Making 28mm Torches

To help give this force of Dwarves a Moria feel, I thought it would be a nice touch to give them torches. This of course to to help them in the gloom of the Black pit...Moria.

This is an easy thing to do with the help of some cotton and brush bristles.

This dwarf even has a giant torch to help light the way.

Once the brush bristle was cut and drilled into place, I covered the tip in super glue. Cotton was then wrapped around it, soaking up the glue as it went. This creates a nice torch, I made sure to cut some wood grain into the plastic bristle.

 A covering of glue in readiness for the cotton.

To make the fire a bit more animated, I stuck some packing material to the end. This does cover the cotton but hopefully should look good when painted. The cotton level could be skipped but it does look good for unlight torches.

I found this packing fome in a figure box and thought it would make great fire.

I did buy a few torch bearers from Alternative Armies, but it's also quite easy to convert other figures.

Having learnt my lesson with the shields on the last batch, I took the extra time to green stuff some straps for the stowed torches. Using the spare putty to create a little bag.

Handy spare torches for the campaign.

This dwarf got a spare shield to add some variety to his sculpt.

Just a tiny strap is all that's needed to secure the torch to the belt. Hopefully, these little extra details should make the difference when painted.

Almost set for the endless dark of Moria.

Spare torch, it's nice to see the cotton.

I was pleased with myself for managing to give this dwarf his axe back that I had cut off. I simply drilled it into his other hand holding the shield. 

Undercoated and drying in the wind.

Green Stuff Day!

I wasn't really planning on doing any green stuff on these guys, but I had some time so I jumped at it. I always seem to mix up too much putty for what I need, the spare was plastered onto bases to create uneven ground.

The odd blanket roll helps with the campaign look.

I thought I would add some straps for the shields, again this wasn't really nessacary, but they do look better with them.

This was the main reason for all the sculpting, I like this GW iron breaker dwarf with his big axe. Unfortunately he is wearing thick plate armour which isn't really Middle Earth. I needed to cover most of it so the figure would fit into the chain mail posse.

A quick job but it looks better than heavy plate. The rest should be quite hidden when on the base.

The Alternative Armies dwarves are great, I have a soft spot for them. This lightly armoured dwarf sports a new axe and a bedroll.

 It was a bit of extra work but I think when the figures are painted, the time would of been well spent.

UPDATE: New day and the boys have their first layer of paint.

Axes of the Dwarves

 

It's time to roll my sleeves up and wade into this project. I've been a bit lazy to date, just painting the bare metal figures, but now it's time to start getting creative.

The first step is to get rid of this ugly mace and replace it with some dwarven forged iron.

I have a small collection of spare GW dwarf bits I bought from eBay around eight years ago. As GW weapons are quite oversized, they make good 'great' axes for the standard sized figure. This double axe looks much better than the morning star to my eyes, much more in character.

I actually like the figure now and he stands a good chance of jumping the painting que. He is a huge dwarf and must be a hero of many battles.

Home sweet home.

Balin has asked me to gather some veterans to create a troll fighting company. "How big are these trolls I asked", the answer was "very big!."

Right I thought, let's get something thing very big and sharp to stick in them with lots of long spears to keep them busy. While they fight off the forest of spears their soft belly will be vulnerable, this is where the Dragon lance comes in, with its fire hardened point.

Talking of dragons, if one does show up, these guys will be well geared up to deal with it. They have large shields and some have face armour to protect them against the heat.

Once the troll is down on its knees from the stomach wound, the second rank of axe armed dwarfs move in to finish the job.

Blood, sweat and tears have gone into this project. That and a little lead poisoning.

I think this double dwarf figure is from Ral Partha.

A tunnel fighting unit is a must for trying to retake Moria. Axes can handle waves of shrieking goblins, but for trolls, something different had to be conjured up.

I bit the bullet and started to cut and drill into these old Grenadier dwarves. Many of the figures could be styled into holding long spears once their axes had been removed. Large shields were also added to some to complete their dragon proof look. I will probably add some bed rolls and furs to some of these too.

UPDATE: After the success of the pole arms, I was encouraged to push these figures a bit further by adding more shields. This helps the look of them being tunnel fighters, spealising in large foes. These extra figures will form a protective shield wall Infront of the spears.

The shields are from Scribor and are beautifully detailed. This will save a lot of time by dry brushing them and not worrying about painting shield patterns.

This dwarf had another mace, well this had to go and was replaced with a GW plastic axe. He will be quite hidden in amongst the base, so no-one will see him, but. Know it's there.

Some of these larger axe armed figures work well with shields too.

This guy had a chunky shield so I decided to file it down with a Dremel. This worked really well and ensured the Scribor shield had a good fit.

I did try to stick the resin shields over the lead one but you could still see the original. Then I had the idea to file it away and the results were much better.

These two figures look like we're sculpted off the same dolly, this happened a lot back in the day to produce a larger range quickly. Every manufacturer in the Eighties did it I think, the old Fantasy Tribes range springs to mind.

A wall of shields to protect the dragon lance, some of these warriors have already seen some action by the looks of things. 

The resin shields from Scribor are very delicate and snap easily. I'm always too impatient to cut them off properly and always manage to damage them. This just helps with the look and I exaggerate this to form dents and nicks.

He does look better with a bigger more detailed shield.

This Dremel is actually a tool for doing nails my wife gave me, but it works the same and is a great boon to the hobby desk. I've started using it a lot for just about everything....except nails.