Getting some Hordes off my desk

One of the original intents for this site was for me to chronicle my miniature painting, and now that I have a digital camera I can attempt to do so. Although I’ll try and share any tips and techniques when I get the opportunity, the real goal is to help motivate myself to continue to progress through my unpainted figures. The pictures here aren’t as good as in my finished gallery, but they’ll suffice for WIPs.

Shortly before the holidays I started assembling some of the Hordes miniatures I had recently picked up second hand to try to get a small army. Although I knew I wouldn’t have everything painted right away, I wanted to at least get things assembled to the point that they could be fielded. For the Seraph that meant painting it completely as I didn’t want to try to paint that thing once it was fully assembled and on its base, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I started off by assembling and basing my Blighted Swordsmen. For the most part these miniatures didn’t need any pinning, but I did go ahead and pin the leader’s arms using the new ratcheting pin vice I had picked up from a local train hobby store a few days earlier and some musical wire nabbed at Art Mart. It took a little longer than the low-speed hand drill I had been using before but I was able to use a smaller bit and pin than I would have otherwise been able to use and it turned out pretty well.

I based all of these guys with my usual concrete patch and cork combination. I decided that for my Hordes figures I’m going to put unit leaders and probably solos up on larger rock outcroppings to help them stand out from regular troopers. I had actually purchased a blister of swordsmen a few months ago to paint in a local painting competition, so one of them (the one leaping off the rock over the snowy base) was completed beforehand. I really didn’t want to try to redo all the layering I did on that figure throughout the whole unit, so I tried to shortcut where I could by using a wash to shade the skin. The resulting blend isn’t as subtle, but it stands out more on the gaming table which is probably better in the long run.

Blighted Swordsman - Painted
Blighted Swordsman

I spent some time Christmas Eve laying down the skin tones then Christmas after the family gatherings were over I worked until late that night getting them mostly finished. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten through a whole unit this fast but I think they don’t look too bad on the table.  I”ll definitely be satisfied fielding them.  Unfortunately this picture isn’t the greatest but once I finish their bases with some snow and photograph them again for my gallery they will look a lot better.

Blighted Archers - Assembled
Blighted Archers

While the primer on the Swordsmen was drying I also started assembling my Blighted Archers. These guys were a much bigger pain, primarily because I had decided to go ahead and attach the quivers and swords to them. After a couple failed attempts at just gluing them on, I decided to bite the bullet and pin each scabbard and quiver using the new pin vice. It was a tedious process but I’m not worried about anything falling of the miniature any more. At this point I only have eight archers and I’m planning on waiting to pick up the other two before painting them – I find that if I paint half a unit now and half later, the halves never look quite the same.

Hordes Warlocks and Solos
Hordes Solos

I also took the opportunity to put together a couple solos and warlocks that I had gotten. I mounted Thagrosh and Vayl up on some rock outcroppings, but I decided to have the Totem Hunter leaping over some rocks. I wasn’t entirely fond of the miniature’s stock pose but the effort to cut it up and reposition its limbs would just be more than I was willing to do. Thagrosh’s arm is still off – I plan on painting it before I attach it.

After everything was assembled, I got to work on my Seraph. Assembly was an issue in and of itself. I decided to put two pins all the way through from one wing to the other, and it was difficult to set properly. After a few attempts I got him assembled and primed and went to work on the paint job.

Seraph WIP
Seraph WIP

For the most part the Seraph is getting painted up like my other beasts (as shown in the second image below), but I decided to add some colors to the wings – a dark blue on the upper wing like the blighted swordsman leather leggings and a lighter blue on the lower membrane that typically doesn’t get any sunlight. I still need to do some touch up work and the initial sealing before I snow the base and give it a final dullcoat, but it shouldn’t be long before I’m fielding this beast at the local hobby store.

That’s the progress I’ve made the past few weeks. I still have plenty to do – a Castigator is ready to be primed and I have some Vengers that need assembly, not to mention the newest releases that are coming out that I haven’t gotten a hold of yet. Painting’s probably going to take a bit of a back seat while I run an Earthdawn game but I hope to continue to make progress in the near future. A painter’s work is never done. 🙂