Myth Forged - Dwarf Miner and Goblin Engineer
The last two miniatures that I needed to paint from my Myth Forged mystery box are the Dwarf miner and the bomb-throwing Goblin Engineer. I had put them off because I had intended to use them for a diorama. I still intend to do so but there’s no reason I can’t paint them first then make the diorama at a later date. With that in mind I primed both models with Army Painter Uniform Grey spray primer.
I started with the goblin giving his skin a couple of coats of Warboss Green before giving it a wash with Athonian Camoshade, the only green wash I have. To bring back some brightness to the skin I layered with Warboss Green on the raised areas. To further highlight the skin I mixed some Averland Sunset with the Warboss Green in a fifty-fifty mix. I then did another highlight, this time with even more yellow. For the areas that would have more blood flowing close to the surface of the skin, such as the nose, lips and ears I thinned some Cadian Fleshtone down so that it was nice and transparent and applied it to said areas. It took quite a few layers to build up the colour and maintain a decent transition between the green skin and the pink skin. It ended up looking a little dusty so I gave it a very thin coat of Reikland Fleshshade.
Moving onto his clothes, I decided to use mainly browns to reflect their ragged and sewn together look. For his trousers I used Vallejo Khaki and for his tunic I used Vallejo English Uniform. The latter I’m finding that I’m using more and more, it has a nice greenish tint that helps to differentiate it from the red-brown colours that I use for leather. Speaking of leather, I painted his bandolier and straps on his goggles with my usual Mourfang Brown. For the goggles themselves I used some Rhinox Hide and for the stitches on the clothes I used Skrag Brown. For the nails and teeth I gave them a quick coat of Army Painter Skeleton Bone. Once that was done I gave everything but the skin a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone. I then layered and edge highlighted his rags with English Uniform, and edge highlighted the goggles with Mournfang Brown.
For the bombs and the lens of his goggles I basecoated with Leadbelcher. The former I then gave a coat of Black Templar and the latter with Warp Lightning contrast paints. The lens didn’t quite end up as bright as I had hoped but they were good enough.
Like the goblin I started with the dwarf’s skin, the first step of which was to basecoat it with a few thin coats of Cadian Fleshtone. Once I had a nice solid colour, I gave it a wash with Reikland Fleshshade. I then layered back up with Cadian Fleshtone and highlighted the raised areas with Kislev Flesh. For the eyes I carefully painted the sclera with Matt White before giving it a wash with Reikland Fleshshade to dull it down and help it blend in with the race of the face. In what I believe is a first for me, I painted in a smallish dot of Fenrisian Grey for his iris. Then very very carefully put a smaller dot of Liquitex Black Ink, as it would flow better than paint, in the middle of the iris for his pupil. The results were… fine. Not my best work but practice is practice. I might get one of those Micron pens to paint pupils moving forward.
For his leather gloves and boots I stuck with my usual: Mournfang Brown. It’ll be a sad day when my little pot of it runs dry. For this leather skirt (tunic?) I gave it a couple of thin coats of Vallejo Dark Fleshtone before picking out the studs with Leadbelcher. I wasn’t sure what colour to paint his shirt but I figured that a lowly miner was unlikely to be wearing an armoured cuirass. The helmet and shoulder armour I can understand to protect against falling rocks but who wants to bust rocks all day while wearing heavy armour? So with that in mind, I painted it with Khaki to look like a simple cloth shirt. The bowl and stem of his pipe I painted with Dryad Bark to give it a dark wood finish and the mouthpiece I painted with Skeleton Bone. I additionally painted the handle of his pickaxe with Dryad Bark as well. Each of these areas I then washed with Strong Tone. For layering I used a series of cross-hatching on the shirt with Khaki to give it the appearance of fabric. Likewise, I highlighted the leather with scratches of Mournfang Brown, particularly on the fingers of his gloves and the toes of his boots.
For the remaining parts I painted his helmet and shoulder plates with Leadbelcher, I was tempted to paint the trim in bronze but decided that would be too ornate for a simple miner. I did however pick out the dwarven symbol on his pickaxe with Scale75 Old Copper. I was tempted to give him a red beard but I imagined his guy to be a bit older, a veteran of the tunnels taking a break with his pipe. With that in mind I gave his beard a couple of thin coats of Mechanicus Standard Grey. Both the beard and the metallic areas were washed with Nuln Oil. The beard I then highlighted with Dawnstone and the silver areas I highlighted with Runefang Steel.
The last parts I needed to do was the candle on his helmet and the tobacco in his pipe. I basecoated the candle with Army Painter Skeleton Bone before giving it a wash with Seraphim Sepia and layering with Skeleton Bone again. The wick I painted with Army Painter Matt Black. For the tobacco I basecoated it with Jokaero Orange then washed it with Army Painter Red Tone and highlighted with Troll Slayer Orange.
At this point I was ready to call them done. Up top I said that I wanted to use these in a diorama that I have yet to design and build, so once I get that sorted I can come back to these guys and add some weathering and dirt as required. But crucially, I also want to try Object Source Lighting (OSL) but until I know what I’m doing with the diorama it’s not something I do on the models just yet. For example, I might have the dwarf relaxing by a small fire but it’s not something I want to commit to on the model yet, in case I change my mind.
As you may or may not know, in 2022 I’m trying to make a dent in my big ol’ pile of boardgame miniatures that I need to paint. These two aren’t from a boardgame unfortunately, but they’ve been on my painting desk for a little while now.
Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 761
Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 5