Orc Companies of Mordor

This is the last of my Lord of the Rings mega-projects, and the one that took the longest. I started this just after I had completed my Elven Heroes of Rivendell and Lothlórien back in April. The first company of orcs took approximately a week to paint, the second company took two, and the third nearly a month and an half. It was a combination of burnout after cranking out nearly 300 minis over the winter, plus the lure of longer days and nicer weather that pulled me away from my workbench. However they are now complete - three companies of Mordor Orcs each consisting of a captain, a banner, four bow, four two-handed weapon, eight spear, and eight hand weapon and shield, 78 minis in total. 34 are the newer plastic figures, while the rest are all metal, including 38 'old school' releases that I picked up secondhand about the same time as I bought my metal Dwarves. 

 

All the figures were mounted on their bases, and sand and pebbles were glued on before priming everything black using a rattle can. The paints were primarily Vallejo water-based acrylics using lots of different shades of gray and brown with the occasional muted red, blue, or olive green. Once the base colours were applied the figures were treated with Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade. I then painted the bases and applied some pale green flocking to give them a unique look, different from my other Lord of the Rings armies. Once all the ground work was complete, they all got sprayed with a few light coats of Rust-Oleum Matte Clear spray to take down the shine left by the Quick Shade. I still have an armoured troll waiting in the wings to supplement all these orcs to provide a serious threat on the battlefield for the forces of Mordor.

Numerous, cruel and utterly incapable of redemption or compassion, the race of Orcs is nonetheless sprung from the same stock as the immortal and graceful Elves. Indeed, the first Orcs were once Elves, yet their fate was to be a very different one to that of their brothers after Morgoth's taint fell upon them. These ruined beings swiftly multiplied, as all unwholesome things are wont to do, and their numbers fed the armies of darkness, first of Morgoth and then of Sauron.

 

In the late years of the Third Age, Orcs are to be found in all the dark places in the world, from which they pose a constant threat to the Free Peoples. Fortunately, the fractious and quarrelsome nature of Orcs ensures that without an exceptional leader, or overwhelming numbers, they are a poor match for the well-trained and organized armies of the western kingdoms. It is only when under the command of one of the Nazgûl or another of Sauron's dread lieutenants that the mailed first of the Orc becomes a thing of power, for Orcs fight with unceasing fury when they fear that which is behind more than that which stands before them.

 

Radbug's Ruffians - for the captain I used a 'Grishnákh' figure to which I added a shield from my bits box. (On a completely random note, Grishnákh is left-handed.)

 

Lagduf's Lads

 

Shargo's Snagas - for the captain I used a 'Gorbag' figure to which I added a shield made from a small thumbtack.

 

I am happy that these are finally off my workbench, and not mocking me on a daily basis. Now that things are starting to open up a bit more locally, I am going to take a break from Lord of the Rings painting for a while, although I hope to be motivated enough to do some Bolt Action figures. I have a few boxes of plastic Russians that need attention.

Thanks for reading.

Gothmog and the Warg Riders

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge ends tomorrow at midnight, and while I am not an official participant, I have been acting as a 'running partner' for my fellow Conscripts who are in the challenge. Congratulations to all who were able to meet their personal goals. Over the winter, I was able to complete over 196 foot, 14 mounted, and 3 large 28mm scale Lord of the Rings miniatures. This cleared a backlog going back nearly a decade. I had started prepping a group of 34 Games Workshop Rangers of Middle Earth as my next project, but I didn't think I could get them finished in time. I decided to switch to the old metal version of Gothmog, both on foot and mounted, and a box of plastic Warg Riders.

 

Although there were only six mounted orcs, I always find doing random colours on a group of miniatures challenging. I much prefer soldiers or warriors in some kind of uniform. The wargs were the easiest part of the project since I painted them all the same, followed by the two Gothmog figures. At least they were alike in their paint scheme, but the hodgepodge of orc riders was giving me a headache trying not to paint them in a uniform pattern. 

The wargs come with a fur ridge that can be placed on their backs to fill in the gap where the rider would sit, so they can also be used as wild wargs without a rider depending on the scenario. All the miniatures were primed matt black using a rattle can and then painted with a variety of water-based acrylics with lots of drybrushing of highlights. Once painting was completed, they were all given a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade, followed by a light coat of Rust-oleum Matt Clear spray. Here is the final result.

Gothmog, Lieutenant of Minas Morgul, featured in the movie 'Return of the King', commanding the Mordor forces at the taking of Osgiliath, and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields

Warg Riders with Bow, Sword, and Spear. The Orcs of the Misty Mountains have some control over the wargs living there

'Wild' Wargs with the rider replaced with a fur ridge. In the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, attacks can hit either the rider or the mount. If a warg rider is killed, the warg has an attack ability that is independent of the rider.

Thanks for reading. Once again, congratulations to my fellow Conscripts participating in the Painting Challenge. The return of nice weather will probably draw me away from my painting desk, but I hope to keep whittling away at my collection of unpainted minis. Cheers.

Nazgûl! - Ringwraith on a Fel Beast

After the massive Uruk-hai project I needed a change of pace to something a bit quicker. Almost a decade ago I bought a used Games Workshop 'Ringwraith on a Fel Beast' off of eBay. It was very cheap as it had experienced some battle damage, and it needed some repair to get it 'shipshape and Bristol fashion' once again.

 

The first problem was the wonky base. It had a crack in the rim, and it wobbled a bit. I took some 3mm polystyrene card, cut a circle of the correct size, and glued the base to it. This made it sturdier, and solved the problem of the wobble.

 

The second problem was all the broken bits. The plastic wings no longer had the posts attached that originally fit into sockets in the metal torso. One was missing completely, while the other was stuck in the socket. Also the right wing had three of its 'spiky bits' broken off as well. The seller had sent all the broken pieces, but I didn't think glue would give a strong enough bond to hold them securely. And lastly, the ringwraith's sword was broken off. It was time to use my combination of floral wire and epoxy putty to replace the broken off pieces, including the posts that were on the wings. 

 

The final problem was the buildup of layers of glue where the wings fit on the torso. The previous owner had glued the wings in place multiple times, so it was no longer possible to produce a good bond. I scraped most of the old adhesives off with an X-Acto knife, then used a wire bristle brush to clean the metal torso further. Finally all the surfaces were cleaned with some isopropyl alcohol to dissolve away any remaining residue.

 

I used super glue to affix the neck to torso, and to attach the tip to the end of the tail. 5-minute epoxy was used to attach the wings to the torso to make sure there were no gaps as the surfaces were rather uneven. Once the epoxy had set, I used some more epoxy putty to smooth out the area around the joints. The final building phase was to do the ground work on the base. The figure is cast with a section of damaged wall that has a discarded Gondorian helmet beside it, so I went with that theme and did the base in same style as my Minas Tirith miniatures - paving cut from plastic card, bricks cut from sprue, and coarse sand for rubble. Everything was allowed to cure overnight.

 

The model was primed black using a rattle can, and then painted with Vallejo acrylic paints using a lot of drybrushing, especially on the wings of the fel beast. Here is the final result.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe and healthy. Hopefully we will be able to gather around the gaming table soon.