As I write this, it is very cold where I live. It feels like -10 F or -23 C. Tomorrow is going to be colder in both literally and because of something else going on. Most of you can probably guess what I’m referring to. Because I don’t want publish an article with that as my “backdrop”, I’m rushing this article out tonight to counteract some of the negative things we’re likely to see both tomorrow and over the next four years.
As the title suggests, Grunthal continues on and fortunately, I’ve made some good progress yet again. It took some work and adjustments but let me share some photos.
As you can see the horn and metal accoutrements are done. Both took an initial attempt and then some adjustments to get looking like this. As I probably mentioned last week, I was worried about the horns as they looked to be tough to paint well. They mix freehand with some sculpted details but also take some careful work when it comes to getting the highlights right. With the ends of the horns done now, I think they have pretty interesting and varied textures. The focus in the photo above is on the face so its hard to see the details well but hopefully the picture below shows it better.
It took some meticulous stippling to get the horn looking that way but I think it matches the look of cow horns fairly well and it makes the bust look visually interesting as well. The main reason I took this photo is to show the secondary reflection on the cheek. This is something you would likely only do on a bust and its adds a little extra realism when done right. Obviously, this is my first attempt at this sort of thing and its funny because it looks pretty good from the front but not quite right from this side. I’ve still got to work out how to get that looking right. Lastly, the metal parts looked quite dull on my initial attempt and I realized it once I painted the reflection on his skin and so that pushed me to go back and try to adjust their coloring and make it brighter which I think improved them thankfully. Its funny how things work out sometimes.
Other than fixing the reflection on his face, I’m ready to work on either the fur or his hair. I’m thinking that his hair will probably be best to tackle next as I’m constantly bumping the back of the bust into my hobby table while painting and I will keep doing that until I’m done with the front of the miniature. The end certainly seems to be in sight now and I look forward to getting Grunthal done successfully as well. John put me up to the idea of a Fallout February so perhaps I’ll finish the bust in time to do some damage there as well! I’m looking forward to getting some Fallout stuff completed though I’m going to have to be patient for a little while yet.
Lastly, I’ll briefly mention that GW revealed a lot of new models recently including some I’ve been waiting years for them to make. I haven’t painted a GW model in quite some time now and don’t have almost any lined up for future projects but I was still excited to see both new and old models returning. Perhaps the least exciting, in that the new sculpts don’t do much for me, is the return of the High Elves in the Old World. I painted a fair few elves in my fairly brief Warhammer Fantasy career and I always enjoyed the miniatures, including the ones below.
I think they paint up well no matter your skill level and the sculpts have mostly aged very well. If there is a part that hasn’t aged so well, its the faces which are pretty simple and kind of ugly by modern standards.
Having said that, I’d love to paint up a Dragon Prince if I can snag a single miniature. I think these would be fun to paint and give you a great canvas for TMM or NMM painting. They’re not as well suited for displays bases or dioramas like I’d like but I’d still consider giving them a go.
The vast majority of the High Elves sculpts are rereleases and the new sculpts aren’t especially exciting so there isn’t too much else to say about them.
I was very surprised to see that the Emperor’s Children are finally get updated. I painted up quite a few of them for Warhammer 40k and really enjoyed them. I think the sculpts were old in the early 2000’s when I was painting them and obviously its been a bit since then.
I do think GW’s approach to Emperor’s Children is different than how I tackled them. I went with bright, pinks and purples and kind of liken the faction to being evil elves as strange as that is to say because they’re evil space marines of course. GW went for a much more muted color palette overall which I can certainly understand. I think it probably broadens their appeal among the predominantly masculine player base.
This is quite a nice model and I’d be tempted to put my own spin on it, if I purchased it. The Noise Marines are closer to the aesthetic, I’m thinking of. Their guns look pretty nice as well.
In the last year, its been pretty rare for me to even think about buying and painting a new GW mini but with these latest releases, Games Workshop has me considering it. Not that I’m lacking in miniatures I want to buy or paint or anything! If anything, it shows you how strong of a pull nostalgia is in our hobby and how effectively GW wields it.
Kuribo's Painting 
The horns look fantastic on the bust Jeff, all the extra effort paid off, not sure on the reflective highlight on the cheek, it looks too much like he has a metal plate on the side of the face, perhaps if you muted it down with a skin colour glaze over it, especially around the edges, where it may need two goes.
Have seen some of the new models, and nice to see the EC finally get a proper range, can’t decide if I want to add to that army, so will have to wait and see how I feel about it later ! LOL
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I’m really glad to hear you also like the horns. I think they may end up “making” the bust in the end. I’ve been ruminating on the reflective highlight on the cheek and ultimately decided to remove it out of a sense of caution. I might have been able to fix it but I figured it was safer to try that again on a different bust. I want to make sure this one gets done and done well and trying to get that right would have been a gamble.
Hopefully the new sculpts fit in scale-wise with the older models. I could see them sticking out a bit as GW has generally gone bigger in more recent times with marines. Now maybe the Dark Eldar can get another update and some new minis too!
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Grunthal is looking excellent sir the horns have come out great!
and -23C is way too cold keep warm!
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Thank you, Lord Commander, sir! It is no fun when it gets this cold for sure. If I can get through Tuesday, things will start to get better, thankfully.
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Keeping up on blogs vs watching news today. Your work on the horns and the metal on them is paying off, very nice! The side view is a bit distracting though.
My desktop computer got jealousy of your new setup and decided to go black on me, not even the courtesy of a blue screen. After a new hard drive and the joy of adding programs again it’s back up.
GW has upped their game lately with the new figures, I’m tempted on the new LOTR ones but so far have held off buying them.
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I wasn’t tempted to watch any of the festivities either. Thank you for the kind words as well. I gave up on what I was trying to do with the secondary reflection and repainted that section this evening. If I can remember, I’ll talk about it a bit more in my next update.
I’m glad you got your computer up and running! I lost a hard drive on my previous computer during the pandemic and its not a fun or cheap repair to make, unfortunately.
Games Workshop crank out so many miniatures and there’s almost always bound to be something in there that you like. That is one thing that they probably don’t get enough credit for.
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That’s it, Jeff, blame me for Fallout February! 😉 Nice work on Grunthal – the horns do look really good!
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Haha, one should always be careful what kind of ideas they share, John! At least I’m not pressuring you participate in the challenge and paint something. Thank you for your kind words as well! 🙂
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I take 2 months off from blogging. Come back and it feels like you’re working on the same bust. lol.
but looking FAN-TAS-TIC.
especially the horns and the eyes. 😀
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There’s an easy explanation for that. I’ve been painting slowly to wait for your return! 😉 Thanks for the kind words as always too. There isn’t too much left to go on the bust now but I’ll spoil this weekend’s update and say that its going to need another week at least before I can consider it done.
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Keep going with the positivity. There may be some dark moments in the next four years but someone may turn to this page and have it light up their life. Keep on going with Grunthal too, he continues to look amazing!
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One week later, there’s already a lot of reasons for concern but I will do what I can to stay positive. I shall keep working on the bust. I keep saying there’s not long to go and I realize that there is a fair bit of work left but I’ll finish this project eventually 🙂
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Wow, -23 is chilly! I’ve been out in temperatures that low but somehow the thought of it being that cold in town rather than out in the wilderness* makes it seem even worse. Keep warm buddy!
* You do live in town don’t you?
I’ve got a few old High Elves which I’ve never painted and part of me wants to get a few more. However I’m trying to remind myself that I’ve already got 4 WHFB armies and I don’t need another (and if I do it’ll be Empire… or maybe Wood Elves…). Plus I’ve not painted those High Elves in 15 years so I can’t be *that* excited about them can I…? Now the Emperor’s Children on the other hand are gorgeous. I’m going to have to find some money in the budget for a few of those somehow…
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Things have gotten warmer since I wrote this, thankfully! I live in a big city though it is known as the “Windy City” and that is not so great in the winter 🙂 The population where I live is over triple the amount of Glasgow which was a shock to me.
4 WHFB armies?! That is very impressive, mate! If I can claim to know you (which is perhaps a dubious claim on my part), then I would recommend you not go for High Elves. I just don’t see them being your speed. Now I would say the Wood Elves could be a great fit for you and selfishly, I’d love to see it. And as for the Emperor’s Children, absolutely. Buy them all and paint them all! I’d love to see your take on them 😀
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I always take an interest in your weather at this time of year, because if you’re getting snow then within the fortnight it will have rolled its way across the Atlantic to us. If you get bad storms in the States it’s a wee early warning for me to prepare.
See that’s very wise re the High Elves. I think I keep falling into the trap of going “well, I’ve got about 700 points of High Elves, might as well round it up to a thousand right… Right..?”. And I did enjoy the 1 solitary model that I actually painted. But like you say they’re not really my thing, and I only own them because they were free with the Island of Blood Skaven.
Yup, 4 armies (or 3 and a half I guess – the Vampire Counts are pretty thin on the ground). Skaven (the big one), Orcs and Goblins (expect to see plenty of these in Orctober – you may recall I started adding the Orc contingent last Orctober), and Dwarves (sadly neglected – I own plenty of them but there’s not many painted and I need to do something about that soon).
As for the Emperor’s Children I think that’s a must to round out my Chaos armies! 😀
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That’s very smart, mate. I can definitely see it tipping you off to potential problems.
And not to pat myself on the back but I must be a good friend if I’m actually talking you out of painting one of my favorite factions 😀
That is very impressive and while Vampire Counts are a favorite of mine, I’d like to see you paint some dwarves up. I reckon you can handle those wee lads pretty well 🙂 That goes double for Emperor’s Children. Why not collect them all?! Its what the chaos gods would want!
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