Thursday 19 April 2018

Mordheim Mercenaries – Wederverkrijgingsgilde Expeditionary Company


The Magpies are complete at long last! A "quick project" to make a Mordheim company in the style of an old Dutch Schutterstuk kept me going for a full four months. Pictures below the jump.



Captain Len Oortman

Marksman Nils Block

Warrior Claes Hoebeek

Claes' brother Carel

Marksman Thibaut Bruijs

Champion Loys Nieuwenhove

Youngblood and regimental mascot Roelf Wiggaert de Jonge

A few notes:

The champion, Loys, has had some work done since his last appearance on this blog. I didn't like his scratchbuilt halberd and weird head (an Imperial Guard Cadian with the helmet cut off and replaced with a hat). Instead, he's now kitted out with a halberd and lantern in the manner of a nightwatchman.

The youngblood, Roelf, was inspired by seeing a very young, fancily-dressed boy depicted in one of the Schutterstuk paintings I was looking at for references. I doubt that kid did any real fighting but I thought it'd be fun to plunge a hapless youth into the fray as the regimental mascot. He's chopped together from various kits, standing about a head shorter than the other troops, and I'm really pleased with his pose.
His banner depicts the Bones of Saint Maurice, an emblem of the Wederverkrijgingsgilde since said relic was long ago saved from destruction by the guild as a great battle waged around the hermitage where he was interred. It symbolizes the organisation's dedication to preserving historical artifacts.

I've been painting the group so slowly over several months that I've improved my technique while working on them. I overworked some of the earlier faces but Loys' face, painted last, came out the best of all, thanks to warm source lighting from his lantern. Thibaut, on the other hand, looks pretty ugly after I cut away his Empire hat and resculpted his forehead.

The Vallejo black paint looks very shiny under this lighting. I'm hoping a coat of matte varnish will flatten it out somewhat. For the colour scheme, I referenced Rembrandt's Night Watch, in which the blacks are very flat and opaque, so I didn't want to add any shading to those parts at all. Instead, the skin tones and lighter colours are more luminous.

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Well, that's been a long project! I have a couple more one-off Mordheim characters left to showcase, and possibly another complete warband(?!) Keep up with me on instagram.

Hek

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