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Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Howdy folks! It's New Blog Time!

Given that my last P&M blog has a) seen a massive drop-off in updates over the last few months and b) consists of a lot of my older/earlier work which is, to say the least, a bit rubbish, I thought it was about time I change things up a little and make a fresh start. A lot of what I do these days goes into showcase threads or the monthly P&M challenge I run here on Dakka, but this will hopefully be a good way to keep everything in one place and hopefully keep me motivated to paint more stuff, as my productivity has declined somewhat over the last year as D&D and video games have eaten more of the free time uni work has left me with.

It's fair to say this will probably be updated a lot less frequently than my old blog was in its heyday, but hopefully I can keep a steady stream of painted minis coming, and I'm always happy to chat about my hobby exploits, so please do feel free to drop in with comments, questions, feedback and all that proverbial jazz... and if you're really bored, ask me about my D&D games!

One last shameless plug, I do do a bit of commission work here and there so if you like what you see and would like something painted, feel free to shoot me a PM!

But that's enough of the word things, on with the pictures!

To kick things off, a mini I'm really rather fond of. A few weeks ago I picked this one up from Mierce Minatures' surplus stock page for all of about £4, and it's a really nice piece. I've actually painted this sculpt before in resin, but this version is in metal and I have to say, I found it a massive improvement to work with; the detail was much sharper after multiple coats, there was no issue with the sword repeatedly breaking like on the resin one and the textures have a lot more bite to them, making things like the cloth effect on the cloak way easier to do. It's also the tiniest bit larger than the resin version, I think, though could still easily fit inside the upper body of a Primaris Marine, Mierce's humans definitely tend towards a less bulky style!



This mini has always reminded me a bit of what a celtic answer to Wonder Woman might look like, so I took some inspiration from that for the red and blue scheme. The snowy/muddy base was done with bicarb of soda (snowda?) and plenty of Agrax Earthshade after the fact, which I think has created a rather nice slush effect that anyone who's experienced a British winter will be all to familiar with...

I think that'll do for now, so for now, thanks for looking, and as always, any thoughts are most welcome!

This message was edited 22 times. Last update was at 2020/06/18 20:16:50


 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

The blog is dead, long live the blog!

That warrior woman is very well done. Suits your grim style perfectly.

   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Time to kick off a new project, one which was kickstarted by that great and noble Christmas tradition, watching The Lord of the Rings...

It's been about 3 years since I last painted any LotR stuff, and through a combination of GW's revival of the range this year and the inspiration of rewatching the movies again, now seems like a good time to fix that. Thus, off to ebay I go, and pick up a set of the Fellowship of the Ring in metal, which I still maintain are some of the best licensed miniatures ever made despite their age. The likenesses captured perfectly, the attention to detail is staggering even now, nearly 2 decades later.

So up first, Middle Earth's troublemaker-in-chief, adventure-instigator extraordinaire, Gandalf The Grey, this version portraying his iconic clash with the Balrog at the Bridge of Khazad Dum. Really a test mini, as I have another Gandalf on the desk which fits a little better with the rest of the Fellowship, but still a fun one to paint. I've angled the sword arm down a bit here as well versus the standard pose, gives him a little more momentum.



And second, possibly one of my favourite characters across all of Middle Earth, Boromir of Gondor. In a story full of archetypes and somewhat flawless characters, I've always found Boromir wonderfully human, especially as portrayed by Sean Bean in the movies. It's easy at a glance to write him off as a traitor and a week man, but the context of his fall really does make him sympathetic to me.



As with all the ME stuff I do, I've deliberately kept things fairly muted here to match the aesthetic of the films; the realistic, worn look has always been a major part of their appeal to me. So no real stark highlights, and a big emphasis on textures; the rough, heavy fabric of Gandalf's robes, the smooth leather of Boromir's tunic and armour, the blades shiny but not flashy, these are all things I've tried to bring out here and the sculpts do lend themselves to that.

There'll be a lot more LotR coming soon. Not only have I got the rest of the Fellowship to paint (along with 2 more Gandalfs), but I've been talked into buying the new starter set as well, with the armies of Rohan and Mordor... not sure exactly when I'll have time to get it all painted, but at the very least it's something to keep me occupied until a massive pile of Batman stuff from the Gotham City Chronicles KS swamps me in March!

That's all for now, thanks for looking! Do let me know what you think!

 
   
Made in us
Walking Dead Wraithlord






2...decades...? Gosh, but time does fly.

Lovely idea for a project. The minis are looking great already.
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

Love the Lord of the Rings stuff; makes me want to pull out some of mine and paint it! I look forward to seeing you paint up the rest of the Fellowship!

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Very nice.

   
Made in us
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






London

Love your work as ever - looking forward to a new blog being worked up here!



Relapse wrote:
Baron, don't forget to talk about the SEALs and Marines you habitually beat up on 2 and 3 at a time, as you PM'd me about.
nareik wrote:
Perhaps it is a lube issue, seems obvious now.
 
   
Made in us
Sure Space Wolves Land Raider Pilot






Love the details and the weathering. They look very real which is what I tend to look for in miniatures. Great job so far and keep posting!
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Cheers all! I've really enjoyed going back to these LotR minis. And as such, more!

First up, Aragorn. Oddly, in the Fellowship collection I got, he was the only one in his Two Towers gear, so I do have another one on the way in his ranger coat rather than the armour he picks up at Helm's Deep. Was nice to revisit this sculpt, as I have a feeling it was one of the first models I ever painted.




Next up, Merry and Pippin. Since a lot of the Fellowship are quite drab, I've upped the colour on these two a little bit as befits their personalities. These sculpts are tiny, so the likenesses aren't quite as good (though I think you can still see some of Billy Boyd in Pippin), but they're still very characterful pieces regardless. Left the metals here a bit less clean, as their blades are hand-me-downs from Aragorn rather than well-kept weapons like his or Boromir's swords.


And so we're over half way to the full Fellowship! Already looking rather nice as a group. Legolas and Gimli are on deck next, so check in soon for them, and maybe some Rohan/Mordor test paints as my Pelennor box arrived today.


Ta for looking, any thoughts welcome!

 
   
Made in de
Battlefield Tourist






Nuremberg

Gorgeous work. These old minis are really something else in my opinion, some of the best stuff GW has ever made. Love the style choices made here. Your skin tones in particular are excellent.

   
Made in us
Walking Dead Wraithlord






This is awesome and unfortunate. You have me casting sidelong glances at my pile of unpainted LotR models.
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

<Bonks Para with a copy of the book.>

 Paradigm wrote:
Left the metals here a bit less clean, as their blades are hand-me-downs from Aragorn rather than well-kept weapons like his or Boromir's swords.


“For each of the hobbits he* chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvelous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold"
“Forged many long years ago by Men of Westernesse: they were foes of the Dark Lord, but were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dum in the Land of Angmar”

Second age relics from the wars of the north, recovered from the Barrow Downs. Not hand-me-downs. Makes it a bit more relevant when the Witch-King gets one of them to the back of the knee.

* “He” in this case is Tom Bombadil, not Aragorn.

Pedantic nerding aside, love the work you did on these guys. Do you have your original Aragorn for a progress comparison? Or a pic somewhere?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/01/04 22:20:45


   
Made in us
Warning From Magnus? Not Listening!





Va

Wow, Para! Been awhile since Ive been around and your work, while always great, has improved by leaps and bounds! Great looking stuff here, especially the woman in the top post. Looking forward to what you post next!

Check out my Deadzone/40k/necromunda blog here! 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Thanks chaps!

youwashock wrote:This is awesome and unfortunate. You have me casting sidelong glances at my pile of unpainted LotR models.


Do it! Seriously, they're still some of the best minis GW ever made. Looking at the (old) plastics in the new starter, they're far better than my ancient/rubbish paintjobs had me believing... Looking forward to giving them another go round.

And on a related note, the new Theoden in plastic is a beautiful mini, might be bumping him to the top of the queue once the Fellowship are done.

Nevelon wrote:<Bonks Para with a copy of the book.>

 Paradigm wrote:
Left the metals here a bit less clean, as their blades are hand-me-downs from Aragorn rather than well-kept weapons like his or Boromir's swords.


“For each of the hobbits he* chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvelous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold"
“Forged many long years ago by Men of Westernesse: they were foes of the Dark Lord, but were overcome by the evil king of Carn Dum in the Land of Angmar”

Second age relics from the wars of the north, recovered from the Barrow Downs. Not hand-me-downs. Makes it a bit more relevant when the Witch-King gets one of them to the back of the knee.

* “He” in this case is Tom Bombadil, not Aragorn.

Pedantic nerding aside, love the work you did on these guys. Do you have your original Aragorn for a progress comparison? Or a pic somewhere?



Aha, I'll counter-pedant you by pointing out that these versions are based on the movies, where the Hobbits get their swords from Strider to defend themselves when he leaves, just before the Nazgul attack Weathertop. But yeah, fair point.

I do have the original somewhere, when I've finished up the Fellowship I'll do a set of comparison pics as I've found a fair few of my originals (off the top of my head, at least Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Pippin and Merry... Gandalf got half-redone a while back and Frodo and Sam I stripped and may well paint as part of this set). It's... quite the contrast, as most of them were done before I even started my old blog!

 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Got the last few finished today, so for the minute the Fellowship stands complete (though I do still have another Gandalf and Aragorn to do...)

First up, Frodo and the real hero of LotR, Samwise. 'Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam'
Aside from being my favourite character, I think Sam might be my favourite model in this set as well, the likeness is great for the size and the pose captures his stalwart toughness perfectly.


Up next, the Elf and the Dwarf, Legolas and Gimli. Really a set of extremes here, the Gimli model has aged wonderfully with its simplicity but the face on Legolas is showing its age, it's notably chunkier than the rest of the Fellowship which doesn't really suit his Elven stature. Mind you, with the new plastics previewed today you might be seeing new versions of both these characters in the future...


The Three Hunters together:



And with that...
'Nine companions. So be it. you shall be The Fellowship of the Ring'



That's all for now! Thanks for looking, any thoughts welcome!

 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

Next paint 9 Nazghul?

   
Made in us
Walking Dead Wraithlord






Second that. And some of the twilight Nazgul, as well.
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

I do have some Nazgul in metal, I could do something with them. Not the Twilight ones though, cool as they are they're long OOP and crazy expensive second hand.

Today, we go from old metals to new plastics, with the excellent Theoden mini in the new starter. Really lovely mini this, as much as the old models are wonderfully characterful the crispness of these new ones is excellent, especially on a mini with very detailed armour like this one.


Mounted version and more Rohan coming soon! Maybe some Bad Guys too...

Thanks for looking! Thoughts, as always, welcome!

 
   
Made in us
Walking Dead Wraithlord






I had not seen this one before. He is a marvelous little model. Great job!
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

Wow, the Fellowship turned out great! I have the plastic versions that came in the Mines of Moria starter, but as they are among the first models I ever painted I'm pretty ashamed of the paintjobs. I'd love to get a set of the metal Fellowship like you've got and do the characters justice.

Theoden turned out pretty nice too. Is the plastic version multipart like a lot of Warhammer 40k's clampack characters or is it just a body and maybe an arm separate?

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in us
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





Affton, MO. USA

Saw “Hail to the king”, thought there would be Ash from army of darkness. Tricksie human

While no chainsaw wielding discount store employee was insight, there still was plenty of excellent action to take in. Wonderful work my friend.

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'





Bedford

Great work as always Para, I've not really looked at the LOTR models in much detail but your painting makes me want some

Strangely I'm getting some Tyrion Lannister vibes from Merry(?), mainly the face.

   
Made in us
Crushing Black Templar Crusader Pilot






London

Nice to see the mew plastic painted up - and good to hear the old plastics still hold up too!



Relapse wrote:
Baron, don't forget to talk about the SEALs and Marines you habitually beat up on 2 and 3 at a time, as you PM'd me about.
nareik wrote:
Perhaps it is a lube issue, seems obvious now.
 
   
Made in gb
Veteran Inquisitorial Tyranid Xenokiller





Cymru

Lovely stuff as always Para

My P&M Shenanigans (40k mostly atm)

Diary of a Inquisitor (Other Sci fi in 40k fluff and Pics)
 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

It's been a while! Mainly as I've been soldiering on with the Rohirrim from the PF box, and while they're coming along pretty nicely they're not really update worthy on their own. In the last few days, though, I've done up some more impressive pieces, so here they are.

First up is my entry for this month's challenge, the other Theoden from Pelennor Fields. Absolutely love this sculpt, it's really a great example of what the new plastics can do. Great likeness, fine detail, a pose that would be an unbalancable nightmare in metal, a great sense of motion to it. Really one of the best kits GW has come out with in a while.

Pretty pleased with my paintjob too, horses and whites are things I often struggle with so I'm rather chuffed about how Snowmane, his steed, has ended up looking.



And up next, rather the opposite of a heroic king of men, the Lord of Undeath, The Whispered One, Classic D&D uber-bad Vecna. I picked up this mini in Mierce's recent sale after wanting it for some time, and about the time it arrived a friend mentioned that he wanted to use a version of Vecna (basically the Lichiest Lich who ever Liched) in his campaign at some point, so I decided to paint the mini based on his description so the campaign has a suitable epic final boss.

He's been a real git to photograph, so these pics aren't the best, but you get the idea. Originally the glow was a more desaturated blue, but after a chat with the friend I'm painting it for we decided to move it over to a brighter, eldritch green (many glazes later...), which I think has come out fairly nicely. As befits the character, one of his eyes has the same glow, but in these pics it's really hidden by the hood.


That's all for now, any thoughts welcome! Ta for stopping by!

 
   
Made in gb
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Coventry

Ooooft.

Nice work on the LotR collection Paradigm, I especially like Theoden (both on foot and mounted).
   
Made in us
Walking Dead Wraithlord






They both look great, but that cloak on Vecna is really something special.
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

Wow, mounted Theoden looks amazing! You really did a nice job on him. I knew I liked that sculpt when they first announced it. The only thing keeping me from getting Battle of Pelennor Fields myself is the fact that no one in my local area plays Middle-Earth at all. I already have some LotR stuff squirreled away, but no incentive to paint any of it as long as I've got 40k stuff to paint. Unless a suitable category comes up in your painting challenges of course.

Vecna looks cool too, especially the cloak!

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Cheers guys!


 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Been quietly productive recently, soldiering on with the LotR troops and painting a bunch of minis for my D&D group. But since the last post featured Vecna, I figured it was appropriate to follow up with one of the individuals who faced him at the end of Critical Role's first campaign. And so, here's Arkhan the Cruel, Oathbreaker Paladin of Tiamat, as played by Joe Manganiello.



The mini is actually produced by Gale Force Nine in their D&D Collectors Series and predates the existence of the Critical Role range, but still depicts Arkhan as he appears on the show, having just claimed the Hand of Vecna as his own (his previous, self-removed limb is sculpted onto the base, which is a nice if gruesome touch! ). It's a really crisp mini, was great fun to paint.

Will try and get some proper pics of my D&D party minis soon, but that's all for now. Stay tuned, and ta for looking. Any thoughts welcome!

 
   
 
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