#ilfirinart

[ilfirinart]

Watchtower finally finished!

First of all, I must admit — this took me much longer than expected, but:

it was actually my first full XPS building,

many elements were made for the first time,

and there was a lot of thinking, testing, and searching for “how to do stuff” along the way.

In many ways, I think this was a bad choice for a first XPS build. Usually, you should probably start with the basics, right? Something like stone tiles or simple wall segments — easier to carve, easier to paint, easier to experiment with techniques. But well… I am what I am 😉 and I wanted something more ambitious.

The main reason I chose this structure was actually very simple — I already had some scatter terrain and wanted a larger centerpiece for my gaming table. I don’t think modular walls alone would have given me that feeling.

When I left off in the previous WIP posts, most of the painting was already done, but I still had a strong feeling that something was missing. Pretty quickly, I realized it needed shrubs, moss, and rubble. I wanted to keep most of the flat surfaces playable, so I tried not to overdo the rubble, but adding greenery was definitely the right call.

At the moment, I don’t really have professional greenery materials on my workbench, so I worked with what I had available. I used reindeer lichen in some areas, but my favourite effect is definitely the moss near the bottom of the stone walls. It was made by mixing PVA glue with fine turf and applying it using an old, worn brush. Once dry, it created uneven coverage and different shades of green — and honestly, that effect might be my favourite part of the whole build.

Another challenge — and something completely new to learn — was editing the photos to blend the model into real-life scenery. For the backgrounds, I used my own photos from a short trip to the Tatra Mountains last year. The weather that day was cloudy and misty, and I thought it matched the atmosphere of a ruined watchtower perfectly.

I hope you like the results 😉

Next post: close-ups, details, and a few thoughts on what could already be improved next time.

[ilfirinart]

Watchtower - details & close-ups!

Today, a few more pictures of the recently finished Watchtower, this time focused more on the details 👌

stone arches,

windows,

wooden platforms,

ladders,

moss and rubble.

I really enjoyed making these small additions - they brought much more life into the ruined structure. On one of the upper platforms, you can even spot some carvings in the stone, almost like an archer marking his hits 😉 I’m also quite happy with how the wood texture turned out on the platforms. I was honestly a bit nervous at first about whether it would work.

To sum up: I’m very satisfied with the final result, although I can already see things that could be improved or expanded in future projects:

more rubble, and more variety in it - different sizes, textures, and colours. I think that would make the whole piece feel even more realistic. Still, keeping the terrain relatively flat and playable was a deliberate decision;

perhaps even more moss higher up on the walls, especially in deeper corners and shaded areas where moisture would naturally collect;

and finally, dirtier and more varied washes on the stone walls.

This last point is something I still struggle with a bit. From what I’ve seen so far, oil washes would probably work best for that kind of weathering. Unfortunately, I work in a room with poor ventilation and, because of my asthma, I really dislike working with strong-smelling paints and chemically irritating products.

For this project, I ended up making my own homemade black wash using heavily thinned acrylic paints and a bit of dish soap. It was used across almost all of the stone surfaces of the Watchtower.

So for now - I’m calling it finished 😉

A small teaser: next post will be a quick 360° video spin of the whole build.

[ilfirinart]

Heralds and Banner of the Army of the Dead 👻

Finally back to painting miniatures! Continuing work on my Army of the Dead, I'm getting really close to finishing all the models from this army list that I currently own. Today I'd like to present both Heralds and the Banner Bearer on foot.

COLOURS

After my experiments with the cavalry and the violet-purple tones on the horse cloths, I wanted to push that idea a little further. This time, however, we're getting closer to the elite ranks and royalty of the army, so I decided to use more saturated colours on the banner and pennants.

I chose purple for the banner to visually connect it with the cavalry and the rest of the force. For the pennants, however, I went with a more burgundy tone. To me, it feels more regal and fits the theme I want to continue later on the King of the Dead miniature 😉

The figures themselves were painted using the same colour scheme as the rest of the army: cold, ghostly blue tones combined with weathered browns and blacks on weapons and armour.

BASES

I had a lot of fun working on the larger 40 mm cavalry bases, so going back to 25 mm bases felt a little restrictive. These miniatures are quite large and cover most of the available space.

That said, after recently adding flower and grass tufts to my basing collection, I really wanted to include them here as well. They add a surprising amount of visual interest, and fortunately I managed to find enough room for them despite the limited base size 😉

SUMMARY

Overall, I'm quite happy with the final result. The one thing I'm not fully satisfied with is the purple banner. I think the colour ended up a little too muddy and lost some of the contrast I was aiming for.

On the other hand, I'm really pleased with the burgundy pennants. They feel aged and weathered, as if they've spent centuries alongside the Army of the Dead, while still retaining a hint of their former royal status.

Do you have any tips or favourite techniques for painting ghosts or semi-translucent effects? As usual, this project was very much a "try it and see what happens" approach. It worked reasonably well, but I'm sure there are more efficient ways to achieve similar results.

[ilfirinart]

Since the very beginning of my miniature collection journey, I’ve always had a soft spot for metal minis. They felt like elite models — and to be fair, 20 years ago, they actually were 😉

In the case of LOTR armies, regular troops were usually made of plastic (with the quality available at the time), while metal was reserved for heroes or elite units. And for quite a while, the sharpness of detail in metal miniatures was often noticeably better than in plastic ones.

I still enjoy the weight of a metal miniature in hand — there’s something satisfying about it. But with each passing year, I find myself liking them a little less.

First of all, the quality of modern plastic miniatures has improved massively, while metal casting doesn’t seem to have progressed nearly as much. Working with metal models can be challenging — plastic is simply more forgiving and easier to work with.

And then there are the gaps… Just look at the photos — those are not small imperfections. You rarely see anything like that in modern plastic kits.

Another important factor is magnetising. I recently decided to magnetise my bases, and metal miniatures require stronger magnets — and often more of them — to stay in place. With larger and heavier models, this can become a real limitation. With lightweight plastic miniatures, this problem barely exists.

To sum it up: the “elite” feel of metal minis will probably stay with me forever, but I no longer see them as a priority in my collection. For future projects, I definitely prefer working with plastic models.

What’s your take on this? Metal vs plastic — which do you prefer, and why?

[ilfirinart]

Watchtower – WIP, phase 2

Although my favorite part is cutting and assembling elements into a 3D model, I know that for many people the next step is the pure joy and magic of terrain building.

At this stage, the model really starts to come alive: adding textures (which I enjoy) and color (which I enjoy less ;) ). Stones were carved with knives and pencils, then textured by pressing rocks and aluminum foil. Wooden planks were detailed with a wire brush and pencil in selected spots. Ruined edges were emphasized with acrylic paint, drybrushing, and dark washes. With every step, the miniature watchtower feels closer to its final appearance.

It’s always fascinating to watch a plain foam block slowly become something that seems historic – as if it had stood for centuries before collapsing into ruin (or, in this case, most likely smashed by a trebuchet projectile).

[ilfirinart]

The Dead of Dunharrow are slowly answering the call.

Small but steady progress on my Army of the Dead 🥳 10 out of 40 warriors are now painted and ready for some skirmish battles. With each model, my hand feels a bit more confident — and the whole process is getting faster.

As for the colors: I’ve never been a big fan of the strong translucent green used in the movies. This time, instead of going fully screen-accurate, I deliberately pushed the palette towards colder, blue-saturated tones — and I’m really enjoying the overall mood.

What do you think? Blue spirits or classic green?

[ilfirinart]

As mentioned in the last post, here are some photos of the freshly finished miniature hedges. Combined with previous elements like the menhirs and conifers, I really like how such a simple piece of scatter terrain can help tie everything together.

And despite the simplicity, this modular design offers a lot of tactical and narrative potential. You can create roads, mazes, natural fences, or garden paths – each opening up different ways to use them during wargames or RPGs. Whether as line-of-sight blockers, difficult terrain, or defensive positions, they fit perfectly into many kinds of scenarios. I made them mainly for Middle-Earth SBG, and they’re set at around 20mm in height – just above half the size of a man-sized model (elves, orcs, Uruk-hai, etc.), giving them proper cover from shooting or access to defend the barrier in-game. But there’s more! As you’ll see in the photos, the full 52 inches of hedges are also tall enough to give full coverage for smaller Middle-earth creatures – like Hobbits! That means Moria Goblins might get access to some sneaky tactics too, moving unseen across the battlefield most of the time. And of course, they look like perfect cover for Elven archers or Faramir’s rangers. I’m already thinking about using them in a future “Ambush at Ithilien” scenario. Thanks for reading – and if you enjoyed this piece, feel free to follow and check out the other posts! More terrain coming soon (hopefully 😉) Stay creative!

[ilfirinart]

After sitting on my shelf for months, I finally got around to working on The War of the Rohirrim starter set (well… at least part of it 😉).

I really like these newer miniatures — the poses are more dynamic, the details sharper, and the overall quality is noticeably better than what we had 20+ years ago. Back then, most warriors were single-piece models, sometimes two parts at most (usually with a separate shield in the case of Rohan).

This time, it was a full weekend of cutting, cleaning, and gluing — over 200 individual plastic parts in total. All in all, a pretty productive session: 28 miniatures assembled and ready for priming.

Next up: the second half of the starter — Hill Tribes are waiting on the desk 😉

What was the last model you assembled?