I can’t explain it but I do really love painting minis in the fantasy genre. I don’t necessarily read tons of fantasy books but if you give me a high quality sculpt of an elf or dwarf, I’ll probably enjoy painting it more often than not. Today’s post is unusual because I have two things to show off which represent my painting at the highest level and I think it is appropriate that it is in the fantasy genre since I enjoy it so much.
If you’ve been following this site for a while, you’ve seen this guy as a WIP a couple of times. Theoden started off as a potential entry into the Golden Demon which was going to be held at Adepticon here in Chicago but unfortunately, it didn’t go to plan. Adepticon was cancelled due to coronavirus and this mini didn’t come together the way that I wanted to. I do think this mini opened up a door in my mind to new painting techniques which I’ll explain a bit more later on. I had Theoden around 80% done and really only had his sword to paint and I just could not pull off the kind of fancy painting on his sword that I hoped to achieve. I tried 3-4 times until I got frustrated and set Theoden aside. This was before Adepticon was cancelled and in a way, it was a bit of relief to find out that Golden Demon wasn’t happening as I don’t feel like I missed something by not entering this mini in the competition.
Several months later, I wanted to knock something off my hobby table that was unfinished because I was in-between projects and I had a lot of clutter there as I talked about last post. I picked up Theoden and painted his sword in a less fancy but solid enough scheme and it felt really good to finally get him done. It was like a burden was lifted off my shoulders and a goal was finally met even if I couldn’t quite see it through. I might have made his base look a bit fancier by buying some flock perfectly suited to Rohan but I couldn’t justify spending money on a large amount of flock that I’d likely never use again. I am really proud of the face and his shield. The mini may be small but it is packed with details and requires a steady hand to paint successfully. It is hard to pick a mini and say it is the best thing I’ve ever painted but even with the sword not being my absolute best work, I think Theoden is certainly up there.
But… I might be working on something even better than Theoden. I’m really pushing my skills and trying to get better at Non-Metallic Metal painting on this Scibor dwarf. I’m sharing a sneak peak as his shield and axe still need to be painted. He is not on his final base yet either which should be impressive when done. I have a bit of a history with Scibor dwarves but I’ll save that for the next post I have where I show the finished mini. I’ve been working a couple weeks on him now and I’m really enjoying the fact that I can focus on this guy but not feel any pressure to get painting or terrain done for gaming. Its not that I can’t work more on that, its just that I have the time and desire to slow down and paint this guy to the best of my abilities so I’m going to do that. I hope this teaser gets you excited to see more and I look forward to showing off more progress. I don’t want to jinx it but I think you can see why I think I might be outdoing Theoden (and maybe even Codsworth too for that matter) with this one š
Kuribo's Painting 
Those are both very nice indeed! š Not sure I could pick a favourite between the two of them!
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Many thanks, John! My favorite is usually whatever I’ve painted best most recently š
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You have every reason to be proud, your Theoden looks great!
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Great to hear you are doing well and enjoying painting (again). They look great, as Grumpygnome says you have every reason to be proud. š
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Thanks Gero! Painting has been great lately and I appreciate your kind words. I hope you’re making good painting progress as well š
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I appreciate it and I’m glad you like Theoden as well š
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Theoden is looking great there mate – well done on getting him complete. It’s always a nice feeling of achievement to finally finish off a model that has gotten ‘stuck’ for awhile – and especially so when the result is so nice.
The Scibor dwarf is looking great as well. Lots of potential there… š
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I appreciate it, mate. I don’t usually set aside minis (if I do, I don’t often go back to them) so it is a nice feeling to finish something like this that I put a lot of time into. As for the Scibor dwarf, indeed. I’m very excited to get him painted and then onto a fancy base š
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Two very nice mini’s indeed and easy to see why you are pleased with them. Fantasy figures was not something I had a great deal of interest in until a couple of years ago. Not entirely sure how I got into them, probably the need to do something different and with so many blogging buddies into them as well I think that influenced me too. So glad I did though. The appeal for me is simply that there are no rules. You get to use all the colours of the rainbow and not just drab colours like khaki. Key of course is having great figures to paint as well, it isn’t easy to pick out the detail if it is not there in the sculpt and you have chosen two nice figures here.
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You’re spot on about the freedom to paint as you wish. While Lord of the Rings is typically painted more to match their movie counterparts, most other fantasy minis have no rules and so you can really play around with bold color schemes. I’d also second your comment on having nice details too. I’d also recommend that you try a Games Workshop sculpt if you ever see one that catches your eye. My painting friends used to always tell me that painting Warhammer or 40k minis would be good for me and while I resisted it for a while, it turned out to be true. They help push your skills and make you a better painter.
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Wow, that Theoden is simply fantastic. I must admit, despite growing up with the books and loving the films, I’ve never been that interested in Lord of the Rings miniatures (especially odd given how much I love other fantasy ranges). That said when I first saw that Theoden it really blew me away, they’ve been doing some outstanding models for the range lately and that’s one of the best in my view. You’ve done a really cracking job on him as well, it would definitely have been a worthy entrant for Golden Daemon. Always nice when you’ve had a miniature hanging over your head as it were, something that you just can’t quite finish, and finally the stars align and you can finally get over whatever’s been holding you back – especially when the results look this good! š
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Thanks, Wudugast š I agree that Theoden is probably the best character they’ve done, though the Eomer might give him a run for his money and Saruman also looks really good. I’d say if any of the newer minis catch your eye, give ’em a shot. The new plastics and FW minis are all pretty good from what I’ve seen. I appreciate your kind words on the the paint job and it really has been a relief to see him done and done well enough that I can be proud of the finished product. My hope is that I’ll be able to paint some things that look even better in the future š
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Great painting on these two miniatures.! Theoden is especially nice. And is easily my favorite. The other guy looks great and I can see a ton of little details, but Iām distracted by the beard.
I never really thought about having a favorite genre to paint. I guess that bc painting is more of a means to and end for me. But as people say above and you know, a well sculpted miniature in any genre makes it easy and fun to paint. I guess I prefer more realistic historical miniatures bc they tend to have less stuff on them. š
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Thanks as always, Stew š I’m glad you aren’t tired of seeing Theoden as I’m sure this is at least the 3rd or 4th post he has been in. Hopefully, the beard isn’t too distracting as I get the dwarf done haha. It is true that it is quite magnificent!
Well said on genre when it comes to minis. Historical minis do tend to be more straightforward but painting all that khaki for modern wars could be tedious too. Either way, I enjoy seeing and painting both which I’m sure is one reason why we enjoy following each other’s work!
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Outdoing Theoden will give you something very special!
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Thanks, Toad! Much appreciated š
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