Orc Warlord #3 – Ready to roll

I have finally completed the warlord.

As usual, one could go on smoothing and adding more detail and texture, but I’m satisfied with how the model looks at the moment. I think it’s a solid improvement over the orcs in the big unit I painted two years ago and that he will stand out enough, once he joins it, to be accepted as a leader.

The back looked more or less right already in the last work-in-progress pictures, so I have worked more on the front and smoothed the transitions on the axe a little.

Following your approval, I have painted the knight’s head as old but not quite rotting. I can see him throwing it to invite a horde of squids / gnashers to a game of fetch, and hopefully directing them towards the enemy in the process.

As the warlord walks away clunking in search of a suitable base (I can tell you it’s going to take a while), new green twisted heroes are squabbling to get into the limelight…

Orc Warlord #2 – Armour and axe

Just a quick update on the Warlord.

I’ve glued the arm with the axe in place and sketched some nmm there. But I mostly worked on the back side, where most of the plates of armour are and where they are most exposed to the light. I always imagine a 45 degrees light from the miniature’s right side – some mid-morning light for the heat of the battle – and the front of the armour in this case mostly falls in the shadows.

I am pleased with the axe so far, even though on one hand it could be smoother and on the other it should probably be dirtier. I don’t think that head has chopped itself off on its own…

Would you believe that it’s not a fresh head, though? Something like an old lucky charm (rabbit’s foot, knight’s head, not a great difference), or do I have to splatter the whole miniature with blood? It will really make a difference once I have to finish the model and paint the head itself…

Orc Warlord #1 – Sketching

It has been a long time! But despite everything, I manage to keep painting, and I keep coming back.

I should have a little more time now and in the next months I’m going to focus on Orc & Goblin characters, and a few Rackham Wolfen.

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I’ve begun working on this orc warlord on foot – the old Grimgor, with a simple headswap from, if I’m not mistaken, the old orc warlord on boar.

Everything needs more work, but so far I’ve sketched in more or less all the colours and started on the skin and the armour.

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As you can see I’m trying a black – petrol blue – turquoise and light grey NMM. Still a lot of contrast to push, but I’m happy so far.

The axe will be a bit of a headache, I’m afraid, as I don’t have a clear idea of where to put NMM highlights on an axe, especially when held more or less parallel to the ground… Also, I can’t really make it the same as the armour, but I still have to find a matching colour scheme for it.

Anyway, I’m happy about the project and I hope I’ll be sharing more greenskins soon enough.

Orc ‘Eadbashers #14 – The rest is… waaagh!

Second big unit in my o&g army for 9th Age, here is the mob of orc ‘eadbashers ranked up in the best way they’ll ever manage.

Animosity may have gone away from the rules, but it’s clearly still there in the spirit. Compared to this mess, the horde of night goblins I painted before seems quite orderly…

I know GW represented orcs as green hooligans in a natural state of stupor, but to me they have always been more callous than dumb and more warlike than reckless. Yes, they sack and pillage and are quite light on diplomatic solutions, but in some ways they have the charm of savages as they appear to the eyes of the far more systematically brutal empires that fight them. Yes, they stand for the violence at the roots of every territorial state but, at least, they have no other pretenses.

While I won’t exactly be happy to have them as neighbours and I think they’d be better off with more culture and less choppas, there is something fascinating in the idea of a golden horde on boars that, out of sheer energy rather than purpose, will now and then topple all towers and temples in its path and finally have the grace to crush itself under its own weight and disband. Leaving the earth a bit scorched perhaps, but back to its own devices.

So, well yes… waaagh!

 

 

Orc ‘Eadbashers #13 – Last Warrior and Banner

Finally, the unit is done – save for the basing.

I didn’t get crazy on any of the warriors in the unit and the bannerman is no exception. In case you were interested in the orcish reasoning behind the design: the blob in the centre is obviously a mountain that is also a tooth, with an open eye that signifies that it’s alive. The crude, sprawling variation on the classic checkered design represents the horde of orcs descending from the mountain toward the four corners of the world… well, in spirit at least.

I’ll post a group shot as soon as I can get them to rank up. Then I’ll probably take a short break from the greenskins.

Orc ‘Eadbashers #12 – Almost done

Very brief post showing five more orcs, which leaves just one regular warrior and the standard bearer to finish the unit.

The painting style is of course mostly the same, but I started adding a few white spots in the final highlight of the skin. It works well to bring out the face and define the muscles – I think you can spot the effect on the second orc from the left…

Almost there!

Orc ‘Eadbashers #11 – Unit champion

A small conversion for an ‘Edbasher posing as an Iron Orc.

Not a progress to be wowed about, but hey: progress. Bad photography screws up some of the nice effects, I will definitely invest in better lighting after the summer move in a few days.

’till next time.

Orc ‘Eadbashers #10 – Back in businezz

“You know how it is with orcs: the more there are the faster they gather.” Well, I’m not an orc and the whaagh principle does not seem to apply to painting, at least in my case.

Here’s five new recruits after the long hiatus.

This guy was the one I was painting when suddenly I had no time for painting anymore. I think it’s an old Blood Bowl sculpt. As usual the picture is a bit crappy, but after some tries I was quite happy of the impressionist nmm, at least on the shoulder pads. It’s a nice model, but it looks kinda small compared to the other orcs, and figure it was probably meant to be a black orc at the time. That’s the kind of inflation orcs would appreciate, though.

Next, the unit’s musician (yes, he’s playing with elbow and fist rather than with the mace, I found no other way to make the model work), then a boy with a nice face and one with a nice tunic and a shield that screams for some glue.

Finally, an orc whose lack of footing and general shabbiness perfectly represent the state of my hobby.

I have done some prep work on the seven remaining miniatures, as well as on the standard bearer and the general. June is going to be a crazy month work-wise, but I have the foolish hope that I will manage to complete the unit anyway…

We’ll see!

Orc ‘Eadbashers #9 – Dashing bashers

You know how it is with orcs: the more there are the faster they gather. Well, although this is not really fast, the project is getting a little momentum. I managed to finish five more ‘edbashers and started working on the standard bearer and the general.

The pictures are always a bit off, but I’m happy of my skin recipe, which is basically a thinned down trio of GW greenskin colours with the addition of a purple and a dark blue for the shades, as well as of how I ended up doing the leathers.

By using a series of colours at the moment of the basecoat and my reddish brown as a midtone I think I’m managing to keep these flat surfaces interesting and varied enough with very very little work.

The count is now twenty. Eleven more, the command group and then the main unit in the army will be ready for basing and the nightmare or ranking up!

Orc ‘Eadbashers #8 – The mob so far

With two new recruits and a total of seventeen orcs, I finally reached the halfway point in the project. Here’s a group picture.

As you can see, there are some issues when it comes to put the bases together in the unit, one more reason to plan the bases for the unit as a whole at the end. I think some rocky bases with some light gray in them would do a nice job, but I will have to verify whether they could work with the rest of the units first. Also, I may want to consider coming up with a nice unit filler…

‘Till next time!