Saturday 18 May 2019

"Many A Doer Of Great Deeds Might Say No More."

"But what is a hobbit?"
This "cartoon scale" white metal figure of one of King Victor's Men-at-Arms is produced by “Lucid Eye Publications” and can be bought from the company's "Toon Realms" range as a pack of four miniatures. Sculpted by Steve Saleh, I have painted the warrior in the colours of Gondor so as to hopefully field a unit of (Heavy Foot) Minas Tirith Knights for “Dragon Rampant” by "Osprey Games".

Originally undercoated with two layers of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, Denethor's warrior was dry-brushed using some "Vallejo" Heavy Charcoal and subsequently washed in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The soldier's boots were then treated to a touch of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, whilst his sword hilt was given a lick of Gold. Both of these areas were later washed with "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.
Slaughterpriest WIPs - The Khorne warrior now just needs his helmet and shoulder-pad to be finished
I 'picked out' the Man-at-Arms' helmet, armour, chain-mail and shield emblem using a combination of "Citadel" Ironbreaker and Nuln Oil, before dry-brushing these parts with (more) Ironbreaker. Lastly, I spotted the model's belt-buckle with a dab of "Vallejo" Gold and a little Strong Tone Quickshade by "The Army Painter".

Sticking with fantasy I have continued to make some additional progress on my Slaughterpriest with Hackblade and Wrath-hammer for "Age Of Sigmar" by "Games Workshop". Somewhat frustratingly my decision to paint the "favoured champion of Khorne" as being dark-skinned has caused me a few minor issues in painting all the warrior's different-coloured leathers in sufficiently contrasting browns.
Space Marine WIPs - The Adeptus Astartes statue just needs to be dry-brushed with more "Vallejo" Brass
Admittedly, most of these leg and armour straps can't actually be seen unless you pick the miniature up and look beneath his loin-cloth. But the 'Eavy Metal' fanboy in me wouldn't let me rest until I'd at least done a tabletop standard job using a mixture of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Heavy Brown, "Citadel" Abaddon Black and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade. Fortunately, since completing these areas I've found the Bloodbound warrior a lot more fun to paint, especially after deciding to pigment one of his hands as if it was drenched in gore.

Finally, I've almost finished an old Eighties plastic Space Marine I have 'rescued' from my 'Bitz Bin'. Now destined to forever stand upon my Forty-First Millennium battlefield as an aged Adeptus Astartes statue, I have completed the model's stone plinth and much of its brass-work, and am now working on its verdigris.

18 comments:

  1. Great work on all of them Simon, and applaud doing a dark skin tone on the slaughterpriest

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    1. Thanks very much indeed, Dave. I kind of like the "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna as a dark-skin colour. But it then cuts down my current options for using brown.

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  2. Nice job on the man at arms. The slaughter priest is coming along nicely.

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    1. Cheers Simon. The Slaughterpriest is definitely a labour of love/necessity. So glad I don't have to paint an entire unit of them.

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  3. It's been too long since I've seen one of these beakies. Them having a statue is most fitting 😊.

    The Slaughterpriest is a fantastic miniature and I think you picked the right colours, he looks really good already.

    As for the man-at-arms, he looks rather small? Not my favourite miniature as I think the cartoony style isn't really doing him justice.

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    1. Wow Wouter, that's quite the analysis of my posting :-) When I first saw the Beakie I was going to try and utilise him as part of my Black Templar force. But the detail was somewhat lacking on the sculpt, either due to its era or the thick black undercoat I had used - probably both tbh. So a statue was the only way I thought I could breathe some life back into the mini.

      The Slaughterpriest is indeed a superb mini, but is testing my painting patience to its limit with all its fiddly detail. I do think the dark skin works really well with the brass though.

      The entire "Toon Realms" range is rather diminutive tbh, and is definitely an acquired taste. Hopefully a group shot of a Heavy Infantry unit will impress you more?

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    2. Hahaha, sorry to sound so analytical.
      The other Toon Realms model you showed before were really good, only this Tiny knight doesn't seem to tick my box 😊.
      I look forward to the group shot.

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    3. LOL! I totally agree the Knight looks a little dinky. So fingers crossed you like their plumed elite soldiers when I post up my pilot piece next week :-)

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  4. Dagnabbit Simon, will you stop posting these Toons minis?! There's no way I can really justify ditching my 'traditional' fantasy minis and switching over, but I'm finding them just too tempting! :-)
    Great work on the Slaughterpriest, and the Beaky Statue is just awesome! VERY inspired bit of thinking there sir :-)

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    1. Cheers Greg. I'm afraid I've another "Toon Realms" posting set for next week, as I've now finished a second knight, this time based upon a Gondorian Guard Of The Citadel ;-)

      Here's hoping the Slaughterpriest turns out as well as everyone seems to think he well, and I'm delighted you like the Beakie marine. He should be posted up next as I've just finished him :-)

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  5. Those toon minis are really nice and your gondor colour scheme is inspired. I like the khorne dude and think the dark skin looks really good. Great read as always!

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    1. Thanks Undercoat. Hopefully a unit of the Men-at-Arms will show the minis at their best :-)

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  6. Saw the knight and immediately thought Monty Python and also that it was a "Toon" figure, they;re becinu=ing very recognisable and very ;ikeable. Good work on the paint-job -are you becoming obsesssed with black atm? (just kidding)

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    1. Cheers Joe. I too love the "Toon Realms" stuff. I do seem to go through palettes for a stretch - though both this Knight, and his soon to be posted brethren were actually painted during the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, yet only finished last week :-)

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