Tuesday 30 September 2014

Midpoint of the Game of Thrones project reached and the next noble house is unbowed, unbent and unbroken

With only eight Bretonnian Knights to work with, I have now reached the midpoint of my Game of Thrones paint-job conversion project. In keeping with my aim to continuously work with different colour schemes, the noble houses of Westeros I have completed so far all sport very different colours namely red for House Lannister, yellow for House Clegane, mid-green for House Baratheon of the Renly faction and light sky blue for House Arryn. Pleased at having achieved this mini-milestone, I felt it fitting to take a group shot of all four knights together side by side for the first time.  

Knights of House Arryn, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Clegane

For better or worse, contrast on the knights was intentionally kept low because if the difference between the highlights and shadows was too drastic it would have resulted in a satiny look on the caparison (decorative cloth covering the horses). Instead, I wanted a more cotton-like texture for the caparisons. Although I do not know for sure what material was used to make caparisons during medieval times, I doubt that satin (likely to be expensive both historically and in an epic fantasy setting such as Game of Thrones) would have been used on a knight/warhorse set to go into battle.

Getting each house heraldry on the shields and caparisons afforded me plenty of freehand painting practice
Each knight's helmet was chose to reflect descriptions or story plots in George RR Martin's books

I have been fortunate in that the existence of appropriate and relevant parts from the Bretonnian Knights miniature sprue enabled me to customise each knight's helmet to reflect the characteristics of each individual house or at the very least portray parts of the storyline of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. House Lannister and House Arryn was fairly straightforward with bronzed lion (albeit a winged one) and a falcon respectively adorning the helmet; so too was House Baratheon with the antlers. Meanwhile, a bronzed boar with a knife sticking out its back was a House Clegane homage to their masters the Lannisters who had masterminded King Robert's death-by-accident.

Opposing factions face off against each other to decide the fate of Westeros

Any enthusiasm to paint a knight and warhorse from my current favourite noble house i.e. House Targaryen was quickly doused when I realised I haven't quite figured out how to do a miniature freehand version of its heraldry which is a three-headed dragon. Until I overcome that significant obstacle, I am proceeding with House Martell which has a predominantly orange colour scheme. As with the other knights, I managed to find the perfect helmet for House Martell ... one with a coiled serpent around a spear-of-sorts. The horse's pose was also perfect as it captured a dynamism of a serpent springing forward which complemented the angled lance attached to the knight's right arm.

Assembled knight and warhorse (shown sans shield) for House Martell

It's ironic that as my Game of Thrones miniature project gathers pace I find myself stuck at Book Four of the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series. For some reason I seem to have lost the urge to turn the pages. So I decided to take a short break from George RR Martin's book and get myself reacquainted with the Star Trek Universe, specifically the books that pick up the story right after Star Trek Nemesis, the final movie involving the original cast of Star Trek Next Generation.

Taking a break from 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series with some Star Trek books

Resistance, Before Dishonor and Greater Than The Sum deal with the Borg who are now unlike how they were portrayed in the movies and TV series while Q&A sees Picard saving the universe with Q's help. Sword of Damocles is a story involving Riker's new command Titan that occurs sometime around the happenings of the other novels. I have finished four and am in the midst of the fifth book, all in less than a month. That's how good a read they are. There are actually many more books after the ones you see above, around 36 in total and counting, so I have barely scratched the surface of must-read Star Trek fiction. Something to keep me occupied during any free time not dedicated to painting miniatures and until I eventually pick up where I left off in Martin's A Feast for Crows

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16 comments:

  1. Wow! These knights are just lovely. The contrasting colours on each one really make this bunch pop.

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    1. I am fortunate to have subject matters with simple yet effective colours. Sometimes the less complicated a colour scheme is, the better it looks.

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  2. Amazing paint , great collection , i love it .
    Cheers .

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  3. Great miniatures & great paintjob ! I love these colorful bunch !
    Greetings

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  4. Nice work - again! Clean and neat, and with just the right detail. Well done!

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    1. Thanks! Luckily some of the sprue parts were generic medieval material that could be adapted to the fictional high fantasy world of Westeros.

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  5. wonderful conversions!
    you took old minis and changed them in something unique!
    waiting to see next houses!
    bye

    PS
    i'm a trekker too, but i stop my experience to movies and tv movies.
    live long and prosper!

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    Replies
    1. Nice to know a fellow hobbyist who likes Star Trek. Imagine all the possible life out there in the 200 or so billion galaxies that exist. Makes you think how stupid and silly humans are fighting and killing for some reason or another on Earth.

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  6. The knights look great together. Looking forward to the next four.

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    1. Thanks Finch. Should be fun painting the next one i.e. House Martell as I have yet to really work with a wide range of orange colours.

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  7. Ok, I definitely must go on with the novels or with the Tv Series (or them both) to whole appreciate the conversions. Meanwhile I can tell you all the same your Knights look gorgeous!

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    1. Many thanks Fed. The books are ok although the fourth one is a bit slow reading. So I am leaving the world of swords for the world of phasers for a while. ;)

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  8. All of them looked great on their own, but now that you put them all together... Oh, the view is gorgeous!! Great!

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    1. I am hoping all eight together will look even better. Fingers crossed. :)

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