PROJECT UPDATE!

So my blog is sort of morphing into more of just a regular hobby blog about my painting progress so I'm not beating myself up as much about sticking to the order of things as they are in the Journeybooks. I am using them as a guideline for collecting and such just to keep me organized and motivated, but you likely will see things out of order, and probably won't see scenairio batreps anytime soon. Either way, my painting progress has been pretty good lately, so I'll be updating more often than not hopefully.

Please like, share and comment, and be sure to check out the Community Spotlight and Shoutout sections I've started adding to the blog!

http://foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com/

Welcome to the one ring and back to the fold.
I note from your blog you know your subject and have plenty to discuss. Good luck with your project.

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Commission Service Available

mallysminiatures.blogspot.co.uk

Looks like a good start. I've bookmarked your blog so I can keep up with it!

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Respectfully,
Jonathan

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly

Battle Companies

I am really enjoying the clean, bright colours. I like that you put up the painting scheme as well. Might have to copy some swatches

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

Help yourself! I'm not great at color selection due to my color deficiency, so I have always preferred having a guide. Most of the schemes are based off of what's given in the Journeybooks with some slight variations based on what colors I have, and some errors made (see the Legolas post to see what I mean)

A quick update for everyone: http://foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com ... 17kZZvnlVP

Quick Update and Next Steps

Preparation

So last night I started prepping my painting area, also known as my computer desk. Had a significant pileup of old papers, tax returns, and fishing odds and ends (my other hobby is bass fishing, go figure).

I also got out my boxes and cases of models to ascertain what all I have and what I need to prep. I totally forgot I had a complete Fog on the Barrow Downs box set, which is great because it makes up an entire scenario, as well as being pretty hard to find for a decent price on eBay.

I also found my mounted Arwen with Frodo model. Since I plan to paint the foot version of Arwen, as well as the foot and mounted version of Glorfindel, and all of those models use similar pallets, I am going to hold off on painting until I get a chance to base coat the Arwen model.

The weather here has been good, if a bit humid so that should be tonight. I will also likely base some other models to save time.

On tonight's to-do list are:
- Base coat a handful of models (Fog on the Barrow Downs will for sure be getting a coat)
- Check paints for clumping/drying and remedy any issues
- Pick pallet for Elves, Horses, and injured Frodo
- Plan next steps for painting
- Stare at blue foam and be afraid of scenery construction

That's all for now! I'll probably be posting pics of everything I've painted so far, as well as a list of the models I have and need in the near future, or between painting updates.

EDIT: Sorry for double posting, is there a way to merge posts or is that just a mod thing?

Scenery construction is fun! I just cover everything with plaster or drywall gap filler. A good first confidence builder is Amon Sul from the Fellowship book. Swirl gap filler on plaster for awesomeness and drybrush. My stairs have sand in the cracks to hide some oopses. I also bought some lichen (dirt cheap) and stuffed it in the cracks. If you make an oops, just stuff some terrain bushes and foliage in there. No one will guess differently and it looks so good. And if you really screw it up, there are plenty of ruins in Middle Earth!

Out of curiosity, are fish attracted to minis?

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I'm not sure about the fish thing, I'll have to try that sometime. Moria goblins seem pointy enough!

I haven't made terrain in a looong time but i remember enjoying it. I hesitate usually because of space. But once I get a few more things cleared out I should be able to pull off most of it.

On that note, here's another quick update: http://foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com ... 1Z4r7HLLKk

Dusting off the ol' pots

I'm about to start painting soon, I swear. Sorry for another wall of text but I wanted an update, and I'm bored at work.

I got my desk totally cleared and prepped for painting and will be adding a picture of my work-space soon. Here's what I consider essential to have at my painting area:

- Tile pallet (awesome way to have a pallet as its so easy to clean)
- Paper Towels (for blotting and dry brushing)
- Plain Paper (to cover the surface and use for dry brushing)
- Plenty of light (using two desk lamps on either side of my space)
- Water pot (I use a small glass jar)
- Brushes (I try to keep the selection limited so I can find things more quickly)
- Other tools (knives, pin-vise, pliers, cutters, files, etc.)
- Minis on-deck (Again, only limited to what I'm currently painting)

I have found keeping things simple helps in several ways. First, it allows me to clean up. If company is coming I don't have much to put away. Second, it prevents me from getting overwhelmed, which I've found really helps me with my motivation to paint, and keeps productivity up. Its hard to want to sit down and paint if you have to clean up a bunch of Devlan Mud first.

Fits and starts

After I got my station set-up I opened my box of paints, and suddenly realized I had a big problem. Most of my paints (probably about half) are older GW paints, in the old, flat top pots with the dimple on top (shown below). These paints are notorious for drying out, and after about 2 years of sitting in a cardboard box, that's exactly what happened.



Lucky for me I'm somewhat of a pro at revitalizing old, dried out paints. To speed the process I got a baby medicine syringe from the last time my son was sick, and used it to regulate the amount of water I added. After adding water to each pot I stirred it thoroughly with an old brush handle and so far most of them have come out no worse for wear.

Rectifying water based acrylics

It is almost always possible to save a pot of acrylic paint as long as it hasn't totally dried out. If it has its not worth wasting your time as the paint has chemically changed and water won't save it (to my knowledge). One trick I've always used with my paints is adding a chunk of metal, usually a large piece of flash, or base rail from a metal fig, to the pot. Some companies already do this in fact. Reaper uses a small plastic skull. The whole point is to have something in the pot to help mix the pigment and medium back to together after your paint has been sitting for awhile. All you do is pull it out, and assuming its not dried at all, give the pot a shake and mix the 2 parts back together. Voila!

So to summarize/recap the rectification process:
1. Always add something to help in mixing as soon as you get a new pot.
2. Always shake a pot thoroughly before use.
3. If paint seems a bit thick, slowly add drops of water (less is more)
4. Ideally wait until paint is on your pallet before thinning to avoid over-thinning the whole pot.
5. If paint dries out in the pot, slowly add drops of water (again, take your time to get it just right)
6. Mix well with a toothpick or other stick thingy.
7. Shake thoroughly again.

Goodbye

That's all for now. I should be done clean up my paints tonight, and ready to lay some brushstrokes this weekend.

You would almost think that they designed those pots that way

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Published ebooks:
Instrument of the Empire
A Note of Defiance
Phantom Ships, Ghost Flotilla
More to come!

Finally started painting tonight. Started faces on glorfindel and arwen (foot and mounted versions). Then remembered I needed to paint the mounts first. Got the base colors and drybrush layers on both versions of asfaloth, as well as their manes. Going to do riding tack, gilding, etc. tomorrow and hopefully get the faces and hair done. Loving the sculpt on Glorfindel's version of Asfaloth, great detail on the mane (the arwen one is pretty bland).

Coffee filters work really well for drybrushing. The texture in them lets you see how much paint is remaining and they are quite absorbent. I also got an OTT light for Christmas--I'm loving it!

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I might try that! usually I just use the wrinkly skin on the side of my hand. Its textured and I can feel how wet the brush still is.

Just a Small update to prove I'm making some progress. To see the original layout, head over to foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com

Getting Back in the Swing of Things


My workstation. I don't expect it to stay this neat for very long.


So I finally started painting about 2 weeks ago. I decided to start painting both Arwen and Glorfindel, foot and mounted versions, concurrently. I initially planned to paint them totally concurrently as I thought they shared more of a pallet. I quickly decided that wouldn't work however as the only thing similar would be their skin. There was one exception, and that is Asfaloth, the horse ridden by both. I am going to wait to discuss in detail the lore of these two characters until the final post. If you want a quick run-down head over to the "Nerdy Postlude" at the end of this post, or as usual, the One Wiki to Rule Them All.


Pay no heed to the background......


Arwen, while being apocryphally included in the movie version of the Fellowship of the Rings, is still riding the same horse as Glorfindel was in the books, so I thought it appropriate the horses matched. Typically, GW published photos of mounted Arwen feature a more pure white Asfaloth, while the Journeybook calls for Glorfindel's version to be more of a dusty white, calling for drybrushing over a grey undercoat. I chose to follow this route as I hate painting pure white, and I think Middle Earth is far too gritty a place to have totally perfect, clean horses. Therefore after screwing around and basecoating some random areas on the models I got my act together and started systematically painting the horses. I finished the coat, mane, tail, and riding tack (exception: saddles) and decided to wait on the gold/metal details as those are typically the last parts I paint on a model. I am happy with the result for the most part but I realized the Glorfindel version is a FAR superior sculpt, and was a joy to paint. I am a bit bugged by the chalkiness of the drybrushing, and I may decide to add a wash to smooth it out. Here's the final result:


I've since blacked out the hooves, painted riding tack and added some basecoats on both.


I don't have a closeup of Arwen, but I'll add that when I finish everything.


The reason this post is titled the way it is is because I tried to essentially batch paint a set of 4 centre-piece character models, and so far all that's done is slow me down. I haven't painted in quite awhile so my speed isn't what it used to be, and I've felt really haphazard in planning what to paint and when. For that reason I am going to completely finish Glorfindel before moving on to Arwen. Their pallets are different enough (not to mention Arwen has a cloaked hobbit on her horse) that it doesn't really make sense to paint them at the same time, with the exception of the horses as mentioned above.

Cloak Time


After doing most of the work on the horses, I decided to move on to Glorfindel's cloak. The Journeybook paint scheme calls for a light blue lining and a white outer layer. I really enjoyed painting the lining, using Lothern Blue as the basecoat with increasing amounts of skull white for the highlights. I really like how the cloak lining came out on the mounted model, which is good as its a primary feature of the model. I'm including pictures both with and without flash so you can see how the layers were applied. As far as the white cloak goes, I'm not too impressed with myself. Pure white is very hard to paint, and I think I should have done something to make the deep shades less stark. If you have any ideas on how to improve this, please reply in the comments.

Below you can see how both the foot and mounted models turned out. Notice some additional parts I've painted as well.










Onward and Upward

So that's where I am at the moment. Now that I'm decided to abandon Arwen for the time being (she isn't that essential anyhow) My pace should increase substantially. Moving forward I plan to finish Glorfindel's faces, then move on to his inner clothes, then accessories, returning to the inside-out method I started with Legolas a few posts back. After I finally finish everything I will finish Arwen simply because it would kill me to have an incomplete model on my desk. From there I may paint the models needed for the Fog on the Barrow Downs scenario, which would include the alternate hobbit models I keep mentioning. After that I really want to paint some generic troops just to show some progress on another front. The ones most needed for the Fellowship book would be Moria Goblins, as well as Wild Wargs, neither of which should be very difficult.

Last Thing I Swear

I wanted to give a shout-out to member Monotone_Matt from the One-Ring Forums. I recently completed a trade with him, trading my Cave Troll with spear and a mounted Eowyn for his mint-in-box metal Isengard Troll. I received in in exactly 7 days (shipped from Switzerland!) and he was kind enough to throw in two Uruk-Hai Berserkers! An awesome bonus. Hopefully my package makes it to him in similar time and I even threw him a bonus as well. The One-Ring is a great website and one of the few active LoTR SBG communities still functioning. If you're a fan of the game, be sure to head over there and check it out.

edit: Picture links were messed up.

Got another update for you all. Read the full post here:
http://foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com ... lower.html

I'll just post a few pics to not flood the thread too bad, so if you want full commentary just check out the link.

Just updated. Did 4 barrow wights and 2 berserkers as test models for when I finally make it to the TT book. Let me know what you think! Full recap and more pics can be found on my blog: http://foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com ... e-fun.html

Look for another update shortly with a horde of moria goblins

And yet another quick update: http://foraysinmiddleearth.blogspot.com ... halls.html

Darkness Dwells in Durin's Halls
Hordes of the Dark

Now if you read my last post, I addressed a major speed bump in painting progress recently. I was somewhat vague as I wanted to make a separate post for this update. What happened is I was jonesing to boost my numbers of painted models, and I also have two big horde groups I needed to paint for the Fellowship book, the first is a mob of 18 Wild Wargs and the other: Moria Goblins!

You can guess by the title that I decided to paint the goblins. I chose them over the wargs for two reasons: First, Wargs are boring, and I need to keep up my momentum. Second, I was looking for a bit of a challenge, and painting 40 goblins is no small task. For starters, its essentially an army in its own right from a gaming standpoint. The scenarios in the book only call for 24 goblins and 2 captains, however I had in my possession an extra dozen, making 36 total goblin warriors. Also, since Games Workshop never produced proper Moria captains, I opted to use the metal "armoured" Goblins, of which I had 4. These are essentially just slightly larger goblins featuring full plate and and mail armor, perfect command models. So I was looking at 40 models total, a far cry from what I've been painting up until this point. I thought about just painting what I needed for the scenarios and selling or trading the rest, but goblins don't fetch much money on ebay, and I knew if I didn't paint them while I painted everything else they would never get done, and I would probably take a loss having to sell them at some point.

I quickly set to work after priming up the lot on a cooler, overcast day. I also quickly realized this would be much tougher than originally anticipated! I batch painted the group, meaning I would get a color ready, and apply it to every single model. Since all the models feature armor of some sort, I went ahead and did this first, applying chainmail, then watered down badab black. Lots and lots of badab black. This was a smart step as it made me see progress, which is sometimes just as important as actually making real progress.

What came next was a series of fits and starts of painting, I would get some free time, and sit down and splash a color on most, or all of the 40 models. I'm not gonna lie, there were times when I was really regretting what I had gotten myself into, and consequently chose to keep some colors relatively basic, not even adding highlights or shading to some of the details. Instead of giving a long drawn out explanation of what I did and didn't do, I'll just show you the pictures and list the scheme:










Armor: Chainmail, Badab black wash (thinned)
Skin: castellan green/codex grey mix basecoat, badab black/thraka green wash
Underclothes: Thinned mechrite red (no highlight)
Spear/Bow staves and Leather straps: Bestial brown


As you can tell, I kept it pretty simple. But overall, seeing as this is supposed to be a horde, I think the models tie together well. I thought about painting the eyes/teeth of the models, but I would probably screw it up and take away from the unified look of the army.

What's Next

So its definitely a relief to have the goblins done as they are one of the bigger chunks of painting I had to work through. Mentally it was hard to finish the lot, and they actually sat completed on my desk for about 2 weeks waiting for me to paint and flock the bases.

Now that I am ready to proceed I have a few things I could forward with. Some models are bonuses and would be mostly for fun, and some are essential to the project. I'm thinking of doing a combination just to keep things interesting. I have a pile of elves that need paint for one of the later scenarios, so I think I might do those. Regardless, here is a list of whats on my desk at the moment (seen in the background above)

Must Do's:
-Lorien Elves (x6)
-Haldir of the Woodland Realm
-Mounted Ringwraiths (x2)
-Cave Trolls (x2, only 1 essential)
-Tom Bombadil
-Lurtz (x2 different sculpts, one will serve as Uruk Captain)
-Uruk Scouts (x8, 2 with hobbits) <--need more of these!
-18 Wild Wargs

May Do's:
-Goldberry
-Galadriel
-Celeborn
-Paralyzed Hobbits (for Barrow Downs)
-Alternate Hobbit models

So, while I am still missing some key models needed for the book, such as a Balrog, and a Warg Chieftain, I do have most of what I need, and honestly I'm well more than halfway done with the model side of things, which I have to say I find rather impressive as I'm not known for my completion rate when it comes to hobby projects.

That's all for now, remember, if you like my work please share it on social media and leave comments here!

Lovely project. Will be watching with interest.

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Thanks! Be sure to check out the blog and see the earlier posts. They aren't earth shattering but they give a good idea of how much I've done so far.

Hope to be doing some updates soon, so be on the lookout, and catch up with my progress to date.

some WiP elves. I really am working on this thing, I'm just really slow. Should have a new post up on the blog next week or so. After these are finished I'll be doing Galadriel and Celeborn (already done faces, skin, and hair on them) followed by Tom and Goldberry.