"Bound To The Unrelenting Will Of The Necromancer..."

"The Castellans of Dol Guldur are mindless spirits born out of malice." 

This trio of 28mm scale Castellans of Dol Guldur are produced by "Games Workshop", and can be bought as a three-figure blister from their Dark Powers of Dol Guldur miniatures range. Sculpted to be "formidable Minor Heroes" for "The Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game", I actually plan to use them as Black Númenóreans for my Barad Dur army having discovered that the Nottingham-based company no longer manufacture specific figures based upon the "fallen group of Númenóreans descended from those who were loyal to the Númenórean Sceptre but in opposition to the Valar and relations with the Elves."

All of the metal "mindless spirits" frustratingly required some considerable cleaning prior to priming as their casting appeared to have resulted in some significant flash and spikey tags. They were then given a double-helping of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, feverishly dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal and had their belts lined with "Citadel" Doombull Brown. Each piece was subsequently drenched in “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

"Artisan Guild" WIP - This Giant Clay Golem has been primed, layered, shaded and dry-brushed

In addition, I picked out the miniatures' ornate armour, swords and any Morgul Blades using a combination of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. These areas were then dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Gunmetal. Finally, so as to better tie-in the palette with that of their master Sauron (which I painted last year), I applied a little “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade to the ghostly warriors' armour plates, helmet, gloves and boots.

Alongside my latest submissions to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC) I have been tentatively working on a rather large 3D print I made some months ago of a Giant Clay Golem (Kneeling) by "Artisan Guild". I've seen this impressive 80mm tall figure selling for a truly outrageous £38.99 on "eBay", so was rather pleased that I got the STL (Standard Triangle Language) file for free as part of the company's Arcanist Guilds "Patreon" subscription service back in October 2022.

3D Breed Miniatures WIP - These Saxons have had their legs/feet layered and shaded

Perhaps somewhat overcautiously, I decided to let the model stand for some weeks due to hearing the horror stories of similarly-sized miniatures splitting open some time after they were produced (and painted) due to trapped uncured resin causing issues inside of them. Touch wood, that now seems unlikely to happen with this piece, so I thought I'd get cracking on it, especially as it'll be my first Golemmar Gnomes unit for Age of Fantasy: Skirmish by "One Page Rules".

Lastly, I have found a little time to finally get some work done on my Battle of Hastings in 10mm using the STL files found inside the Hastings and Stamford Bridge Battles Pack by "3D Breed Miniatures". I'm already a bit behind schedule with this particular project, but having settled upon a fairly basic, tabletop standard for the tiny warriors (using Shades to do much of the heavy lifting as opposed to picking out all the minute details), I'm hopeful I can make up some time before the month concludes...

(Lead) Mountain Musings - "Flames Of War” January 2023

"Before Allied troops even came ashore, the Germans suffered a bombardment from Naval ships."

This month's themed attempt to diminish my mountain of metal, plastic and resin models will once again have me setting my sights upon my collection of 15mm World War Two Germans by “Battlefront Miniatures”. Rather embarrassingly I've been chipping away at my 50-point strong “Flames Of War” German Beach Defence Company for well over a year, so really need to get the Panzergrenadiers' armoured support and anti-tank teams finished.

Fortunately, I've found my interest in both the period and range of figures to have been significantly re-energised by my recent purchase of "The Fields of Normandy" rule-set by Mike Lambo. Admittedly, the temptation to build some bases in order to specifically represent the Sixth Royal Scots Fusiliers for the solitaire wargame is somewhat strong. But I still have a fair few Panzer IV tanks and support infantrymen to complete first, as well as some extra reinforcements to bolster my company up to 75-points.

"Reactivation completed."

Alongside this 'final push', I am also busy trying to achieve a target total of 500-points in the Thirteenth Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (AHPC). As a result I have finished/submitted another 28mm scale Cybermen sculpted by "Big Mr Tong" which I produced using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 3 Pro 3D Printer.

Strongly influenced by Eric Saward's incarnation of the Mondasians as first seen in his March 1982 "Doctor Who" story "Earthshock", the miniature was undercoated in "Citadel" Abaddon Black and given a double-helping of "Vallejo" Gunmetal. It was then shaded using "Citadel" Nuln Oil, dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal, and had its hand-weapons' power cylinder 'picked out' using "Scalecolor" Speed Metal and "Citadel" Flesh Tearers Red.

"3D Breed Miniatures" WIP - These seven 10mm Saxons have been primed and dry-brushed.

In addition, I have my eye on a year-long project to fight the Battle of Hastings in 10mm using the STL (Standard Triangle Language) files found inside the Hastings and Stamford Bridge Battles Pack by "3D Breed Miniatures". This particular period/genre has come completely out of the blue, and has predominantly been inspired by my purchase of "Battles Of Medieval Britain" - another of Mike Lambo's solitaire wargames.

The paperback book contains twelve battles, including all three contests concerning King Harold's forces in 1066, and my idea is to print/paint the relevant forces required for an individual scenario on a monthly basis. This should ultimately lead to me building up quite a substantial collection of Saxons, Normans and Vikings throughout the year, and give me plenty of units to field when the time comes to shift over to a different rule-set (quite possibly "Hail Caesar" by "Warlord Games") which will allow me to use them all at once...