & Cloak: Scorched Brown and Red Gore mix, about 60/40. 2 layers.
Wires: Catachan Green. 3 layers. Wiped the mix off the highlight areas with my thumb.
Parchment Text: Scorched Brown and Chaos Black mix, about 50/50.
Hammer Head: Ice Blue.
Light/lens: Camo Green (even though you can just barley see it).

Theres a good bit more that could be done at this stage but he's alright for now.

LOTR - Balrog wip

3 days in and perhaps twice as long to go...

I brushed him using Codex grey, Fortress grey and Skull White. Sorry there's no picture, the camera was being repaired. Still have to do the whip his wings and head details along with more body detail like the glowing parts.

So far...
Flame; Skull White, Bad Moon Yellow, Blazing Orange, Blood Red and Red Gore.
Skin; Chaos Black and Scorched Brown mix.
Horns; Graveyard Earth, small bit of Bleached Bone.
Skin; Tallaran Flesh, Ogryn Flesh.

LOTR - Orc Captain



Skin; Rotting Flesh all over. Delvan Mud. Rotting Flesh again mixing in Bleached Bone for highlights. Thanks to DMS for the skin tone tip.

Fur Cloth: Scorched Brown all over then a mix of S.B and Bestial Brown on the mid tones and highlights. Mix in Bleached Bone to that mix for highlights. Delvan Mud wash, finishing with a drybrush of Bleached Bone.

Rag Cloth: Scab Red and Scorched Brown all over. Scab Red on the mid tones and highlight area's. Delvan Mud all over. Scab Red and Bleached Bone highlights. Scorched Brown wash.

Metal: (pre brushed) Thin glaze of Brown Ink then Delvan Mud followed by a glaze of Boltgun Metal. Finally a coat of Badab Black with the edges painted Boltgun Metal.

Shield: (pre brushed) Brown Ink. The weapon head was also stained with Brown Ink.

Gloves/Boots; Chaos Black and Scorched Brown mix 50/50, mixing in bleached bone towards mid tones and highlights and as usual a wash mix of Chaos Black was painted in the shade areas of the entire miniature.

Dragon wip



The pre brush picture was taken well over a year ago and since then more white was applied. He's pretty much finished with just a few touches remaining and base work.

Skin; is all Scab Red glazing with a dark Chaos Black and Scorched Brown mix for shading after the glazes, this mix was also used to paint the wing arms and fingers. After finishing with the red I wiped my thumb across the highlight areas a few times removing the paint and leaving the white underneath exposed. A small amount of Red Gore glaze was applied to various areas dotted through out the skin to finish.

Back Plates; Scorched Brown.
Horns/teeth/nails; Scorched Brown, Bleached Bone, Delvan Mud.
Eye; Bubonic Brown, Sunburst Yellow, Blazing Orange.
Under Belly; Liberal washes of Leviathan Purple and Ball Red with some very light Skull White dry brushing.

Wings: Scab Red Glazes all over, shaded with Leviathan Purple. Applied the glazes with respect to the sculpt of the wings with Purple in shaded areas and Red on highlights. A very light Skull White dry brush was applied to the edges if the wings.

Finished off the whole thing with a Chaos Black wash mix painted into the darker areas i.e where the legs/arms meet the body and any deep creases in the skin and wings.

LOTR - Boromir Theoden and Eowyen

Just realised thats the first horse I've painted in at least four years. I stopped painting this about three times it got so messy, had to be finished though...

Skin: Tallaran Flesh. Tallaran Flesh and Skull White mix.
Hair: Graveyard Earth, Bubonic Brown, Bleached Bone.
Armour: Boltgun Metal and Chaos Black Mix. Boltgun metal. Mithril Silver. Badab Black. Delvan Mud.
Gold/Brass: Boltgun Metal, Brown Ink wash.
Cloth: Chaos Black and Scorched Brown Mix. Codex Grey.
Straps: Scorched Brown and Chaos Black mix. Bestial Brown.
Horse: Graveyard Earth, Bleched Bone, Skull White.


 Theoden

 
 Eowyn

 
Boromir