Thursday 11 December 2014

From AaronH - Eight 28mm Uruk-Hai swordsmen (40 Points)

"There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed, with thick legs and large hands.  They were armed with short broad-bladed swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs; and they had bows of yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men.  Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal."

Eight swart, slant eyed gobin-soldiers.
The above quote is from the first chapter of The Two Towers.  It is the first time that the fellowship comes in contact with Uruk-Hai.  The imagery from the movie is different of course.  Bare shields and the white hand on the helmet.  That is how most people paint their Uruks.

A closer view of four of the orcs.
I do want mine to look like the movie but I prefer the imagery from the books where there is conflict.  This will also make my Uruk-Hai stand out from everyone else's.  The S rune is the elvish rune as, obviously, that is the language that a wizard would use over Dwarfish.

The other half of the line.
These are 28mm plastics from Games Workshop.  They are, in common with most of the LOtR plastics, mixed quality.  They have great detail in some spots and then meld into featureless blobs in others.


This close up shows a couple of spots I missed.  My camera is better than my eyes.
These models were surprisingly frustrating to paint.  My initial colors were too light.  I ended up re-painting the leather three times.  Finally opting for a brown I've never used before.  It finally gave me the dark look I was looking for.  The issues with the detail also made it hard to tell which part of the model was which until it was painted.  I had to go back over several spots that I thought were one thing, but turned out to be another.




These eight are the start of my Isengard army.  I've had these models for ten years and am only now getting paint on them.

Rear and shield view.
The next two batches will be more Uruks.  Pikes and crossbows.  The third lot is not part of my plan, but I'm ahead of schedule right now so I'm going to add them in.




It feels great to get these guys painted.  They are the army I always start new players with. They are very forgiving.  They will have more pull if they are painted.

From Curt:Excellent work Aaron! I've always liked these models, even though the detail on them can often be a bit soft at times - if you persevere (which you certainly have) then you'll be rewarded with a very nice force. The choice of marking them with Saruman's S rune is brilliant, I may have to nick that. Also, I quite like the skin tone you've chosen for them as it will make them stand out nicely on the tabletop (it's very easy to paint-up these guys too drab, which I have done). Great job!
These eight Uruks will give Aaron 40 points.


26 comments:

  1. Uruk-Hai's are my favourite of the forces of Middle Earth (well, possibly apart from those big Eagles) and have always loved these mini's by GW.

    Really nice seeing them here, in the Challenge and I look forward to seeing your Uruk force grow.

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    1. Thanks Roy. The Two Towers is my favorite of the three books; Rohan and Isengard my two favorite armies. It will be good to field those two armies painted.

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  2. So many LotR entries this year! Great stuff. I agree with Curt--the "S" rune really worked out nicely.

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    1. Thank you David. It was a little fiddly but I should have it down about the time I finish this army off.

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  3. LotR seems very popular this challenge. Even I have been looking on eBay to get a few more orcs. Nice work mate.

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    1. Thanks Clint. I worry that GW will stop selling these soon, since the last movie comes out next week. I've been making a list of the models I want so I can try to pick them up, just in case.

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  4. You may have had trouble with them in the beginning but I think they look smashing.

    I agree with you about painting like you imagine them when you read the books. The movies were good, but the books meant so much more to all of us.

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  5. Fantastic painting work. They are very nice.

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  6. Nice work, I like the fact you went back to the source material and added those details... looking forward to seeing this force grow...

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  7. Excellent painting! Your take on the skin tones is spot on. I also quite like the subtly aged armour. Not as much as to make it look like rubbish but just enough to show its wear.

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    1. Thank you. Coming from you that means a lot. The skin is Vallejo Game color Terracotta with a Nuln Oil (black) wash.

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  8. Nice Orcs. Despite some problems the end result is real good. cheers

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  9. I recently painted up the very same figures and you have done them very well

    Ian

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  10. Top banana old bean. Genius idea with the S rune, it keeps in theme whilst personalizing your force (but not in an out of theme way).

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  11. Very nice work - I've painted a few of these figures myself but never thought of doing the shields that way - very effective.

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    1. Thanks Padre. That's what comes from listening to the Lord of the Rings on my iPod while I run.

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  12. Only 10 years? I think I have you beat with some upcoming figures. I like your interpretation and the freehand designs. Advances in photography show all kinds of stuff we never see, even with the thing under our noses. Great job.

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    1. The obvious answer is that I should go back and fix the problems I see then take more pictures. I should do that. Perhaps some day.

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