Lord of the Rings Project: Day Twenty

Got the flesh done on the rest of the Uruk Hai plastics. Plus, I got a start on the armor. I'm really liking these miniatures so far. For one and two piece plastics they are very dynamic and quite different from the miniatures I'm used to painting. Part of that is from design elements carried over from the movies (the shield and pike designs are brutally efficient in a way not seen in Warhammer Fantasy), but part is from the posing of the sculps.

I'm looking forward to getting these guys done and on the table.

Lord of the Rings Project: Day Nineteen

After my post last night I ended up working a bit more and got the Minas Tirith banner bearer finished except for the wash. I didn't want to use black for the banner, but the gray I've been using for the clothes seemed a bit too light, so I tried Model Color 995 German Grey, and I think it works pretty good. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

I got the captain and banner bearer washed today. I also started working on the rest of the Uruk Hai, starting with the flesh. I'm doing these a bit differently than I did the Warriors of Minas Tirith. Rather than the extreme production line method of just doing one small area on each miniature in turn, I'm doing all the flesh on one model before moving on to the next.

A couple reasons for this. The first is that I simply like to change things up. I've found that while some speed painting methods are better than others for me, none of them work for extended periods. I simply get bored with them, so I need to change things up a bit. The second is that the paint I'm using for the flesh takes two or three coats to get decent coverage. When I'm working on one miniatures I can just keep going over it until it's done, moving from one part to another on the same model. With the extreme assembly line method I have to go through the whole assembly line process two or three times just to do one part, and that would drive me crazy.

Lord of the Rings Project: Day Eighteen

I finally have a new picture. Below, you can see my Uruk Hai test model. In addition to getting it done, I also got my Minas Tirith Captain blocked out, and got a start on the banner bearer. I also manged to get a matte coat on my finished Warriors of Minas Tirith, so they are completely done now (although I may still hit them with a second matte coat when it's not quite so humid).

I tried to keep things very simple with the Uruk Hai. There's only five colors and a wash on the test model. The result is less true to the movies than the "official" paint scheme, but I think it works well on its own, and is easy to paint. I could get a lot closer to the look of the movies if I was willing to do a bit of drybrushing, but I don't really like drybrushing, especially when I'm going for speed painting. I know it's supposed to be a method for speed painting, but it always seems to take me longer than anything else. Instead, I'm just using a wash.

Armor: Game Color 60 Tinny Tin
Weapon: Game Color 54 Gunmetal Metal
Leather: Game Color 43 Beasty Brown
Skin: Game Color 44 Dark Fleshtone
Hair: Game Color 45 Charred Brown
Wash: Citadel Wash Badab Black (with a bit of "magic wash")

Lord of the Rings Project: Day Seventeen

Today, I got all of my assembled minis primed, and my painted minis covered with a gloss coat, and it's a good thing, because it doesn't look like the weather is going to be good for spraying outside tomorrow. I may try to put the matte coat on the painted minis in the garage tomorrow, but I'll have to see just what the conditions are.

In any case, I hope to work on my Uruk Hai test model tomorrow.

In semi related news, my FLGS finally got its website and forum up and running and my wife has started working a 7 to 3 schedule, so I should finally be able to organize some actual games. I'm hoping to talk someone into trying out the LotR game with me sometime soon.

Podcast Update

Although I no longer have the long commute I used to have to take my wife to work, I continue to listen to podcasts on a regular basis, mostly while working on miniatures. World's End Radio has now become my favorite podcast, moving ahead of the Order 66 largely because I'm more actively interested in the games covered by World's End than I am in the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG covered by Order 66. In fact, I'm way behind on Order 66, because of that.

My second favorite is now the d6 Generation. It's a good general gaming podcast. Also on my regular listening list is 40K Radio, which has recently undergone a bit of a shakeup in its cast which I think is turning out to be an improvement, and This Week In Wargaming. TWiW is the most expensive podcast I listen to. Its weekly coverage of new products being released in miniatures gaming, largely from the smaller publishers, has already caused me to spend at least a couple of hundred dollars I wouldn't have otherwise spent.

Sadly, Podhammer is not on my list anymore. It would be, but for undisclosed personal reasons Jeff Carroll, the host, has had to put it on indefinite hiatus. I hope he's able to bring it back eventually. About the same time Podhammer went on hiatus, 40K Warcasting returned. This is a good supplemental podcast if you don't already get your fill of 40K coverage from 40K Radio, or a replacement if you prefer a more laid back style to the sometimes "flamboyant" approach of the guys at 40K Radio. I like both, especially since they both do codex overviews, and it's just that many more opinions from guys who regularly play the game. I've found that the consensus opinion often varies dramatically between gaming groups, so it's good to compare and contrast.

I've been dablling with some other podcasts as well, but don't want to discuss them until I've had a chance to listen to more than an episode or two.