




You can never stop at just the boxed squad, right? Well, I’ve added to my Orc Blood Bowl Team, Da Mighty Redz, in the form of my new Troll and Goblin. The little and large duo move me a little closer to completing the project with plenty of time to spare before Necromunda hits in November, and I’m quite happy with how they both turned out.
The keen-eyed amongst you will notice that this is not the official Blood Bowl troll, but a Stone Troll (Sorry, ‘Rockgut Troggoth’ for those of you who speak Sigmarese) that’s been slightly converted and that’s because I’m not the greatest fan of the new Blood Bowl troll. While it’s of course a quality sculpt (what isn’t from GW these days, right?), I like my trolls to look like big, grumpy and fairly immobile brick walls, and not someone throwing out the first pitch at a Yankee’s game. Less dynamic, more static – which pretty much goes against my entire miniature design philosophy but I guess this is the exception that proves the rule.
So, I chopped off his bone-club (poor chap – sounds painful), and made a knuckleduster from some plasticard, green stuff and the spikes are actually from a Storm Raven’s missile launcher. I made some knee pads from green stuff, plasticard and green stuff made me the arm guards, and the shoulder pad is from the Chaos Terminator kit. There are a few green stuff leather straps and I had to hack off and rebuild half an ear to make room for the aforementioned shoulder pad. Oh, and he has a backplate that has been nailed into him because he’s a troll and he doesn’t mind that.
The goblin was a tricky little bugger to paint. He didn’t take too long (I actually painted him in about 5 hours!) but it can be tricky to switch gears when you’ve been working on something as big as a troll. But that’s a super fun kit and I’m almost certainly going to be adding another gobbo in the near future. Not only because it was enjoyable to paint, but also because it’s pretty risky bringing a single goblin to a Blood Bowl game. They either get squished or the troll eats them so better safe than sorry.
And as you can see from the above snap, these guys are called Murvy and Owni which is my tribute to two Liverpool stars of my younger years – Danny Murphy and Michael Owen. Not exactly dead ringers, but Murphy does have a slightly troll like demeanour (and attitude) and Owen was (and still is) a bit short, so it kind of fits.
In terms of tactics, the goblin is there to pick up the ball (because having played with Orcs, they’re practically incapable of this when you need them to) and the troll can throw him up the field to score me a touch down. Not particularly intricate tactics, but they’re a well used staple of the game. Looking forward to trying it out.
I just like this picture because it’s like they’re standing back to back with the Goblin saying something like “See, I’m definitely gettin’ taller!”. 😀 But it also shows off a bit more of the troll armour, and I love the look of the Goblin in profile – those helmets are awesome.
That’s your lot for this post. Well, except to say that the desk project has been delayed by just a couple of days while the last couple of stragglers get back to me. Early next week. I promise. Have a great Friday, a cracking weekend, and the very best of luck with all of your painting projects. Onwards!
I finished something! My Orc Blood Bowl team, Da Mighty Redz are now done! And what’s more, just to add a cherry on the top, my camera is working again, so I actually have half decent pictures of them. My cup (or Blood Bowl) runneth over. So here, in this post, I shall present to you the newest team to be taking to the pitch.
Here are the first six. That’s Dag-Lash, Burnz, ‘Krazy Boar’, Hencho, Foula and Hip-Prya. And here come the rest of the team…
Then we have the second six: Krush, Crag-Ghar, Jaw ‘Ard, Burga, Lonzo and Goblar.
I had a huge amount of fun painting this team and I really do love the miniatures. They’re excellently posed and with some great little details too. To think how far we’ve come since the old miniatures for this game! What a time to be painting.
I went a bit snap happy with the camera – it hasn’t worked for so long now and I wanted to make sure that I could do justice to all of the players here. What’s more, I wanted to further highlight what I talked about in my last post about this team – making duplicate pose figures look different. So let’s start with the linemen.
I finished off these guys so long ago that I can barely remember painting them, but it’s nice to see them looking this good. I’m particularly fond of the “YNWA” (You’ll Never Walk Again) and “No Mersey” details on the armour. I also did the Orcidas symbol on one of these guys to go with the stripes. I’m also liking how the team symbol pops too – that nice flash of turquoise and yellow on each model really gives them something else.
The throwers really highlight how the different green green skin tones can help to differentiate the two models. These guys were painted a long time ago so I don’t remember too much about them either – geez, I’ve really got to get better at painting fast just so that I can remember what I did to talk about it on here!
The Black Orc Blockers were a huge amount of fun to paint, and all those flat surfaces give you so much room with which to have fun. And they are huge too – they really look good and intimidating. Can’t wait to see them holding up the line and stomping face.
And the Blitzers are done! I was thinking about giving them very vibrant plumes, but went with natural hair tones instead – it just felt a little better because these guys are already colourful enough. I do like Foula’s fancy purple boots though. Very fetching. These guys were a little tougher to paint than the rest of the team because that dynamic pose gives you some funny angles to work around. But great fun to paint too – those masks/helmets are great!
That’s the team – Da Mighty Redz are now ready to take to the field. I think I’ve done both Liverpool FC and the Orc tribes proud. However, just because the core team is done, that doesn’t mean that this project is over. Oh no. For a start, you’ve already seen my Ghoul-Chewer and some of the peripherals:
And there is more to come, but you’ll have to wait for that. I’ve still got a little time before Necromunda, so I have to fill my time somehow. But for now, this is your lot. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the team in all their glory. Next step: the big leagues. Onwards!
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Oh, and one more thing. A lot of you liked my post about the desk project. I’ve had some responses already, but I’d still like some more. A lot of you liked that post, so it’d be great to get a few more responses from you. Please take another look, and drop me an email if you can. Cheers!
Hello, Blood Bowl fans! And welcome to the post that shows off the first images of my very own Varag Ghoul-Chewer. This was the model that I was going to take to the Forge World Open Day but I didn’t have a chance to finish him. Well, I’m glad that I took my time and didn’t rush anything, because I’m particularly happy with how this massive orc turned out now that I’m finished with him. Let’s take a closer look at the latest addition to my Blood Bowl team.
So, I painted him in very much the same way that I’ve shown on this blog before – a process detailed in this tutorial. He’ll be playing for Da Mighty Redz when I get them all done (getting closer now), so it’s that same Mephiston Red armour and for his flesh, I used a blend of Waaagh! Flesh and Moot Green paints mixed pretty much 1:1 for the base. I probably did give this chap a few extra layers of highlight just because I want him to pop a little more, and I think it’s worked quite nicely, but it’s pretty much the same method apart from that.
Rather than assign a legend like Varag Ghoul-Chewer a squad number, I’ve gone with a crudely drawn star motif that I thought was fitting of a player with this guy’s reputation. Also, as all the other players in the squad have numbers and names based on Liverpool Football club players, I didn’t want to confuse that. What’s more, there’s a lot less rust on this guy – he’s a star player so I’d guess he can afford to keep his gear a little better than the team grunts.
One thing that I’m really happy with on this miniature is the weathering and effects. From the mud placed on the raised boot, to just the general wear and tear all over, he definitely looks like he’s been sprinting around a muddy pitch for more than a few minutes. I also cracked out the Blood For The Blood God technical paint to decorate Varag’s massive weapon. I don’t like overusing it, so it’s just a hint.
The squig gave me some issues, and it’s probably the weaker part of the model. The eyes didn’t come out quite as I’d liked, and there could be more highlighting on the flesh. But over all, I’m very happy with this miniature and I look forward to fielding him.
But I didn’t get the chance to field him in that painting competition, so it’s only right that I let him stand on his plinth at least once. Here he is in the glory he never really got:
And if you’re worried about him toppling over, I should tell you that there’s a 2p piece superglued to the underside of his base. It’s made him so much more stable. He was a bit wobbly on the desk top before that so he’d be very precarious on that plinth without the added weight, and the 2p piece is the perfect size and weight for these bases..
And now I need to get back to my painting desk – there’s a lot I still want to do this year and I’m aware of time running out. Not only do I need to get this Blood Bowl team done, but there’s a certain red painted legion that needs my attention too. I hope your painting efforts are going well. Onwards!
I wanted to show off a bit more of the Orc Blood Bowl team but it’s still not done and I didn’t want to do just another WIP post as I’ve shown them off a couple of times now. So what I thought I’d do was show you how I’m painting them. I’m not much of a batch painter, and this method has worked for me throughout this project. You may do something like this yourself already and if that’s the case, you may as well skip on to the last photograph and see the finished project. But for those of you who are interested in how I do what I do, this is where it starts…
Stage 1: Undercoat
Not the most interesting of stages, I shall grant you. I put the muddy stuff down first (I used Blackfire Earth which is a difficult bugger to get down but leaves a lovely effect) and undercoated in black because this is going to be a dark looking miniature when finished. When you start, you may see some patches didn’t get much of the Chaos Black Spray so just touch those up with a little watered down Abaddon Black.
Stage 2: Basecoat
The entire miniature is given its base colours. There aren’t that many of them but keep it all neat. I made the skin with black and Waaagh! Flesh – after all this is a Black Orc and you want a nice dark, almost ‘Dark Angels’ sort of green. In the words of our Lord and Saviour, Duncan, you want to use two thin coats all over. And don’t get frustrated if you miss the odd bit and have to go back to a colour you’d thought you were done with – it happens to the best of us. Also, Rhinox hide has gone down on the base.
Stage 3: Wash
Everything gets washed aside from the red and black on this miniature. Use a complimentary shade for each different colour, such as an orange wash for the yellow areas, or a deep green for the green areas. The silver areas, and a few gaps and cuts in the red get treated with Nuln Oil to add some real depth. In fact, this is going to add shadow and depth all over the model, which you then bring back up in…
Stage 4: Highlight
This is a bit of a long winded stage but it really does add so much to the model. With steady hands avoiding the recesses and keeping to the edges, you work with lighter colours than in the basecoating stage. For skin, you want to build up the colour over several stages for a more natural look. And for both the silver areas and the red areas, you can use a highlight and lowlight. For example, over Mephiston Red, for down facing edges use Evil Sunz Scarlet, and Fire Dragon Bright on the upward facing edges to represent light hitting them. But for many areas, you only need a single highlight colour.
Stage 5: Details
Think of this as drawing with a brush. You’re adding patterns and details that aren’t built into the sculpt. This is the little brother of true freehand painting, and on this Orc, I’ve added the ‘Orcidas’ stripes, the torch emblem on one shoulder and the number on the other. Because it’s Orcs, I don’t want to be too neat, but if you’re working on a miniature that ought to look a little more perfect, you need to practice your steady hand. I also took off some of the white by using a rough old brush with a little Mephiston Red on it. This neatly leads us on to…
Stage 6: Effects
Typhus Corrosion is your friend here. This is the stage where you add the mud, rust, wear and tear. A bit of rust on the bare metal is always a nice touch, and of course a bit of mud on a Blood Bowl player is very good. In fact, after taking these photos, I went back and added a little more mud (especially to the shoes) and I sponged on some black spots and ‘wear patches’ too. I also added some ‘Ardcoat to the mud to make it look wetter, and a touch to the eye as well to give it some life.
Stage 7: Basing
Our final stage! Clean up the base (you don’t need to go green – I’m going retro for this) and keep it neat. A subtle bit of white lining on the patchy flock that was added using a little PVA glue and a quick dip in the flock box.
And that’s your lot. I love seeing how the miniature comes together under the paint. I’m getting closer to finishing the core of the Orc team so keep a look out for that, though there are a few other little bits to add to the overall squad. But more on that later. I hope that’s given you a bit of an idea regarding how I do what I do, I also hope that it might help an aspiring painter or two. But who knows. If you have any questions, stick them below, and I will do my best to answer them. Onwards!