Hello chaps – another week, another mini, another sketchy song-lyric-for-a-title… (nice one Skee-lo!). I’ve been on a bit of a go-slow this last week – there is so much going on at the moment! It’s all mostly study related, but I did manage to finish the Dwarf from WQ-ST (hence the title & song choice… see what I did there?)
Well, what can I say about the Dwarf? This was the hero that I was least looking forward to painting… fiddly, complex, and a faction that doesn’t really draw me in. I found him a sod to paint – the level of detail is insane, while the proportions, exaggerated musculature, and total lack of clothing conspire to make this model quite grotesque in my opinion… I mean, I had to paint his cheek-meat ffs, and if you get the chance, look carefully under the kilt – I am sure there is a hint of a ball-sack :-/
Ahem… anyway, I decided to embrace this ugliness, and had a play with the idea of the runes that are hammered into his skin to give him super strength & armour, (and remove the need for clothes apparently). I figured that such an effect might reasonably be expected to leave its mark, (beyond the obvious), and so I painted lots of livid veins, as if the runes are polluting the character’s blood stream somehow. I think this exaggerates the grotesqueness of the mini nicely, while contrasting pleasantly with the otherwise clean-cut and heroic look of his equipment. To me, it reads like he’s ostensibly a ‘good guy’, but there is also something disturbing going on… maybe even a little sinister… This, (in my humble opinion), makes him a bit more interesting than he might’ve otherwise been. Anyway, enough chit-chat, what do you guys think?
Next up, I’m going to tackle the Griffhound – I’m away on a hiking break next week, so I just want something quick and easy to crank out. Also, I’ll be working out a 1200 point force for Rogue Trader, ready for BOYL (Bring Out Your Lead) – the annual OldHammer event at the Foundry Miniatures in Nottingham on the 5th, 6th & 7th of August. Time to dust off my Praetorian Imperial Guard and do a spot of spot of list building! I may well take a few pictures as I sort out the list and share them with you – it has been too long since the Dauntless 215th graced the pages of this blog ;-)
Leadballoony - It's a lead thing 
The figure is grotesque in a way, but it is a short ‘roided up, hirsute, deranged murderer after all.
You did a good job on it, I quite like it.
Haha, yeah, that sums him up nicely! Thanks mate, he was certainly good as a painting challenge, but I’m not really sold on the aesthetic for Dorfs in AoS…
To be honest I’ve never been that bothered by the nudieness of these chaps – although I know it’s got the internet in a right flutter. Like with the savage orcs and their warpaint however all the bare flesh should be emphasising something, rather than just being a case of ‘oh look at us, we live somewhere hot so we’ve turned out to battle in the buff’. The fiction states, as you’ve noted, that the runes (made out of metal) are actually hammered (not a gentle process) into their actual flesh. How macho are these blokes?! Whilst everyone else is putting on armour they’re driving chunks of metal into their own bodies with a combination of religious fanaticism and blunt force trauma. Yet the studio paint scheme has them all bubblebath clean and shiny, when in fact they should be brutish, angry and bruised. To my eye the damaged flesh of yours does a far better job of capturing the look of the Fyreslayers – in fact if the studio had used something like this I might have found them more compelling from the start.
Anyway, nice work on the base as well and looking forward to seeing the Dauntless 215th making their long-awaited return.
Thanks for the kind words dude, eloquently put! It does seem odd that they went all clean-n-shiny with them, doesn’t it?
Oh, and thank you for looking forward to seeing my Praetorians make a come back – I’m rediculously excited about bringing them out of storage :-)
I don’t get the appeal of the This is Sparta dwarves but you did one heck of a job on this one.
Cheers dude, I know what you mean, just GW making them something they can slap IP on I guess? Ah well, I don’t suppose I’ll ever need to paint any more of the fugly little fellows ;-)
I’m not overly fond of Dwarves either. In the fantasy world I mean. Real dwarves are probably pleasant enough. You’ve done a great job with him. The veins look realistic and give him a nice grotesque look. I couldn’t see his sack though. I didn’t try too hard though. I promise I didnt!
Aw, I don’t know, I remember Wayne England’s dwarf army with much fondness… Now thems were proper Dwarfs! Anyway, glad you’re ok with this one, it was certainly an interesting paint challenge :-)
Oh, and the nut sack isn’t visible in the photos – what kind of sicko do you take me for dude? There may be kids reading this! No… you have to get your hands on the actual mini, and look really really hard if you want any Dorf-Scrote action :-P
That sounds likes a website… dwarfscroteaction.com
*shudder*
Excellent work mate, but I must note that he is not naked at all… he is clearly wearing a loincloth!
Thanks mate, glad you like, and yeah, I know what you’re saying, but he’s going commando underneath it… one puff of wind (in any sense) and his chap is oot! :-/
This sculpt sums up everything that is wrong with current Citadel figures. Just because you have the technical ability to pack a figure with details, doesn’t mean you should. It makes the painted versions particularly difficult to read.
That said, your paint job is very nice – you’ve done a great job on him, in spite of your clear lack of enthusiasm for the figure – that’s a win for persistence in my book ;)
Really disappointed not to be going to BOYL this year. I’ll have to enjoy the photos instead!
Thanks mate, glad you like. Couldn’t agree more re all the detail – there is way too much going on here imo. Still, ’twas a good challenge, and he’s part of the set, so…
Shame you won’t be at BOYL mate, I was really hoping to meet! Hopefully next time :-)
Great work on this guy – he’s come up very nicely. There’s just a hint of the old Chaos Dwarves to some of the Fyreslayers as well. Probably just about 5 or 10% mixed in with the Slayer, the OOT and the Fat Baby majority influences. You’ve certainly done well here with the bruised flesh being far more effective than the official paint scheme.
Thanks mate, I’m pretty pleased :-)
I didn’t get the CD vibe myself, but there is clearly a ton of Slayer influence happening here – Trollslayer turned up to eleven!
I said some! ;) This guy is the one who first brought it to mind:
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Auric-Runemaster
Ahhh…. yeah, I see it more with this guy!