Time is started to get tight, and I need to get my plan on paper if I'm ever going to get this done. Ur, well, on screen, blog, disk, whatever. I need to write it down.
The two weakest areas are highlighting and details. The basics on all of the models are strong, but that isn't going to get me into the top 5 painters. The weakest models are the rangers, and the slight mix of the two styles isn't helping anything. So here is my general plan:
Rangers:
- Shadow and black line models
- Add two layers of highlights, ending with a 50/50 mix of Snot Green/Dark Angel Green in the green areas, still need to figure out colors in the browns
- Highlight skin, including fingers
Warriors:
- Black line details
- Highlight details (belts, hair, etc)
- Add top cloth highlight in Shadow Grey - if not light enough, add another in 50/50 Shadow/Space Wolf Grey
- Try to highlight obvious parts of face (chin, cheeks)
Guards of the Fountain Court
- Add two levels of highlight to cloth, ending in Fortress Grey, then wash with black
- Highlight details
- Add designs to tabard
- Add trim and design to cloak
- Add gold trim to helmet
Ecthelion:
- Add two levels of highlight to cloak, ending in Blood Red
- Add two levels of highlight to cloth, ending in Fortress Grey, then wash with black
- Highlight face
- Paint then highlight details like scabbard, belt, horn, helmet
If I get this stuff done before the event, I'll paint up five new plastic rangers to replace the metal ones with the slightly different painting style. I'll see how far I get on the warriors tomorrow - I'd like to have all of this done by next Wednesday.
Showing posts with label ranger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ranger. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Updating the Errand
I recently got a new digital camera (primarily to take pictures of the baby with!), but I decided to see how it works for photographing minis. Not bad, but I do kind of miss the manual settings I could use on my old one. Of course, I don't miss the old camera's far left hand tripod hole (ALWAYS drooping on the tripod!), and I really like the macro settings on the new one - The pics of Gandalf and Ecthelion were taken from a couple inches away, something I couldn't do with the old camera.
Without the manual shutter settings, it does mean it's harder to make out contrasts and the like. However, I am also noticing that the pics look more like the models do in real life and on the table, where my earlier pics were so bright and clear that they sometimes looked better painted than they really were. So for my purposes today, the new camera works better. Also remember that each picture can be clicked on for a larger view.
So this is the overall army. My general painting style tends to be subtle, and on the whole I think this looks pretty good on the table. The earthier tones holds it all together, and there is a lot of black and brown. The individual groups definitely tie together - green for the rangers, a blue/grey for the warriors, white for the Guards, and red for Ecthelion.
Where this starts to fall apart is in the details. OK, that and I didn't put enough time into painting last time. I'm afraid I'm going to need to step the highlighting up - believe it or not that is three layers and a wash on the cloth, but the low steps in color make it all wash together, resulting in a less highlighted effect. I also need to highlight the details like the belts, hair, and possibly even the armor and hair. Some blacklining of details wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
Back shot of the warriors - the cloth is a little clearer, but you can see the unhighlighted belts and hair.
Here are the rangers. There's a little inconsistency here - I painted the metal rangers on the left some four years ago while working for GW. I don't remember the exact colors, and the foundations weren't available yet. But you can see there is better highlighting, the skin is better, and there is a broader range of colors within the palette. The browns all wash together on the newer models instead of having a more noticable line. I was really, really rushed on these guys.
It's a little more obvious how rushed I was on the back. The old models have nice highlighting on the cloaks, while the new ones were just block painted and washed. I also didn't use any highlights on the quivers.
These guys look pretty sharp from the front. That white was a pain, but the blacklining works nicely. I think I'm going to use a Micron pen to add a design on the tabard edge, and possibly put a decorative yellow and black edge on the cloak as well. Some gold details on the helmets might also work nicely.
The cloaks are another story. Single grey highlights that look slapped on. I'm not sure if I should go down from these highlights, adding a midpoint between them and the shadows, or go even higher.
Without question, Gandalf is the best model in the army. I put a lot of time and care into painting him, particularly his hands and folds of the robe. I even highlighted the belt and swordblade.
I do have a little chip on the end of the hat, but I'm a bit afraid of fixing it and causing more damage by not getting the same effect as before.
In contrast to Gandalf, Ecthelion screams "rush job". While I put some time into the cloak, it still comes off too subtle and dark. The rest of him is single, sloppy highlights, drybrushing, unpainted details, and general blah. I've got a lot of work to do here.
So I'm mostly wondering how much I should play up the highlights - I've always gone more subtle with my LOTR models, but I am starting to think I need to really spice it up with brighter highlights. Any thoughts? Tim K, I'd particularly appreciate your insights on this, since you scored this army at the Gathering.
Thanks a ton to everyone who has bothered to read this!
Without the manual shutter settings, it does mean it's harder to make out contrasts and the like. However, I am also noticing that the pics look more like the models do in real life and on the table, where my earlier pics were so bright and clear that they sometimes looked better painted than they really were. So for my purposes today, the new camera works better. Also remember that each picture can be clicked on for a larger view.
So this is the overall army. My general painting style tends to be subtle, and on the whole I think this looks pretty good on the table. The earthier tones holds it all together, and there is a lot of black and brown. The individual groups definitely tie together - green for the rangers, a blue/grey for the warriors, white for the Guards, and red for Ecthelion.
Where this starts to fall apart is in the details. OK, that and I didn't put enough time into painting last time. I'm afraid I'm going to need to step the highlighting up - believe it or not that is three layers and a wash on the cloth, but the low steps in color make it all wash together, resulting in a less highlighted effect. I also need to highlight the details like the belts, hair, and possibly even the armor and hair. Some blacklining of details wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
Back shot of the warriors - the cloth is a little clearer, but you can see the unhighlighted belts and hair.
Here are the rangers. There's a little inconsistency here - I painted the metal rangers on the left some four years ago while working for GW. I don't remember the exact colors, and the foundations weren't available yet. But you can see there is better highlighting, the skin is better, and there is a broader range of colors within the palette. The browns all wash together on the newer models instead of having a more noticable line. I was really, really rushed on these guys.
It's a little more obvious how rushed I was on the back. The old models have nice highlighting on the cloaks, while the new ones were just block painted and washed. I also didn't use any highlights on the quivers.
These guys look pretty sharp from the front. That white was a pain, but the blacklining works nicely. I think I'm going to use a Micron pen to add a design on the tabard edge, and possibly put a decorative yellow and black edge on the cloak as well. Some gold details on the helmets might also work nicely.
The cloaks are another story. Single grey highlights that look slapped on. I'm not sure if I should go down from these highlights, adding a midpoint between them and the shadows, or go even higher.
Without question, Gandalf is the best model in the army. I put a lot of time and care into painting him, particularly his hands and folds of the robe. I even highlighted the belt and swordblade.
I do have a little chip on the end of the hat, but I'm a bit afraid of fixing it and causing more damage by not getting the same effect as before.
In contrast to Gandalf, Ecthelion screams "rush job". While I put some time into the cloak, it still comes off too subtle and dark. The rest of him is single, sloppy highlights, drybrushing, unpainted details, and general blah. I've got a lot of work to do here.
So I'm mostly wondering how much I should play up the highlights - I've always gone more subtle with my LOTR models, but I am starting to think I need to really spice it up with brighter highlights. Any thoughts? Tim K, I'd particularly appreciate your insights on this, since you scored this army at the Gathering.
Thanks a ton to everyone who has bothered to read this!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I'm way behind...
Well, the great push I planned over the weekend ended up being a flop. I did get the following done:
So I've got all of my basic troops done to a minimal level and my Fountain Court are getting started, but I still need to convert Ecthelion, and I'd really like to get three more rangers converted with spears. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm contemplating calling in sick Friday... OK, I almost certainly won't do that, but I can see forgoing my sacred sleep to get some more done.
So I've got all of my basic troops done to a minimal level and my Fountain Court are getting started, but I still need to convert Ecthelion, and I'd really like to get three more rangers converted with spears. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm contemplating calling in sick Friday... OK, I almost certainly won't do that, but I can see forgoing my sacred sleep to get some more done.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Paint plan - first stage
Well, I'll be budgeting my time in a while, after I've taken a full accounting of my models and what I want to do with them. I'll have "must do" priorities, "like to do" priorities, and "might do" priorities. I'll start off with my basic painting ideas. I want my main palette to resemble the movie and book, but one somewhat sad aspect of the books is that the given palette is pretty much black and white and grey. Bleh. Well, I think I'll play with it a little bit with the grey, using a foundation paint with tinges of blue in it, which I have already used for Gandalf's hat. So here is my basic plan:
Warriors
Armor and blades
Base - Boltgun metal overbrush
Shade - Black wash
Mid - Boltgun metal drybrush
Highlight - Mithril Silver light drybrush
Shield emblem
Base - Deneb Stone
Highlight - Bleached Bone
Cloth
Base - Fenris Grey
Mid Shade - Black/Shadow Grey mix
Low Shade - Black wash
Flesh
I need to make up my mind on going with a simple base, wash, and highlight or a layered highlight. The facial areas inside of those helmets are tight.
Citadel Guard
I need to reread the books, but these guys are all in black IIRC. I'm thinking I'll take a little creative license and do the cloaks black but their tunics bone, kind of like the painted Guards of the Fountain Court. I think I'll give them a yellow trim if I do that, otherwise a dark red trim. I'll need to play around with them a bit.
Rangers
Cloth and wood
Base - Black
Mid tone - Scorched Brown overbrush
Highlight - Bestial Brown drybrush
Tabard and cloaks
Base - Catachan Green
Mid - Catachan Green/Dark Angel Green
Highlight - DA Green
Echthelion
I want to use this guy as part of my Numenorean army as well, but that is going to have a similar paint scheme, with heroes being dark red. However, I might stick with the same basic color palette of blue/grey and bone.
I'll have to see how my test models turn out before I commit to the specialty models. My priorities are now:
1) Gather all of the models and pieces needed in one place
2) Finish main (pre conversion) assembly
3) Paint test pieces
4) Reassess paint scheme
5) Do required conversions
6) Set paint schedule
I'll get the first two done tomorrow, and I'll try to paint my test pieces by New Years. Hopefully I'll have all of these steps completed by January 5th so I can get my time spaced out well instead of being cramped.
Warriors
Armor and blades
Base - Boltgun metal overbrush
Shade - Black wash
Mid - Boltgun metal drybrush
Highlight - Mithril Silver light drybrush
Shield emblem
Base - Deneb Stone
Highlight - Bleached Bone
Cloth
Base - Fenris Grey
Mid Shade - Black/Shadow Grey mix
Low Shade - Black wash
Flesh
I need to make up my mind on going with a simple base, wash, and highlight or a layered highlight. The facial areas inside of those helmets are tight.
Citadel Guard
I need to reread the books, but these guys are all in black IIRC. I'm thinking I'll take a little creative license and do the cloaks black but their tunics bone, kind of like the painted Guards of the Fountain Court. I think I'll give them a yellow trim if I do that, otherwise a dark red trim. I'll need to play around with them a bit.
Rangers
Cloth and wood
Base - Black
Mid tone - Scorched Brown overbrush
Highlight - Bestial Brown drybrush
Tabard and cloaks
Base - Catachan Green
Mid - Catachan Green/Dark Angel Green
Highlight - DA Green
Echthelion
I want to use this guy as part of my Numenorean army as well, but that is going to have a similar paint scheme, with heroes being dark red. However, I might stick with the same basic color palette of blue/grey and bone.
I'll have to see how my test models turn out before I commit to the specialty models. My priorities are now:
1) Gather all of the models and pieces needed in one place
2) Finish main (pre conversion) assembly
3) Paint test pieces
4) Reassess paint scheme
5) Do required conversions
6) Set paint schedule
I'll get the first two done tomorrow, and I'll try to paint my test pieces by New Years. Hopefully I'll have all of these steps completed by January 5th so I can get my time spaced out well instead of being cramped.
First game - a win!
Well, I just played my first game with Mithrandir's Errand, and it worked pretty well. My list was as follows:
Gandalf the Grey
King of Men with heavy armor and shield
5 Citadel Guard with spears
21 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
3 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
8 Rangers of Gondor with spears
6 Rangers of Gondor
The list used a bunch of proxies since I haven't even assembled some of the models. I played a fellow named David who used a Dwarven horde list consisting of:
Balin (no magic axe)
8 Iron Guard
8 Khazad Guard
16 Dwarf Warriors with shields
17 Dwarf Warriors with dwarf bows
2 Dwarf Rangers with 2H axes
Great, outnumbered by Dwarves. I hate that. To boot we got a "kill 'em all" scenario, Clash of Piquets. However, the game ended up going my way. First off, we both put our archers out, though mine were behind a line of my warriors. I was able to start shooting immediately, and though I hit a lot I did little damage. However, he was only able to volley with his 18" bows.
We both got our forces on pretty quick, and I had my main line of warriors backed by spear toting rangers laying into his troops as they approached. He ended up feeding about a quarter of his force into my flank, and I was able to redeploy quickly enough to overwhelm them. He never really got his archers into the fight, and I managed to get him down 19 models by the time we called time. I had lost 10 models, so I was much farther away from breaking and had lost fewer victory points. However you slice it, I won the game, though it probably would have qualified as a minor victory. Filling D6 Iron Guard full of arrows is really fun.
So some of my observations:
1) Gandalf is the bomb! No, really, I mean the bomb! Having a free point of will each turn meant never having to say "Oh, I don't think I'll blast his troops this turn." Plus, with Blinding Light, I discouraged David from bringing his archers in closer than volley fire range for him, which was a major factor in the win. Plus, with F5 and S5 using Glamdring, he was a very potent force in fights, particularly when supported with a spear. Sadly, I could never seem to roll above a 2 with him to wound - except one turn where I rolled three 6s and a 5, and that was against one trapped dwarf.
2) I was wondering how effective bow armed troops would be with spears, and I was not disappointed. The biggest problem with archers is they have low Defense because they can't use a shield, so you don't want to throw them into combat. They end up hanging out on a hill or something away from your main line, and you have to decide when to actually commit them to combat. Well, arm them with spears, and you don't have to worry about it! They travel behind your well armored front line and when the line hits combat they help out with being picked on when you lose combat! This worked great, and I'm going to be incorporating it into my Numenoreans as well. If I can find myself a couple more Warriors of Minas Tirith, I may end up completely losing the shield and spear models in favor of giving the spears to Rangers. Hmmm, perhaps a conversion?
3) The Citadel Guard actually came in very handy. When I was fighting S3 troops, I'd use the Citadel Guard to support the people fighting so their D5 wouldn't get them picked on. When I was fighting S4 troops, I threw the Guard into the combat to use their F4 to help win the fights, since D5 is identical to D6 when it comes to getting thumped by a S4 model. Similarly, throwing a ranger into a combat when the odds were heavily in my favor was another big help to avoid losing on the tied rolls. Having so much F4 while maintaining a front line of D6 is awesome.
4) I like using the King of Men stat line instead of the Captain of Men. The F5 alone is awesome, and having extra Courage and Will is worth the price. I think I'll be changing my list to reflect this.
Gandalf the Grey
King of Men with heavy armor and shield
5 Citadel Guard with spears
21 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields
3 Warriors of Minas Tirith with shields and spears
8 Rangers of Gondor with spears
6 Rangers of Gondor
The list used a bunch of proxies since I haven't even assembled some of the models. I played a fellow named David who used a Dwarven horde list consisting of:
Balin (no magic axe)
8 Iron Guard
8 Khazad Guard
16 Dwarf Warriors with shields
17 Dwarf Warriors with dwarf bows
2 Dwarf Rangers with 2H axes
Great, outnumbered by Dwarves. I hate that. To boot we got a "kill 'em all" scenario, Clash of Piquets. However, the game ended up going my way. First off, we both put our archers out, though mine were behind a line of my warriors. I was able to start shooting immediately, and though I hit a lot I did little damage. However, he was only able to volley with his 18" bows.
We both got our forces on pretty quick, and I had my main line of warriors backed by spear toting rangers laying into his troops as they approached. He ended up feeding about a quarter of his force into my flank, and I was able to redeploy quickly enough to overwhelm them. He never really got his archers into the fight, and I managed to get him down 19 models by the time we called time. I had lost 10 models, so I was much farther away from breaking and had lost fewer victory points. However you slice it, I won the game, though it probably would have qualified as a minor victory. Filling D6 Iron Guard full of arrows is really fun.
So some of my observations:
1) Gandalf is the bomb! No, really, I mean the bomb! Having a free point of will each turn meant never having to say "Oh, I don't think I'll blast his troops this turn." Plus, with Blinding Light, I discouraged David from bringing his archers in closer than volley fire range for him, which was a major factor in the win. Plus, with F5 and S5 using Glamdring, he was a very potent force in fights, particularly when supported with a spear. Sadly, I could never seem to roll above a 2 with him to wound - except one turn where I rolled three 6s and a 5, and that was against one trapped dwarf.
2) I was wondering how effective bow armed troops would be with spears, and I was not disappointed. The biggest problem with archers is they have low Defense because they can't use a shield, so you don't want to throw them into combat. They end up hanging out on a hill or something away from your main line, and you have to decide when to actually commit them to combat. Well, arm them with spears, and you don't have to worry about it! They travel behind your well armored front line and when the line hits combat they help out with being picked on when you lose combat! This worked great, and I'm going to be incorporating it into my Numenoreans as well. If I can find myself a couple more Warriors of Minas Tirith, I may end up completely losing the shield and spear models in favor of giving the spears to Rangers. Hmmm, perhaps a conversion?
3) The Citadel Guard actually came in very handy. When I was fighting S3 troops, I'd use the Citadel Guard to support the people fighting so their D5 wouldn't get them picked on. When I was fighting S4 troops, I threw the Guard into the combat to use their F4 to help win the fights, since D5 is identical to D6 when it comes to getting thumped by a S4 model. Similarly, throwing a ranger into a combat when the odds were heavily in my favor was another big help to avoid losing on the tied rolls. Having so much F4 while maintaining a front line of D6 is awesome.
4) I like using the King of Men stat line instead of the Captain of Men. The F5 alone is awesome, and having extra Courage and Will is worth the price. I think I'll be changing my list to reflect this.
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