Frodo's Quest: Mines of Moria Merry

My weekend was crazy, so the final brush stokes on this stout fellow had to be postponed until today.

I still do not dare try painting the eyes on these tiny faces, but I may go back and do them at a later point, when I feel more confident.

Nevertheless, I now have all four Fellowship Hobbits painted up, two from the Fellowship of the Ring set, and two from the Mines of Moria set (and I shall, of course, do both versions of the entire Fellowship in due time, but for now I have to focus on the minis needed for the first installment of Frodo's Quest).

As mentioned earlier, these minis are REALLY tiny, and I find it hard to paint their faces (and it shows in the not-so-accented facial features). Maybe I shall try redoing the faces some day, but for now they will have to do as is.

I am not quite sure about Merry's hair; I think it turned out a bit too orange, but it was the closest I could get to the colour shown on the Fellowship box (which is not quite the 'live' colour from the movies, either, though).

The waistcoat buttons also are a bit different than I think they should be; I used a painted mini as reference, and it had silver buttons, whereas the movie stills show cloth-covered buttons the same colour as the waistcoat itself. So, I dotted in the pale yellow (Warzone Vega Sand) I used for the waistcoat before covering it with Iyanden Yellow, leaving the Chainmail edges visible.

There will be no family portrait this time, not until I have to put painted models in the storage box, as it is stoved away in a larger crate at the moment (I need to keep the storage boxes from spreading all over the ground floor of our home).

I am quite pleased with his cloak and jacket - the trousers are not quite as dark when seen with the naked eye, but I have a little trouble getting the light settings of my camera just right (which is also why the pics are a tiny bit blurred; I have to turn up the Gamma output in GIMP to keep the photos from having too bright unnatural colours).

I am happy to report that I have found all my Middle-Earth Ranger figures (bar one Ranger of Ithillien from the set with Faramir and the Hobbits), including the Grey Company and the Guardians of the Shire, so that is one task to check off!

Frodo's Quest: Aragorn and Pippin Bases Altered

 I lightened up the Moria-themed bases of these two protagonists a bit, I think they look a bit better now.

Frodo's Quest: Mines of Moria Pippin

Another one of those diminutive plastic minis; I had to take a lot of breaks from painting this (working on other bits and bobs), as it was really putting a straikn onm my ageing eyes.

I did not take a pic of him with Aragorn, as I want to redo the ranger's base, first, there'll propably be a group shot when I finish Merry (somewhen next week, he is just as fiddly as this one).

Frodo's Quest: Mines of Moria - Aragorn

This mini gave me several headaches because of its tininess, but I think I have got it down, now.

I wanted an almost black coat, like it is in the movie, and I think I almost got it right. All in all this version of Aragorn is much more muted than the painted examples shown on boxes and in rulebooks by GW's painter, but I like that look, and it fits with the way I have painted other LotR minis.

I think the dark grey basecoat on the base is a bit too dark, I shall have to try a slightly lighter shade on the next MoM character I do (which will be Merry or Pippin, just primed them both today).

LotR: Frodo's Quest - Invisible Frodo

I dug this out for a little project I have going on.

It is kind of a side project, only requiring a fistful of minis, but I may become the start of a linked series of LotR-mania, only time will tell...

I have no idea what the NIB value would have been on the collectors' market, and I really do not care the slightest - I bought this to game with it, and now I am finally putting it to its intended use!

So, out of the blister it came, and in the meantime, I have begun basing it - at the same time as a set of second hand Fellowship Frodo and Samwise that I also have to get ready for this, for now, little side quest.

I an going to paint them with Citadel Contrast Paints (metal Frodo and Sam, that is), to learn how they behave (the Contrast Paints, that is) - I can always strip and repaint them when I have some 'properly' painted versions ready for the table.

I expect to have an update on this project one of the next days; I have a gaming session tomorrow afternoon, so I am not sure whether I shall have time for reporting any progress, but I plan to apply the kaizen principles to it, so that it does not get bogged down.

I have not yet decided which ruleset to use - I may even go back and apply the actual LotR/Hobbit/Middle-Earth SBG rules with some house rules added, but that is yet to be seen.

Operation Cleansweep: More Moria Hobbits WIP

When this handsome bunch is done and primed, I have the entire Moria plastic Fellowship ready to paint - and I think I should get on with it somewhen soonish, as I can also use them for Sellswords & Spellslingers, my current go-to game for some Fantasy Adventuring. The Hobbits should be ready for primer somewhen tomorrow, but as Monday is my brewing day, and we are going to Odense to buy birthday presents for Anna (turning 15 on Tuesday) that is probably all I am going to manage on the gaming front (but we shall have to see about that).

Blood Eagle: Gimli

I recently discovered this painted mini in a big second-hand lot of Dwarves (when I dug out the Dwarves I need for the Horisont VIII scenario), and I thought I might as well get it re-based and statted up.

The paint-job is decent, and I shall use this model as my Gimli while I paint some other members of the Fellowship, then we shall see about the identical mini I prepped and primed a while ago...

Here is the Blood Eagle profile I wrote up for him:

Name	gimli, Son of Glóin									Points Cost
Attributes	Fate	FV	SV	Speed	Religion
Value	2+	+4	+4	-1	(Christian)					110
Points	16	9	9	-1						33
Traits	Hero (3)		One Hero Point is earned for each enemy figure taken out of the game May spend 1 Hero Point to re-roll any dle roll it has just made. May perform Last Heroic Act when taken out of the game							9
	Fortitude		+1 to Fate roll to jump up from Knocked Down							3
	Two-weapons		May wield two one-hande weapons simultaneously when Fighting: +1 to Armour Rating against Fighting attacks							5
	Second Strike		If Fighting with two weapons, may make an additional attack with th off-hand weapon. This attack must be against a single opponent (FV cannot be split).							7
	Tough		This figure adds +1 to all Fate rolls resulting from shooting or fighting hits							5
Armour	Mail Byrnie, Light Helm					Encumbrance:	Light	Armour Rating:	10	4
Fighting Weapon	Attack Bonus	Hands Required	Fate Modifier	Notes						Points Cost
Axe, Two-handed	+4	2	-2	Sundering						15
Axe	+3	1	-1	Sundering						8
Axe, Throwing	+2	1	-1	Can be thrown						6
Unarmed - skilled	+0	1	+0	Wrestling, etc-						3
Shooting Weapon	Attack Bonus	Hands Required	Fate Modifier	Range	Notes					Points Cost
Axe, Throwing	+2	1	-1	6”						(6)
Points Earned		Notes:

LotR Moria Fellowship Plastics

As part of the clearing of the prepping station, I decided to get some primer on some of the Moria Fellowship models (I had to prime another model that I want to paint for the Back of Beyond Painting Club at the Lead Adventure Forum, anyway).

I had not finished putting filler on the bases of Gimli and Boromir, so they just had to sit this one out, but now at least I can start painting some of these for use with Blood Eagle. I may want to bring a Blood Eagle table for Horisont this year.

Blood Eagle: The Fellowship is Forming

Could not help myself, had to get the rest of the extra Fellowship Moria set out, and started prepping some more minis.

I did not have much hobby-time today, as the weather is surprisingly summer-like, and the garden really needs an overhaul, but Gandalf has joined the Hunters, and I have started prepping Boromir (one of the best Boromir poses from the entire range, in my opinion).

Blood Eagle: A Company of Heroes

My recent foray into Blood Eagle has left me with the desire to get the Fellowship up and running for the game.

I have had an extra set of the plastic Fellowship from the Moria boxed set sitting in a box for more than a year (was part of one of the big lots I purchased back then), and yesterday I pulled out 'The Three Hunters' (although in their Moria state), as I suspect they will be sufficient for a 200 points warband when I stat them up to cinematic proportions.

I opt to start with the plastic version of our heroes, instead of one of their many metal incarnations, as I can use them to practise on, and shall not have to re-paint them, even if I should not be satisfied by the result.

I managed to break the right-hand axe on Gimli in the process of cleaning him up, so I shall have to get some poly cement into that crack.

Watch this place for updates on the progress I shall make over the next days!

Mines of Moria: Aragorn WIP 2

My exam today went really well, so I celebrated by buying some snacks and watching a movie on cable with the kids.

Now they are in bed, and I could turn my attention to the hobby once more.

I added a tiny amount of greenstuff to the right shoulder joint (hard to see in the pic, but you would have noticed if it wasn't there, believe me!).

I'll let it cure until tomorrow, when I'll use my diamond needle file on it, and get the mini primed.

Most of the coarse sand on the base has come off, and I ponder about, whether to glue sand to the base befgore priming, or - as I usually do - wait until I've painted the model. I'm also in doubt if I should use a coarse sand mix or a plain beach sand, but I think I'll go with a mix in between to get a rough, but not broken, texture.

Mines of Moria: Aragorn WIP

I dug out (actually picked from the generic Moria Goblin box) this mini yesterday, removed mold lines, and glued the right arm in place.

The base with coarse sand was already done when I got the mini from a fellow LAF'er with my first purchase of a second-hand batch of LotR minis.

I shall have to add iron beneath the base, and also add a tiny bit of greenstuff to the joint at the shoulder, but otherwise I consider the mini ready for priming.

I'll probably get a bit done tomorrow evening, if I haven't got the shakes about the upcoming exam...