Some old dwarfs

Here's a few dwarfs from my collection. I have dug them out because I am already planning how to paint  the new dwarfs heading my way, from the RedBox kickstarter project which ended recently. I thought I would look at my old figures, learn from past experience.

The thing that strikes me most about these figures is the flesh tones. For years I used those recommended by GW. They look a bit too orangey for my current tastes. I have used tallarn flesh in the past, but my current method is to start with dheneb stone and glaze in some colours and shadows. I know these colour names have changed now, I will most likely use a coat d'arms equivalent.

This is the oldest figure in my collection, he's about 350 years I guess. Once a fine warrior, but now hobbling along with a stick and moaning about his bad back. On his belt, a book detailing all the things that were better in his day.

I think I picked this up on ebay, it's certainly older than my entry date into the hobby (the early 1990's). It's not much use for a game, though I could use him in scenarios as a rescue target. The red robes seemed like a good idea at the time, it must have been near xmas time when he was painted.

This is the most recent of my figures, Balin the dwarf from the Lord of the Rings range. The scale is much smaller than Warhammer figures and the proportions are more realistic, both on the weapons and facial features, hands, etc. This is the style I most prefer at the current time. I still like my Warhammer dwarfs, but I think they have been superseded by several ranges in the past few years.

I have a fancy to collect a small band of dwarfs for use in the Lord of the Rings, my favourite skirmish game of the moment. It's either them or their "taller cousins", the Rohirrim.

Finally in the old collection lineup is this metal gunner, perched on his cork outcrop to make height comparisons more difficult. Awkward little beggars at times are dwarfs. I can't remember why I painted him up, I think it was a test before I started my plastic army. I decided against the glowing green, this was one of the last figures I painted in classic GW methods, before I discovered the joys of realistic tones and glazing.

I know there's a lot of love out there for the old metal dwarfs, which I have never really shared. But I do recognise the charm of figures from this era.

Coming into the more recent past, this is how I painted up my dwarf army. It's less precise and more earthy, I decided long ago that I could paint each model carefully and to a high standard and have a collection of about 20 figures by the time I reached 100 years old, or I could cut a few corners and pump out regiments at a far quicker rate. There's an appeal in both methods, but the regiment technique is the only way that's practical for mass combat systems like Warhammer. More careful and painstaking is fine for skirmish games, or for those devoted enough to spend hundreds or even thousands of hour on their collection. For me, it took me a long time to accept it, but it's okay to say "good enough" for wargaming figures and move on to the next item on Mount Unpainted. Ranked up and with a nice banner, they look decent enough.