Saruman and The Uruks

No, not the latest boy band to hit the charts but my latest commission.

All have been done to a table top standard but as with all heroes, I like to push them a little more.

Therefore Saruman and Grishnak have been done a little closer to Above Table Top Standard.

 And a couple of Middle Earth's finest

Smaug's Body

Here is the huge body section. No two ways about it, its huge.

I have gone in again with the green glaring on the black scales and it just gives it a nice feel, something more reptilian.

The missing part in the middle is where one of the wings attach, so in effect most of this area will probably be unseen.

Smaug - Scaling the Beast

Following the Christmas break it has been a delight to break the brushes out again. I have been thinking about Smaug in my downtime and thinking how to progress him.
The scales on the body were the next area for attention.
I wanted these to resemble those of any large lizard with scale armour, being that they had to look like scales.
For that reason the highs are not too high as I see the scales different to talons. Scales being a duller surface that would not reflect light well.
I am pretty happy with my efforts and think they will work well with the rest of him.

The Troll Cavern

Harrison McQueen is the man behind this wonderful new blog.

It some ways it sparks a similarity to my own, predominantly Lord of the Rings but with smattering a of other areas.

I am sure this will develop and I look to many ventures with Harrison.

For now though, he gave me the honour of being interviewed about, as you would perhaps expect, my three trolls diorama.

Please read and enjoy and bookmark this blog to your reading list.

http://thetrollcavern.blogspot.co.uk

Smaug - Head and Neck Finished

I am just about hoping this section is finished. I have taken a slightly different slant at this by glazing over the hard scales and spines with a green. I am pleased with the way it looks and hope that the client agrees.

There is possibly more highlight work to do but my plan is to finish each section, assemble it and then see what attention is required.

Next up is the body, now that thing is ridiculously large...

Smaug - Skin Work

So after what seems an eternity of day to day life I am starting to get some colour into the skin.

The airbrush has gone away and the brushes are out.

It is slowly taking shape but I think I need tops the contrast a little more, it hasn't the depth I want just yet, but at least it is taking shape.

Speed Painting the Elven Way

My latest commission. The client needed these very quick so I have seven evenings, with a couple a days thrown in to get this lot done.

40 Mirkwood Rangers and an armoured Captain.

After an evening and a half I had then all assembled and primed, now just to paint them.

I decided to go about these in batches of 10, usually thats was too big but somehow it just seemed right, don't ask me how.

And thankfully I got them all done in time.

I had to cut down the quality, no time for eyes and some of the highlighting / shading I would usually put in.

I did opt to use Army Painter Quickshade to dip all the figures. The first reason being it gave them a bit of definition and the second it was a good varnish for them to stand up to the gaming.

I had time to give the Captain a little more, he got eyes and some shading and highlighting as there should always have a little more.

And there we have it, a very quick job accompanied by some quick photos.

The client is happy with the results and so am I for such a quick turnaround.