Volkmar the Grim: An Epic Tale of OOP miniatures and lost Bets

Volkmar the Grim with his war gear leading the troops

Greetings, fellow enthusiasts and miniature aficionados! Today, I have a tale to share with you, featuring the legendary Volkmar the Grim mounted on a war altar of Sigmar. 

 

Let me begin by saying that Volkmar the Grim is not your average guy, he is the embodiment of faith, a man who swore to vanquish chaos in all its forms. And as for the miniature itself? It is a behemoth that would give any civil engineer nightmares!

Sigmar griffon defying the rules of gravity on the altar's roof

There is an overwhelming amount of intricate details adorning this monstrosity. Shields, swords, knives, parchments, and yes, you guessed it, an impressive surplus of skulls. It's as if the creator went on a frenzy, attaching every conceivable object to the chariot. 

Amount of detail in just one wheel (only shows one side)

Now, you may be wondering how I ended up with such a magnificent treasure. Well, dear readers, it all started with a bet with a dear friend, as many memorable stories do-If I lost the bet then I would paint Volkmar and the War Altar of Sigmar for him. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side, and I found myself on the losing end. Honouring the code of honour between friends, I embarked on the daunting task of painting this colossal beast for my thrilled friend.

Let me assure you that this was no ordinary painting endeavour—it was a test of skill and endurance that almost shattered my very willpower. Stroke by stroke, I painstakingly worked to bring out the true essence of Volkmar the Grim, all while trying not to lose my sanity. It was a labor of love, a testament to the unbreakable bond shared between friends.

 

One out of several pages breaking down the miniature into actionable points in my attempt to not lose my mind in the process

As all good stories must, this chapter draws to a close. The miniature has bid adieu to my humble abode, finding sanctuary amidst friend's collection. 

 

Warrior Priest of Sigmar covering Volkmar's back

Until next time, may your brushes be steady, your dice be kind, and your victories be sweet.

 

Best regards

Warhammer Night Goblins.

  

 

Hey there, fellow Warhammer enthusiasts! 

 

Welcome back to the wild world of my Warhammer Fantasy Orcs and Goblins army. Today, I'm thrilled to tell you about the journey behind my latest update to the Goblin Diaries . 

 

So, rewind the clock—23 years ago, to be exact. I stumbled upon some vintage Night Goblins sculpted by the masterminds Brian Nelson and Aly Morrison for Warhammer Fantasy Battles 6^th Edition in the year 2000. 

 

Despite the lack of fine detail, these little guys oozed personality, especially  their mischievous faces. And thus, the inspiration for my latest project was born!

 

The mission? Transform these night goblins into a unit that's downright unique. I've always admired armies with a touch of whimsy and a dash of silly, and who better to embrace that spirit than our beloved night goblins?

 

As chronicled in the "Goblin Diaries" , I crafted a narrative for the army that involved the night goblins invading and ransacking a Border Princes city during festivities (See Chapter II). 

 

To add some flair and to allow me telling the tale visually, I created a 5x3 base filler inspired by a platform I spotted during  a chilly winter walk in the South of London.

Real life bird spotting platform that inspired the filler

 
Building the podium was an absolute blast, and let me tell you, ensuring it was structurally sound added an extra layer of excitement. But the real challenge? Sculpting and positioning a vomiting goblin seamlessly with the one on the lower level—because, you know, we didn't want any mishaps during painting! Sculpting something like this that would allow me painting all sides without breaking in the process was a real challenge.

The vomiting Night Goblin and the Night Goblin shielding from the acid rain are one piece-a real challenge to sculpt

 

To represent some weathering  I used some inspiration in another one of my walks where I saw some moss growing in an ordinary house fence: inspiration can hit anytime, anywhere!

 

Moss growing at the base of a garden fence

  

With the filler complete, it was time to get down and dirty with 15 more goblins. Each one infused with its own personality and a hint of narrative. From a goblin enjoying some pipe weed and a scavenged rusty balustrade weapon to the flatulent music on the front—these little green guys were ready to party!

 

 

All the goblins in the unit are converted to be unique, spot the differences!

 

And let's not forget the goblin challenging the gang to a drinking contest. It's an eclectic bunch that truly captures the essence of goblin chaos. 

 

Night Goblin Chaos

Finished unit and Night Goblin "music" at the front

Stay tuned for more tales from the Goblin Diaries- I am pretty sure more silliness will follow.

 

Until next time, may your brushes be steady, your dice be kind, and your victories be sweet.

 

Best regards

 

Elven Prince on Lion

Greetings, fellow painters!

 

Finished some time ago for a generous patron, this piece holds a special place in my heart, and today, I'm thrilled to share the story behind it.

The journey began when the patron approached me with a desire for a miniature that could capture the magical essence of high elves. Intrigued and eager for a creative challenge, I accepted the task.

What made this project even more enchanting was the patron's willingness to grant me almost total freedom in the creative process. Collaborating with someone who not only trusted my skills but also allowed our visions to seamlessly blend was a breath of fresh air. The result? Well, judge for yourself as you continue reading.

Some of the Artwork sent by the client as a reference (Artist unknown)

When the proposed miniature turned out to be the Elven Prince on Lion by Last Sword Miniatures, my miniature-loving heart skipped a beat.

 

The resin print from Last Sword Miniatures was excellent

Now, let's address the tricky part of commission painting – a terrain familiar to many artists. While having someone invest in your artistic skills is undoubtedly validating, I've learned that not every commission sparks joy. In the early days, I found myself tackling every project that came my way, be it sci-fi warriors or a space marines. However, the thrill wasn't always there, and some miniatures felt as exciting as watching paint dry (pun intended).

 

And oh, the ubiquitous space marines – those identical, armoured souls. How many of them can one person paint before questioning their sanity? It was a question I grappled with until I decided that life's too short to be stuck painting something you're not passionate about.

 

Back to our high elf Prince and his White Lion. The Lion, with its humanoid-like arms , offered an easier interpretation of volumes.

You can see in the photo how the anatomy of the lion is slightly "Human"

Choosing the resin version from the Last Sword Miniatures shop turned out to be a brilliant decision. The quality exceeded expectations, and the customer service was nothing short of outstanding.

To capture the magical essence of the high elf Prince and his white lion, I decided to infuse the miniature with an ambiance reminiscent of snow, opting for a cold palette and a harmonious color scheme. 

The color palette waltzed with reds, yellows, blues, and whites, creating a desaturated yet harmonious scheme. Black took a backseat as I played with colours to conjure the darkest tones, resulting in a desaturated scheme with richly coloured greys.

In this Macro you can see some of the print layers

Close up of the elf's face and NMM

Until next time, may your brushes be steady, your dice be kind, and your victories be sweet.

 

Best regards.

TUTORIAL: How to paint yellow in 8 Easy Steps

Greetings! Today, I'm thrilled to share with you a quick tutorial on how to paint yellow. 

Now, before we dive into in, let me throw in a quick disclaimer – there are numerous ways to achieve a yellow hue, and what I'm about to reveal is just one of the many chromatic variations out there. But hey, if you're a fan of the yellow on my Warhammer Night Goblin Banner, then buckle up because here comes the methodology!

 

MATERIALS 

 

Let's start by gathering our artistic arsenal:

 

- Citadel Chaos Black primer

- Liquitex Titanium White acrylic ink

- Vallejo Bright Orange 70.851

- Vallejo Deep Yellow 70.915

- Vallejo Ice Yellow 70.858

- Vallejo Gold Brown 70.877

- Citadel Gore-Grunta Contrast

- Golden Artist Colours Titanium White

 

For the application process, you'll need some additional materials (check out my essential materials blog post for more info if you need to), assuming you've already got them handy.

 

8 EASY STEPS TO PAINTING YELLOW

 

Step 1: Begin by applying the Citadel Chaos Black primer to your miniature .

 

Step 2: Highlight the miniature with Liquitex Titanium White ink to create that zenithal lighting effect. This step is key as it sets the stage for the brilliance to show in the next steps.

 

Step 3:  Apply Vallejo Bright Orange to the areas covered with the previously applied white. The white base acts as a canvas, intensifying the saturation and brightness of the orange.

 

Step 4: Apply a 50% mix of Bright Orange and Deep Yellow.

 

Step 5: Apply Deep Yellow with precision, avoiding coverage of the layers from steps 3 and 4. We're building layers here, people!

 

Step 6: Mix 75% Deep Yellow with 25% Ice Yellow and apply in controlled areas where the light shines most brilliantly. Think that these areas are usually perpendicular to the light source.

 

Step 7: Utilize a mix of Bright Orange and Gore-Grunta Contrast in areas revealing the black primer, adding depth and contrast.

 

Step 8: Finishing touches:. Apply Golden Acrylics Titanium White to the highest points of light, such as the moon tips, nose, and selected areas in the eye wrinkles. For the pièce de résistance, simulate reflection rays in the maximum shadow areas using a desaturated yellow (Vallejo Gold Brown).

 

And there you have it – an easy way of painting yellow! 

 

Until next time, may your brushes be steady, your dice be kind, and your victories be sweet.

 

 

Best regards

The Goblin Diaries: Chapter Update!

Night goblins with moderation issues

The Night Goblins, known for their mischievous ways, wasted no time in ransacking the town's supply of beer and wine. 

Amidst the chaos, an unexpected turn unfolded. A Night Goblin, notorious for his flatulent prowess, found himself appointed as the group's musician. With each cheeky fart, his flatulence served as an oddly satisfying musical backdrop to the raid. 

Our inspired farting music to the left

Meanwhile, the perpetually frustrated group boss struggled to impose any semblance of order. Goblins guzzled beer straight from casks, danced in wild abandon, and stumbled upon a particularly potent weed that turned their mischief into fits of giggles. As expected, a drinking competition ensued, goblins collapsing in a chaotic contest of resilience and inebriation.

Booze for everybody!

The night became a canvas of disorder, painted by the broken Spearz tribe with the echoes of flatulence and childish giggles. Zenres, once a tranquil haven, now echoed with the chaotic laughter of goblins on a rampage.

As the Bloody Spears drank their fill and revelled in their conquest, Skilka cast a mischievous glance back at the now-desolate Zenres. His heart swelled with the satisfaction of having orchestrated mayhem. The Night Goblins stumbled away, pockets clinking with stolen loot, leaving behind a town forever scarred by the invasion of the Bloody Spears. 

P.S. You can find the Goblin Diaries series HERE

Happy New Year!

Reflecting on 2023: 

Games Workshop, despite the rather clumsy conclusion of the Old World during the End Times, officially rekindled its support of the game, reigniting the passion of both seasoned veterans like me and newcomers eager to delve into the rich lore of the classic Warhammer fantasy battles. This resurgence bodes well for all enthusiasts, promising exciting times ahead.

I particularly love the Warhammer Reforged initiative and won’t be rushing back to whatever Games Workshop does-I will keep a very close eye on them, but it is thanks to people like 9^th age or Reforged  (Facebook Group) that Warhammer Fantasy has been kept alive since they blew up the world in 2014. Therefore, I am keeping my options open! 

 

2023 achievements

At the outset of 2023, I set my sights on expanding my Orcs and Goblin army. 

While a unit of Night Goblins and an Orc Warboss mounted on a Wyvern joined the ranks (coming soon to the Goblin Diaries) , the planned unit of Orc warriors and Goblin Wolf Riders were left languishing in the infamous "pile of shame."

 

Below were my 2023 hobby goals:
 

1. 5 Goblin Wolf Riders - Failed

1. Unit of Orc Warriors-Failed

1. Write 30 Blog posts- Failed.

1. Orc Warboss Mounted on Wyvern- Completed

1. Unit of Night Goblins- Completed

 Note to self: Dream big but schedule realistically!

 

Favourite Releases of the year

Despite the battle to control the ever growing pile of shame, there were 2 new additions to my collection:

 

MOM Miniatures Orc Warriors-Perfect for my unit of Big 'Uns

Avatars of War Iron Orcs, obvious reference to the Black orcs

Challenges Faced: 

 

The trials of 2023 extended beyond the painting desk. The quest for motivation to write for the blog led  to a lull, but fear not! The Goblin Diaries series and carefully crafted articles have been brewing behind the scenes. The era of low-effort posts is over, making way for a new chapter with bi-weekly blog updates, proof of the passion that fuels this pet-project.

 

Future Plans:

Competitions like Monte San Sabino Show, Scale Model Challenge, and Salute in London beckon. A new unit of Black Orcs is poised to join the greenskin horde, and in a spectacular twist, a grand battle diorama featuring Dwarfs clashing with vampires is envisioned. Will I manage to pull it though? Only time will tell.

 

But enough about my hobby exploits! I'm eager to hear about your plans for the coming year. What are your hobby goals for 2024? What armies will grace your painting table? 

 

Until next time, may your brushes be steady, your dice be kind, and your victories be sweet.

 

Best regards

Gimnir 

Goblin diaries Chapter update!

The goblin Diaries has been updated with the first chapter, more to come in the future.

You can see current progress on the top tab of the blog or clicking HERE.

Best regards

Warhammer: Teutogen Guard- Part 2

It seems like an eternity but the Teutogen guard is finally done! It is incredible that this joint project took 2 years to see the light.

The genesis of the project can be seen HERE.

If you want to see more work in progress process you can see it HERE.

How the project started:

The project started as a way of sharing the love for the hobby with a very good friend. I started the concept, came about with a colour scheme, painted a couple of models with him to coach him into improving his miniature painting and in the meantime having an awesome time.

In the picture below you will see arrows pointing at the figures I painted for him to act as a reference. 

The standard bearer, the high priest of Ulric Emil Valgeir and one rank and file teutogen guard were fully painted by me as they were the most complex pieces and would be the miniatures drawing the most attention. As a get together painting day, I showed him how I paint faces -you can see the sample face at the right of the picture.

Once he had the references he would be flying!

Something I didn't envisioned is that the project would take this long to see the day of light , 2 years!

On the other hand, my friend has done a fantastic job and he has improved his miniature painting a great deal. I can say with confidence that this project saw him levelling up as painter.

If you are reading me: WELL DONE!!! I hope you keep the momentum going 😊

We had so much fun having this joint project done that we are now going to develop another one, this time a Vampire Counts unit !

Teutogen Guard in all its glory:

Looking forward to the Vampire Counts unit 😏

Best regards

Gimnir

On the future of the Blog

Long-time no see.

I have been thinking long and hard about the future of this blog. As you may have noticed I haven’t posted anything in these pages for almost 2 years.

So, the question that inevitably raises is …why? And even more important…am I finally closing the blog?

The answer to the first question is that a lot has been happening in my personal life: changing jobs, changing cities, then changing jobs again, then go back to London … keeping the blog active was a challenge on top of all that.

The changing landscape of social media:

Then another one of the reasons is that I lost sight of the blog's purpose. Why keeping a blog alive instead of just posting my work in the likes of Instagram, Facebook or YouTube?

This is a difficult question to answer as this blog was born to be a personal happy diary of my progress and a vehicle to allow me to express myself personally and artistically while at the same time connecting with other hobbyists.

The raise of social media has revolutionised our little hobby corner and how we share our art with each other.

When I look at the likes of Instagram or Facebook, I must give credit when credit is due: it is incredibly easy to share any content in the platforms, and connecting with other creators is now as easy as double tapping a screen.

On the other hand, the use of these platforms comes with big flaws that make them very unattractive to make them my "hobby corner". 

Some of these reasons are things like the current trend of pushing short format videos like Reels (Instagram) or Shorts (YouTube) which pretty much fit the criteria of mindless entertainment.

For the likes of Instagram, I have experienced an atrocious home feed with almost 50% of the content in it being either reels with no connection to the hobby or advertisement of all sorts.

But I promise this is not a post about the pitfalls of social media… Rant over.

Another thing that I noticed is that a lot of the blogs I used to follow have now ceased to publish new content...which is a shame!

 

I don't know this for certain, but highly likely this is connected to the raise of social media and the ease at which art can be shared in those platforms.

What is the plan ahead?

So, the question I asked at the beginning was: is this the end of Gimnir’s Brush? 

Answer is Definitely NOT!

In the future I would like to create more content that is suitable to you and can help you become better in this hobby, while I share my projects as I become better in this wonderful craft we share...

As a Warhammer Fantasy Dwarf player, I love lost causes!

Please let me know in the comment section if there are any blogs out there that you enjoy reading, I would love to add some to my favourite blog list.

Best regards

Gimnir

P.S. I recently discovered a new blog: "The old-world Army Challenge", just love it! 

Last Sword Miniatures: Elven Lion Prince

 

This is the first ever 3D printed miniature that I painted. The miniature that you see is from the Spanish Brand LastSword Miniatures. Just before I continue please bear in mind that I am not sponsored in any kind of way by them.

When I was contacted for this commission I was quite nervous about the possible quality of the model and the quality loss due to printing. In the past I have had excellent renders losing a lot of quality after printing the model (but that was quite a while ago, probably approx 4 years-Technology has improved quite a lot).

As you can see in the photos, some of the printing layers can be seen-This worried me a lot prior to do any painting-last thing you want is to see printing layers coming through once the miniature is finished.

Once that the miniature was primed, the printing layers were barely noticeable which was a great relief. As you can see in the first picture of the post, once that all the different paint layers have been applied and the miniature was done these layers could not be noticed at all. 

The proportions of the miniature are great, with very fine details in it.

I hope to paint more miniatures from this company in the future as their concepts are great and the quality is excellent. On top of that, the cost of the miniature was very good value at only 8 Euros.

For the base I wanted to try some marble effect that match the background of the elf prince.

All in all it was a very pleasurable experience, if you are like me and are not sure about the quality of the printed miniatures of this brand , give them a go-you won't regret it.

Regards

Gimnir