Video - What do you think? Galadhrim Horses

A quick video in which I ask you what you think about my Galadhrim horses. I'd love to know what you think of them and hear how I could improve them. Leave a comment on this page or pop over to my YouTube channel channel and comment on the video. Thanks for watching.

Defenders of Mirkwood

When I decided to start LotR again I wanted to field an army from Legolas' home, Mirkwood. However, the range of model Games Workshop produces for Mirkwood is very limited, it includes Legolas and his father Thanduril and some wood elf warriors. But when I talked to on of the guys in store he mentioned that there are no complicated rules on whom you can ally with as long as both allies are good or both are evil. Also the armies of Mirkwood and Lothlorien are grouped together in one army list meaning I can field heroes (and even better, a heroine) from Lorien in my Mirkwood force! Anyway, I bought a box of 12 Galadhrim warriors and the Galadhrim command set to start off my army and found an old Gandalf to lead them until I can get some elven heroes. I painted them to suit the dark, gloomy forests of Mirkwood with greens and worn armour. Here's how I got on:

 Still have to base my spear-men so the blades of the elves are isolated for now!

 And the craftsmen of Mirkwood need to make a few more bows.

 But Gandalf and the Stormcaller are ready to unleash all of their might upon the enemy.

 This Easterling scouting party has been quickly hunted down by the forest guard.

The Easterlings don't stand a chance against the oldest beings in Middle Earth.

As you can see the army is not complete but I haven't posted in a while and wanted to update the blog, also the gaming table is coming along quite well, just need to finish the second half. I hope you enjoyed this post.

Video - Learning to paint: Galadhrim (Advanced)

This is a continuation of my previous post on how to paint a Galadhrim warrior which can be found here so if you want to paint your miniature the same way as I have then you'll need to follow that guide first. Enjoy!

If you prefer watching than reading then watch this:

Step 1
Wash the cloak with a black wash like Badab Black or Nuln Oil, I used the former.

Step 2

Wash the hair and skin with a 1:1 mix of Gryphonne Sepia and Devlin Mud.

Step 3

Repaint the raise areas of the cloak with the colour you initially painted it with. This will create a contrast between the areas which would be light and shadow if the model were scaled up.

Step 4

Mix a little paint of a much brighter tone (the highlight colour or layer) to the original cloak colour and apply to more prominent areas of the cloak to increase the contrast between light and dark. For example I used a dark green as my basecoat and added in Goblin Green.

Step 5

Repeat Step 4 adding in a little more of the highlight colour.

Step 6

Highlight the hair with bleached bone. I like to add a tiny bit of a metallic yellow, like Burnished Gold, to the Bleached Bone to achieve a shiny hair colour resembling Galadriel but this is not for everone particularly if you want to paint weathered battle hardened warriors.

Step 7

Highlight the face with Tallarn Flesh with a small amount of white mixed in, this will give the perfect pastey elfish complexion.

Step 8

Highlight the leather straps and wood with a light brown, Bestial Brown works well.

Step 9

Base the miniature. Basing really brings a miniature together and makes it look finished and well painted even if there are a few slip ups. I like to super-glue some small stones on and then put PVA glue on the base and dip it in sand. Then I paint it a dark brown and dry-brush Bleached Bone. If you want you can also add a little static grass or flock.

Finished! Thanks for reading this blog, I hope it helps you!

Video - Learning to paint: Galadhrim (Beginner)

A couple of days ago I went into my local Games Workshop and bought the Galadhrim command set and a box of 12 warriors. Then I remembered I had no idea how to paint miniatures to a respectable standard and began Google-ing. After a little while of searching I discovered a great tutorial on how to paint Haldir at Helm's Deep and figured I could transfer the same technique to my elves. (I'll link the original tutorial by Alexandra from GirlPainting at the bottom, it's really good so check it out!) So anyway I followed this tutorial with a few changes to the colour scheme to paint my elves. Here's a step by step guide to what I did and how I got on:

NB These are just the basics, I will do a second post to show how I got on with more advanced techniques. If you are a total beginner, or are unhappy with your miniatures, be sure to check out the Top Tips section at the bottom of the page.

If you prefer watching to reading then watch this:

Step 1

Undercoat/prime the miniatures. I used white because it was all I had but Alexandra recommends grey.

Step 2

Paint all of the armour with a thinned down Tin Bitz or dark brown colour like Scorched Brown. Don't worry if it's a bit messy at this point because it's going to get a lot worse!

Step 3

Dry-brushing. (I'll only take one photo of this as it's hard to see the differences between stages on my camera.)

1. Dry-brush all of the armour with a 1:1:1 mix of Tin Bitz, Dwarf Bronze and Burnished Gold.
2. When that's dry dry-brush the armour with pure Burnished Gold.
3. If you're painting a character model then you might want to keep dry-brushing the armour up to almost pure Mithril Silver.

Step 4

Wash the armour with a Sepia tone, I used Gryphonne Sepia. Don't do anything else until the wash is completely dry.

Step 5

Paint the cloak with a slightly darker tone than you want it to be at the end. Because I want my to theme my army to be from Mirkwood (so I could include Legolas!!) I wanted to use a muted greens and browns colour scheme to allow the elves to blend into the woods. I chose to use (rather confusingly) the new Games Workshop paint Death World Forest. I will include a conversion chart at the bottom to allow you to use both old and new colours.

Step 6

Paint areas of linen and cloth with Khemri Brown and any leather with Scorched Brown. I also tend to paint the bows and spears with Scorched Brown but I've read some people prefer Calthan Brown.

Step 7

Paint skin face with Tallarn Flesh and the hair with Bleached Bone (if you want your elves white and blond, if you want them to have any other skin/hair colour then you'll have to Google it.) Finish off any details too such as the buckle on the quiver strap and the fletching on the arrows now too. Now the whole model is painted and if you are a total beginner you may want to stop here (and I probably should) but if you want to go a bit further and give the model a bit more depth then read my second post which I will link to here: (when I have written it).

Top Tips

• Water down your paint on a palette. Not only will this make your paint usage more economical but it also makes the paint flow better and stops fine details being filled in with deposits of thick paint.
• Less is more! I know it sounds cliché but always paint thin, watered down layers of paint. You can always add another layer but it's much harder to take a thick layer off. For example in Step 5  I painted several thin layers of green to get a smooth even coat without losing the detail in the folds of the cloak.
• Another classic cliché, be patient! Always let paint dry before you paint an adjacent area especially if you are watering down your paints. If you don't allow each layer to dry paints will run into each other and mix which is generally bad (unless you're wet on wet blending).
• Third cliché lucky, be an individual! Don't try and paint miniatures exactly how they are on the box because you'll always be disappointed. Games Workshop pay a fortune to have the miniatures on the box professionally painted and then Photoshop them to make them look perfect. I find it's best to chose your own colour scheme and paint them in a way that means your models are incomparable to the ones on the box, that way you can't be disappointed.
• After mixing paint with water, or other paint, be sure to clean your brush with some clean water and a tissue and re-point it. That way you can control how much paint you put on your brush and exactly where it will go. Follow this method when changing from one colour to another too to avoid mixing of tones.
• A good base brings the model to life. I will try to write a post on how I base my miniatures soon.
• Games Workshop Paints Conversion Chart
• Original tutorial on GirlPainting here.

Returning to Middle Earth (In Miniature!)

About a week ago I decided to try and get back in to The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (or LotR SBG), a hobby which I took up at about the age of 10 and subsequently dropped at the age of 10 and a bit. Now I know that LotR SBG isn’t regarded as particularly ‘cool’ but I really like the LotR books and films and find the idea of recreating the characters and battles really exciting. Actually exciting isn’t really the right word but it’s certainly a lot of fun. Since reviving my interest in LotR SBG I decided to command an army of my favourite race in Middle Earth: The Elves. I chose the Elves because of their epic heroes and the shooting ability of every archer I field. Anyway, this blog is going to follow my progress from being a beginner to being, hopefully, a successful hobbyist. I will try my best to keep posts short and as well written as I can but if I make any mistakes feel free to comment and correct me. I will also be uploading pictures of my projects via flickr and hopefully if I can get enough money, I will buy a camera and do some vlogs. To seal the deal I will now show you a picture of the first elf I painted properly in 7 years.