Cervum Studio

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DWARF TREASURE HUNTERS

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So this here is probably the first successful 28mm project I've painted this year? I'll be honest since getting the 'rona last November I've really struggled with getting back into the hobby. I've painted a few things around Mando, but all of them have ended up going disastrously wrong at some stage and being binned offer. These might have taken me far longer than was reasonable for 17 models, but it is nice to have a win.

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As you can probably tell by not having to see me finger-blasting ever photo I've also finally invested in a lightbox! I am definitely going to need to practice with this going forward, but it should hopefully mean I can take some better pics of upcoming projects. Thankfully dark pics are both in-keeping with the theme and hide the mediocrity of my painting!

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The models themselves are from Hasslefree and are full of old school charm. I've always leant more towards the oldhammer dwarves with the Saxon/Norman influence rather than the latter WFB cartoon viking style and the sculpt of these are just lovely. Nothing really new technique wise on these but tried to focus on a limited muted pallete and refining a few techniques. They might not be my best work but I'm happy I've learnt and progressed.

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#mordheim #cityofthedamned #mordheimunda #warhammer #warhammerfantasybattles #WHFB #dwarves #treasurehunters #gimmiedatwyrdstone

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I can finally show off @indishobbies much belated Xmas/Birthday present that I've been working on since the beginning of December. I am nothing if not fashionably late/have awful time keeping.

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Given everyone that follows this page will be at least somewhat geeky, he needs no introduction:

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Din Djarin, The Mandalorian, and Grogu by @skull_forge_studios (printed to 200% by Proteus 3D Modelling)

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Plinth courtesy of @taromodelmaker, although you can't see it the quality and service was also excellent.

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I've been struggling with the hobby since getting Covid back in October, especially as I then messed up my Batman project, but this chap completely reinvigorated my love for painting. The print is absolutely flawless and the highest quality I've seen. I would describe the sculpt as simple but in no way in a bad sense; it almost felt like it was painting itself. That being said I did mess up the armour repeatedly which I feel detracts a little, but it looks better in person. The armour is actually satin varnished so in person it reflects the light and has a nice shine. The pics are also a little washed out as I still haven't bought a bloody lightbox...

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Now, both @indishibbies and @aett_hobby have been bullying me into starting Legion for a while. Having had such fun painting this and watching an unhealthy amount of The Clone Wars recently I am completely sold. Expect to see at least two armies later this year...

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#themadalorian #mandalorian #thisistheway #dinfjarin #grogu #starwars #bookofbobafett #bountyhunter #jedi #tatooine #starwarslegion #SWL #legion #wargaming #miniatures #hobby #painting

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The weekend just gone saw my annual pilgrimage with @indishobbies to 'WAR of the Ring' hosted by the Wargames Association of Reading at their WARFARE show. Delayed from 2020, this year saw the first time at the Royal Ascot Racecourse and what an event!

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The W.A.R. lot did an exceptional job running the event. Smooth running throughout both days (even if Clubley broke the spreadsheet so still not sure where I came... probably for the best? *EDIT: 46/80*), plenty of time to browse the many vendors and look at the other systems but not long enough to get bored between games. Tables were nicely spaced and it was comfortable throughout. The venue was stunning, as would be expected. I would thoroughly recommend anyone interested try and get along next year!

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I only managed to grab three pics of my games on Day 1, but across both days all were great against like minded opponents. Ended up with 2 Win/1 Draw/3 Loss, which I was happy with. Isengard are not my army, but the dwarves did well. Plus I got to play Scott for the fourth year in a row (whose awesome Eagles are in the last slide) in game 3, whose Harad my Moria Dwarves are fighting in Lake Town. Obviously.

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Hopefully the apocalypse eases off a bit next year and it won't get cancelled. If I can only get to one event it'll be WAR.

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#lotrsbg #hobbitsbg #lordoftherings #thehobbit #thesilmarillion #gbhl #paintingwarhammer #wahammer #fantasy  #gamesworkshop #citadel #dwarf #dwarves #khazad #isengard #urukhai #uruk #orc  #wargaming #hobby #painting

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In total it comes to 1559pts in total, but because of the Age and ally restrictions it would only ever be run at 1200pts without Balin/Floí/Gimli/Drar*.

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Given that this was meant to only be a Battle Company I over-committed... again... have you noticed a trend here? I'd still like to build a table for them, but money is am issue at the moment so that might have to wait a while.

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So long as I can get the new weekend off work these boys will be my force for WAR 2021 this year. I'm super happy with the list, despite a resounding loss to @aett_hobby's Lothlorien yesterday.

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*Murin would act as a Captain or more likely King. The latter remains the sleeper unit in the list and for me an auto-include.

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#lotrsbg #hobbitsbg #lordoftherings #thehobbit #thesilmarillion #gbhl #paintingwarhammer #wahammer #fantasy  #gamesworkshop #citadel #dwarf #dwarves #wargaming #hobby #painting

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It makes a perfectly legal green allied force up to 4000pts* of Rivendell, White Council (if you allow for Thranduil as per original), Fellowship and Eagles. That is less impressive when you realise about 2k is heroes but still...

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When you consider that this was intended as a small 500pts force for WAR 2017 I think it is fair to say I've over committed!

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*Not exactly as pictured here as it involves mounting the three Elven lords, two Captains, two banners and Saruman.

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#lotrsbg #hobbitsbg #lordoftherings #thehobbit #thesilmarillion #gbhl #paintingwarhammer #wahammer #fantasy  #gamesworkshop #citadel #elf #elves #wargaming #hobby #painting

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Having finally reunited him with his rightful owner (@indishobbies) after an embarrassingly long time I can actually post something on here that isn't Lord of the Rings!

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Having been a massive fan of @spectreminiatures since they dropped I've always wanted to paint some of their stuff, but because I'm poor and overspend on my other armies I've never been able to justify picking up some. After how much fun I had on this chap I think that might change! I'm a big @blackpowerredearth fan so will likely go for their Ember Team, although they might end up as a Police Gang Unit.

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Due to more than passing resemblance to a certain John Wick, specifically the post-capture scene in the first movie I tried to replicate that as accurately as possible. Turns out painting a model that is entirely dress in back is an utter cunt, who'd have thought?

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The picture isn't the best as he's tiny, but in person there are five different shades of black. I used Contrast Bassilcanum Grey (which is amazing) as the base for the suit, and Contrast Black Templar for the shirt/shoes, both of which were highlighted up with different shades of VMC grey. The 416 and pistol were Darkstar Bassalt (I think?) with Black Templar over the top. Skin was done with Reaper Triads, which remain my favourite paints to use.

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Super quick to paint he took a couple of hours over two days. Nothing special but a nice easy win. Expect a few more miscellaneous models over the next few weeks as I'm taking a break from batch painting after the projects that dominated the past few years.

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#johnwick #babayaga #theboogeyman #imthinkingimback #spectreminiatures #keanureaves #hk416 #hk320 #wargaming #painting #hobby

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I sourced the classic Thranduil model off eBay for a bargain price a while back. Although I can't run him I always felt that he was missing from the old school White Council build. Overall a lovely model to paint and I went with a more autumnal theme versus the greens used on the Lothlorien lot. For some reason I had a mare painting the face though...

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@indishobbies hobbies kindly donated me Gildor Inglorioan as he was the missing hero for the army. Somehow he ended up persuading me to paint the awful pajama elf models too, so at least I have a warbamd of Noldorian Exiles to run around with him. I am a little bummed I can't take Sentinels with him mind.

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The Captain and banner were kindly donated by @aett_hobby after finding them in his loft. I don't think I need a third of either but you never know!

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The Eagles were a spontaneous purchase. I already have two but struggle to field them as I'm not a fan of Radagast. Refusing to pay for the FW model I painted one as a bald eagle and put him on a bigger base with some suitably heroic rocks to act as a budget Gwahir.

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After it dominating my hobby for the past 15 months (well, 3.5yrs actually) I'm going to take a bit of a break from LotR and work on some other things for a while. I want to try and improve my painting so will be trying my hand at a few misc. models I've got before starting another proper project in a few months time.

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#rivendell #whitecouncil #mirkwood #thranduil #theeaglesarecoming #lotrsbg #hobbitsbg #mesbg #lordoftherings #thehobbit #thesilmarillion #gbhl #paintingwarhammer #wahammer #fantasy  #gamesworkshop #citadel #elf #elves #wargaming #hobby #painting

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I am currently in that weird phase between projects; waiting for bits to turn up so I can start the next but not really having enough time to do something else. Turns out my Elves are getting expanded more than I intended! 😅

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That being said this has given me the chance to roll some dice with friends. Yesterday saw my first ever game against @aetthobby. Despite being friends for years this was the first time we have ever managed to play each other and it was a cracking game. It was also Phil's first proper game in over a year too, so it was awesome to be able to facilitate that. I've only stolen two of his pictures though, as the others just show my dwarves being slaughtered... Hopefully my game against @indishobbies tomorriw goes a bit better!

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Speaking of friends; @does_a_bear_paint_in_the_woods was very generous and hooked me up with some terrain when I bought the ballistae off him. With a spare set of rest days over my birthday weekend and nothing else to do I was able to smash through those. For something so simple he's done a cracking job and they were fun to paint.

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There are also two hills I made years ago, painted months ago and have am only posting now. I am nothing if not efficient.

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #angmar #orcs #troll #burdur #spirits #barrowhite #fuckparalyse #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby #terrain

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PART 6

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TWO HEROES I CAN'T USE AND A BALLISTAE

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Firstly a massive thanks goes put to @indishobbies and @doesabearpaintinthewoods for getting me these models. Absolute legends.

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I was originally planning to be done when the first 57 models were finished for this project, but with five of the awesome @Generationshift92 bases going spare it would have been rude to leave them empty. Given the dwarves' ally matrix is crap it limited my options somewhat. I'd have liked a Kings Champion, but those go for silly money in metal, even from mother Russia.

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Unfortunately I cocked up the oil wash, so these are a little darker/different shade than the others models but it isn't too noticeable. Most annoyingly it has messed with the flesh tones, so they don't look as good as normal either. I also cooked up the photos, so... yeah... crap pics of a crap paint job!

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This now brings the army portion of this project to a close. 62 models in total, which is actually comparable to my other LotR projects. Next on the table I am returning to Rivendell having scored some of that rare shit on a fluke eBay search...

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby

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PART 5

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DWARF WARRIORS

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How about a little post-Night Shift post to start your day (and end mine)?

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It seemed only fitting for the last post to be the code warriors of the army and the backbone of any force. Much like the Khazad Guard these sculpts are a brilliant representation of dwarves in my opinion and still hold up so well despite them being years old.

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Uninteresting story for you: The whole impetus for this army came from @indishobbies hobby giving me a bunch of his old metal dwarves in an effort to persuade me to start Battle Companies. I'm not sure exactly how he managed to repose some of these, but it does add a degree of variety to them. It escalated quickly. I actually owe a massive amount of thanks to him and @doesabearpaintinthewoods for helping me get this together.

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A derail that is probably missed on the pictures is that, along with alternating the black/white dominance is that the quartering on the shield similarly alternates. I did the same thing on the Vault Warden Teams. It isn't much but is something, and probably one of my favourite things about this scheme!

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Expect a little bit of a respite whilst I wait for the ballistae to show. Hopefully as I only have five models to do I can get them finished over the next month ready to head back to Rivendell...

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby

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PART 4

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IRON GUARD & VAULT WARDEN TEAMS

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In my opinion some of the weaker models in the classic Khazad-Dum range; the Iron Guard and Vault Warden Teams.

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Strangely in their first outing I had terrible luck with the VWT on one flank whereby sodding elves cut down the D9 shield in their first round of combat, but one of the spearman pissed off Rumil enough to force him to use a point of might to kill him.

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The Iron Guard are probably my least liked models in the Khazad-Dum range. They're inexplicably larger (noticeably) than the other dwarves, and their weapons don't match the style of the others. That being said they're awesome on the tabletop so there's no way they don't feature in a list.

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby

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PART 3

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KHAZAD GUARD

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For me the Khazad Guard are the seminal unit of the Khazad-Dum line. They embody the aesthetic of the dwarf army down to a T. That being said it was really interesting when painting them to note the three distinct styles (and one would assume different sculptors?) within the range.

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In their first outing I ran them as Hearth Guard (giving them 'Burley') and they PUT IN WORK! Well, at least for one turn where I could roll more than a 3...

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby

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PART 2

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HEROES

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Okay, let's start milking this army for content! As with my Rivendell/White Council army the real joy of the classic LotR sculpts comes in the form of the heroe models. This army was no different and these were great fun to paint.

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From a scheme sense I wanted them to stand out from the rest of the army, as the size of the models coupled with the scheme doesn't make for ready identification on the table. Hence the red capes which I think gives them a real pop compared to the rank and file.

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Durin

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Mardin - Of note I think he has a really disappointing profile. For who he is I'd expect a little more; Heroic Defense/Strike would be a welcome addition, and/or the option to use his full attacks and heroics whilst in support would make him far more interesting. I'd happily pay more for that too.

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Balin

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Floí - I don't know why the picture is so off. I just couldn't get a good one of him. There is writing in the book too, not that you can see it...

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Gimli, son of Gloín - In hindsight I wish I'd got one of the sculpts with a cape so that I could have painted him more in line with the other heroes.

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Dwarf King (Gloín) - According to the Internet this King was meant to be Gloín?

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2x Dwarf Captains

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2x Banner Bearers - I went with green capes as they're not heroes so can't have red ones, and the green doesn't detract too much from the monotone scheme of the army.

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby

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PART 1

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Fuck me it's done.

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I started on this army back around July time last year, however through a combination of work and the relationship I was in at the time I rarely had any time to hobby. However, having become single again before Christmas and in a effort to stave off the crushing loneliness of my daily existence I've been powering away at these guys since then.

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As of yesterday they got their first outing against @indishobbies WIP Lothlorien, which seems fitting given what he sent me the other month. 800pts Contest of Champions saw Durin facing off against Celeborn and, four hours later, we had a well earned draw with what is possibly one of the best games of MESBG I've ever played.

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It wouldn't be one of my models if I were happy with the paintjob, and these are no exception. On the table I am really happy with how they come together as an army; the snow bases (via @generationashift92) make otherwise quite drab models pop and the variety helps add diversity to an otherwise quite limited sculpt pool. However, individually I feel I've let myself down, esepcially after having quite a strong start.

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I tried a few new things with these for the first time; namely Contrast and the oil filter. Word of advice; when practicing a new technique for the first time don't do it on a 57-strong army! Hell; these are the third iteration of bases! The project as a whole was thus plagued by set-backs (caused by my own hubris; surprisingly apt) and prior to varnish I was honestly so unhappy with how they looked I almost stripped them, but couldn't quite face the prospect of starting again. That being said; having now seen them all together on the table I am glad I didn't. The project as a whole has been a massive learning curve and I am looking forward to developing what I got from these stumpy bois. @aett_hobby can finally have a break from my bitching!

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#lordoftherings #lotr #silmarillion not #thehobbit #tolkien #middleearth #dwarves #dwarf #khazad-dum #moria #mistymountains #gimli #mithril #dangerousovershortdistances #gbhl #middleearthstrategybattlegame #mesbg #lotrsbg #warhammer #paintingwarhammer #painting #hobby

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ASTRAL CLAWS, Pt.2

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These are the regular line infantry of the force. I had a some spare Forgeworld bits lying around that I've sprinkled through the models to add some variety. Personal favourites are the Mk5 and the shooting Mk7.

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I also used this as a excuse to paint up some Steel Legion models too as they have been favourites of mine for a while, but certain parts (hands!) haven't aged so well. Interesting they scale really well alongside original Space Marine models. Personally I have never been a fan of Marines being ginormous.

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#astralclaws #tyrantslegion #badab #badabwar #backtobadab #spacemarines #adeptusastartes Not #new40k #old40k #best40k #warhammer #40k #paintingwarhammer #gamesworkshop

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ASTRAL CLAWS, Pt.1

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First of my 2020 hobby resolutions completed, what? Six months into the year? That's not too bad when you consider it has been sat on the shelf for the last three years...

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Originally this was built to play Shadow War: Armageddon off a load of old Space Marines I had lying around and a few additions. I believe it would still be a legal force for Kill Team, so I might try that.

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I tried a few new things with this project. I messed up the armour which really means the finish isn't as I hoped, but I feel I'm beginning to progress a bit and will definitely be trying to refine these new techniques.

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I am loving the recent focus some in the community are putting on the Badab War, but credit where credit is due this little project was inspired by the incredible work of @pizzagrenedier. I've been following him for a while and would encourage anyone else interested in narrative 40k to do the same.

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This is the 'elite' element of the force. Veteran Sergeant, Vanguard (Raptor), Terminator and the special weapons. Pt.2 will be the lackies.

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#astralclaws #tyrantslegion #badab #badabwar #backtobadab #spacemarines #adeptusastartes Not #new40k #old40k #best40k #warhammer #40k #paintingwarhammer #gamesworkshop

In my defence I've had a lot going on with changing job, the associated (ongoing) training and general life! Oh, and also the end of the world, but apparently I'm 'essential' and anti-social so that's actually had zero impact on my day-to-day life...

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Back to the miniature: @indishobbies gave me this chap to paint up as a Christmas present for his brother back in January and I've slowly been chipping away at him these past few months on the odd weekend where I've been free. I am always hyper-critical of my work but will he is probably one of, if not the best miniature I have ever painted. It was hard to see him go but good to get him home. I think I've finally sorted my varnish issue too!

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Next up in the queue are some more miscellaneous models, with my #shadowwar #armageddon Astral Claws Kill-Team coming next once I stock up of a few sundries next month.

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#legolas #middleearth #mesbg #lotrsbg #hobbitsbg #lordoftherings #thehobbit #thesilmarillion #lothlorien #mirkwood #amonhen #takingthehobbitstoisengard #gbhl #paintingwarhammer #wahammer #fantasy  #gamesworkshop #citadel #elf #elves #wargaming #hobby #painting