“They are the Nazgûl, Ringwraiths, neither living or dead. At all times they feel the presence of the ring…drawn to the power of the one..they will never stop hunting you.”
Here’s the first update of sorts for The Fellowship of the Ring Scenario Project. I’ve been working on Nazgûl this week, in-between everything else. When laying things out last week, I thought I had more fully-complete Ringwraiths than I actually did have. So I thought I had complete 4 regular wraiths on foot, plus The Witch King on foot, plus The Witch King mounted, plus three wraiths mounted. Turns out none of them were in 100% ready to go complete shape.
So I thought that these figures had all long been completed. That was until I got them out of a figure case and looked at them. None of these foot models or even the original trio of mounted models ever had the weathering powder applied to their robes, nor had the tufts been added to these, or the slate finished (or added in some cases) to the mounted models. The mounted Witch-King on the other hand, hadn’t had his slate painted, and had suffered some damage to his paint as a result of a base jump from a table. (Watch those waving arms near models reared up like that!) One of these regular foot Nazgûl also had fall damage that had to be repainted. FUUUUUUUUUUUU
I do have to say, though – these Ringwraiths are some of the nicer models in many ways that the Perrys ever sculpted. Just look at the Witch-King above and how threatening he looks, slowly unsheathing his Morgul-blade.
Similarly, look at how evocative this pair of wraiths look – and those aren’t even the “golden angle” of either model.
Even these “action” poses show a really effective understanding of movement and anatomy often missing from regular Warhammer models – including those sculpted by the Perrys.
So now these are done. I do have a few more models that I intend to get painted in order to make up The Nine. Unfortunately, some (most) of them are doubles of these existing models as GW only released five different sculpts initially as part of the Attack on Weathertop boxed set. It was not until quite a few years later when they released a full set of nine unique Ringwraiths, by which time they wanted at least AU$100 for it. Now AU$124. Also known as bwahahahahhahahahahhnofuckingwayforninemodelsletalonefoursculpts. No matter how nice those additional four are. And they’re pretty nice.
(Out of interest, I wonder why they don’t send me free copies of Age of Sigmar 2.0 and other product?) 😀
Next up, I guess I need to finish another four Ringwraiths on foot to complete this unit. Will I be able to “June-It” the last few? Stay tuned to find out! But first, there’s a few of their mounted versions to sort out…
Oh, and for some BTS of the process of these posts – Right now as I type all of this, it’s actually Monday Night – here’s tonight’s timeline:
Get home from work. Sit down for a bit, do some work emails (getting a quote). Send an email about some missing spray paint of my own. Realise that it’s still 11.9C degrees and maybe I can fit some spraying before it gets really way too cold.
Go outside, and look at all the crap I’ve got on the spray stocks in various states. Give the things that need a next layer/side a spray, which included the Satin coat for the OtherWorld gates (sprayed gloss for protection yesterday), as well as black on some secondhand foot Nazgul that I found, as well as Matte on 4 other models for another pair of units I want to try to get finished for June-It, and a Satin mid-spray for another 5 models for those same units. There was probably something else as well, but I’ve forgotten.
Come inside, and eat dinner. Listen to some Steve and Larson podcast. Do some basing work on both foot and mounted Nazgûl models.
Realise that the OtherWorld gates are probably dry by now, and I can probably write up a post and get it up tonight if I don’t leave it too late. So I get the camera, head out, snap some shots, then come back in and write up a post, using the Mine Gates post as a template.
Start writing up a post for the Mounted Nazgûl, before realising that I only glued slate to three of their bases this morning before work, and I’ve got to paint and varnish those fucking things before I can post them up. So I save that draft and then start a new one using that as the template. It’s (most of) the post you see above. Except.. none of the figures are actually ready yet.
So I’ve got to apply the weathering for the almost-finished foot Nazgûl, and (if they’re dry enough) start to base the other four that I just sprayed, then move them to the laundry overnight because freshly sprayed figures fucking reek of degassing propellant. Assuming that all goes well, I’ll photograph the five that are (will be) done tomorrow after work, upload this post, and then see what I can do on the other four. Also get to work on the final touches on the three almost-complete mounted Nazgûl, so I can photograph and post them on Wednesday evening. if I manage to find a pair of mounted Nazgûl that I may or may not own, I’ll be trying to complete those in time for June-It as well, not to mention the other two units I alluded to when I was talking about spraying earlier…
So when you read something like “Stay tuned to find out!” here, it’s not a hyperbolic statement based on holding back on showing a completed unit. It’s because I don’t know if I will actually have it all done or not at the time of writing – and probably at the time of posting, as well for that matter…
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
They’re great! You’re right they do look threatening. Love your black work
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Thanks mate – I’m really looking forward to having the lot of them done as they should look even more imposing as the full Nine. Fingers crossed I can get them all done this month.
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I have faith in your output
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4 on foot I *should* be able to finish tomorrow. Spray varnishing them will be the painful bit, since the polyurethane I use on these takes forever to dry/cure when it’s this cold.
2 more on horse need the black spray, so around 3pm if the forecast holds (lucky I have the day off). Then an hour or two to cure and de-smellify a bit, then paint, varnish on the last day of the month for photos a day or two after (because varnish curing in this weather)
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What varnish do use? I’m after a good matte one. Not satin MATTE!!!! I’m struggling to find a decent one.
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Yeah, finding a proper matte is a real prick of a thing. Best spray is Testor’s Dullcote, but even that is not 100% reliable. Second best is Wattyl Matt Estapol, though it’s ever-so-slightly satiny, and can yellow over time.
I’ve only ever had one really, REALLY good brush-on. A “Flames of War”-branded Vallejo dropper bottle, which, naturally is now almost empty. My other Vallejo droppers aren’t quite as matte. I got a bottle of Tamiya matt brush-on, which seems to vary between brilliant to really quite shiny – with no real rhyme or reason why.
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I know your jaw will drop but I often don’t even do a finishing varnish coat. My minis rarely get to see the playing table and seem to have stood the test of time.
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Yea, second the Testor’s Dullcote. I’ve been using that stuff for 3 decades. I think I originally got it for art class to spray on drawings or something. Then decided to use it on minis, and haven’t looked back. It doesn’t change the color too drastically. My only lament is that I don’t see it on Amazon.
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@IRO – I didn’t varnish my figures for years as I didn’t like the way it very subtly “changed” the paint colours. However, I did prefer it to the “battle damage” that wear would slowly bring them (and you bet I handle my own models carefully!)
Basically, the more they’ll be handled, the more important the varnish is. It also depends on who will handle them and how careful they are/can be trusted to be.
Metal needs varnish more than plastic because of the way the paint chips.
Terrain pieces get a heavy spray of gloss (which is more protective) followed by either satin or matte to bring down the shine.
I often also give models a mid-coat of satin (White Knight, from Bunnings) as it dries quickly and protects the model while I continue to handle it as I complete the painting. Also when I’m going to try something tricky or wash something and I want the ability to “erase” any mistakes – much easier to “Wash” a varnish coat than unstain paint.
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I think you’d pass out if you were to ever observe my painting process haha.
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Oh, the BTS here is a lot more chaotic than you’d imagine from the nice blog…
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Love the figures and as you say great sculpts too. As for the rest of your day, coming from someone who is retired, I dont know how you fit it all in!
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Well, no kids and being driven so that my mind is occupied pretty much all the time as much as possible. Not sure if the latter is the best long-term solution, but for the moment…
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Superb minis mate – with such a low level of sculptural complexity, the movement is crucial for models like this, and these minis absolutely nail it. I much prefer your faded black rather than full on black (if you know what I mean)
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Yep, it’s a testament to the Perrys’ skill that they can accomplish so much with such a limited brief. I think the worn and dusty black works well for these guys. They might be incorporeal, but their robes are very much real – and worn!
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Fantastic work on the wraiths!
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Cheers, Dave!
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These are very nice – I always find painting figures that are mostly black to be a major challenge because giving them any kind of differentiation or shading is just so hard. A question – you mentioned weathering powders. Are these pigments? I’m assuming yes, and if you would let us know how do you apply them and how do you fix them? I have some and have played with them but really not to a great extent so looking for some clues.
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There are lots of ways to use pigments. Sometimes I brush them on and use Isopropyl alchohol to fix them by loading a brush and then touching nearby so the capillary action flows the alchohol onto the pigments to “fix” them. I also have some stuff by MIG that does basically the same thing, but with more enamel (I think).
On these guys’ robes – and the base-rocks and a lot of other things, I put a tiny bit of the pigment on a palette, then put a drop or two of Vallejo Matt varnish on, mix, test it on paper to get the consistency I want (a nice semi-transparent), then apply carefully with a brush, and wipe away excess with a tissue. Too thick and it just ends up like flat paint. Oh – I also do this last – after varnishing – the pigments are really flat, so I like to keep that effect for the weathering and dust, and since I use varnish as my fixative, it’s all good to go on at the end…
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Thanks!
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So the weathering pigment was used for the muddy effect on the base of the robes? I always think of pigments as adding grainy texture. Interesting.
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Exactly right. You can mix the stuff with different fixatives to make it into “mud” but I tend to think of it’s natural state as “dust” – as it’s so fine.
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I think the LotR line was among the first stuff the Perrys did that could be more free form, and didn’t have to worry about ranking up nicely. So many old WHFB sculpts were hampered by that requirement.
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You are right on those points. On top of that they also had New Line Cinema people to keep happy, especially in those early days of the licence there were a few stories of rejected sculpts because the licenceor was not happy so allowing the Perrys to ensure that the figures had both the look and feel of the movies rates would have been more important then the fairly strict Warhammer sculpting rules of the day.
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Yea, I agree that those models are pretty amazing and your paints certainly don’t hurt them! 😀
A lot has to do with the robes lending movement to the figure. But definitely captured magnificently by the sculptors.
Great bit on the BTS work. I couldn’t juggle that many projects at once. Much fewer for me, and I have to make sure I stage stuff in a very memorable way. Usually by throwing things into plastic storage boxes in-between. Priming, I only have one batch at a time. Though I have found that priming individual sub-assembled bits and trying to keep them straight is a bit of a chore. I spread out each models bits between 2 or 3 medicine bottles, then threw a colored toothpick to remember which pieces belonged to which models. (like all the bits for one model, get blue toothpicks thrown in)
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The final four of the foot wraiths got finished and sprayed yesterday. Now I need to see how they’re faring and add some tufts, then photograph – and the foot Nazgul (basic film versions) will be complete! Also need to try and do most of the painting on the final two mounted versions in the next couple of hours so I can spray them in the brief “almost-warm-enough-to-spray” window that’s coming up – so I can have them done for tomorrow.
Anything else I get done will be a bonus!
As for the BTS – I’m lucky enough that I have dedicated space for hobby and I’m able to leave things out with only the occasional bit of cat-naughtiness to contend with. Still, though – I know what you mean about plastic storage boxes filled with unfinished figures. Trying to clear and finish them is a huge part of my own motivation for “neglected model” months.
Because of drying times for primer, I like to have a lot of stuff primed and “ready to go”. So there’s always something ready to start as I finish something else off..
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Well, not so much “boxes” on my part. I have 1 trimmed/washed box, and 1 primed box. Just so I can quickly store them in whatever stage they are at, and get to them when I’m ready to do priming or need stuff to paint. Though, like most of us, finding something to paint never seems to be a problem.
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Fair enough. I’m talking about when I’ve started figures and then for whatever reason just …never finished them. Something I’ve been trying to rectify lately.
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And doing a bang up job of it! 😀
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