A little distraction: Uruk-hai scout

This week we’re finally continuing our Lord of the Rings campaign (Quest of the Ringbearer), and we’ve now reached Amon Hen.

The only figure my gaming partner is still missing is the once very rare Uruk-hai captain with a two-handed axe.

But before I could paint him, I wanted to test out the colours a bit. I’ve had an Isengard force in mind for quite some time now, featuring Uruk-hai scouts, Wildmen of Dunland and warg riders.

So here’s a first test! I’m not 100% satisfied yet, but I think that’s mainly down to some of the areas being painted a bit sloppily… Perhaps I should use black rather than brown as a base coat in future for such dark figures. That might help to increase the contrast a little more.

More city guards!

Hello everyone,

I’ve finished a few new figures: three new members of the Malko City Guard.

Among them is Captain Erwin Moretti, the son of a descendant of those who were forced to flee Reikland with the first Lord of Malko, and a Tilean merchant’s daughter.

He has been leading the City Guard’s halberdiers for many years and attaches great importance to appropriate attire (and good food too, from what one hears...).

Somewhere in the Border Princes...

As I promised earlier, I’d like to establish a sort of overarching story or plot for all my future and past Warhammer projects. Hopefully, this will, on the one hand, motivate me to keep developing these projects, and on the other, give the units and heroes more character.

I’ve chosen the Border Princes as the setting because there’s still a fair bit of freedom there to ‘make things up’ or not have to take the existing lore entirely at face value. 

I don’t want to give everything away just yet, but a lot of it will revolve around the city of Malko, which lies a little north of the Black Gulf on the River Treblecz. 

 

In the official lore, the city is described as relatively large and well-fortified, though with wooden palisades, which I’m not too keen on. 
In my imagination, the city is a bit larger and has strong walls, a bit like a northern Italian town.

Given the Black Mountains to the north, I imagine the Tilean influence on the region to be stronger than that of the Empire, which will be reflected to some extent in the local buildings, customs and clothing. 

In the existing lore, there is also only a mayor as leader of the town; I’ll turn this into a baron or count whose ancestors were forced to flee the Empire long ago. Through marriage to a Tilean princess, the ties to Tilea are very strong, which will become important later on.

Malko is renowned for being the breadbasket of the Border Princes. It appears that the lands surrounding the city are very fertile, and the grain is exported far and wide across the Old World. Its relative proximity to the Old Silk Road further enhances the importance of trade and accounts for the city’s wealth. 
Malko’s wealth is arguably exceptional for the Border Princes and must be adequately protected.

Thanks to his connections with Tilea, the city’s lord has many mercenaries under contract. Furthermore, the city militia and the small standing army – some of whom have been trained by Tilean military personnel – are inspired by Tilea and represent a force to be reckoned with in the Border Princes.

Due to the frequent orc attacks, the city’s troops are experienced fighters led by outstanding officers. 

One of the troops’ most important tasks is to keep the River Treblecz clear to ensure the free trade in grain. 
Small outposts and watchtowers have been erected along the river, all the way to its mouth at the Black Gulf, to provide early warning of raids by Orcs, pirates or envious princes, and to hold out for a time until reinforcements arrive.

So far, so good – more to follow soon!
I plan to build the bulk of the army using standard Imperial miniatures, but capture that Tilean flavour through a few conversions and the colour schemes. I also have a few mercenary regiments that are finally due a paintjob!
 

And here’s a first test miniature. It’s a brave warrior from the Malko City Guard, which will form several units and are called upon to deploy relatively often.

I hope you enjoyed this little excursion; hopefully there’ll be more of the same soon!

Gotrek and Felix will also play an important role....

Gotrek and Felix - Finally done!

I know it’s hard to believe, but: Gotrek and Felix are finished!

It really has been a very long journey, almost as if I’d trudged all the way from Altdorf to the Chaos Wastes on my own, without an airship to take me there.

I started on sculpting Gotrek over a year ago and thought I’d be able to finish the project in a couple of weeks. We’d even planned to do a presentation with the figures at the Szenario Con 2026! That didn’t work out in the end, but at least the figures are finished now.

Gotrek was painted a bit quicker than Felix, there aren’t that many different colours on him. The skin and, above all, the hair were quite challenging, though! I hate painting hair. But with dwarves, there’s really no getting round it.

The tattoos weren’t exactly a walk in the park either, but it turned out all right in the end. Don’t look too closely – they’re not identical on the left and right arms! Maybe they’re supposed to be, but I’ve no idea :D

It also turned out that I’d sculpted the intricate decorations on the axe too finely, which made painting them almost impossible. I ended up just using loads of washes, and didn’t show that area very clearly in the photos! 

I have to say, these have been a few productive weeks. Lots of projects that I’d been dreading for months are now finished.

Next, I think I’ll spend a bit of time fine-tuning my next project, my Border Princes campaign. Watch this space!

Gotrek and Felix are currently staying at a rather nice coaching inn somewhere on the southern edge of the Vaults, with a bunch of shady characters nearby...

Felix Jaeger

Like I promised: after the Austrians and the Prince on Griffon, I’ve finally got round to work on Gotrek and Felix.

I started with Felix this week (and actually managed to finish him – with the current heat outside, there’s nothing else to do anyway but sit indoors..):

 

I really enjoyed painting him, probably the first ‘normal’ 28mm figure since my Steel Legion tests I did a while ago. 

It didn’t turn out perfectly; unfortunately, I much prefer the back of the cloak to the front (mainly because of the dirt), but what can you do! Now he’s finished, and I can get on with Gotrek.

It really has taken long enough for me to get round to painting these figures.

I’m currently sketching out a little backstory for all my current and future Warhammer projects by the way!

This much I can reveal: it’s set in the Border Princes. 

And Gotrek and Felix will, of course, play a crucial role…

Prince on Griffon - Part 3 - Finished model!

And finally, finally, finally, it’s done and the prince is all painted up!

Goodness me, that was a job.

This is probably the most complex model I’ve ever painted. And also the most difficult to paint. The rider is moulded onto the body of the griffin; only the wings can be removed... And that made it very, very difficult to hold the piece and paint the fine details. The prince’s face and the fabric parts in particular were really hard to reach.

The glowing runes on the sword were also a major challenge. I’m still not entirely sure whether it looks good or not; I think I repainted them three times, at least on the back. I think it’s quite alright now; I certainly couldn’t have done any better :D

I must also say that I’m not 100% satisfied. The armour could have been a touch darker/less yellow and had more contrast, and the face was just incredibly difficult to reach... But now it’s done, and my army finally has its leader!

What’s more, after almost exactly nine years (I checked again – I bought this box in 2017), I’ve finally finished painting the elven half of the starter box. Unbelievable :D 

 

 

 

 

In total, my High Elves army now has 1200 points. With an eagle and 10 silver helms, I could expand it to 1500 next, but I think that’s enough for now.

Besides, the Ellyrians aren’t finished yet apart from one figure, so there’s still work to be done anyway.

I hope you like it! Soon I’d like to write a short post about the character’s background and take a few scenic photos of the army so far.

 

All the best and see you soon

Lucas  

Prince on Griffon - Part 2

Once again it's been a while since the last update, but I did not have a lot of time for the hobby lately. But I managed to finish the griffon!

Very proud of this figure so far. It was a lot of work, especially highlighting all the feathers... I am glad that it's done now.

Can't wait to field this figure in a battle!

Now on to the rider, I hope it does not take another two weeks.

Prince on Griffon - Part 1

Now that the Austrians are practically finished (only the base edges are left), I can finally get started on my High Elf Prince on Griffon, before I can finally get round to painting Gotrek and Felix.

I’ve had this figure sitting in a drawer for over 10 years now and never dared to tackle it.

Now I know why – the thing is so incredibly detailed and beautifully designed... I reckon for me, this is the best miniature Games Workshop has ever released for Warhammer Fantasy.

A bold claim, I know, but as things stand, that’s my opinion!

I didn’t really like the lance, though. I’m also envisaging a slightly darker backstory for my Cothique army, with a cursed sword that corrupts its bearer... More on that soon, but that’s why the prince got a sword instead of the lance.

The conversion wasn’t that simple, and I had to re-sculpt the scale armour, which I found very difficult... I’m not 100% satisfied either; let’s see how it looks once it’s painted. I might end up tearing it all down again!

I don’t know what I’ll do with the base yet either, but we’ll see.
At least I really like the conversion itself – I think he looks a bit more dangerous with the sword in his hand.

More on that soon; the first wing is already painted. What a task!

And now some actual Steel Legion - and an update on the 18mm Austrians

Hey guys, it's been a while!

Not a lot of hobby time lately, and most of it was used on the 18mm Austrians. Man as much as I love them, it is pretty hard work... I will be pretty happy once they are done :D

So far I managed to paint 3 more line infantry units, 4 artillery bases and 1 unit of jagers. Which means that I just have to paint one more cavalry unit and a couple of officers, and then the campaign army is finally finished! Here's a little preview on the last unit I painted, still not based up (and I know, the officer looks veeeery creepy...):

After that I will most likely concentrate on my High Elf prince on griffon, and then I can finally paint  Gotrek and Felix :D It's about time! I am so much looking forward to this. 

But, to keep some sanity between the countless Austrians, I managed to get my hands on some REAL Steel Legion miniatures for a change, and I just had to paint one immediately. These figures are so wonderful, and I am very happy that I burried the plan to kitbash them out of something else. Proper Perry twins sculpts are just the best thing you can paint. 

I tried to match the original colours from the White Dwarfs I saw, but I am not sure I got it right... But I like it, so I will stick with this for the first squad. 

I hope you like it!

It seems like the blog is gaining a bit more attention lately, viewership is going up! If you are reading this, maybe consider suscribing to the blog or sharing it with your friends... Or leave a comment if you want! 

See you soon with the full 18mm army! 

First test figure painted

And once again, I’ve changed my mind—but just a tiny bit :D

While I was working, I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to depict the St. Jowen’s Rifles so they could fight on Armageddon—in that toxic atmosphere full of poison that the inhabitants are exposed to.

And then I remembered that there were a few separate gas masks in the old Cadia HQ set!

I liked it right away, even though you can barely see the figures’ faces anymore.

But somehow it fits quite well, and with the familiar shape of the old helmets, it looks much more appealing to me than my previous attempts. Maybe I should have just printed the heads a little bigger; I don’t know.

I also found this picture here, which I really, really liked. I drew a bit of inspiration from it for the color scheme as well. Sadly I don't know the artist's name. If someone knows, please let me know! 

 

In any case, I painted a first figure as a test; you can see the result below. I think I’ll let it sit for a few days and see if I still like it then... This project is pretty tricky in that regard!

 

 

Now the only question left is where to get more supplies. I still have a total of 5 of the respirator masks from my 2015 project, and now another 5. That’s nowhere near enough for an entire army. But it went pretty well with Blue-Stuff this time; let’s see if I stick with it or if I’ll have to model something on the computer after all. But the prospect of modeling, test-printing to see if it fits, making changes, printing again, and making more changes—I’m not too keen on that right now :D

And here's a side by side comparision with the new figure and the ones from some time ago... I definitly prefer the new one. 

 

St. Jowen´s Rifles (for now)

I’ve thrown everything out the window again and will now go ahead with the project using the original Cadian heads after all.

I had reworked the heads again so they’d look exactly like the original Steel Legion heads, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced. I’d rather put a little money aside and get the originals someday when I find a good deal.

I will stick with the color scheme, though. I haven’t quite figured out the background yet—maybe it could be an infantry regiment from St. Jowen’s Dock (perhaps the “St. Jowen’s Rifles” or something like that? Sounds pretty good).

Anyway, with the first test miniatures, I tried to recreate a few poses from the original Steel Legion figures, with varying degrees of success. This project is also really well-suited for practicing a bit more hand sculpting, so in that regard, it’s already been worth it!

I decorated some of the bases with homemade barbed wire and Ork skulls from the GW Skull Set, and a small modification depicts a poor Imperial soldier who also didn’t make it. 

 

Gotrek and Felix ready for painting

Here they are, the biggest heroes of the Empire:

Gotrek and Felix!

I finally manged to do the bases for these two, and print print them at a decent quality. I did a lot of changes to Felix a few weeks ago, like making the sword thicker, and some improvements on the cloth as well. 

Now they will sit at the back of my painting table and will only be painted once I have finished my Austrian army :D I hope this motivation works...

Of course I had to add some skulls to the bases... It's Warhammer after all!

Really looking forward to painting them, so I better start working on the last two Austrian units.

 

All the best

Lucas  

 

And even more Steel Legion!

Yes, I should not have painted them, I know... The Austrians are looking very angry at me from the back of my painting table. But I could not help myself!

I did change quite a lot of things on these models. First of all, the new conversions of course (see my latest post). Painting wise I painted the armour with a mix of 1:1 of black and "Bronzed Green" by Vallejo, that gave enough difference to the lasgun, that's still pure black. But the weapon got a highlight with a dark grey, and the armour the metal flakes as before (but less of it!). 

Also, I painted some freehand Steel Legion emblems on the shoulder armour. 

 

Now I don't have an option but to continue painting the Austrians, as I ran out of models... But more are on the way :D Damn. 

 

All the best

Lucas  

More Steel Legion conversions!

Hey guys, here's a quick update on this project! 

Not too much time right now, but I managed to do some sculpting on these three figures over this week. Pretty rough, but I am pretty happy how they turned out!

I probably should have sculpted the heads myself, as they are not looking 100% steel legion yet... But I am not sure that I should change them now that I have three ready :D

I decided to sculpt the coat a bit longer, now they definitly look different enough from the original cadians. Also, the higher collars help a lot I think.

I also think that I will alter the painting scheme a bit: mixing some green in the black for the armour parts will make it a little different from the weapon, and I also should do less of the metal chips visible... Maybe it was a bit too much on the last figure.

Well that's it for today's update, now back to sculpting more Napoleonic figures!