I originally bought the model when it first came out. That was what? almost 20 years now? Holy shit, time flies..... Anyway, my Moria goblin army was one of the first I ever started. My original batch of goblins came with the original Fellowship box set. It was my first purchase that would lead me to pretty much a life long career of painting GW LOTR figures.....
After I had painted so many dwarves, I needed a break.... I finished my SAGA Milite Christie 4 point war band and even some historic figures... I have 6 more dwarves to paint, but I still haven't been motivated to paint them.... yet. In the interim, I found myself looking for something to do. With my youngest now playing... and pulling out various armies to look at.. I saw that I had about 8 more goblins to finish... I am missing some of the minor heroes and I don't own any of the Blackshields.. I'll get them sooner or later.. but my army.... I have 18 goblins w/spears, 18 w/sword & shield and 18 with bows..... on top of that, I have Durburz, the shaman, drum set and 3-4 blisters of the lead goblins which I now uses as goblin captains as they are uniquely different in their lead poses...
So, I found I had only 8 more to paint.... I finished them..... the 2 extra in the picture were pulled out to use as reference for painting the others.... of course, in the background.... there sit the 6 unpainted dwarves...
The color scheme I matched up as closely as I could. all GW colors.... except the steel.. that was IWM.... red, steel, black, browns and tan. I have never been a fan of GW "green" orcs and goblins... at least NOT for LOTR. I know a few made it into the movie, but it didn't fit my vision.... so I opted to ignore any green goblins. The 8 painted up very quickly. I hit a few with some highlights and then sealed them in mat varnish.
A couple different pics as I varnished them.
I have to be honest.... it really was a great feeling.. knowing I would not be painting any more rank and file goblins for this game... ever again.... (I know I just cursed myself). Anyway, aside from getting some of the missing heroes and possibly the Blackshields... I am done with the Goblin Army of Moria.... or so I thought. My son and I watch a lot of battle reps on YouTube.... and, of course... there was one with a Moria goblin army and it was being led by the Balrog.... My son asked... I answered and then I felt guilty... I went and dug out my old model and stared at it for what seemed to be hours.... Finally, at long last... its time had come.... this would be my next project. It was dusty.... it still is and is visible in some of the pics. The Balrog is a large model and I didn't have it inside any storage, just on a shelf.
Mind you, the pics below do not show the completed model... when I pulled it off the shelf it was just patches of black and red.... at the time, I tried following a painting guide and soon just threw up my hands saying I couldn't do it.... I pondered long at how I was going to complete this beastie. I finally settled on repainting all of the red. I then brought the black up to the edges and then painted the black scales or floating crusts like on a lava flow.... this is how it looked and how so many other folks had painted it. I went back and forth between red and black to try and dress edges, straighten lines, etc.... it was a true lesson in patience.... I am still not done and almost threw my hand sup again in disappointment and failure.... Instead, I opted to take my frustration out on dressing up the flames on the back and sword. I mixed red and yellow to get orange and many other shades in between. I line painted and dry-brushed the fire on the mantle and sword. It brightened my mood and I relaxed. It isn't done yet, but I am happier with the model as it now looks mor elike it should.
I was undecided on the sword as it IS a solid object.... bone perhaps? I wound up painting it as a glowing red iron sword, fresh from the forge. I blended the red to orange and then yellows with a hint of white at the top. This was the same process I used for the fire mantle on the back.
Now, with this under way, the red between the outer skin looks bland.... I am going to go back in and ad some very fine yellow lines to help blend the flames into the skin better. I think this will give the effect I have been searching for.
Some pictures from other angles of the fire and body. The base can be seen in its unfinished state. It is starting to improve and I am confident that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel on this one!
When I get to a happier place with all of the fire.. light and dark... I'll go back in and hit highlights on the black with a few shades of grey. Below you can see some of this on the face... I hit other areas too, but I will be going back and cleaning all of this up when I am done/satisfied with the fire effects.
I just cannot believe how long this has taken me to get up enough motivation or courage or whatever to try to finish this model.. it has been my opus for a long while and it is about time I close this chapter in my painting career!
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