Vikings, Fjórtán!

Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers

So it has been a little while since I last wrote up a post – even though the most recent post just went up a couple of days ago I had actually written up a batch of posts last weekend and queued them up so that they would publish throughout the week using the WordPress scheduler. I haven’t done very much painting in the last week either, as I am a little bit burnt-out with the whole painting and blogging thing at the moment. I don’t think the August Challenge has worked for me all that well either unfortunately due to a combination of tiredness, work(ing late every night) and annoying weather. Usually around this time of year – September-November-ish, I’ve gotten the painting doldrums as well, so I guess that’s on cue as well.

Anyway enough of my bitching. Today I have a few more Viking models to share.
Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers
Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers
These models have been on my desk for a while now – basically since I completed the last completed Vikings that were shown awhile back. The way I’ve worked on my Vikings for the past 2 or 3 years is that there’s always a half-dozen to twenty of them on my painting desk, and as I complete the final models in one batch, I choose, clean up, base and start on the next ones – so there’s always some Vikings there to pick away at. Now, all 5 of these Vikings are berserkers – 3 male and 2 female from the various pre-set blisters available from Wargames Foundry.
Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers
Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers
While painting these models I wanted to go for a slightly more desaturated palette than usual and tone down on the amount of rich dyes that the figures were using – figuring that berserkers would be a little bit less concerned with looking Viking Fabulous and more concerned with practicality or looking a bit more workmanlike. For the same reason, their Shields are a bit duller and attempt to show some off the wood grain underneath the paint. They are also not so clean and pristine like the Shields on the rest of my Vikings, and the free hand designs are both simpler and a little rougher.
Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers
Wargames Foundry Viking Berserkers
Naturally in Saga these figures would all be armed with daneaxes and none with shields or dual weilding, but these are the figures that I have – so what are you going to do? They will be able to work as a unit in quite a few games, I’m sure and I don’t think anybody that I’m likely to play in SAGA is really going to bitch about them all that much.
One thing that’s probably worthy of note is that these berserkers are all wearing wolf pelts rather than bear pelts. A couple of the other Foundry models are clearly wearing bear pelts, but surprisingly few of them! I will show those ones off once I get them painted. Eventually. Anyway that’s enough of my rambling for today – hope you enjoyed the figures and hopefully I will have another post sorted for tomorrow!
Edit September 13: IRO posted a comment about the skin tones I’d gotten on these guys. I noticed when I saw his comment that the twitter sidebar had an image of Kota Ibushi from something I’d retweeted from New Japan Pro Wrestling. I’ve reposted the image above, because it really stuck and surprised me in terms of the skintones when I saw this pic on the sidebar next to the models – and stuck with me .

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie – Heidi Sigrsdotter (Jewel of July ’18, The Temple of Morikun Painting Competition)

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie - Heidi Sigrsdotter

This statuesque lass represents two things – firstly, my own participation for Morikun’s Competition celebrating the 1,000,000th visit to The Temple of Morikun blog. As well as (obviously) another Jewel of July for my own painting challenge. Now I’m not usually one for painting competitions these days. I have actually won a couple in the (distant) past, but the quality of competition these days is through the roof – and I’m rather pragmatic about painting competitions. If I don’t think I have a chance of winning, I don’t bother entering. I’m also realistic. I ain’t winning no Golden Demon or Crystal Brush. And so I don’t enter competitions. And I’m perfectly okay with all of that.

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie - Heidi Sigrsdotter

Morikun’s one is a little different, in that there are roughly one billion prizes, so rather than feeling like it’s unpossible, it is actually quite possible to win some small thing. And with that, it feels more relaxed, more like a painting challenge – and as any reader of this blog knows, I’m definitely up for a painting challenge. There are other very cool challenges and competitions out there right now, with some bloody amazing work towards them, but I don’t feel that I have the time for complex kitbashes and conversions right now or anytime soon, so my participation in those is limited to just enjoying the posts and photos that they’re composed of.

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie - Heidi Sigrsdotter

A bit annoying that the highlights and shading on the red of the cape haven’t turned out fully in the photos, but such is life. Anyway, the theme of Morikun’s competition is that of Ms. Morikun, represented by a feminine figure. I can get behind that, though I’d personally be dedicating my own model more towards Marouda, but like is like. Anyway, the best figures I could find for my oan aesthetic were some of my unpainted metal Adepta Sororitas, or a Shieldmaiden/Valkyrie. I went through my stash of Norsewomen, and decided to go big, picking out this model, Valkyrie – Heidi Sigrsdotter from Heresy Miniatures that I picked up with my last order to Andy.

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie - Heidi Sigrsdotter

The colour scheme was something that developed pretty much organically, with no planning – I just went entirely by “feel” on this one. My only real concern was to ensure that the colours were in keeping with my actual viking models. The very “Thor” colour scheme was simply how it all turned out, which I noticed about 3/4 of the way through the model. Given the nature of the model, this was fine by me.

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie - Heidi Sigrsdotter

One small painted change from the intent of the original sculpt I (sort of) made, was the upper chest. I genuinely thought that the breastplate continued up to under the model’s neck, where the cloak’s neck chain is. It wasn’t until partway through painting when I realised that it was meant to be a kind of comic book superheroine cleavage. So naturally I left it in the metallic colours I’d painted it in to represent armour. She doesn’t need a spear under the collarbone!

Heresy Miniatures Valkyrie - Heidi Sigrsdotter

So here we are – my submission to the Temple of Morikun and also another Jewel of July. July ends in a few hours, but the next couple of posts will be the remaining figures I finished over the final weekend in July, plus anything I manage to complete tonight before midnight.