March of the Easterlings

Edit: For some reason the pic was rotated by the website on upload. Clicking it might fix that!

I was asked to show of individual models and characters for the project. But I had not painted any characters! Untill now!

I did however forget to take pictures untill after!

I painted up Khamûl the Easterling, foot and mounted. I used a dark grey blue with some added off-white for the highlights, and another dark grey for the horse, and shaded it all with Nuln Oil. For the rest it’s just the same as the rest.

I’m aiming for tabletopstandard for my heroes as well, as I wont be using these guys much at all.

And the lamp I paint under here is very, very yellow. Makes for bad painting light!

I got asked a question about the priming of the models. I have just sprayed the Retributor Armour straight over bare plastic. I have also sprayed it directly on already painted and black primed minis. This was a used lot with painted, pre-primed and un asdembled minis.

I’m not sure the color sprays from Games Workshop are considered primers in the same way as the black and white sprays, but I use them as if they are. And I’m happy with the result.

I especially like the gold spray, and usually get good results. But weather can affect it.

I’m not 100 % I spray the mini on right, but I’ve had similar results before. The weather have then been to humid. So make sure the conditions are ok for spraying!

I’ve since the photo just given the one (and the rest with the same state) on the left a new spray, and they look like the ones on the right.

I really, really like how the gold is on the right!

I decided to finish basing the minis I had done the shading on.

Now I just need to find what tufts to use for these. I added more Mournfang Brown to the ready-mix, and some Doombull Brown to get a more reddish hue. Fairly happy with where I got. Now mixing the sanded bases in with the ready-mix ones should work well!

I originally planned on getting pre-made bases from Serious Play Scenics, but I dont have enough loose bases (and the funds at the moment).

The usual way I bases is the tried and tested method of PVA on the base, pour sand, dry, then paint.

It takes time, and I’m trying to cut down on that.

Recently I found a base recipe I really like: Mournfang Brown, XV-88, Balor Brown and Ushabti Brown, so that is what I’ll be using.

I decided to get some ready-mixed basing material and get it to the right color.

I didnt get a good color match as the ready-mix was white. I tried adding in a much much darker brown and even some red to get it closer.

I tried some of the mix I did on a base and painted Mournfang Brown over a base that had sand on it.

As you can see (from the poor picture) there’s a slightd difference. I’ll try to do the last steps and see what I end up doing.

Starting any army, and maybe especially a speed paint one, should start with a (or a couple) test model!

The Easterlings in the LOTR movies have golden armour and dark reds. I want to stick to the overall theme, but still do my own take on it.

First, the process:

Pretty simple! But remember, I’m aiming for speed and tabletop quality! Let’s see those test models.

I’m happy enough with those, so let’s start the first batch. Basically one full tray, then onto the next tray.

Painting these took a few evenings. The next batch:

A while back I picked up a case of pre-owned Easterlings. Some painted, some primed and some unbuilt. I have always loved the Easterlings, and really wanted to paint them. But at the time I was busy with the forces of good for the SBG GC.

Fast forward two years probably, and now we need the Easterlings for the SBG GC! What luck! I’m not really too motivated to paint them at the moment how ever..

But! It’s summer, and very warm. So we have moved to my girlfriends parents place, and I couldn’t bring all my paints. But I want to hobby..

Two problems there, and together they solve each other.

With the help of this:

And a bottle of Khorne Red, German Grey, Gorthor Brown, Leadbelcher and Agrax Earthshade, I’m well on my way!

I will go overkill on model count. I have about 20 of each weapons type, but only need about 4 of each.. But why not do them all at the same time?

Let’s see what I can make of this!