A lot of sprays will melt the pva, test first imo

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Harfoots-The first of the Hobbit people to cross over the Misty Mountains and enter Eriador.

Thanks for your advice over the past week.
This week I roughened the surface of the mountainside I am building, and I also started work on the Treebeard I'll enter in this month's contest.
I bought him off eBay and as I was painting him I realized that certain branches were glued on the wrong places . The most prominent one is a horn-shaped branch on the right side of his beard. The palette I will use will be slightly lighter than GW's. I also based him on a proper 60mm base.



And as I have promised to LordElrond here are a couple of pictures from my Arnor inspired withered trees.





Thanks for viewing.

Wow
They're really cool
They look a bit like frozen ents!

Cool trees/ents

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You would of had me crawling on all fours like a BEAST!

I couldn't post an update yesterday for I was studying for midterm examinations. For the same reason I may not be able to compete in this month's contest. It's a shame because I have already devoted a significant amount of time on Treebeard. Maybe I'll participate in March's competition then .

I have had some progress with my terrain pieces. I decided to follow your helpful advice and create a test piece before proceeding to the bigger one. Here is a small hill somewhere in the wilderness near Erebor.

I cut a piece of low density polystyrene and glued some sand on it.



I glued the hill on a piece of hardboard painted black on both sides, for prevention of warping. (After 3 days there is no visible warping!) Afterwards, in order to make the whole piece look more natural, I covered it with plaster.



I proceeded with painting the whole piece black and gently smoothing out with sand-paper all the places which still looked like polystyrene. On top of the hill you can see a small battle between a bunch of Goblins and Saruman. Saruman was my first and only (so far) attempt on object source lighting. The results are not optimal to say the least... You can also see my finished converted goblin captain.





So far what I've learned is:
1) Use more plaster!!
2) Buy a proper saw for hardboard!

I have nearly finished the hill. After experimenting with different colours for the rocks and stones I finally settled on a dark grey. Scorched grass and lichen was then glued on some spots. I still need to highlight the stone, and add tufts and brown lichen, along with some foliage.

Here are pictures of the hill from different angles. (Sadly you can see the foam cells in some places. I'll be adding more plaster in my bigger piece.) I painted the dirt in the same palette as the bases of our Dwarven army, since the hill is supposed to be part of the wilderness outside Erebor.







These are some of my WIP Vault Wardens. I still need to straighten the demarcations on their shields and add some highlights on them. I reserve the red, white pattern for the elites in the army.



And lastly this isn't a WIP mini but I wanted to show you my Durburz, the only legitimate king of Moria!



As always feedback is appreciated.

That's a pretty good effort on that hill! Well done!

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For more of my painting and gaming stuff, please visit my blog: http://guitarheroandy.blogspot.co.uk/

Thank you

Nice models and sweet terrain

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You would of had me crawling on all fours like a BEAST!

Thanks guys. The hill is not perfect, but at least I have learned from my mistakes. Therefore the large piece I am building will (hopefully) be devoid of the same errors.

I am not very fond of the Vault Wardens yet. I have done a clumsy job on them so far; we were eager to paint them to a satisfying tabletop level. They are such great models I couldn't possible procrastinate their grant entry on our games. Nevertheless I intend to resume work on them. They deserve more attention...

After a very long hiatus, I am resurrecting my WIP thread. Yet I still have issues with photographing. The models appear much brighter than they truly are, and my camera cannot focus properly...

Here is my Dwarven bagpiper; the bagpipe resembles a heart more than I can find comfortable...

Here is another of my conversions:
Robbin' Robin Goblin

The infamous hero whose chronicles and adventures are told and retold by every lowly Goblin aspiring to recognition and fame. The story of his -now legendary- foray into Erebor, which resulted in the snatching of the Arkenstone, and its replacing with a shinny trinket is one of the most awe-inspiring and recounted stories among the numberless swarms of Moria.


I haven't painted his top-hat and feather yet (which by the way was stolen from Gwaihir).


One of my Khazads on our large hilly terrain piece.

And Galdalf the Grey


Any photographing advice will be truly appreciated.

Some more shots of my terrain:

Nice work Constantine. I like your terrain, it has a nice feel to it. How about trying a few browns and greens to the rocks. I think this could help the realistic feel that is already present.

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Commission Service Available

mallysminiatures.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you for your comment; the above is actually a nice idea. Maybe I can drybrush or apply some washes to parts of the rock. I will try it out and let you know.

I think you need better light. That is a) lightsource (stronger and daylight bulbs) and b) smoother light (light box).

The trees look very nice. You did a fine job with your texture on your hills. The painting and flocking looks good.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

@Thao, thanks for your advice. How can I achieve smoother light; essentially what is a lightbox?

@OldManWillow Your praise, especially if it relates to terrain, is much appreciated. The trees are an old project of mine; I despaired on them, and never completed them.

I will be painting some Rohan Militia for this month's Challenge. Here are some W.I.P.s of my test run.





I've only painted the hair, leather, skin, and cape on these two. I am trying to find the best color combinations, and I am still struggling with taking pictures that do them justice.

And a couple of pictures of some of my favorite Goblins

Some more WIPs for the upcoming monthly challenge.
I would like to hear your opinion on the Helmingas' banner. I keep vacillating between darkening its color, or leaving it as it is.




(the above's face is not finished yet)



I think I might start constructing a lightbox.