Speed Painted Savage Orcs

Many years ago, I bought the Battle for Skull Pass, which contained plastic goblins and dwarfs. I started painting both sets of figures, and it rapidly snowballed. After several years I had two fully formed armies, though not fully painted. Fast forward to now, and times have changed. I am downsizing my collection and have found new homes for both armies. This week I have been finishing a unit of savage orcs I first started painting back in 2011. I thought I would add them to the blog before they are gone forever.

The process was quite a simple one. Spray a light brown primer, then wash with dark brown. Block in the green flesh, the bones with white or light grey. Glaze the skin with a green/blue for shadows. Paint basic tattoos and other details (banner, cloth, etc). Then oil wash the whole figure with a black/brown. Clean off the oil and then rewhiten the bones and axes. Dot in the eyes, glaze them and the mouths, and done.

I posted them on facebook and got a very good reaction, I think the simple palette and the striking face paint is key to the impact of the unit. Individually they are far from stellar, but they are speed painted and the end result is judged by the unit as a whole. I am still pondering about the oil wash, is it any quicker than using a standard wash? It certainly gives a nice grimy effect, which can be useful in some cases.

The Lost Troll

A couple of years ago I started collecting minis from 1992, the year I started playing Warhammer. It was a full blown nostalgia trip, initially sparked by my finding a pile of old White Dwarfs in the attic. I started with orcs and goblins, but added a few trolls as time went by. Then I decided I really wanted the three original one-piece trolls. It's taken some time, but finally the day has arrived. The last troll has been found. He's the one that is not yet based or primed. The fourth troll, holding up the large rock at the rear, is a two piece model - the head is separate and I think it shows.

The strange thing about this tale was that it transpired I had owned the last troll many years ago. I had painted it and given it to my brother as a gift, then forgotten about it. When I posted on my facebook page that I was searching for this figure, my niece messaged to say he was in her dad's cabinet!

Here's a photo as they would have appeared in White Dwarf all those years ago, in the catalogue section at the back of the magazine. This was long, long before online images were available.

It's unlikely they will get painted any time soon, though the excitement of finally having the trio might spur me on. In the meantime, here's a couple of pictures I have been pondering as potential palettes. The traditional blue just does not work for me.

Dwarf Kings of Middle Earth

We three kings of Moria are
Seeking orcs we travel afar
Dales and mountain, further and near
Tired now, let's go for a beer

- well known dwarf hunting song 

Apart from being a terrible rendition of the original song, there are actually four dwarfs here. However, I tend to think of the ginger-haired dwarf raising his axe as a dwarf champion, with the three more regally posed being the true kings.

These are nice figures, all metal, true 25mm scale so some of the details are very, very small and a real challenge to paint. Unfortunately, they are no longer offered for sale, so if you want them you have to hunt them down on ebay. I have these painted figures up for sale on my etsy shop if you are interested. The ideal gift for the discerning wargamer in your life.

A kingly trio

Goblin archers

Goblins come in all shapes and sizes. Most are small creatures, but some survive the rigours of life to grow a little taller. Often the tallest are those that can keep themselves out of harm's way when a boss takes them into battle. These most cunning of goblins have realised that using a bow from afar is a much easier to way survive. Being bigger than most of their comrades, they find it easier to push the little runts into combat while they shoot (and snigger) from the rear.

A unit of archers join the warband. These are a mix of figures, the taller ones are GW from the 1980s. Strictly speaking they are orc archers, but I am taking a Tolkienesque view - orcs are just big goblins. The two shorter goblins came as part of a warband sold on a facebook group, I believe they were originally part of  the Hasslefree range. Despite the difference in aesthetic, I think all these were sculpted by Kev Adams, though I am no expert on this matter.

I bought the orcs on a whim, mostly because I liked the two long snouted figures, the squat faced a bit less so. Painting them was as I expected, the details and castings are quite crude and make painting more difficult. The two smaller figures were fine, though one has a fairly noticeable casting flaw in the quiver. Despite their shortcomings, they add a certain character to the warband.

The Erehwon warband is shaping up quite nicely now. There are two melee units, this missile unit and a couple of special units (the squigs), plus a shaman and his bodyguard. That's just about enough for a small skirmish. More are waiting to be painted, though I am starting to feel drawn to other subjects.

Goblins In Progress

Almost to the end of the month, and there has been very little progress made on the goblins project, or anything else for that matter. I am struggling to get motivated for painting at the moment, I am not quite sure what the blockage is. I had set myself a target of a unit per month, which I did achieve for the first two months but am struggling to complete this month. Obviously this is just a hobby and deadlines are not urgent or important, but they do help to keep things ticking along.

Just looking at the figures in the bare metal state makes me quite happy, these are nice sculpts with a certain appeal, definitely of a different era. The trolls were released around 1992 and were sculpted by Michael Perry. The orcs are even older, 1985 on the tabs, while the two goblins are old Hasslefree sculpts I think. My aim is to paint the archers first, then the trolls, though I will probably start them all off together and maybe switch between the two sets when the going gets tough. Sometimes hopping from one to another like this can keep the motivation going. We shall see.

Ian Miller's Grim Tarock

Most of you will know the name of Ian Miller, artist from the early days of Games Workshop. If you like his work, then you may be interested to know there is a kickstarter running to produce a deck of cards using his wonderful art.