The Duelists

Last week I went along to the local wargames group to check it out again. While I was there I was approached by someone who heard I used to paint for the Guardroom in Dunstable. I said I didn't paint for money anymore but he was quite persistent.

I declined many times but as I got up to leave I felt so bloody guilty, I offered to paint a couple for free to help him out.

 

To help me out I just copied the painted examples on the Perry's website. I watched the film to get the colours of the grey/blue 3rd Hussars, but in the end just copied the Perry's dark blue example.

The Perry's example has this guy in dark blue trousers.

Painting these figures did give me the chance to try out this new mirror silver marker. This should give the impression the savers are razor sharp.

This figure had a slight mould line on his face that I turned into a slight wound.

It's hard when trying to make new friends and feel your way into a new group.

UPDATE: The very last things to do are the varnishes. Over the last few years I have really come to appreciate what different varnishes can do on a figure.

 The Halfords matt varnish is great but it can leave a slight sheen. I left this on the boots but coated the rest of the figure with Ultra- Matt from Ammo. This is the best I've found for taking away any sheen. The actual saber I coated in a lick of Kleer floor varnish to make it catch the light and give it a metallic feel. I think it really makes a difference, especially with the uniform and shirt.

Gundabad Orcs colour test.

I thought I would try something a little different with these Gundabad orcs. A little green verdigris on the armour. Maybe this is a result of where they live, or the metal they used to craft it. Whatever the cause, the armour has its own unique green look.

A large printed orc surrounded by strong metal figures to protect him on the base.

All of the orcs received a black wash to dull them down a bit, I decided not to use Dark tone dip on these, as the new Matt lacquer from Halfords is great for protection. It's also a bit quicker rather than waiting 24 hours for the Army Painter dip to dry.

 The black wash has dulled them all down for sure, maybe a bit too much. I'll add a bit more water to the wash next time.

Well, the orcs did it, I've sat down again and picked up the brush.

The last touch to the armour was to give it a thin lick of Kleer floor varnish to give it a shine. This really does make a difference, one which I really noticed on the big Lonely Mountain Midgard battle we did. Helms and chainmail catching the light looked great from a couple of feet away.

 This green armour looks a lot better for having a metallic sheen to it.

For a different look I mixed a little gold with the metal colour when doing the armour base colour. This will help the verdigris effect as the armour will have a slight bronze look.

Late Update: As the central orc with the mace is so massive, I've decided to make him into a leader. That means he gets his own standard bearer.

As these are my new Gundabad orcs, I thought should have their own look. The green decayed armour is a good start, but having a black tatty standard will also help make the units stand out.

Instead of the red eye I have gone with three white stripes, these symbolise the three peaks of Mount Gundabad. Black and white also look good for orcs and these simple designs look very orcy.

Ignore the strands of glue... It's only when you take a close up you spot them all.

The standard was made from a cut up wet wipe, covered in PVA and then sprayed. These new standards look nice and tattered, perfect for the armies of darkness.

Printed Orcs...

I'm always looking out for new orcs and these resin ones caught my eye on eBay.

I've really struggled with the painting lately partly due to being really busy at work. Work has used up all of my creativity lately,which doesn't leave a lot left to put into projects. 

The worst thing is I just end up sitting watching people paint on YouTube. This can be soul destroying when you have your own stuff to do.

To help get me back into picking up the brush again I thought painting my favourites...orcs, might be just the thing I need to ease me back in.

My idea would be to surround these delicate resin prints with metal figures to act as a buffer. So these larger Uruks will probably end up in the middle of the bases, flanked by lesser orcs. These metal orcs from Medlam Miniatures should do the job.

These new orcs will be part of my new Gundabad army. The larger orcs will have a very dark black skin colour and will march under tattered red standards.

I'll have to be careful with some of these resin weapons, as these are the ones that will get snagged on sleeves etc. the heavy 60x60mm bases won't move and the swords will be snapped.

These new resin figures are giant and are perfect for big Gundabad Uruks.

 UPDATE: Right, I've picked out the worst offenders and replaced their long weapons with ones from an Oathmark sprue

I think this one was the worst as it sticks up above head level. This was a prime sleeve catching weapon and it had to go. I drilled into the hand and put a shorter plastic spear in. It's now rock solid now it's buried in.

This is a nice figure, but again with the resin going up it had to be swopped out. A plastic mace is put in its place with the hand being super glued in place.

There are a few other long weapons but these are either pointing horizontal or pointing down. These I can bury in the mass of metal miniatures to protect them more.

UPDATE: I had a morning painting today and it was great. You can't beat speed painting dirty orcs!

Lots of dry brushing and washes, these orcs paint themselves.