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I haven;'t posted much WIP stuff lately, as I’ve had a fair bit of painted stuff to show. A little while ago, I placed some first/test orders with Brigade Models and Ral Partha Europe. The long and the short of it is that both companies came through nicely, so I wanted to put together a smaller review of some figures I picked up pretty much as impulse purchases while buying the other stuff.



Das Schwarze Auge – Undead Ogre – Axe, and Undead Ogre – Club. I assume these are sold by RPE under licence, as they have a fair bit of licenced product. DSA (The Dark Eye) is a German RPG of some description, and I don’t care to know any more about it. What I do care about is cool models and models that have potential for my own use, so I bought a trio of them. I’d have preferred if there were three distinct sculpts in order to make up a KoW unit, but beggars and choosers, so despite preferring the Axe sculpt, the club seemed to have more potential for simple conversion, so I got two of the club and one of the axe.



Castings were reasonably clean, needing a bit of work with a scalpel to clean them up, but not bad at all. I decided to make the two clubbers distinct from one another by doing some work on both of them, to move them both ever-so-slightly away from the original sculpt in different directions. One I simply de-horned, while the other I changed the club to an Axe with the help of the head off a Mantic Ogre’s 2-handed axe, which I pinned onto the end of the cut-down club handle. To make him a little distinct from behind, I added an old Marauder Miniatures-era Undead shield to his back as well.



Mounted on a 40mm base, and with a bit of putty to bring the base level with their integral metal bases, and some bits of slate to add interest and break up the flat area, and we’ve got a decent little unit of Undead Ogres (We’ll just proxy the Undead Troll rules) for Marouda’s Kings of War army in metal for only £15/AU$30. Not too bad for such a unit. Not as cheap/model perhaps as the UK prices for Mantic’s restic or GW’s HIPS Ogres, but still cheaper than a single Metal/Finecast Ogre from GW or even a good chunk of Reaper’s metal Ogres. And not even Reaper (who seem to make every odd thing) make Undead Ogres. Aside from this one. Who doesn’t really count for most wargaming.



Now I just need to stay focused long enough to actually finish painting them. I’d planned to take them to work where it’s guaranteed I’d get the bone and metal done – which is how I can justify “queue-jumper” models to myself, but with the large bases added, they’re difficult to transport to work in the little cases that I favour. Oops.

Hah, those are cool. I'm still torn between making my mantic ogres into ghoul-ogres (Ogrhouls?) sitting at the back of a pack of ghouls or just leave them generic mercenaries. These obviously skeletal guys give no room for interpretation and really look the part.

I like them!

They do make a very nice unit. The conversion work is nice, you wouldn't be able to tell two were the same model at a glance.

Skeleton ogres absolutely rock. Those models are great I really need to expand my horizons for different model companies. Quality seems pretty good. How did you find the sculpts up close?

Those are pretty neat. I've been wanting to pick up some ogre-sized undead models so I don't have to pay through the nose for more ushabti, and these may just fit the bill.

I saw that manufacturer's stuff about ten years ago. Really neat models. I was in Kansas City on business at the time and the shop had them tucked in a corner. Back then my googlefu was week and all that popped up when typing that name in was German Porn sites , I think the name has alternate meanings .

 Archer wrote:
Skeleton ogres absolutely rock. Those models are great I really need to expand my horizons for different model companies. Quality seems pretty good. How did you find the sculpts up close?

They're not too bad. They "feel" very much like 90's-era 4th-5th edition chunky undead, though without the off-putting ridiculously huge hats. I have no idea when they were actually sculpted, and any dates are now glued into oblivion on their bases. They're not fine-detailed like the more recent VC stuff or even the Mantic Ogres, but being both Undead and Ogres I'm okay with that, especially given the price. I reckon they'll look pretty kick-arse when they're painted and on the table, so I'm quite happy with them.

I could have converted them further, and briefly considered sculpting some cloth or even a cloak onto one of the twins, but then I decided that a slung shield would be much quicker and easier - and also look a bit more striking once painted up. There's a ton more of their stuff on the RPE site, and quite a lot of other cool fantasy models, including a lot of the old Heartbreaker metals that Kev Adams did.

They look great as a unit - Nice simple conversions really set the 2 identical ones apart!

Yeah I have to admit if you hadn't shown the shot of the two club wielding models before the conversion one I wouldn't have realized it was even a conversion of the guy standing next to him.

Great job on them.

Another cool couple of miniatures that I never knew existed. The simple weapon swap and shield addition really work to differentiate the sculpts. Now on with the queue jumping!

Nice stuff as always - very simple and effective conversion there. I love this blog for all the weird and wonderful minis you seem to come across.

Thanks guys. They turned out to be a nice little random find on the RPE site that I'd never have come across normally myself. I like to mix in a bunch of figures people don't usually find in their typical GW armies to keep them interesting for me and a bit unique.

These three are the top end of the Moria Goblin Army I've painted up for LotR SBG and KoW (and WotR if I ever actually play it). Durbûrz, the Goblin King of Moria will lead the forces until Golfimbal on Foot and Mounted are finished, and no doubt sometimes even then.



I experimented a little using some Seraphim Sepia wash on his armour to try and give it a "gold" feel, as befits a king. It didn't exactly work for gold, but I didn't want a shiny, nice, bright gold anyway. Still, it looks decent anyway on him, and different enough from the standard muddy-steel look. The rock he's perched on was also the impetus that led to adding bits of slate onto all of the "leader" models in the Goblin army, including all of those Captains I finished recently.



These two were a nice surprise. I thought I had some shamans, somewhere but couldn't for the life of me find them. I gave up and grudgingly resolved to buy some at some stage, and then lucked out and found these guys, along with a bunch of unpainted Gundabad Blackshields. Since I've got two of the same sculpts here, I added some colour to distinguish the two by glazing their armour plates with Army Painter red and green washes. These, as with the sepia washed armour on the King kept the palette within the one chosen for the army while giving both models a bit of individuality.



I still need to buy Drûzhag, The Beastcaller and possibly the Moria Goblin Commanders set for the alternate Shaman model and the Drummers. Aside from those, the Blackshields and the more exciting and exotic models like Trolls, Wargs and the like, it'll just be the 11 sprues of plastic Moria Goblins and I'm done. 132 models. Bleugh. I see some dead-eyed batch painting in my future.

Haha, that's a lot of goblins to paint... but quite possibly my favorite goblin range (even though I don't own any and am not terribly likely to buy any!), so there's that at least.

New guys are nice, look leadery and different but similar enough to work. Good stuff.

The washes have worked extremely well. What colour is underneath them?

Black>VMA Gunmetal>VMC Oily Steel>VMA Steel highlights. Then the coloured washes.

All these look good! Definitely going to try that armour glazing in future!

I think the armour looks fantastic, well the finished paint jobs in general look fantastic. Smooth highlights, crisp details.

If the rest of your goblins ate going to be paid Ted to this stage dad it's going to be one beautiful army thats for sure !

Nice gobbos there Azazel . Love the green you've got going there.

Those coloured washes on the armour certainly work. I remember doing a fair few Moria Goblins back in the day but nowhere near 132 of blighters. I think batch painting is the only way to not go mental.

Yeah, it's going to take awhile. I've decided to hold off starting the next load(s) of plastics until I've cleared a good amount of working space/room on the desk. I've been pulling half-painted figures out of cases as well as figures that need to be updated (new bases, touch-ups, partial repaints) to keep myself interested.

This is good because it means stuff is getting finished and updated. but less good since it's not helping the desk space situation all that much. But... the point has kinds morphed from just clearing the desk by finishing half-painted models to finishing off half-painted models, whether they're on the desk or shoved away into figure cases.



The good news is that I cracked 300 figures today for the year! 302 to be exact. Well, 303 in about 30 minutes.

I've got a pretty simple system for "counting" figures that I finish. I've seen systems where people count cavalry as two figures, tanks as 5 or 10, and so forth. Mine is simpler. Every "thing" is one figure. Cavalry? One model. Tank? One model. Older Figure that just needs rebasing? One model. Scenery piece? One model. Single barrel or crate? One model. Simples.

I did want to finish that Dracoliche and Chaos Dwarf Boar Centaur Whirlwind this weekend, but we had guests Friday night and Saturday, so all my energy went onto getting smaller models done and out of the way instead. I did get the last 4 Skeletons with scythes done from the Brigade models mob I bought a couple of months ago. Now I just need a decent day so I can spray all of this weekend's models, so I can flock them and then take pics. Just too cold/wet right now.

Congrats on the milestone! You seem to be speeding up as I slow down, so I'm pretty sure you'll overtake me before the year's through!

And I somewhat more comfortable with the state of my workspace after see ing that! Mine's smaller, I think, but no less crowded!

You have minis everywhere on your table, I can see why you have space problems now

Love the workplace shot. I hang my head in shame as I unfortunately cannot at this stage afford a permanent setup so don't have the benefit of being able to spread out like that. All my stuff is mobile and can pack the lot away. Oh how I wish I could have a set up like that.

Did I read that correctly? You spray seal your minis before you do the basing? Do you base in more than one step?

 JoshInJapan wrote:
Did I read that correctly? You spray seal your minis before you do the basing? Do you base in more than one step?

I often seal the mini and base before adding static grass etc. As I tend to handle the mini when basing so want it protected.

Yeah, some people even spray varnish their models in between painting steps. I guess to protect the detail they've already achieved. I do seal my minis after the dip and before the base as clear spray would likely fog the acrylic bases I use.

Nice workspace Az! Grats on 300, I'm still down... in the ... sub 150s, but chugging along. I prefer your method. All things are a point. Even little teeny things that take five minutes to paint. Helps balance out the dragons without having some kind of convoluted counting scheme and you will always be technically/numerically correct in your count I do the same thing. Just need to scrounge up some of those little things to balance out the dragons

 Archer wrote:
Love the workplace shot. I hang my head in shame as I unfortunately cannot at this stage afford a permanent setup so don't have the benefit of being able to spread out like that. All my stuff is mobile and can pack the lot away. Oh how I wish I could have a set up like that.

This used to be my temporary paint desk, and could be put away pretty easily. But then more and more crap started to pile on....

 carlos13th wrote:

 JoshInJapan wrote:
Did I read that correctly? You spray seal your minis before you do the basing? Do you base in more than one step?

I often seal the mini and base before adding static grass etc. As I tend to handle the mini when basing so want it protected.

Pretty much this. I add the static grass after the final protective coat of clear matt polyurethane spray.

 GrimDork wrote:
Yeah, some people even spray varnish their models in between painting steps. I guess to protect the detail they've already achieved. I do seal my minis after the dip and before the base as clear spray would likely fog the acrylic bases I use.

I also do this - sometimes. I need to get some more Testor's Dullcoate so I can do this again. I like a fast-drying varnish that's ...non-obtrusive. The Polyurethane "feels" thicker, so I prefer to only use one (final) coat of it.

Nice workspace Az! Grats on 300, I'm still down... in the ... sub 150s, but chugging along. I prefer your method. All things are a point. Even little teeny things that take five minutes to paint. Helps balance out the dragons without having some kind of convoluted counting scheme and you will always be technically/numerically correct in your count I do the same thing. Just need to scrounge up some of those little things to balance out the dragons

Heh, yep. Little bits of scenery - and rebasing and touching up old figures tend to give the numbers a nice bump. It kinda feels like cheating in one sense, but then if I'm getting figures out of the cases where they've been in storage for years and I'm happy to display or use them again, then I think it's fair enough. It also motivates me to get those little bits of scenery done quickly so they get out of the way faster. That reminds me. I found a bunch of resin crate-piles the other day....

I dont seal my mini's, feeling like I've missed out something along the line now.

 GiraffeX wrote:
I dont seal my mini's, feeling like I've missed out something along the line now.

If the paint isn't coming off then no harm no foul. Sealing them is just to stop the paint coming off when gaming etc. Or to take down/add shine.

Yeah, protects them and matts them down nicely. Though different sprays have different finishes, so you can vary the finish based on that, as well as spot-varnishing with brush-on sealers in matt/satin/gloss or any ratio mix thereof.