Dwarfs on the March

I am about to return to painting dwarfs. I have a small commission job which I will be starting soon, plus a selection of the bearded warriors to add to my own collection. I already have a sizeable Warhammer dwarf army which I may return to one day, but not yet. Instead, I will be expanding on my Lord of the Rings force. The first unit I painted was some Dwarf Rangers, about six months ago. I want to expand on this start with more warriors, command groups, maybe a war machine. I have also splashed out on a couple of the boxsets from The Hobbit range - funded by selling off my old Battle of Five Armies stock. I'm not really sure what games I will play with all these bearded folk, but that's not really the point for me, it's mostly about the painting. Having said that, there are plenty of dice rolling opportunities around - Lord of the Rings strategy game to start with, maybe War of the Ring as the force grows. There's also potential to mod other game systems, such as Saga, maybe even Lion Rampant.

To get myself in the mood I have been searching around for inspiring artwork and colour schemes. I came across this amazing paint job, on the Sergey Popovichenko blog. It's mostly historical figures of a larger scale, but they are absolutely incredible. Go take a look. I'm not even sure if the figure is a dwarf or maybe a viking, it's a fierce looking bearded warrior and that's good enough for me.

For a long time I preferred the more stylised Warhammer range, but these days I much prefer the more true to life figures of the Lord of the Rings series. I know dwarfs are mythical, obviously I refer to the more realistic proportions and the "historical" aesthetic. The figures are slightly smaller scale than Warhammer and the level of detail is sometimes lacking a little, but I reckon it's still possible to get a good looking force on the tabletop. And that's what I will be doing with the dwarfs in the next few weeks. I am hoping to tie in my new units with the exisiting Rangers, so there may well be more opportunities to practise my tartan painting.

I will also be revisiting another of my Warhammer armies, all part of my participation in the Lead Painters League on the Lead Adventure Forum, but more on that in future posts. Dwarfs on the March

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Dwarf Rangers

The first set of dwarfs from my Lord of the Rings collection, ready for tabletop action. These are fine figures for the most part, I like the aesthetic probably more than their Warhammer cousins, though being one piece plastics there is the element of duplication and sometimes the details merge into one. But all in all, I would rank these highly in my collection. The photos below show them arranged in eights, as per the War of the Ring rules, though I am hoping to use them in Saga and other skirmish rulesets too.

The colour scheme came about in two ways. Firstly, they were sprayed brown and washed, I wanted to speed through the leather bits without too much actual painting. The kilts were a bit of whim on my part after a visit to Scotland, I had a hankering to paint up some tartan! I'm sure it will not be to all tastes, but I like them. With those two elements in place the rest of the palette just slotted into place.

I drew up a full set of step by step instructions on the painting, it will be useful to me in the future if nobody else. They can be found here - Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4.

These rangers are just the first wave of my dwarf force. I have more armoured warriors waiting to be prepped and painted, maybe even in the next few weeks. Dwarf Rangers

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Speedy Dwarfs Done

In the final straight now, the dwarfs are nearing completion. These last two stages should have the dwarfs sprinting over the completion line, in the way only dwarfs can sprint.

Faces and flowers

The flesh gets a wash of diluted coat d'arms Super Wash Light Brown. Once it's dry I will add a bit more in the eyes and mouth if necessary. The heather flowers are just stippled on to the dried flock bushes, using a magenta colour for the base and then a little pink added for the highlight. I also painted the edges of the bases with coat d'arms dark leather.

Beards

The beards are the final stage, probably the most significant feature of dwarf models. The basic principle is to paint the base colour, glaze it once or twice, then maybe retouch with the base colour and highlighting. Compared to the other stages (with the possible exception of the kilts), it's more time intensive and requires greater care, so I tackled the dwarfs eight at a time. I tend not to stick to rigid recipes for hair and beards, I want the variation that mixing paints brings. Earthy browns and yellows form the basis, washed with browns, then highlighted again until I am happy enough. And that's it - speedy dwarfs done! Except for the pesky bowmen, they have their weaponry outstanding too. And I will probably add a coat of varnish, not for protection, just to dull down the shine from the glazing. Better pictures of all three completed units coming soon, for some reason blogger seems to remove most of the colour when I post these.

Speedy Dwarfs Done

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Speedy Dwarfs WIP 3

Base coating flesh and sleeves

The dwarfs are plodding forward. This is a particularly boring phase, adding the base colours of the flesh and the sleeves. The latter I have gone with a dull yellow, I thought it would add a natural contrast to the blue of the kilts.  I also washed the bases with a brown and then stippled on the yellow sleeve colour. That's it, sounds like little but it takes a while on the skin.

Bases phase 1

In this step I have done the bulk of the basing work. I picked out the rocks and stones in a khaki colour and then drybrushed them and the base edges with a light grey. Then I tore up some flock and soaked it in diluted pva glue before adding it to the base. When it dries fully it will be rock hard and I can then add some flowers by dabbing paint on the top of the "bushes". Granite boulders and heather shrubs is the look I am aiming for. Speedy Dwarfs WIP 3

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Speedy Dwarfs WIP 2

More work in progress updates. I seem to get a real spurt of enthusiasm at this time of year, it feels like the start of the new year, guess it goes back to school days. While I wait for my Dystopian Legions starter set to arrive, I am keeping busy with dwarfs and the orc (one to satisfy my speed painting urge, one to satisfy my aspirational painting urge). So more pictures of brown lumps for the time being I'm afraid.

Cloaks and metals

I painted the cloaks in a very similar fashion to the leathers, by applying a thin coat of paint over the brown underlayer. I used muted greens, browns and chestnut for this stage. Once they were dry, I very gently highlighted the cloak edges and folds by lightly drybrushing with a slightly brighter version of the base colour. This took a good 90 minutes to do, so I decided I was near the end for this day's painting and applied the metal basecoat. I like to allow the metal paint a good overnight drying period before I apply washes.

Kilts

The next day, with the metals well and truly dry, I washed them with a mix of black paint and chestnut ink, my standard way with armour and weapons. If needed, I applied a further wash on a second pass. And then it was time for the most significant step to date, the one that will probably have most impact when they are lined up for gaming - painting the kilts. For this I turned to a scarf I had bought on a recent trip to Scotland, as inspiration for the colours and basic pattern. I started by applying a dark blue base, over the top of this I painted light blue stripes. Then I filled in every other dark blue stripe with chestnut. Then it was on to a finer brush to paint fine yellow lines on the light blue bits. Finally I painted white lines over the chestnut stripes and then horizontally across the whole kilt. The end result is quite bright, I glazed over it with a blue black mix. It still looks a bit bright, but that's because the rest of the palette is so muted. When the flesh and beards and bases are complete, I will review if the kilts need further toning down with a second glaze.

Speedy Dwarfs WIP 2

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Speedy Dwarfs WIP 1

Another little project I have on the go - speed paint some dwarfs for my Lord of the Rings collection. Having recently picked up some Bolt Action coloured primers, I wanted to try them out on some troops. Brown seems a good fit to dwarfs rangers, they are wearing leather jerkins and boots, if the primer plus wash can take care of those elements, it's a considerable time saving.

Primer and washes

As an experiment to see what could be achieved, I cleaned up 24 rangers and primed them brown. Then I put on a guiding wash, to provide some elementary shading and lining. I split the rangers into 3 batches and tried different washes. The first batch got army painter strong tone diluted with matt varnish, the idea being that it would remove the shine and soften the tone a little. The second batch got pure army painter strong tone, the third got pure army painter soft tone. In retrospect, I should have washed one batch with my usual mix of black and brown paint plus matt varnish, for a control group. Alas, I did not. All three groups were a little disappointing, the wash didn't really adhere as it usually does and pooled a bit more than normal. I don't know if this is due to the primer or the wash, which is where the control group would have been helpful. Anyway, moving on with the experiment, I gave all 24 a second coat of pure strong tone and it seemed to adhere much better, though still with a little more pooling that I am accustomed to.

Leather detailing

I was reasonably happy with the leathers, but felt that a little variation to break up the wall of brown would not go amiss. A very light drybrush with a leather brown colour added a little extra definition on the quivers, belts and jerkins. Again, in retrospect, this maybe should have been done all over the models prior to the wash. Then I mixed up a brown and black wash, with a spot of matt varnish, to pick out the boots and other leather areas. The idea here is to add some variation to the browns. On some models I painted the belts, on others the jerkins, and all the boots got this darker tone. It's a quick step that really pays off in adding some tonal variety, as hopefully the photo illustrates.

The next step is to decide on the colours of the remaining cloth areas - the sleeves, trousers,cloaks and kilts. Yes, kilts. After spending a few days break in Scotland, I was really inspired by the history and colours of highland warriors, so I will be browsing the web for inspiration. Speedy Dwarfs WIP 1

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White Dwarf Pirate

The White Dwarf subscriber only figure from a couple of years back, painted as a birthday gift for my brother.

I know it's ancient history these days, but I still cannot get my head around finecast. I have never had a flawless model, this one was better than previous examples but still had plenty of problems, a big chunk missing from the sword scabard being the most obvious. There were lots of bubbles too and a few bits missing here and there - part of a finger and a hole in the skull. The telescope was droopy too, though that's the easiest to fix with a quick dunk in hot water. By far the worst material I have ever worked with, no more detail than metal holds and about twice the price! I continue to paint occasional samples for commission, but there are zero in my own collection. White Dwarf Pirate

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Avatars of War Dwarf Doomcrushers

There has been much dwarven muttering and grumbling while we waited, but finally the long anticipated dwarf doomcrushers are available to pre-order. There are more details and pictures on the AOW site.

I like the look of them, they will fit in with my dwarf army far better than the new GW sculpts. At about one third the price if you take this introductory offer, I can imagine I am not the only dwarf player interested. Avatars of War Dwarf Doomcrushers

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Dwarf Berserkers Reboot

Wow, has it really been over two years since I first painted this unit. At the time, there was something nagging at me that they were not quite right. Obviously, they differ from all other dwarf units in that they are practically naked, as opposed to their fully armoured kindred. There's not much that can be done about that. But there was definitely something I needed to do to improve the unit.

The most noticeable change is the addition of the tattoos. I didn't spend too much time on them to be honest, I painted thinned blue in general swirls and lines on the bodies, a few dots and other things on the faces. The beards got a minor highlight too, just a drybrush in fact. Yes, I still do use the old methods occasionally! Finally, I added a little more shading to the gold areas and coated the gems in satin varnish. The whole job was a couple of hours or so. There's still more that could be done to improve the unit, especially the axe blades could use some refinement. But in the end, this is a wargaming unit, not a display piece, so I think I will call it done. I have only gamed with them once or twice in the past couple of years, more and more painting time seems pointless. Dwarf Berserkers Reboot

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Looking at dwarfs again

Dwarfs are big news at the moment, so naturally I have been looking through my collection and pondering all things short and beardy. At some point I am going to construct an army list to play against an Empire army, with the twist being that we will play using Warhammer rules, then some other rules such as Mayhem, Armies of Arcana and others. My original intention was to use the existing dwarf army book and ignore the new version, convinced as I was that the release would leave me cold (as did the Chaos Warriors book). However, I have to confess that the buzz around the new book has got to me. I am seriously considering breaking into the warchest for this release!

The nice thing about having an army that's 10 years old or more, is that you can pick up the latest book, nothing else and just start playing. If you play tournament style then you may feel compelled to add in the latest must-have units and drop the new donkeys - melt down your anvil and cast it up into squads of gyrocopters. I won't be doing this as I don't play tournament style so I am quite happy to use what I have and see how it gets on. I will probably add a new unit or two just for variety sake. I quite like the look of the irondrakes and am patiently waiting for Avatars of War to release their not-hammerers. In the meantime I am casting my eye over my existing toys.

The disadvantage to having an old army is that it can look a bit tired next to the new shinies. The newer models finally match the awesome artwork that attracted me to dwarfs in the first place. Tough, grim warriors with finely crafted arms and armour. I would love to start from scratch with a few sets of new figures, but time and money prevent this, so I will be soldiering on as best I can with the old stalwarts. The basic dwarf warrior has never been a brilliant model, much like many of the core ranges that are over 10 years old. If I was painting them today I would certainly use different colours and techniques to the ones I had used on this regiment so many years ago. The best things about this regiment are a) it's painted and ready for gaming and b) I have finally painted on a banner design. There's no sign of the humble dwarf clansman being redesigned, so if I wanted to draft in some new warriors I would invest in some AOW warriors - if they are ever re-released in plastic. For the time being, this unit will have to be good enough. Looking at dwarfs again

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Dwarf Runelord Painted

My short foray into the new dwarf range concludes with a painted runelord. Another mighty fine sculpt from GW, with a nice set of alternate heads and arm options. The kit also includes a nice little rune carved slab of rock, but in the official version he's stood on top of it so you cannot see it. I swapped in a piece of cork for the dwarf to stand on, chopped off the top third of the slab and used it to decorate the base.

I am selling the runelord on ebay, so if you fancy a bid or just want to see more pictures, then here's the link. I also have on sale a couple of metal collector's items. I am hoping to raise enough cash to get some viking reinforcements and to start a whole new project. Funds are tight so I have resolved this year to build a warchest by selling items, before I buy any new shinies. It's helping to keep my finances in order and also forcing me to clear out the old stuff that I will never realistically get around to. Dwarf Runelord Painted

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Belegar Ironhammer Painted

Now that I have painted Belegar Ironhammer, I have to say it's one of the best GW have produced. The detail on the armour and weaponry is superb. Even the back banner, which I was a little uncertain about at first, fits the model well. The beard and hair, being plastic, are lacking a little detail, but it's not overly difficult to add this with the paintbrush.  If I was going to play Warhammer Dwarfs again, I would be happy to have this model in my army.

The short, bearded ones are back on my radar. I might pick up another of the plastics if I pass by a GW shop in the next few days, the runesmith would make a good project. In the meantime, I have prepped a handful of the stout ones and will be happily slapping on the paint in the next few days, thought they are very different in style to this model.

Also in the early planning stage is a series of games pitching the dwarfs against an Empire army. Nothing too groundbreaking there you might think, but the idea is to play the game using the usual WHFB rules, then replay it with other rulesets, just as a little experiment. I am looking forward to that.

 

Belegar Ironhammer Painted

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Foundry Dwarfs

Dwarfs are flavour of the month, so I have been scouting around the old mines and came across these few stragglers. I must have picked them up at a show about 10 years ago, the painted example led my dwarfs into battle when I first started a Warhammer Dwarf army. They are quite rotund, even for dwarfs, which is probably why I used just the one figure. He just about fits on to a 20mm square base, but the others would be almost impossible to rank up.

I knew that they were Foundry dwarfs because I have a couple more still in their blisters, marked as prototypes. However, I could not find them on the Foundry website, so I had to do a little further digging. The excellent stunties website (a must view for all dwarf fans) came up with the answer, they are indeed Foundry Norse Dwarfs and Foundry Swashbuckler Dwarfs. I have no idea if they are still in production.

What to do with them? I don't think they would fit into my warhammer army. They are similar to some of the old school metals, and my army does include metal longbeards and ironbreakers, but the Foundry figures are bulkier and slightly more whimsical. In fact, they remind me of a children's TV program I can just about remember, Michael Bentine's Potty Time! Maybe I could put them to use in a skirmish game, there are plenty around and it might give me the impetus to paint up some of the oddments in my collection, like these stout little chaps. But with all my energy going into Saga and Lord of the Rings, I should really just put them back into a dark corner somewhere, to prevent distraction. Foundry Dwarfs

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Belegar Ironhammer review

As a long time dwarf collector, but lapsed Warhammer player, I was fairly ambivalent about the dwarfs release. My army is pretty much complete as it is, and the recent drive to bigger, dumber looking models has not been to my taste. The first wave of releases is, by now, pretty much old news and opinions can be found all over the web - good, bad and indifferent. I like to see the models in the flesh before I make up my mind, so I selected what looked to be the best of the bunch, Belegar Ironhammer.

As you would expect, the detail is (mostly) quite superb. The metal scroll work, the carved runes on the oathstone, the embroidery on the cloak are all lovely and crisp and should paint up a treat. Click on the image for a decent sized view and see for yourself. You might notice that some detail is lacking - the teeth for example are not sculpted and as usual the hair of the moustache is just two or three giant strands. But this is nitpicking, overall it is a very solid sculpt and one that I would consider using in my army.

I have seen some criticism of the pose. A better battle-ready stance would be to hold the shield at the front to protect the body. The shield would be more visible, but of course most of the beard and face would be obscured. I reckon the decision on the pose is a good one, it allows the maximum detail to be easily seen and thus should be easier to paint. It's also possible, as the second photo shows, to exclude the oathstone and have a more traditional base. Leaving the back banner off is also a possibility, there is a little groove in the rear of the armour that could easily be filled, or overlooked if the player wants to swap the banner in and out between games.

As a big fan of dwarfs and Norse imagery, this sculpt is a winner for me. Now, to see how it paints up. Belegar Ironhammer review

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Avatars of War Army Standard Bearer

Avatars of War have finally released a picture of the limited edition army standard bearer, available only to backers of the indiegogo project from the summer of 2012. This was the one item I pledged for. I really liked the concepts and the sculpts at the time but was short of money and could only stump up enough cash for this one figure. I wanted to support more, thinking that I could replace my existing dwarf army, or parts of it at any rate. However, the rate of progress on the army has been slow, eighteen months in and there have been releases for about half of the promised set. So in the end I am glad I restricted myself to this one contribution.

The model itself looks good, I really like the dwarf holding the banner. The massive four flags on a stick thing is not really my kind of thing, I will definitely go for a set up like that top left. That will leave me with a spare double banner for conversion purposes, probably use that on my hammerers or maybe dwarf throne, when I eventually get round to them. A nice bit of news to help cheer away the winter blues. Avatars of War Army Standard Bearer

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