High Elf Korhil

Although I have very little interest in High Elves, this model caught my attention a few months ago and last week I decided to have a go at painting it. I used a very simple colour scheme (dark blue, white and metal) and after a few highlights, the miniature was fully painted.



I am very pleased with the result, especially with the gems (dark green and a few light greens and varnish on top).

Flói Stonehand

Here's a beauty from the Lord of the Rings range, one of their latest miniatures. The model is very tiny but very easy to paint (the use of washes is an absolute must in miniatures like this).



He will look great along side my dwarf rangers, another one of my many outstanding projects to complete in this lifetime...

Hog Whisperer and Piglets

Don't ask me why I would even conceive buying such a strange lot, but the truth is that I absolutely love the way Wyrd Miniatures comes up with models like these.
They are so inspirational that they gave a few crazy ideas for a possible background story for this character and his dirty little pets. I'll be writing it when I get some spare time.

Frog Warriors

Here's my second set of models from Splintered Light Miniatures - the frog warriors. I got some inspiration from here while painting them and felt happy with the end result.



Together with the toad warriors that I had painted a while ago, these are slowly generating a fearful amphibian army (a note for the reckless: frogs are no laughing matter!) :)

Varan the Bear

Another addition to my Northern Dwarfs (I really must catch up with my Forge Quest narratives): Varan the Bear, from the fantastic West Wind Productions. I must say, this cool pair of characters (yes, the bear is a character too!) was a joy to paint and made me think of getting a few more dwarfs from West Wind.

Girl Power

My miniature collection is populated with hundreds of monsters, goblins, orcs, demons and so on. A few dwarfs here and there and the odd human. In the middle of the pandemonium, I've dedicated very little time to female characters. Well, those days are over; because I didn't want to be accused of discrimination by favouring male characters in my painting activity, here's my latest painting: Collector of Isha, from Sphere Wars. The miniature was surprisingly straight forward to paint which allowed me some space for experimentation - especially regarding blending techniques.



After the debacle of the rangers against the orcs (battle report to be written in this century - I promise, Tim), this lady might come in handy in future clashes between humans and the green beasts.

Iron Guard

I got these dwarfs from Black Tree Design a couple of years ago for a very cheap price. Lacking the time nowadays, I decided to just go for a very simple colour combination and the use of metal and washes for the armour and weapons. I will be painting a few dwarf mercenaries some time this week.

Mole Miners

Here are the first Splintered Light Miniatures models that I've managed to paint. They are super tiny (12mm tall) but somehow very easy to paint. They belong to the Druids Children range, which includes miniatures like hedgehogs, mice, raccoons, and frogs (which I will be painting next).



Initially I though of using them for my Wood Elves army, or even lining them up with my druids. But then I thought of my dwarf miners and engineers and decided to have the moles as the dwarfs' little helpers.



I really like these tiny guys!

Beastmen Giant

I had painted this miniature a long while back, but only managed to paint and flock the base this weekend. This is another beautiful model from Enigma Miniatures, originally called Morznak, Demon of Atrocity. I will not use it as a demon but as a Beastmen Giant instead. The big size and the horns and hooves are too obvious to ignore so the model will be perfect to join the rest of the herd!

Horug & Snif, The Stranglers

I bought this model almost two years ago and even at the the time I had no idea what I would do with it. The characters have this goblin look but they can't really blend in with my goblin miniatures. Still, I decided to buy it and give it a go with the paint job.
The first thing that struck me was how tiny the model was. I couldn't believe that it was humanly possible to put so much detail in a paint job into such a tiny miniature...



That instantly put me off from even attempting to paint it. I put it away for nearly one year.
Last week, however, I looked at the poor thing and decided that I was going to try my very best with the brush. So I used Knarloc Green for the base and washed the skin with Badab Black. Then I highlighted with Knarloc Green again and started adding a surprisingly effective colour into the mix: Golden Yellow. This was the most fortunate move, as the model started coming to life at every layer I would add (this is probably sounding like the nerdiest monologue ever, but I got really excited with the discovery).
By then, I had already painted the clothes with Hormagaunt Purple and the shoes, straps and pouch with Vermin Brown. Instead of going for the obvious Bleached Bone for the highlights, I used Golden Yellow again and got very good results.
The weapon, nails, teeth and the skull at the bottom were fairly straightforward, so all that was left were the scabs and eyes. I used Scab Red as a base and then used Mechrite Red. The last highlight was done with (surprise!) Golden Yellow into the mix.



In the end, I was very happy with the result, even though it took me a few hours to finish it.
I still don't know what to do with this miniature in my game, but it doesn't matter; I learned a lot about mixing colours and that Golden Yellow is one the best paints out there to give a warm tone to the models.

Demons

I must admit I have a soft-spot for demons. I have quite of few of them in my collection of miniatures.
Here are some of the ones I've painted so far:


Nurgle Plaguebearers, from GW. It was quite an easy task to paint them, simply by using the famous drybrushing technique (not everyone's favourite, but it does work well with these models).



Bloodletters of Khorne, from GW. Again, the use of drybrushing was a must for these guys. I put some extra-effort on the banner.





Demons, from Hell Dorado. My girlfriend would strongly disagree, but I think these miniatures are awesome. There is a lot of detail in here (including a helpless victim inside the belly of one of these beasts).
In fact, the whole Demons range in Hell Dorado is well worth a close look.

No good

It's been almost a year since I bought my GW beastmen. And so far I've only managed to paint two (!) Ungors. Sure, I've been busy with dozens of other projects in the meantime, but this is no excuse for neglecting such fine models. I definitely need to be more consistent (yeah, right!)

Toadmen

Finally I gathered some time and patience and finished my first group of toadmen (Alkemy's Toad Thunder-Warriors).
I can now use them on my next game (in the Bogs) and see how they are going to influence the storyline of upcoming missions.



I have three more of these to paint but I will have no rush in finishing them for the time being.



P.S. I've been obsessed about amphibians and reptiles ever since I was a kid so it is a thrill to have found these little fellows!

Wolf Thunder Warriors

Originally I bought the Aurlok set because of their toad thunder warriors. They are gorgeous miniatures and very relevant to a few scenarios I have in mind for the game. This set also contained other miniatures that go together with the toad warriors in the Alkemy game: the crow thunder and wolf thunder warriors. However, I wasn't planning of lining them up in the same army as they look very different, but I didn't want to dismiss them either.
So I decided to start painting the wolf thunder models, even without knowing exactly how to use them in Forge Quest. They were fairly straight forward and allowed me to do some experiments with the dark skin and its different layers and highlights. I found the combination of dark flesh with grey very useful to give the kind of effect I was looking for in the skin.
In the end, I was quite happy with the result and will look forward to painting the remaining Aurlok miniatures.

Scibor Basing Kit

After a well-deserved post-Christmas break in Barcelona (where I misbehaved again and got myself a pair of dinosaurs from Papo), I managed to finish a few bits and bobs, like this set of ruins from Scibor.



Not the best paint job in the world but still does the trick. The kit itself is made of 10 pieces and they can work as ruins of an Elven temple or something of the sort.

Plague Monks

The new Skaven models are out and look awesome, but for some reason, these "old" plague monks are still my favourites.



I usually don't add gore and blood to my paint jobs, but in this case I thought it would be somehow appropriate.

Flagellants

Although these still need to have their bases finished, I thought I could have a go at taking a few pictures. They are lovely miniatures and surprisingly not as daunting to paint as I first imagined.



I really enjoy how they look so menacing while roaming the towns, seeking to punish the infidels.

In the forge

The Christmas break was extremely generous with me as it allowed plenty of time to finish some of my outstanding projects. Now that I resumed work, the miniature painting activity got a bit neglected.
Still, I have some projects going at the moment (actually, quite a lot of them!):

Wendigos: I have eight left to paint. Hopefully I should have them done by the end of this month;

Scibor Basing Kit: the ten pieces are almost ready. I will make a few pictures available here in the blog to show the detail that we get with these beautiful sculptures;

Giant Crocodile: I got this plastic toy from Schleich and started adding a few more colours to the teeth and scales. It will be amazing to have this big fellow in the Bogs campaign;

Saurus & Skinks: I was a bit naughty and bought the Lizardmen battalion boxed-set last weekend. I've managed to assemble twenty Saurus and twelve Skinks. I also started painting a few Temple Guards. I really have no idea why I got myself into another massive project. I guess I just couldn't resist the lure of the cold ones;

Toadmen: the super cool miniatures from Alkemy, that I decided to use in Forge Quest as toadmen. Three of them are almost there; six more to follow;

Splintered Light Miniatures: some frogs, moles, mice, satyrs and fauns. I got this before Christmas, but because of the snow, the package only managed to find its way last week. They are going to be excellent additions to my Wood Elves army;

Stuff to repaint: a dryad and a troll. I was appalled with how badly painted they were in the end, so I will have another go at them. This is what I get for rushing the paint job;

?????: I really have no idea what this is. I can see some scattered miniatures, like a wandering Ogre and few snotlings;

Wasteland: some instructions, super glue, tissues and bases. What a mess!

Warhammer Witchfate Tor. Tower of Sorcery

It took me quite a while to finish it off but finally here it is! I tried to get as much detail as possible out of it so I decided not to rush the paint job. It really paid off in the end.
I followed the Games Workshop tutorial on how to paint the tower and found it extremely useful. I even had a go at the unusual colour combination for the wood (dwarf flesh+vomit brown) and was surprised at how effective it was.
It's a monster of a building, with a total of four levels, all modular and accessible to put miniatures in.









The tower is packed with details both on the inside and outside.











I can only imagine the amazing missions and quests I can use the tower for. What a great way to start the new year!