Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Painting Challenge IX - Nazgul

The second bonus round of the annual Analogue Painting Challenge was for villains.  I painted up the Betrayer, from GW.  The two models have been sitting on my desk, primed, for over a year, so it seemed like it was time to get them done.

Lord of the Rings
The Betrayer, foot and mounted.

Here's the text I sent in with the images:

  These two models are my entry for the villains category.  They are foot and mounted versions of GW’s betrayer Nazgul for Lord of the Rings.  He’s often the general for my Harad army, when I’m not using Bob the Budget Nazgul.  I’ve had these two models sitting, primed, on my desk for two years.  Considering it only took a couple of hours for me to paint them up, I’m ashamed of how long they waited. 

The final picture has a couple of the Harad models included just for context.  The blue on the turban is to tie the Nazgul in with the rest of the army.  For the armor I went for bronze since it is better at looking old and decayed.  There is just a hint of green on the sword.  I attempted a green glow in the hood, and failed so utterly that I had to cover all traces of my shame with black paint.  It is remarkable how far away my attempt was from what I was trying to do.
I like how the armor came out on him.
These have a black primer with a, not very careful, Vallejo Sombre Grey highlight.  I then washed them with Leviathan Purple wash (GW).  The blue is Electric Blue (Vallejo) to match the Haradrim.  It got a black wash.

The back.  Lots of ridges and valleys on that cloak.
I'm not sure if I'll ever use these guys.  I decided he was too expensive for what he brought to the table.  Still, it's good to have choices.

The mounted version.
Both together again.
The final shot is with a couple of Haradrim.  They were already painted but I included them to show how the basing and blue turban tie the Nazgul in with the rest of the army.

The Nazgul with his minions.

11 comments:

  1. Those are cool models! The wisps of blue and bronze against the black really work for me. They do look menacing.

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    1. Thank you Jonathan. I'm glad it works for you. I like it, but you never really know if you are achieving what you want.

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  2. That was a lovely entry. All that black had to be difficult to do.

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    1. Thanks Anne. I have recently reversed how I do black. Instead of painting black and highlighting it, I normally paint it a very dark gray (Sombre Gray - 48 Vallejo Game Color) and then wash it with black. Then I go back and highlight as necessary. I've been happier with this. Having said that, I had primed these black, back when I still did that, so it was the normal highlight and wash.

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  3. This is what's really great about the Challenge and especially the bonus rounds, not only does the leadpile go down but you get all them figures that have been lurking around for an age painted up!! Great work and it'd be a shame if he never gets used??

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    1. You have a point about them not getting any play. I'll have to use them on that basis alone. I agree about the impact on the lead pile. I've done more painting in the last three weeks than I normally do in half a year. Of course that speaks more poorly about my normal output than it does well of the last three weeks.

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  4. Perfect choice for the villains theme round and beautifully painted.

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  5. It does feel good to clear the lead off. It's my favorite part of the challenge so far. Though the realization that I need a kick in the pants to paint is somewhat depressing.

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  6. Nice job - just found your blog. I like your LOTR stuff!

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