Battles of Beleriand: a Silmarillion WIP in 28mm.

[Lord Maedhros]

Greetings.

Longtime lurker of various forums who felt it was finally time to share some of my meagre efforts. I have for years (about 11 probably) envisioned bringing The Silmarillion to life using 28mm miniatures and the GW Middle Earth SBG Ruleset. My biggest challenge was the offering of elves on 28mm as none of the available models are what I had in mind. Finally with the advent of the Oathmark elves I proceeded to create my first physical miniatures for this long envisioned project. They are a kit bash of Fireforge Games Teutonic Knights and Oathmark elves. They are painted up in the colours of the House of Feanor who are my favourite of the houses. I shall attempt to update this thread when I can with my slow expansion of Silmarillion miniatures. I consider my paint jobs very low on the scale of acceptability, probably due to my habit of comparing what I have done to the amazing work done by others.

Comments and criticism welcome. I have since updated the flag in the photos (my first attempt at a paper banner) I'll attach an update photo when I get around to taking more.

Thank you all.

[Pattus Magnus]

I like what you are doing! These figures look good and have nice bases. Good choice of kits for kitbashing, too. I expect that with the spare parts from each Oathmark box you will be able to convert quite a few Teutons.

Welcome to the forum, too! There are many enthusiastic gamers here to cheer you on!

[Cacique Caribe]

Excellent looking warband.  Well done!

Dan

[SotF]

I'm unsure if it's the picture or the minis, but the faces seem very flat in tone. I've had that happen with cameras before in a lot of different ways, but if not you might want to try a flesh wash of some kind for the facial features.

Other than that, they look really good.

[WitchQueenofAngmar]

Looking good so far! Thanks for that idea of Teutonic Knights, will have to borrow it.

[Old Hob]

I consider my paint jobs very low on the scale of acceptability, probably due to my habit of comparing what I have done to the amazing work done by others.

Don't do yourself down, friend. My gaming buddy has developed a very similar painting style - neat and consistent and reminiscent of old school toy soldiers. His armies look great when turned out on the table, as will yours. Your choice of kit-bash parts is also spot on.
There are so many incredible artists sharing their work online that it can be a little intimidating (I share your pain). But once the dice start rolling nobody notices the jewel effect on a sword hilt, but they will certainly take note of 'those bloody elves' punching through their centre. I look forward to following your project.

[Lord Maedhros]

Thank you all for the positive feedback and comments!

I'm unsure if it's the picture or the minis, but the faces seem very flat in tone. I've had that happen with cameras before in a lot of different ways, but if not you might want to try a flesh wash of some kind for the facial features.

It is probably a combination of both I have given them all a very matt varnish (I like the way a matte varnish looks in person) which comes up very flat on the camera. The flesh wash is a great tip though as they are not very heavily contrasted in their current state. Thank you!

These are some more currently WIP. They don't have the varnish applied yet and also need a few detail touch ups like eyes, highlights and face touches

[Neldoreth]

Those are great conversions; you've managed to get the Oathmark and Fireforge kits to work extremely well together, it's inspiring. I love your Silmarilion vision as well, the figs and the color scheme fit the time frame very well!

Thanks
n.

[Pattus Magnus]

I think the suggestion of adding a flesh wash on the faces is a good one, it will add “instant shadows” with minimal effort. I use GW’s Reikland Flesh wash, but there are a number of good ones available.

One of my friends told me ages ago that for most figures people pay attention to “ faces, bases and shields” and if those are done well the figure will look good. I think there’s something to that. If you try a flesh wash and decide you like the effect, another step to consider is to use a very fine brush and apply some highlights. Just use the original flesh paint to put a short line down the nose, over each brow (if the brow is visible), on each cheekbone, and a dot on the chin (or two for a cleft chin). The wash will provide shadows and the highlights will provide, well, highlights, and the face will appear a lot more vivid. With a little practice the highlights won’t take much extra time.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Those elves are looking good.  I have also used Fireforge knights for elves and have recently started chopping heads off Footsore Barons Wars figures adding Oathmark heads.
The Oathmark elves are sculpted with flat features.  No problem if you are patient and/or a skilled painter.  It is annoying if you lack the patience or skill. I have had good results with washes but you will need to experiment to get the right one.  The soft features give the wash little to work with.  I went a few shades darker than I normally would.

[Lord Maedhros]

Thank you all for the kind words and advice. I added a flesh wash and the highlights as suggested. I think it is a marked improvement although I'm not sure it comes through in photos.

First 18 completed with banner 2.0.

[Pattus Magnus]

They are looking quite good, I think! I’m looking forward to seeing more as you complete them.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Nice looking unit there and far more practically attired and equipped than many of the elvish fantasy armies on the go.

Looking forward to seeing your project develop.

[Lord Maedhros]

Greetings all,

Assembled some more miniatures for my First Age conflicts. Most of them still need gap filling and other final assembly tweaks. partially painted my Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, but not done yet (might adjust his weapon position as well).

Converted a Feanor Model and a Maedhros (Foot and Mounted) model. Still need to do some final assembly touch ups, but happy with the look.

Also acquired a epic dragon which will be painted up as Glaurung. Still need to gap fill the model, but it looks outstanding and I am looking forward to painting it.

Overall not much progress but some exciting models acquired and happy to have grown my First Age collection over the last few months despite not getting much painting done.

Photos below. Thanks for any and all feedback.

[Grumpy Gnome]

A great project! Looking good, with some excellent kitbash conversions. 👍