Trog and Trogmagog

 I've just finished flocking the bases of the 2 Fighting Fantasy Trolls I was prepping a few days ago. It was a bit of a slog painting them but I'm fairly pleased with the results.  

I think the green fellow (Trog) is my favourite. I hope they perform well at the BOYL game, maybe even fighting each other. It has put me in the mood to paint some early Citadel Night Goblins.....

PERFIDIOUS ALBION....WIP

 Recently inspired by Instagram posts on the Grimdark miniature movements Turnip28 and Weald28, I thought I'd have a go at doing some very basic assembly and kit bashing of plastic figures... something I've always shied away from doing.  

As it turned out kit bashing is very different to assembling straight models, because it really doesn't matter if there's a gap or surfeit if glue... Especially if you are going to paint in the manner of the 2 groups above where everything is covered in mud and moss anyway!

I've long wanted to do a small project following British Mythology mixing it with my own ideas, so who better to start with than Brutus of Troy, first king of Britain. Brutus is a mysterious figure invented by medieval historians ( notably Geoffrey of Monmouth) to tie in known British history of the time with the mythology of both the classics and the Bible. Exiled from Troy for accidentally killing his father, after various adventures he ends up on the shores of giant infested Albion, landing at Totnes in Devon. I'll elaborate further when (if) I get the figures painted, but here's the work so far.

I enjoyed sticking the Perry Wars of the Roses  figures together, they are very well designed. From left to right...  standard man at arms but with a hoplite shield, man at arms with a Victrix muscled cuirass and plume added , Rogue miniatures Mordred who I might use for Brutus although the armour is so iconic could it only be Mordred from Excalibur? Thoughts in the comments please if you can. Finally if I use the Mordred figure I'll leave him as he is and have a shield bearer to do his defending for him. Let me know what you think. 

LEPRECHAUNS FINISHED

 A test game of The Woods yesterday, spurred me on to rise with the lark this morning and finish my Leprechaun clan... The Bommy Knockers. Emerging from the bogs and raths of Talamhlar to work their mischief.

Left to right, Oakbound, Pendragon, Reaper, Citadel.

Citadel conversion by Geoff Solomon-Sims, Citadel, Citadel with 54mm tricorn.

Plastic DnD dire owl.

The entire clan.

I was dabbling with painting effects here using a base coat of khaki and highlights of bone and white, then applying contrast paints over the top with a bit of extra shading from Citadel Shades. I think I achieved the effect I wanted, trying to make them look something like Brian Froud's illustrations in Faeries, but a bit more sinister. 

The whole process was a bit time consuming, but I really do like Contrast paints... Such a pleasure to apply. I'll be using them in the future on more fantasy figures.

BRIEF INTERLUDE AND WALK IN THE WOODS

In a few weeks I'm attending the first The Woods Games Day, organised by Geoff Solomon-Sims of Oakbound Studio, in the Woods of Nailsworth Gloucestershire.

I needed to cobble together a warband and whereas I normally go for brute strength and minimal tactics in any game, I happened to have a number of suitable figures lying around to make a Leprechaun clan, tricksy fate weaving, owl loving mischief makers.

I'm underway painting these attempting them in a Grubdark style ( like Grimdark but without the grossness). For an old school fan, I actually quite like a lot of the new gloomy Grimdark style of painting and aesthetic, but sometimes the figures are a bit too icky for my tastes. 

I started with some owls, which didn't come out as gloomy as I'd hoped, but I was quite pleased with them nevertheless. 

I was also happy with the bases. Perhaps not that visible here, but nice and textured and minimal colour. The owls are from Otherworld Miniatures btw. I either got them in a sale or swapped some figures with Richard Scott the owner, because I definitely wouldn't have paid £11 each for them which is the full price. Very nice figures though. Some leprechauns themselves coming next.