Dwarf Longbeards

 Dwarf Longbeards

Oh, another long awaited journey have these venerable dwarfs been on, full of patience as some of them have waited decades for paint. Their numbers increased and yet none were given paint nor shield.

Only two of their number from the 6th ed were chosen to become Anvil Guards and even saw a tabletop game, but the rest waited paitently in their foam padded lock box.

The real challenge here were the beards, and how to make them all look like they were old without all being white. Even Grombrindal got a makeover.

I set myself the same task as the thunderers, to have them finished by the end of Decembeard and the end of the year. It was no easy task, but very enjoyable, as these early sculpts are full of character.

I chose a turquoise, white and gold combination for the livery for the Longbeards, as it was a little unusual, but also blended in a bit with the Order of the Turquoise Boar. The gold was a bold choice, and I almost second guessed using it after I had applied it, but the dark brown inking gave it the depth and quality I was after. The shields had been sitting in the bits box for just as long as the models, so it was a good opportunity to get them all organised and sell off the ones I no longer needed.

The Banner was the first attempt at using champagne foil and I'm really pleased with the result. Finally, I was able to put finer detail on it than the paper and card banners I had used previosly, and it made me want to go back and redo some of them. I love the background mountain theme I have on some of my banners and this one worked a treat as well.

As the newer longbeards made it back from anvil guard duty, (as I had now Thorek and the official anvil guard models), they were joined by another who would make for a suitable Greatbeard and I had two special shields for them. At the very end of painting the unit I was one model shy of the full 24, and upon a quick search, found a White Dwarf, minus his axe and hands. Dissatified with the Landskncht clothing drummer I had, I decided that this Grommie would be demoted to musician, as he certainly had the beard long enough to fit the longbeards unit where as no other did, and the other would be the true Grombrindal because he was my absolute favourite model.

There was not a large range of original longbeard classic models, and I ended up with a lot of repeat models. For some reason, I never really liked the choice of the flail for a longbeard. It simply seemed the poorest choice of weapon to be fighting with in a formed unit.
Out came the scalpel, in came the bits box. One even became the standard bearer.

The conversions didn't stop with the flails, certainly not. I have loads of other bits with the weapons section of the bits box and many maces became axes.

A few other modifications made their way in, such as horns, wings and crests were added to the others, whilst I still had two unique models as well.

Dwarf Thunderers

Dwarf Thunderers

It's been a long time that these guys have been waiting to be finished, with a smattering having only undercoat and base paint. Years have gone by and finally I set myself the task of completing the unit before the end of the year.

 For a change, I decided to go for the black and red uniform to make things a little faster and to also give them a sense of being part of an organised unit, rather than the somewhat individual colours I started out with when first collecting.

The models are mostly 1990s sculpts, but there is one highland dwarf with the blunderbus who is a lot older and his face had begun to get lead rot, so he ended up with an eyepatch.
There are three of the 6th ed thunderers too, whose chain armour was a massive pain in the butt to paint, as it was pockmarked rather than well textured, which had the effect that it couldn't be inked, as air bubbles prevented the ink from settling. This just darkened the metal paint and left bright holes. Even after individulally filling the holes with the finest brush (which I ruined), it still took several attempts to finish and dragged out the process much more than it should have.

I struggled with the banner a fair bit, and all the rest were done and based, and I didn't finish it properly until after I had completed the entire Longbeards unit.
I started with a paper banner and the image bled too much, making it fuzzy. It was also too small.
I then printed the image I had lifted and altered from an online source onto a sticker, but again it was too fuzzy and too small. Someone on the forum suggested trying champagne bottle foil and so, I gave it a shot, and found it very easy to work with and also the right medium to hold the detail.
This made me want to go back and redo some of the other banners using the same foil.

It only occurred to me later that the standard bearer was ratehr different and strangely familliar, even though his face had also begun to suffer from lead rot, so that one of his eyes was hollowed, appearing like he had lost it at lome point. After a little more research, I discovered that he was actually the standard bearer for Prince Ulther's Regiment of Renown.

Scratching my beard in though and attempting to revive my failing memory, I looked through my Ironbreakers and sure enough... hmmm... found Prince Ulther's champion, Borri Forkbeard.

Well, now that I know - I guess it's time to give him a makeover.