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Sunday 30 December 2012

Lord of the Rings Elves - Colour Scheme Test

Ok, so with new members at the club keen to revisit Lord of The Rings SBG and with my Tolkien interest reinvigorated by The Hobbit, I have dragged out all the GW Galadhrim models sitting in the depths of my painting pile with a view to getting some on the table. Not only that, but I have found some Saga battleboards online for LOTR AND I have a hunch it could be fun using Dux Brit mechanisms with Elves, Orcs, etc, so there is some method behind my madness.

Thing is, what colour scheme to use...

I didn't want a total carbon copy of the movie/GW scheme (and anyway, I mostly use Foundry paints and Army Painter dip now, so I'd never get an exact match) so I have had a think about possible schemes and painted up 2 archer models to see which I like best. One has a movie-themed golden armour approach and the other goes with Tolkien's descriptions and silver mail, etc. Both have a grey-ish clothing and cloak vibe going on (the cloak is Foundry Night Sky light) as that is what I think of as 'Elf' colours really...

I do think my Army Painter and highlight technique works well enough. For those who haven't read about it before:
White undercoat whole model
Undercoat mail black
Drybrush mail with relevant colours
Tidy up undercoat
Basecoat in flat bright colours
Brush on Army Painter Strong Tone
Add highlights with original basecoat colours
Brush on Testors Dullcote

The only difference this time was that the clothing got very fine highlights with a lighter shade to sharpen cloak folds, creases, etc and the armour on the silver guy got a final highlight AFTER Dullcoting, just to bring up some shine which I felt was lacking. I didn't feel the gold model needed it although I might add some now just to see if it adds anything. Also, the cloak decoration was added at the highlight stage, not at the basecoat stage.

So, what do you think? Silvery armour or Gold? I'm not sure...






So, if you have a preference, do let me know. The silver model screams 'Tolkien Elf' to me but the combination of bluey grey and gold on the other chap is very nice, however the gold seems a bit overpowering of the other colours and it's the lightest I have (GW Burnished gold). Decisions, decisions...



10 comments:

Barks said...

Dilemma! I think I prefer the blue-grey and silver, as you say it is very Tolkien. The gold is a little strong compared to the soft greys.

I really like the pattern on the cloak, very clever.

Adam said...

They are both very nice, but I have a strong preference for the first, grey elf.

Springinsfeld said...

Hi Andy, since you ask I think the silver elf looks better, the gold one looks too much like the GW copy the film colours. Of course they are both superbly painted, but the silver ones screams Tolkien to me. Great armour isn't it? A slightly art-deco look to it. Happy New Year

Dalauppror said...

Looking good Andy

but my vote will be for the Silver one.

Using Dux Brit for LOtR are a realy good Idea

take a look at this blog, they done it: http://getitpainted.blogspot.se/2012/10/dux-britanniarum-first-attempt.html

Happy New Year !

Best regards Michael

Anibal Invictus said...

Amazingly painted!! Silver for me. And Happy New Year

Mike Whitaker said...

Silver :D - perhaps you could ink wash with a very thin blue or green on top of the armour?

I'll clearly need to finish up my Rohirrim and work out how big a force I need.

Matt said...

Good work there Andy!

I like both figures but have a preference for the silver scheme rather than the gold.

Look forward to seeing more.

Matt

Stephen said...

Another one for silver ;-)

Joseph S. Ramirez said...

Gotta say silver. Great paint job on both, though. But silver's my vote.

Unknown said...

I think the silver hmmm but i like the gold too lol sorry i'm not being much help am i?

Yeh gotta be silver - awesome painting, love the freehand. Following your blog!!!

Happy New Year
DMS
http://www.thedeadmarshes.com