Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: arabianknight on March 29, 2022, 09:32:51 PM
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After over 20 years of gaming with a reasonable number of miniatures my painted collection only contained 2 Dwarves! But after a chance "one off" figure I'm starting to make headway into the collection I've been hoarding over the years.
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The one that started it off - A dwarf miner from Heresy Miniatures. Simple to paint up and with a good characterful scowl. Even has a pencil behind his ear.
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And a trio to truly get the ball rolling. All picked because they are clothed in mostly chainmail to speed things along. I'm not sure about the manufacturer of the first lad. Old and slotta based he is. His spear tip was damaged and fell off, which is why it looks a bit lop sided.
The Middle fellow is one of the new(-sh) range from Ral Partha Europe that they've been adding to over the last couple of years. I've been in on their Kickstarters for these so have quite a few more that need attention.
The final fellow is an old 80's Citadel figure. He's ended up a bit wide eyed, which actually fits with the painting styles I've seen from that era so oddly appropriate. He's also got a great big heed!
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The next 3 done contained some characters. The King and Wizard are both from Ral Partha's new Dwarf line, and the guard is from the as yet unidentified (but familiar) manufacturer with quite a few more in the Dwarves box to come.
The King actually comes with a separate shield, hence his left arm position, but I preferred this look without. He's in this position through fighting merit rather than family ascendancy!
I just couldn't get the Wizard's left eye painted properly, some sort of subconscious block on my part, so I decided to go whole hog in another direction and give it a spell effect type paint job. Not the most subtle but certainly effective (or at least an effect).
And if anyone can throw me a bone on the range the guard comes from I'd be super grateful... :)
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And to complete the progress so far here are some ranged options. The 2 crossbowmen are from Ral Partha's newer range and a much older archer. With more material on show on these models than the other more armoured troops already done I've settled on a rough green and white quarters colour scheme. Keeping it a casual theme rather than a uniform will help keep them use of the models flexible.
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I love the archers. They are like, verbatim what my teenage brain pictured Terry Brooks' dwarves in Shannara as looking like.
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More foot soldier options, all with axes. I thought I'd do a painted helm as I'd seen it recently done in a forum\group somewhere and hadn't thought of it myself. Not sure if it's a bit grand for this level of soldier but no matter.
Far left figure is again an oldie that I still can't ID the manufacturer of, whilst the other two are from Ral Partha again. All keeping the green\white theme running.
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The far right is an Harlequin/Black Tree Design Dwarf by Kev Adams.
Nice job on those by the way.
Morts
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The far right is an Harlequin/Black Tree Design Dwarf by Kev Adams.
Nice job on those by the way.
Morts
Fantastic, thanks, Mort. :)
I knew they were familiar to me but I'd forgotten about the Harlequin \ Black Tree range. I've quite a few more to do of them so now I feel one less itch!
Cheers
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Yeah, I recall seeing a few of these when I was perusing the Black Tree Design webstore.
Very nice job with the stunties, if I have to pick favourites those would be the great-axes.
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A single figure to keep the run going, another Ral Partha Dwarf. His outfit is a bit whiter in real life. Obviously he's a bit of an outlier as far as usual fantasy dwarf style goes.
Truth be told if I was looking through the website to make an order I doubt if I would ever have bought this figure, but he was in the Kick Starter that I backed. And am I ever glad he was - I would have been missing out!! Great fun to paint a simple style with a fun character. So happy with it and he'll definitely be in future warband rosters.
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nice paint-jobs on some great figures.
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The new Dwarf Dungeoneers Kick Starter arriving at my door has meant that there has been a bit of Paint Queue jumping going on. These two are from this new line (obviously). I love the back pack and equipment they have on them. They are ideal adventurers for RPGs and campaigning games IMHO.
The lantern also tempted\compelled me to have another bash at some OSL, even after the ho-hum results of my previous effort. This time I'm much happier with the result, a result of experimentation and educated guesswork more than anything. We'll see how my next attempt goes (there are a few flaming torches in the pack!)
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It is good to see "adventuring" type models coming back around. Packs, bags, weapons, spare kit, lanterns, iron spikes, more weapons and always a 10ft pole ???
All the stuff we load our characters down with in RPGs. Makes painting more time consuming but adds a lot more "life" to a character figure.
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The ninja dwarf is utterly ridiculous but you really have done him beautifully.
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A bit of old and new with a new era Ral Partha Dwarf soldier and a classic Citadel Dwarf Champion. The soldier is just a basic colour scheme so will mix with any force. The old Champion was great to paint with that iconic hand topped helm (which is metallic not as brown as the picture). I hate doing shield as I can never think of what to do within my skill levels, so I'm happy with my third attempt - a sort of weave design.
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I am too nonplussed when it comes to painting shields: “do I paint it normally or do I go for a freehand? And what I could I draw??”
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I am too nonplussed when it comes to painting shields: “do I paint it normally or do I go for a freehand? And what I could I draw??”
I keep meaning to investigate decals but never get round to it.
Any suggestions from anyone more than welcome. ;)
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For shield designs the best place to start is with a sourcebook on heraldry.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Heraldry-Origins-Symbols-Designs/dp/1855855607 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Heraldry-Origins-Symbols-Designs/dp/1855855607)
This one is excellent and has hundreds of designs pictured.
Once you know the "rules" regarding which colours can be used and how they are arranged, coming up with designs is easy.
For decals VVV do a small range of medieval heraldic devices in various colours that can be added to shields and surcoats or barding. They also have standard devices like Fleur-de-lys and Crosses in differing sizes and colours.
The excellent old GW fantasy decal sets still appear on eBay regularly but are never cheap. The later releases became very GW unit specific while the earlier were more generic.
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Great looking dwarves, I like the shield design a lot. Almost look like a load of hammers. Sort of a dwarf version or ermine.
I would take inspiration from the heraldry books but these are fantasy races so don't get stuck on the rules as such. Also you can take inspiration from Viking/Anglo Saxon, Celtic, etc.
The simplest form is halving the shield, then quarters, perhaps a diagonal break across it, for dwarves geometric mountain shapes are always good, hammers are relatively simple shapes to try as well. Keep doing it and you'll get better. I find the best way is to paint in a dilute grey what you want to draw then go back over it with the colour you want.
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To celebrate my Dwarven horde reaching 20 strong I thought I'd do something different from the pile - an old 80's Dwarf 'Copter.
The jacket and scarf seemed like a nod to the old RAF pilots of WWII so that is why the jacket is such a non-fantasy jacket colour. With the pilot dropping a bomb it needed a target - set up an unused bag of Citadel Snotlings to supply a willing subject.
I think we should also take a moment to look at the packaging and take in the instructions for these new fangled "slotta" bases - they'll never catch on!
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Two more standard troops. One may be a guard, actually. He's certainly leaning on his spear enough to have been standing watch for a few hours! An old Harlequin figure.
I really should have done something with the mould line on the right hand figure, but oh well, maybe next time.
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I think I have missed this thread... ::)
Very good. Nicely painted and it is impossible to have too many dwarves. :)
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Ah, just lean into the mould line - the last dwarf to own that helmet got smacked across the head and the armourer didn’t do a very thorough job banging out the crease before it was re-issued…
The figures look great. There’s something about the expressions on their faces that says “I would rather be elsewhere”.
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A couple of more specialist figures now, both from the Ganesha Games ranges (produced by Alternative Armies). Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes has a specific "ball and chain" weapon rule giving an extended attack radius, which the left hand figure perfectly represents. The other figure is obviously a thief, and a great looking figure he is too!