Dwarf warrior #1: Kevnog

I couldn't finish 2012 without a post announcing what comes next year. So, let me present you my first dwarf warrior, Kevnog. As you can see, I've decided to postpone my shield issue by equipping this second unit with double-handed weapons. As I've never understood how one can handle a big axe and use simultaneously a shield, it means that their only protection will be their light armour... Problem solved (for the moment ^_^)



The painting of the scale armour was a little bit challenging, and took much more time than the usual chainmails, since I had to treat the scales one by one to get a result as clean and crisp as possible. His face was also tricky, because in the shadow of the helmet. I've used glazes of pure Vallejo Model Color Oxford Blue to darken the top part of the face, and tried to limit the highlights to GW Dwarf Flesh. And finally, to add some fantasy (ahem), I've opted for black and red stripes on the sleeves: I just hope they're not the colours of a famous football team... unless of course the players are reknown for their ferocity and their long beards :o)

My Christmas gift

A (very) small sketchbook with great drawings of dwarfs. It's not exactly cheap, but it contains some really inspiring designs for dwarven shields or banners. I'll try to use them on my upcoming warriors.

Published by Stuart Ng Books

Ten at last!

YES! With this tenth crosbowman form Marauder Miniatures, I've finally completed my first unit of dwarf crusaders (I know, the theme is still unclear, but it should improve with the addition of shields and regular troops).


And the family pictures:

Second rank

First rank

Let's see how many points this glorious regiment is worth...

Damn... only 130! And I have to paint 10 more to reach the minimum requested. Sigh...

All right, next time, I should post the first recruit for my new unit of dwarf warriors. And if I believe the army list, I'll have to paint at least 20 of them. Sigh again... 

Crossbowman number 9: Dimbo

Dimbo is the last guy of the trio I've painted for the Brush Slave League painting contest.


The tricky part of this model is the sallet: after many layers of greys, black, white, dark blue and dark red, I've finally found the places where to put the lights and shadows to get a convincing result (OK, more or less convincing). One week later, I was discovering an illustration which would have simplified my work a lot. It was published in the 3rd edition Warhammer Army Lists and it is signed by Dave Gallagher. As you can see, it clearly shows the back of my crossbowman... and his sallet!


I'll keep this picture in mind for my next NMM attempts...

Crossbowman number 8

My eighth crossbowman is a dwarf from the MM10 range, referenced DW8. I'm really happy with his face, but to be fair, Marauder Miniatures are often better sculptured than Citadel ones, which makes the painting job much easier.

So, here is the leader of my crossbowmen:

Crossbowman number 7: Brewer

This is undoubtedly one of the best dwarfs sculpted by the Perry brothers: the crossbowman reloading his weapon. I painted him a month ago for the Brush Slave League contest on Chaos Dwarfs forum, and it was my first try to do a quareller without chainmail or leather armour. So, what colours should I choose?

Eeer... as you can see, none ^_^ Since I have in mind a kind of crusading army trying to reconqueer a lost stronghold, I wanted a very simple scheme, only based on black and white. I hope it will work!

Crossbowman number 6: Jorj

So, here comes the difficult time when an Old Lead lover has to admit that oldies do not always make goodies... See this guy for instance: the only reason why I bought him twenty years ago is because he was part of Wayne England's dwarf army. But honestly, this model is really ugly :-p


The interesting point with such figures is that you can try some things you wouldn't dare on a nicer model. Here for instance, I wanted to test the Wargames Foundry viking shields, and, as you can see, they're definitely too big for dwarves (even if in this precise case, it's rather a plus, for it hides many details!). I've also tried to add some celtic designs to the black cross, by looking for inspiration in the concept arts made for the excellent animated film "The Secret of Kells". Here is an example:

(you can find plenty of them on the web, don't blame me for the copyright!)

And here is what I've tried to do (remember it's a test before booing me ^_^)