Skip to main content

Revisiting the Mirkwood and Goblins

As it was mentioned in the previous post, I finally put clear coat on the old-style Lord of the Rings Wood Elves army, signifying that all modelling work was done.  My choice of colors wasn't the best. I tried to match green cloaks with grey/blue undershirts.  It never really worked.

But, I recently acquired a box of the new Mirkwood Rangers from 'The Hobbit' line and they are absolutely gorgeous! The box comes with ten Mirkwood elves and each one has a unique pose.  Each elf has separate body parts on the sprue so there are potentially even more ways to customize. I'm so looking forward to painting them. This time I'll definitely get some advice on the color scheme.


Also, I made progress on the Goblins from the Goblin Town box set I got last Christmas!  The box comes with 24 Goblins and I wanted to use some speed painting techniques. One technique is to apply a primer color that is not white or black. The Hobbit book suggests using the Rakarth Flesh from the Citadel line. Of course, I'll need an airbrush to push the paint onto the figures since that color was not distributed in an aerosol spray can.

I own an airbrush but had sold the compressor to a friend some time ago. So, I headed over to the local hobby store to pickup a can of areosol and some type of adapter for my Paasche airbrush. The store was sold out of that, but I did find a Testor's Military Aircraft Spray Set for a about $20. I bought that instead and figured that not much would be lost if it didn't work.

The kit is a poor man's airbrush but without a trigger mechanism to regulate the amount of air pushing through the gun.  That's fine for applying a base coat on a large amount of figs.  You put the acrylic paint of your choice into the small paint pot, screw the sprayer cap on the top of the aerosol can, click the paint pot into the sprayer and start spraying.  The results were very good! And the package came with six Testors colors. (Gunship Gray, Dark Ghost Gray, Light Ghost Gray, Neutral Gray, Olive Drab and Flat Black).  The paint applied in a nice, thin coat.  Some surfaces on the figure got missed, like the crotch area and underarms, but that's a problem for any sprayer. In fact, the Citadel paint product was the disappointment.  The paint was lumpy and thick.  I added purified water to thin out the stuff so it could push through the brush.

So, if you don't have an airbrush or are not willing to make the investment in a compressor rig, then this is an excellent and inexpensive alternative.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Blog is going on a Permanent Vacation

Ok, I haven't had any comments on this blog on an post for many, many months. The only post that seems to get any traffic is my 2015 post about Star Fleet Battles.  I don't fully understand why that post has generated so much interest, while the rest of my content has been mostly ignored.  Clearly, this has not been an successful blog. I get much more traffic with my Facebook content and the YouTube channel is showing promise. Perhaps the subjects of my posts have been too random. I may need to focus on a specific game or subject. Maybe I didn't generate enough posts to keep the audience connected. Whatever the case, I am ending this blog with this final post.  I'm calling it a 'permanent vacation' because the blog and posts will still be here, though I will not be adding any new content. I might continue to comment on the SFB post since that is still generating traffic 3 years after it was published. To anyone who might still be reading, I say 'Thank

Gulf Strike - Final Turns 26,27,28,29, and 30

The "Soviet-Persian War" continues using the Gulf Strike rules. We have reached the final turns of the scenario. Turn 30 is the last turn, when we will count the number of cities captured by the Soviets and determine the margin of victory. The Soviets currently have 10 cities captured. The US is building a supply network in southern Iran. Can they reach the Iranian cities in time to help defend? Most of the air missions and ground assaults have been reduced due to decreasing supply for both sides. Turn 26 - US/Iran still have the initiative On Land: The last few Iranian infantry brigades move toward Esfahan. The Soviets assault the city of Kashan and capture it. This is the 11th city for the Soviets. This qualifies them for a 'marginal victory'. At Sea: The US LHA carrier with a compliment of AV-8 Harrier aircraft, moves northwest to the Iranian port city of Abadan. In the Air: Harriers launch air strikes against Soviet targets approaching Ahraz, but are ineffecti

Gulf Strike - Turns 18 and 19

The "Soviet-Persian War" continues using the Gulf Strike rules . The Soviets are moving further south in Iran. The Americans now have supply chain problems. There are two points of failure. A Soviet heavy cruiser is bombarding the supply head at Diego Garcia The supply chain has been broken at Konark. Turn 18 - In Air; F-4s bomb a supply depot in Afghanistan, further weakening the Soviets there. Soviet Backfires make a conventional bombing attack on Iranian Militia in Hamadan, but the militia gets some incredibly lucky rolls and put a hit on the bombers. This forces the bombers to retreat. Su-24s provide close air support for the assault on Hamadan and Qom. On Land; SpecOps raids destroy a truck unit in Afghanistan. Soviets push out the remaining militia and capture the holy city of Qom. At Sea; The Soviet CA is finally sunk by an American SSN. This is the last Soviet naval unit in the Indian Ocean. US heavy transport ships reach the friendly port in Somalia.