Goblin knight #2 – (almost) done

I did not have much time for painting lately and I had somewhat lost interest in this miniature. In part I think it was because of the nmm armour. I’ve definitively learned never to try to do it with pure gradations of grey: it’s difficult, boring and at that point it would probably be better to use metallic paints.

I will keep the model on the painting table for a while longer and maybe touch it up from time to time.

I’m also trying to solve a problem with my wet palette getting moldy… It almost looks like mushrooms are about to sprout from it. Appropriate for cave goblins and such, but terrible for painting.

Even taking into consideration the fact that he’s a character, it will be hard to mix this knight together with the old plastic wolf models. The dynamism and the scale are just too different. I will have to get into newer gw or different ranges to complete the wolf riding section of the army.

On to another kind of oversized wolves next…

Goblin knight #1 – Sketching

It appears that this goblin was able to run ahead and get on my painting table before the others.

The rider is a lovely Rackham sculpt with some clear Froud-esque influences. I love the shape of the lance, the flowing lines of the helmet and the ace of spades decoration.

I love what seems to have been the standard design for the goblin’s armoured feet a little less, as it is rather a pain to do nmm on.

This guy was supposed to ride a giant rat, but he looked dynamic and “knightly” enough to mount a giant wolf instead – an arguably nobler mount, and also one that would make more sense for a regular goblin. I will be saving the rat for a night / cave goblin character.

He still has a rat on his helmet, though. Will it be scurrying off, I wonder, to rat out to its Skaven masters?

Now for the mount… I’m not used to painting fur, or animals. The last wolves I painted were the tiny rigid old plastic sculpts for the Goblin wolf riders, and the Fenrisian wolf I chose as a mount for this model comes packed with the new GW flair, calling for a whole new style. This is the picture I’m using as a reference – the GW model looks like the angry, famished, threatening, meth-addicted version of this lovely animal, but still…

The colours in the pictures below are just sketched in. I’ll probably add some black tips and work some more white in the recesses as I go about refining the sketch. Wish me luck, and if you have any tips or tutorials to share they’ll be very welcome! (Azazel, you know I’ll be scouting your blog for inspiration, right?)