Uruks in Iron -- Another Batch of Armord Orcs

    Another batch of 8 Gripping Beast 28mm armored orcs finished to add to my horde! 

"Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" That quote is for my friend Jason, -- it is his favorite orc line from the Lord of the Rings movies. I need to keep up steady progress on my orc and goblin army for Dragon Rampant, so it was natural that I slip these eight armored orcs into the queue. I'm actually starting to see the bottom of the pile of my unpainted orc lead!

    I really like the faces and expressions on these orcs -- they look like they'd knife you just for fun!

After cleaning these figures up, step one is always attaching the weapons and shields. Slowly, I'm getting better at using super glue to do this. For many years, I said the only thing I've successfully glued together with super glue is my fingers. Now, I'm learning how to do better at it. For one, I need to position the figure somehow, usually with gray poster tack, so that it stays in place while the weapon/shield lays flat in the correct spot. Typically, I start with the shields and then proceed with the weapons. For the swords, I've found the super glue bonds quick enough (and the lead sword weighs little enough) that I can hold it for about 30 seconds. At that point, the bond is usually strong enough to keep it from slipping. For the axes and spears, though, it requires more awkward positioning so that the weapon doesn't move while I wait for the superglue to cure. How long? Forget that "instantly" or "30 seconds" crap. BS! I let it stay in place for at least an hour, usually more. Overnight, if possible. Then it holds well enough for me to prime the figure with Liquitex White Gesso.

I try to mix up their weapons as much as possible, so if I have 2 of a pose they get different weapons    

Once I've primed the figures, the painting proceeds methodically, step by step. Usually, each one or two steps is followed by an overnight drying time. The skin alone is three different colors, the clothes two, as are the leather and most equipment. I honestly feel that letting a base coat of acrylic paint dry overnight allows it to "shrink wrap" itself around the figure tighter. That brings out the ridges and folds better to make dry brushing the highlight color look better. Perhaps I really don't need to wait overnight (or till the evening for something I painted that morning). I do, though -- or try my best to! That's why I typically have multiple things underway on the tabletop while I'm working on a batch of 28mm figures -- especially these orcs and goblins. What else was on the table while doing these? Well, two Asian water buffaloes and the Critical Hit two-wheeled cart were being worked on. In addition, I pulled out the 10 wattle fence sections I bought from Diabolical Terrain at Advance the Colors to work into the flow. Also, I know this will surprise you, but there were a base of bamboo, too! I know...unbelievable, right??

    For clothes, I'm trying for variety yet a similar palette: I use duller pale and dark versions of colors

Since everyone on Lead Adventure Forum and in the comments section below each of my blog posts seems to enjoy my orc and goblin shields, I am feeling the pressure to continue performing on them. So, I am taking more time studying the images of tribal shields I downloaded and planning which I will do. Most of the shields in this batch were done with my black micron pens. I augmented some of them with paint, whether in open areas between the black lines or as accent. I spent a decent amount of time on these eight shields, so hopefully they live up to the standards of the previous ones in this army. If you are planning on using micron pens and doing a wash over them, I caution you to be careful. Specifically because there was so much pen ink on the shields, I added a new step with this batch and did a quick spray of clear matte over the shield faces. I didn't want the ink of the pen running, like has happened to me once or twice before. You can also wait for a 2-3 days for it to thoroughly dry, but who wants to do that?? I mean, heck! I've got blog posts to do...ha, ha! There are other things in the queue waiting for space on the painting desk! Wait 2-3 days? Sheesh!

    I think these figs are a perfect mix of having some equipment but not too much to slow painting

I'm really happy with how this batch of eight turned out, though. It took a little longer to do eight figures at once in a batch, as opposed to six or seven. Not too much, though. I will likely continue doing the ordinary rank and file types in eights unless I run out of similar figures for a batch size. So, what else is on my desk? Well, those wattle fences are in the flocking stage. The next batch of orcs, which will include the horde commander and his bodyguard, has passed the skin dry brushing stages and has had the base coat done on their armor. And I've got some terrain on the desk, as usual, too. And this piece is really, really big! Wait till you see it...!!

    This batch's shield photo - I like the color accents I added to the black ink designs on some shields

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 306
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 277 <-- 29 away!!! Will I make it??

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 62
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 72

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 144
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 212 

    One final look at my second batch of GB armored orcs (as opposed to armored goblins!)