I posted in my second “Off the Top of my Head” some of the 40k figures I painted. While I started painting with the five “came with the paint set” marines, the second model I painted wasn’t a Black Reach Ork but a Games Workshop, Citadel Balrog of Moria. I love the Lord of the Rings movies, but I don’t have much interest in the game (I like the grim darkness of the 41st millennium). This model was given to me by a friend I work with. His son loves the Lord of the Rings figures. He found this particular to be a little too advanced for him and offered it to me as a thank you for locating some hard-to-find movies and toys online (he calls me “the finder of lost items”). The weekend before my vacation I decided on a weapon for the Balrog, primered him, glued him and started painting him.
After painting it I decided, since I don’t collect the LOTR figures, I would return it to the young man who gave it to me. He was very happy to get the completed Balrog back and I received the ultimate kid compliment for my work: I was invited over to view his collection of Lord of the Rings miniatures and play video games. I take it as high praise!
My Balrog. Chaos Black primer, washed all over in old Baal Red, then the fire parts were painted white and washed in Casandora Yellow. I used some Troll Slayer Orange for the darker fire parts and washed it in Bloodletter GlazeFull Balrog from the right. The whip used the same technique as the fire, painted white then washed in yellow with orange details glazed in red.Balrog from the left. My Horus Heresy and 40k books made a good backdrop.The base was the most fun to paint. I liked the detail of the skeleton in armor with an axe. I painted it Runelord Brass, Moonfang Brown, Bugman’s Glow, and Screaming Skull then washed the whole thing in Earthshade.Base of the Balrog showing the bony hand with axe. I didn’t put the orange detail on the Balrog’s arms. I probably should have but I was eager to get to that 40k army!The face of the Balrog. His horns are drybrushed with Praxeti White.
As I mentioned in a recent “artboard” post I’ve recently become interested in the intense, deep, gothic sci-fi table-top wargame and fantasy book series Warhammer 40k. I love it. The lore, the races, the strategy. It’s everything I’m interested in all rolled into a compact expressive, creative package.
Admittedly I only became interested after playing the excellent Space Marine on PS3 (my favorite game of last year) and became more obsessed after I played through the Dawn of War series, read some Black Library books and an old 3rd edition rulebook from a local used book store.
Like Hans Gruber from Die Hard (maybe not the best role model…) I always enjoyed models as a kid but hated painting them. All those tiny parts with horrible paint that never went on cleanly… I just wanted to put my tank together. Putting together Citadel miniatures has been a new experience. Not only do I like putting them together but I actually enjoy painting them. It requires a lot of focus, steady hands, and patience, which thankfully I do actually have (thanks to years of drawing and old-school gaming…) Though I have a couple of battleforces in boxes ready to emerge onto the battlefield, I started with the easy-to-put-together miniatures that came with my starter paint set.
These guys were supposed to be Dark Angels but because I grew to love the Dawn of War Blood Ravens characters I decided to go with that paint scheme. They aren’t finished (I haven’t put any wash on them and I plan to print off some chapter-specific insignia) but I thought I’d share my progress!
It’s my first time painting anything like this…definitely anything this small so there’s nothing but room for improvement but I’ve enjoyed it and I hope the future models will only get better.
This was the first guy I ever painted. I primered in Chaos Black, air brushed in Mephiston Red and layered from there!The backpack.
The Dawn of War series also introduced me to the Orks and I love those guys. Their gruff, simple demeanor. Their remarkably descriptive slang. Their ultimately unruly appearance and junkyard tech. Gotta love orks. Because I’ll mostly be playing with myself (hey, you in the back, stop laughing. Care to share what you thought was so funny with the rest of the class?) to learn the rules and get used to the complicated ins-n-outs of the game I bought Assault on Black Reach at a local hobby store and started painting the Orks as well. Not only are they a lot more details in their equipment and appearance than vanilla marines, but they also present a lot of variety and possibilities in painting. I’ve only painted some of them so far, but I feel my abilities and techniques have improved from what I did with the Marines. They are still very beginner but I’m happy with them so far!
I didn’t follow the model in the Black Reach book and went my own direction on a few aspects, like the checks on his orky belt buckle.The twin guns and boss pole on the back of the warboss. I used the new Citadel paints as well as a couple older ones. Then drowned them in Nuln Oil. I figure I’ll get the hang of shades by the time I get to my Zagstruk finecast…The start of my little Waaagh! The warboss, a couple of boyz (one wiff a big shoota) and a nob. I decided to make them Goffs, not only for the color scheme but because I like the idea of a horde of infantry.The side of my first deffkopta. This one took some time and didn’t come out perfectly…but I was still pleased with my first vehicle effort.A pic of my Nob (you again? I said stop laughing!) It was the first chain weapon I painted and I liked the messy splatter effect.Drawing inspiration from the bigger ork, I painted this littler guy up to match him.My Waaagh! so far.
I hope you enjoyed my first painting attempts. As I go on and get a little more experienced I plan to share more. Once I get into live firefights I’ll be posting on those as well!. It’s been a fun, and fascinating entry into the 41st millennium so far!
Revenant Publications 