Men of the North.

[steve_pickstock]

While tidying ready for Christmas I chanced on a box of Wargames Factory Viking Huscarls. Now, I have no memory of when or how these were acquired or even why, but they were and I had forgotten about them.
So my first thought was to put them together with some other spares and make a Dragon Rampant Men of the North army. This is basically a generic human army with a viking bent.

And of course this got out of hand really really quickly.

I have to wait until Christmas and New Year have gone, and then there is Mrs P's birthday - early in January - to get out of the way before I can start work but ther was nothing to stop me thinking - am I right?

So now I have this fellow on order - a Reaper Bones Frost Giant Bodyguard - he'll be a Greater Warbeast.

Not sure how he's going ton be painted yet either icy tones or more normal colours - but I kind of want to go RED for that beard.


Then these popped and I thought 'okay, beligerent foot!". I think they're going to need some work with green stuff to floof them up a bit.


Lastly for a bit more clout - panserbjorn! I got these off Etsy, and they will count as Elite riders.

There will be more to come but I thought I'd just post this up here.

[Rich W]

They all look like they be could be fun to paint.

[steve_pickstock]

They all look like they be could be fun to paint.

Don't they?

It's funny how things/ideas come together. Mine is the kind of brain that collects concepts and stores them away and then just throws them together in a heap and says "Well? What are you going to to do with all of that?"

The Vikings had ulfhednar. No one is sure exactly what they were - were they baresaks, or just wolfskin wearers or both? Or were they were-wolves?
I'm not sure yet about these one from Wargames Atlantic, I think they're going to need a bit of greenstuff putty to make them work, but I can already see one visual joke.


But we'll see where that goes.


When I first read the Dark Materials books I thought the panserbjorn were such a good idea and then I saw the visualisation in the BBC's version on the telly.
.
(This is from the film - I much prefer the Dafne Keene version.)
It just had to be done.

The same with the Reaper Frost Giant - just had to have him in the army, he's imposing, he's big - 4 times the size of the other figures, and he's just so imposing. Reaper are a great source of things, the plastic is a big bendy but their figures are often very imaginative and great place to find 'filler' items like giant scorpions or Egyptian Avatars.

[steve_pickstock]

With the Baby Jesus come and gone, mince pies eaten to spite the Committee for Both Kingdoms and a nice haul of books and woolly jumpers, it was time start work. I'm still waiting on stuff to arrive but I have things to assemble.

The Wargames Atlantic Were-wolves.
Nice useful kit. A bit undersized for say 32mm figures and towering over 1/72 they don't look bad with a 28mm figure (this business about humans transforming into towering, ferocious killer floofs ignores the extra mass needed for the transformation and skips over how they get rid of the extra when the werewolf turns back).


But the figures did need some work. The faces have this sort of ruff/fringe which sticks out around them which creates a space at the back of the head.

Out came the greenstuff and I modelled some extra bulk around and behind the heads, some of the chests and some on the backs.
I didn't opt to use the tails that come with the figures, opting for the 'Lon Chaney' style of were-wolf







The Marvel 'Hero' pose - it just had to be done.



A group shot (a 'pack' shot) - who let the dogs out?!


Next step is paint - greys, some browns and plenty of dry brushing.

Happy New Year everyone.

[PaulRPetri]

Nice work with the green stuff Steve!

However I am closing my eyes to any further post from you as I cannot afford to get distracted!!! You have so many good ideas!!!

[steve_pickstock]

Nice work with the green stuff Steve!

However I am closing my eyes to any further post from you as I cannot afford to get distracted!!! You have so many good ideas!!!

And he took him up, to the highest pinnacle of the temple and said "Have you seen this?"

[steve_pickstock]

When I uploaded the pictures from the previous post to a Facebook album, someone asked if the were-wolf models were compatible with 1/72. So I took these two pictures.




I think that if you were into "towering, ferocious killer floofs" then these would be good.
In fact I have a use for them in 1/72.
My friend Dave - he of the Red Baron birthday present fame - is pestering me for a re-run of the 1625 Cthulhu game. Now it seems to me that instead of just doing a straight re-run and facing off against Lizard men, Dave might find himself knee deep in towering floofs. (sound of evil laughter)

[Santi Pérez]

Those werewolves look fantastic and scary at the same time, Steve. With the addition of the green stuff they are even more realistic. And they match perfectly with 1/72nd scale figures.

Santi.

[Susofrick]

Hmm, "men of the north" ... Made me think Vikings, Canadians, Eskimoes, etc etc. Maybe look arond a little bit more when I'm walking through the forests. Great work!

[steve_pickstock]

The title 'Men of the North' is one for a generic army from Osprey's Dragon Rampant rule book.
I tend not to do generic armies but I thought it would be nice to one for a change, but with my own slant on it, and also because the models are nice too.

[steve_pickstock]

So, the panserbjorn arrived on this appropriately cold and snowy afternoon.
And they look pretty impressive next to this 28mm figure. Big armoured fighting polar bears.



Some of the detail is a bit vague but overall they will look good as a reduced model unit (three models instead of six) of Elite Riders (great morale, good armour, counter-charge and hitting on low numbers)!

[steve_pickstock]

The were-floofs ready for basing.

The camera doesn't do these justice because it makes them look stark and the contrast between the colours is too great, whereas they're actually a bit more subtle in normal light.
That was what I was aiming for subtle layers of colour because wolves (and were-wolves, I guess) are not simply grey. I think my ambition is greater than my ability these days, but I'm still quite happy with them.

[Santi Pérez]

You've done some great painting on those werewolves, Steve. Alluding to their two components, the grey for the wolf's fur and the pink for the human's flesh.

Santi.

[PaulRPetri]

Excellent work on the werewolves Steve!!

[steve_pickstock]

Calling the were-floofs done.
I finished the bases in darker colours than I usually use - I prefer yellow ochre, but these received a Vallejo texture paint first, then I over-painted that with a mix of dark earth and black, then a light dry brush of dark earth.
The flocking is a mixture of flocks, crumbled rubber flock and chopped barbecue spices. Added a couple of tufts here and there, but they look a bit over powering so I backed off that one.
All that is left is to seal the flocking with diluted PVA and they're finished, but for photographic purposes, yeah, they're good to go.

[steve_pickstock]

Continuing with the 'Men of the North' army.

Armoured panserbjorn - war floofs - based on Philip Pullman's bears from the Dark materials trilogy - being used for a RMU Eite Riders unit. Only need the flock sealing now, so calling these done. Resin models from Etsy.










Nice, fun figures, the lighting doesn't do them any favours.
The only issue I have with them, and with many modern sculpts that are designed using CAD software and then cast in resin, is the amount of out-of-the-way details. It's not easy to get a brush in there without hitting other painted surfaces.
There are several moulded-on rocks that don't help either.

The other thing about these was that I began to use one of the AK watercolour pens - a white one. The bears were undercoated in black and then heavily dry-brushed in white several times. After that I began working on the armour and once that and all of the other details were done, I went back with the pen and brought up the white.
I could have used a brush, but I found the pen really easy to use. It's the first time I've really used them and I like them. You can layer the colours and the fine tip gets in to the details well, and it's a good solid colour when it dries.

[Santi Pérez]

Those armoured polar bears look spectacular, Steve.

...The other thing about these was that I began to use one of the AK watercolour pens - a white one. The bears were undercoated in black and then heavily dry-brushed in white several times. After that I began working on the armour and once that and all of the other details were done, I went back with the pen and brought up the white.
I could have used a brush, but I found the pen really easy to use. It's the first time I've really used them and I like them...

Very interesting to see how those AK markers work in a job, a thousand times better than anything you can tell us. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Santi.

[PaulRPetri]

Excellent work Steve I love it. I will have to check to see if these painting pens have made it to the USA. I have a ton of store credit with my some what local hobby shop, 45 minute drive, I probably will get some of these pens when they arrive.

[Michael Robert]

Hi Steve,
... interesting creatures, interesting, ...
Well, the painting does them full justice. I guess it is the 3D modelling which allows to produce all these types of creatures... and no copyright!!!

Greetings
Michael

[steve_pickstock]

This week's update.

These guys are the leader and his thegns, in game terms a unit of Elite Foot.
Sometimes my ambitions outstrip my abilities as a painter but I am quite happy with these guys. Fiddly models, the arms were quite tricky to get right, all told they took about a week to complete.




These guys were a bit quicker - ordered last Monday, they arrived yesterday, I put them together in the afternoon and gave them a black brush on undercoat. I painted them today while I was listening to Storm Éowyn rattle the roof tiles.


Red wizard - using one of the spare were-wolf heads for the mask, you can tell he's linked to the were-floofs by the bone in his left hand.



The blue wizard - he's based on Grandfather Winter and the traditional colours they associate with him.



Okay! "You shall not pass" - and that's it, nothing else, still need to tweak his face.



Last picture - a 28mm figure next to two of the panserbjorn, just to show how big those babies are.