More Skaven

 

The next three. Yes, once you've seen one rat ...

Nothing fancy. Cadian Fleshtone for skin with added white for highlight (nose etc)

Mournfang  for the brown rats and Mechanicus for the grey.

Bases edged with Bubonic, topped with Brown Earth.

Sunlight for the lighting.

Now that IS good to see!

Skaven

 

I've set aside the Corsairs until I can get a matching brown for the bases

and turned to these Skaven.

Henry had begun three of them a while back so that's where I started.

The shot below shows one of the originals from years ago.

The base match is not too bad given that the original was glued sand

 probably painted with Snakebite Leather (no longer available - curses!)

and the new one is unpainted Valejo 'Brown Earth'.

Corsair Arbalesters - shields

Another oddity with these guys is to do with the shields.

It dawned on me that the bows with the dodgy join were supported by the shields,

as per illustrations on the GW site and elsewhere.

This implies that the 'spikes' on the shields are jammed into the ground in defence.

(Wiki - Pavise)

If so, why are there only two with spikes,

two in a left hand and two carried on their backs.

Too get the shield in position, perched on the edge of the base, supporting the bow, I needed to clip the rear end of the base 'tag' off

and move the model to the rear of the base as per model on left.

Now I'll reluctantly set them all aside till I find the correct brown.

Corsairs of Umbar - Arbalesters

I'm getting nowhere with these chaps for various reasons. The originals to the right, newbies to the left.

I wanted 'same but different' for them so chose to change the Exerus Purple for Nauseating Blue leaving everything else the same - Regal Blue for the other cloth colour and black leather armour, dark hair, dark boots etc.
Then the skin colour. I managed a dark slightly yellowish tone for the originals but, despite trying various base coats and washes, couldn't get it quite right.

The biggest problem however, was the separate crossbows.

I'm not a fan of superglue and GW have given us 3 faces,

when joining the bow parts, all of them very small.

One face could have been easier to align and easier to pin and join.

The final problem is the base colour. I guess I've run out of the brown originally used, whatever that was, and no amount of trying has given me the colour I want.

Perhaps Snakebite leather which supposedly translates as Balor Brown but doesn't.

I'll just have to wait till shops are open again and get in and choose.

Luggage

 

While painting the Goblin Captain,

I've been adding to the pile of luggage that the travellers had.

It may seem excessive for a wizard and thirteen dwarves

(remember, Bilbo took nothing with him, not even his pocket handkerchief)

However, this may only be a part of the pile

as Jackson left Tolkien's ponies out of the picture.

The ponies are already in the Goblin larder.

Lots of fiddling around with Greenstuff but what larks!

I've used cotton for rope after soaking it in various washes.

The last shot is with GW 's version added (freestanding)

Goblin Captain

The usual problems with resin - bubbles and distortions and a very bendy sword!

I've ignored them and charged ahead.

I used a wash mixture of Reikland Fleshade and Casandora Yellow.

The thought was to change his skin tone a little.

That sort of thing gets you promoted in Goblin Town.

 

Goblin Town luggage

I thought GW missed an opportunity to add an impressive piece of terrain to Goblin Town when they provided a puny little heap of supplies. That's their version, top right in the middle shot.

So I thought it might be fun to allow that the dwarves had set out on a long journey

 through the Misty Mountains, rather than a stroll and afternoon tea in the foothills.

I first thought of mounting the heap of baggage on some painted wallpaper

but soon realised that scored balsa would be better.

I painted the underside with gloss varnish to give it extra strength

and painted it to match Goblin Town floors.

Then I did my best to use Greenstuff to mould bedrolls,

haversacks etc with cotton for rope.

It is glued together using PVA and super glue.

More luggage to be delivered later.