Boar Boyz ...the Command Group

 Hi all,

Today I can finally present the final unit (for now) of my Marauder Boar Boy army....the Command group with Big Boss (General).

For my final entry in the Old World Army Challenge I reserved my command group.  This is a smaller unit of only five Boar Boys...but it includes the General and Army Standard as well as a small number of elite Gruntas on Barded Boars to fill out the unit and act as bodyguards to the General and the Standard.

Here is the Whole group 

 

As with some of the other units in this army a number of these riders are repurposed from other Marauder sets like Chariot crew options etc.  Included among this number is the General himself who was designed to be mounted on a Wyvern (MB8) but is here mounted on the Barded Boar that originally came with the Marauder Boar Boy General (MM22/6).  

The former boar boy general, now army standard bearer, is instead mounted on one of the Armored boars from Clam's Ewal Dvergar Range.The Army Standard is carried in the form of a back banner.  I was skeptical that this rider would work well with this mount...but now I think its my favorite of the bunch. 

Two of the Grunta body guards are also "converted" from The Orc Battle Chariot (MB6)...from which we have also already seen the archer who has also been mounted on a boar.

 

The last body guard figure is a actual boar boy figure (MM24/3)  but fits the part stylistically and the addition of a boar with a caparison makes him look even more intimidating.

So there we have them...the last of the Marauder Boar Boyz for my all mounted Greenskin Army! I may add a mounted mage at some point...and I started working on a unit of savage orc boar boyz as well...but those will have to wait for another day. 

I look forward to getting all of these along with their Wolf riders friends on the table soon for a photo shoot!

Cheers,

Blue

Maurder Wolf Boys MM32/4

 Hi all,

Here we are back with the next blister of Marauder wolf boys. 

If you stare at the Marauder MM32/34 Wolf Boys long enough...and the way that they are divided up into blister packs you start to see that there is some level of reasoning behind at least some of the packs.  This pack, MM32-4, is one of those "theme" packs...this one is full of Goblins who feel that "less-is-more" in the armor department...preferring to ride into combat with only a snazzy helmet on...or a bad ass fur vest!  What they lack in protective equipment they make up for in character and enthusiasm!

Here they are!

Dwarf Army Progress Shots...Almost There!!

Hi all,

As most of you probably know I have spent the past six months painting frantically for the second Old World Army Challenge.  It was, once again, a grueling effort but I did manage to finish and add a significant new contingent to my Puff and Slash Dwarf Army...which is my oldest army and one of the largest.

As I was finishing the challenge and and preparing to take some shots of the entire 1000 point force that I had managed to paint...I thought it would also be a good idea to combine them with all my other Empire Dwarf figures to show the current status of the entire army.

This proved to be a lot of fun and, though the set up and prep work took some time I think it was worth the effort.  Now this army is NOT complete...several of the units will be further expanded....several have a few partially painted figures....almost all units are still lacking banners...and there is one entire unit not represented at all in these pics.  Despite these deficiencies I find this kind of photography to be very inspiring and feel that it really gives me a feel for where the army as going as well as indicating what needs to be finished up.

For this photo shoot I used two of my modular terrain tiles and a number of the houses and walls that I scratch built in the last two years...as well as a portion of the Might Fortress.  I'm still having trouble with the backdrop situation, but for the time being I used a sheet of green foam board as my backdrop...less than ideal but sufficient for now.

Anyway...lets take a look...

Here is the Dwarf line of battle for the Grand Army of Salsburg.

Ewal Dvergar Boar Riders...Part III

Another quick post today...

...And another of Clam's fantastic Ewal Dvergar Boar Riders.  This one is another mix match...the body and Boar are from the Boar Rider release...but the helmet for this one comes from the earlier Ewal Dvergar warrior release, and it is one that I'm particularly fond of.

I've been meaning to try one of my chaos figures with black armor...but honestly I've been hesitant too until now.  Long time readers of this blog may remember a post I wrote about a system I had learned for painting black from a few years ago (LINK)...I have only used it sparingly since this initial attempt and never on a subject with this much area to cover...but this seemed like the perfect chance to give it a try on a more challenging subject.

...but before I reveal the final piece I want to take another opportunity to heap high praise on John Pickford for the sculpting on the boars he produced for this range and for Clam...They are superb and this one was another joy to paint.  Take a look!

Ewal Dvergar Boar Riders...Part II

Here I am back with with a quick post about some more Ewal Dvergar Boar riders that I have completed.  I had some time so cranked out two more of these lovelies.

Once again I opted to use a selection of different bits.  The red guy pulling the classic Jess Goodwin YMCA pose actually has a head that was supplied with the amazing "Ass Cannon" crew...also sculpted by John Pickford and sold by Oldschool Miniatures.  He is also mounted on a Marauder Boar.

The Yellow rider is made of straight Ewal Dvergar bits provided by Clam with this set of troops and he is mounted on another of the excellent Pickford boars.  Once again I can't say how much I like these boars...they are simply superb!

Here are the individual shots of the two...

Ewal Dvergar Boar Riders

Hi all,

Once again it has been a long delay since I have had a substantive blog post...but I'm trying something new today.  One of the big issues I've been having with blogging is computer related.  My laptop has been on the fritz for weeks now and that is where most of my pictures are stored...so in order to get something up I've decided to write a post on my phone with the pictures I have stored there.  So if the formatting is a bit weird...I blame the phone and blogger app...:)

Anyway...today I would like to talk to you about chaos dwarfs...or more specifically boar mounted Ewal Dvergar!!  My hook-up for all things stunty and Chaotic...Clam... sent me a batch of his newly released Boar riders a month or two ago and I've finally had a chance to get to work on them.

BTW...When you decide to get some of these...and you will...hit up Clam's Blog to order here:

http://claminiatures.blogspot.dk/

One of the fun things about these figures is that any of the chaotic dwarfy heads that John Pickford has sculpted for Clam (and others) fit perfectly on these bodies.  So this allowed me to have some fun mixing and matching bits and pieces from a variety of sets to make unique boar riders for my army.  as I started to play with the options I laid out all my bits...

Bood Wargames Pony Mounted Dwarf

Hi all,

Another Quick post of some of my recent painting efforts.

I've been threatening to paint of the Bood Wargames mounted dwarfs for quite a while now...and I finally pulled it off.

If you are not familiar with the Bood Wargames dwarfs you are in for a treat!  They are great Dwarf sculpts by John Pickford in the late medieval style...very similiar to the classic Perry Brother sculpts that were done for Citadel in the Late 80's.  You may recall a recently posted unit that was a mix of Imperial dwarfs and Bood Dwarfs.

Bood Wargames Dwarf...a Sneak Peek...Part 2

Hello all,

As I reported to you back in the foggy distance of time there is an upcoming crowd funding campaign for some new dwarf figures being produced by Bood-Wargames.  This campaign has been delayed from a September start date to one later in the month of November but it is still forth coming...so keep your eyes peeled. 

Mr. Bood was kind enough to allow me access to a small batch of his figures before their official release so that I could slap some paint on them and share them with you as a preview to the main event.  In a previous post I shared with you my initial efforts on two of the infantry models.  Since then I have been able to complete five more figures and add shields to the those that were completed earlier. 

Here is a quick group shot of the whole batch that I took with my iPhone.  Below you will find higher quality images of each of the individual figures for your viewing pleasure.

Here are the individual shots

I have several more of these guys in process as well as some of the Pony Riders...which I'm very excited about.  I'm also working on a batch of Citadel Imperial dwarfs which I will mix in with these to form a complete unit.

Here is where they are at in the process.

As you can see I have the armor completed, which is the bulk of the painting on these guys, and am in the process of putting the base coats on the flesh and cloth portions.  More on this as progress continues.

When combined I think this will make for a striking and powerful boost to my infantry forces.  these will be tabled as a portion of my Bretonnian army...hence the muted colors and different skin tone which is a departure from my Empire Dwarf figures.

Please keep an eye out for the upcoming Bood-Wargames Crowd funder...I'll be sure to plug it here incase you miss the announcement elsewhere!

Cheers for now!

Blue

Bood-Wargames Dwarfs...Infantry models...A Sneak Peek

Howdy all!

I'm back with an actual hobby update this time!  Despite the lack of evidence in the form of blog posts about it...I have actually been getting some painting done...though field commitments and RL have certainly made the going slow.

But I wanted to take the chance to share some pictures of the two dwarfs I have been painting.  These figures come from the Bood-Wargames collection of Dwarf warriors.  These figures have not been generally released yet (but after a fair amount of begging on my part) Edouard, the nice gentleman who is Bood-Wargames, consented to send me a few sculpts before release so I could slap some paint on them.  Bood is planing on a Crowd funding campaign for these lovely sculpts later this year.  

Here are the two I have painted up so far...better detail shots down below

As you can see from the pictures they are designed and sculpted in a medieval manner (as opposed to the excellent Renaissance/Puff and Slash sculpts of the White Knight range) with a strong nod to the classic line of Citadel Imperial dwarfs.  The sculpting was done by John Pickford and the detail is exceptional.  These all come with separate weapon arms which allow some variability between troops.  The weapon options include maces, axes, swords, hammers, spears etc.  I have chosen to arm the group I have been supplied with with hand weapons and shields...though I can certainly see adding a small unit of spear-men to my army in the future.  As you can see the shields are also separate and and I have chosen to photograph these without them so you can get a good look at the sculpts.

Assembly of these figures was quite simple and did not require pinning.  There was also very minimal flash or mold lines.  Here are some pics of these two primed so you can see some more of the detail.  

While I had intended to only assemble these two for the moment ...the work was so easy that I ended up putting all of the infantry models that Bood supplied to me together over the course of an evening.  as you can see this is already shaping up to be a fantastic unit!

As mentioned above there is certainly a strong Imperial Dwarf vibe to these sculpts and as such I felt it obliatory to take a scale comparison shot as well.  I think they fit perectly!

And now for the Glamour shots.  These two figures were fun and fast to paint up.  The sculpts are fairly straight forward with lots of cloth, chainmail, and beard...minimal flesh exposed.  They are not covered with all the fiddly bits often seen on modern sculpts...which in my mind is a good thing.  That said Bood has included a number of small bits that can be attached to figures to further individualize them...things like helmets, daggers, mugs etc.

Anyway...they are great and you should keep an eye out for the upcoming crowd funding campaign!  I certainly will be!

Now, these are just a couple of the infantry models...Bood has also commissioned a range of mounted dwarfs and some special mounted characters.  These are VERY exciting and look fantastic...please stop by his Blog to see some examples of those.  It can be found HERE.  I hope to have an example or two of those painted up soon.

Cheers for now!

Blue

Johann Complete!

As promised here is a quick post to show you the final results of the painting I was finishing up on Johann...the fantastic Chaos Dwarf Sculpt by John Pickford...and in fact this figure was painted for John himself! (I hope he likes it!)  I think I have said all the wonderful things that need to be said about this great model...it really is something special...particularly the shield which inspires me to try something new each time I look at it.

Anyway...blah blah...here are the pictures...and below I will include pictures of my personal version to which I have added a Green stuff beard.

I believe that these are still available through Clam's Ewal Dvergar Range of figures...so contact him and get you one....and some of his other wonderful figures as well.

Here is John's Johann...

Johann II...Update 2...Nearly there!

Just a quick update to show how Johann is coming along.

• I added a couple more highlights to the armor to make it stand out a bit more.
• I painted his chest plate Bronze
• Wood grained the axe handle
• painted the chain mail and axehead with my typical metal system
• highlighted up the shoulder pads and gave them red eyes. 

All that is really left to do are a couple of touch ups and the base.

Johann II ...Update 1...Shield Work

Howdy all,

I've been plugging along with the variety of models that I previewed in my last post.  My main effort has been focused on finishing up a copy of Johann from the Ewal Dvergar Range that Clam has graced us with.

I've had this miniature for way too long...mostly because I've had a hard time figuring out what color to paint him.  Obviously I painted my copy Blue...but I couldn't decide what would look good on this copy.  Finally I decided to go with Dark Green armor with Copper/Gold and Grey accents.  To this end I set in on Johann's armor first and then got to the base coats on the wood, metallic, and grey areas....

Here is how he looks right now...

Not looking particularly stellar yet...but once I start to highlight everything else up it will improve greatly....

...However...I really put a lot of work into his shield.  As I mentioned when I painted my own version of this figure the Shield is one of the best parts...John Pickford really seems to have enjoyed making this fantastic face.  With looking at the design of the shield ...and the fairly tame colors of the armor that I chose for Johann... I decided to go a little wild with the shield colors.  In really staring at the shield for quite awhile I really started to see how it looked like flame...

...perhaps this is a demonic piece of armor containing a fire daemon of some sort? ...forced by one of the Chaos Lords to protect Johann from harm....

...thats right...FLAME SHIELD!!! :)

This turned out to be a lot of fun to paint...and it took a TON of layers to make it look convincing.  Having never really attempted to paint flame before I'm pretty happy with the results.  The main portion of the shield is orange flame while the eyes and tongue are meant to look like blue flame.

Here is a quick look at the final product....followed by a short movie showing the steps of the process.

Yes...he has a Gold tooth...my daughter suggested it...who am I to deny her...?

For those who are curious about such things...here are the paints that I used to achieve the flame effect...

I'm not really sure what the Orange paint is...some old citadel color...?  Blood Angel perhaps?

And here is a shot of my wet pallet showing all the different layers that I created with these paints and their sequence (ignore the green...that's from the armor).

I think that is going to look pretty sweet on that green armored model...so...

I better get back to it!

Cheers,

Blue

Ewal Dvergar Crossbows ....and a Special Surprise

One of the great things about the current state of the "Oldhammer" Community are the number of small companies...and in some cases individuals...who are designing and producing figures that have that "Old School" vibe.  One of my absolute favorite ranges of this sort are the Ewal Dvergar being produced by Clam.  The Ewal Dvergar range takes its inspiration from the classic Chaos Dwarf models produced by citadel and Marauder during the heady days of the 2nd and 3rd editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.  Clam's figures allow a general to build a sizable force of evil stunties without having to collect innumerable duplicate copies of very hard to find and expensive classic figures

Ewal Dvergar "Unit Shots"

Building on my last post which featured the Ewal Dvergar that I painted up for Round one of the LPL... here are a few pictures of all the Ewal Dvergar that I have painted up to now.  In total I have 9 of these fantastic figures painted (though a few are still missing shields)...in order to round out the unit to two nice ranks of 5 I have also included the MM90/WK conversion that I refer to as the "Green Knight"...though I've stuck him in the back rank.

While this isn't a huge unit its starting to look pretty good!  I had orginally thought that I would mix in Clam's sculpts with my MM90s to make a big unit...now after seeing these guys all together...I'm thinking I need two units :)  One of MM90s and one of Ewal Dvergar!

Anyway...here are the pics.

LPL Round 1: Ewal Dvergar

Well...the time has finally come!  Round 1 of the Lead Painters League has closed for voting and Round 2 has begun....therefore I'm allowed to post up my first round entry for public consumption.

The entry requirements for this year's LPL have changed from previous iterations of the contest.  This year you are allowed to only enter one picture of your team...with no composite images allowed.  In the past I had the option of using a combination of images to best illustrate the details of my figures....this year one picture only.  So this was picture that I submitted...

Chaos Dwarf Comparison shots...

About a week ago Four A Miniatures released the Chaos Dwarf/beastmen that I covered in earlier posts.  These wonderful figures were sculpted by John Pickford...as were the Ewal Dvergar that Clam is sharing with the world.  When I put up the post about the Four A minis several people asked for some size comparisons...I promised to do some shots...and never did.

...Well today is the day!  I had the camera set up to take my first three rounds of LPL photos...so while I was at it I grabbed a few other Evil dwarfs and put them all together for some Glamor shots.

Four A Miniatures... Chaos Dwarfs II: "Thats 'Mister Tower Head' to You!"

Hello all!

Another of the fantastic miniatures that John P. asked me to paint for him is the other Chaos Dwarf that Four A Minaitures will be releasing in the future...a figure that John and I have been referring to as "Tower Head" (though I understand that another name may be forth coming...).

Four A Miniatures...Chaos Dwarfs I

Hi all,

Over the previous summer I was contacted by the sculptor John Pickford who was interested in having me paint a couple of pieces for him that he had recently sculpted for Four A miniatures.  I was obviously very humbled to have a man of his talent ask me to "pretty up" his sculpts for him so I gladly accepted. (it had nothing to do with the other lead he offered me as payment...I swear!) :)

A couple of weeks after our initial discussions a box full of goodies arrived from John in my mail box.  Amongst the assorted treasures therein were three brand new Chaos Dwarf sculpts... Though these aren't you normal chaos dwarfs...more of a kind of blend of Chaos Dwarf and Beastman/Werewolf.  Suffice to say they looked fantastic and I couldn't wait to get down to work on them.  But as you know the last summer was a rough one for old Blue....that whole broken ankle thing threw a monkey wrench into many of my plans.  So they weren't really finished until well into the fall.  As the release date for these figures is now drawing nigh (they should be out toward the end of February) I thought it would be a good time to post up some detailed pictures of them.

First up lets look at them as a group and then we can talk about them each in more detail....