I ATENT DEAD

Second hand weapon not pictured

So, I have painted over the past few days, and managed to finish the base colours on the Hobgoblins. However, I had some technical issues with the models...

Sneaky Gits are an awful model to try and pick up on eBay - I was lucky to get 10 for a non-stupid price but normally they go for silly money.  Therefore, this was a case where my experimenting in casting would hopefully pan out.

However, the end results of my casts were every spotty.  Spindly arms & legs seemed to increase my failure fate, and while I can patch up air bubbles I can't do much if whole sections of body don't form.

On the left is probably salvageable, the right hand one.... just had no usable legs.

This got me a bit depressed - I had about 50% useless figures from my moulds so far.  The ones that were usable had some quality issues on the hands but I can cope with that - that sort of detail is always a bit difficult to copy, and won't be noticeable in a sea of 20 to 30 models.  But mangled legs just wasn't going to work.

But a journey through my bits box turned up something.  You see, when I started playing Warhammer it was in 4th ed and with the 4th ed starter box.

I still remember the very day I bought this at GW, then had to endure being dragged around town by my parents when all I wanted to do was go home and pop this open.

This set had High Elf figures as one of the sides and for this reason my early Warhammer experiences involved playing them.  It also had Goblins..... and I still have those figures.  And the Goblin Spearmen therein have a bottom body & legs I could happily chop off and transplant.

One of the Goblins, painted by someone much better than I.  The box had about 20 of them IIRC.

The only big difference is the Goblins are wearing boots whereas the Hobgoblins are barefoot - but it's a pretty good transfer.  I cover the joint up with some Milliput - they already have long cloaks, so it'll do the job.  Not perfect, but it makes them salvageable.

And here they are, salvaged and base coated.

 

All Hobgoblins with base coat finished.

In the end I went for Mephiston Red as the cloak colour.  Other than the skin, the colours are pretty much all ones already in use on the Dwarfs - Runefang Steel blades, Khemri Brown pommels, Dwarf Brzone bangles and Adeptus Battlegrey bases.

Close-up on three metal Hobgoblins.

The teeth were given a pinch of Vallejo Off-White, a spot of tidying and they're ready for the next step of shading.

After this lot are finished I'll need at least 6 more to use them in play - but I have 3 metal models left, so I should be able to hit that easy enough.  The hope is to have a huge blob of 30 of the buggers, including a command squad of Champion/Standard Bearer/Musician.  So I'll want 13 more regular guys to hit that target, which is a big ask but can be a more long term goal.