Miniatures Talk

Half orcs set 4 review?

Posted by Lord marcus on 07 Feb 2017, 17:59

Does anyone have a review of the dark alliance half orcs set 4?
Lord marcus  United States of America
 
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Posted by PhilC on 07 Feb 2017, 19:05

Hi! I don't, but when i'm back home, I will try to take pictures and write a few lines on the subject. Is There anything that interest you in particular ?
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Posted by Lord marcus on 07 Feb 2017, 21:09

Not specifically, just would like a general overview. I've seen them/ have them for the other 3 kits
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Posted by PhilC on 10 Feb 2017, 20:08

Hi Lord Marcus.

It took me more time than expected, but here you are, a small review of Dark Alliance Half Orcs Set 4.
It is the first time I write a review, and of course I will be inspired by the excellent Plastic Soldier Review site.

The Dark Alliance Half Orcs Set 4 contains 4 sprues of 11 minis, that is 44 figures.
Image

Image


Even if they are called Half Orcs, this minis represent Uruk Hai, after the second film of the Lord of the Ring trilogy, the Two towers.

On each sprue, 6 figures have a sprue, 4 are supposed to climb a assault ladder, and one represents a dead berseker.

The second mini on the top row seems to be a leader. A nice pose, but his weapon is strangely bended, so you will have to modify it to get something physically acceptable.

Poses number 3 on top row and number 4 on the second row represent bersekers - wild, even crazy fearless warriors. The best minis of the set in my opinion, the reason why I bought it.

Pose number 4 on the second row is the sacrified berseker who must fire the bombs meant to break the wall of Helm's Deep - a heroic scene in the movie, something like an orcish olympic champion bringing the evil fire to its aim despite the arrows of his foes (human in the book, elvish in the movie).

I don't know if the word "accuracy" is convenient in this case, but we must admit that the minis catch the spirit of the movie very well - so, yes, let's speak of accuracy, but not historical accuracy :mrgreen:

There is some flash on these sprues, which is a bit difficult to remove due to the soft material the minis are made of.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting set, very useful for those who want to recreate the scenes of the assault on Helm's Deep. And it is a must for those (like me) who badly wanted to paint bersekers!

An example below:
Image

The same mad guy, with friends :-D
Image

More at the blog: http://philotepsfigures.blogspot.fr/2017/02/uruk-hai.html
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PhilC  Europe

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Posted by carlosfaro on 10 Feb 2017, 21:03

Quiete a good review :)
You just mssed the suggestions of "see also:" presenting related sets, as PSR does hehehe
Actually this set 4 is due to complement the other 3 with this specific berserker figures and the plain infantry climbing ladders .
By the way--i like much your style of painting-looks simple but detailed and effective.. You use shading with inks? I make use of them, but not always happy with result on skin and white clothes.

http://sceavusall172.blogspot.com.es/
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Posted by PhilC on 11 Feb 2017, 09:23

Good morning Carlosfaro.

Yes, I'm not ready yet to become scribe at PSR, I forgot too many things :mrgreen:

To answer your questions concerning shading, yes, I mainly use ink washes, from the Citadel range: Agrax Earthshade (dark brown), Seraphim Sepia (orange/yellow)...
Concerning white: when I want to paint white clothes, I first don't use white, but I start to paint a light grey layer, with a Citadel paint called Deneb Stone (in their old denominations, I don't know the name in their current range).

An example, with a Fusilier grenadier (frecnh middle guard by Hät):
Image

Then I wash the area with Agrax Earthshade - not much on the light grey area, or the shading might be too strong - well it is a question of taste.
Image

Then I begin to lighten. I paint a layer of pure Deneb Stone (carefully, because at this step you have to keep your shades as thin lights between the different elements: clothes, belt...). Then I mix Deneb Stone and white, and I add a new thin (diluted) layer on some areas only - those that receive the sunlight. It is possible de repeat this operation several times on always smaller areas - it depends on your time and on the quality you want to get.

In my example, the belts are painted in a whiter color than the clothes. In the picture below, you have the three steps illustrated on three different minis:
Image

Concerning the flesh, I use a red ink to shade the face and the hands, but I am not very happy with the result because the contrast is not strong enough in my taste. I will go back to my previous technique, a simple wash of diluted of Citadel Dark Flesh (ancient range, it is a sort of brown red), then lightening as explained before. The only difference is that I lighten the flesh paint with Citadel Ushabti Bone (something like ivory), NOT white.

Here you are the result:
Image

I hope you will find the explanations useful. You can read more on another thread of this forum:
http://bennosfiguresforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20038&p=218350#p218350
but apparently it was a bit confusing :mrgreen:

You can also read explanations on how to paint a troll here:
https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.fr/2017/01/to-paint-troll.html

PhilC.
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Posted by carlosfaro on 11 Feb 2017, 23:39

Nice and educative exlanation,
Actually i was doing similar, but maybe i should take something similar to that deneb or "white-grey"...

I read also recently a little about the dipping in "Quickshade" method.. Looks easy and effective in description, but also a bit dirty and still needing tretment against shine..
Did someone experience with that?
http://admin.thearmypainter.com/files/d ... -Guide.pdf
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Posted by Lord marcus on 12 Feb 2017, 05:50

That was exactly what I needed! Thank you!

How did you achieve that skin tone on the uruk hai?
Lord marcus  United States of America
 
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Posted by PhilC on 12 Feb 2017, 09:00

Hi Lord Marcus, I am happy to read that it is useful.

For the skin of the Uruk Hais, I use Citadel Mournfang Brown as a base, that I darken with Agrax Earthshade. I lighten with the base color, then with a mix of base and Citadel Bronze Flesh (old range, don't know the New name) - 2 or 3 layers with more Bronze Flesh each time.

And for the berseker, after the previous steps, I added a wash (or two) of Reikland Fleshshade because i wanted him to look red compared to the others.
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Posted by Beano Boy on 12 Feb 2017, 11:04

Fantastic Painting Style! What story book tales I could spin with those figures,if only I could of course paint them as others including you do. Oh well,back to my pen. Always good to view your work.! BB
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Posted by Lord marcus on 12 Feb 2017, 18:41

Awesome! Thanks again. I'll have pictures of my combined evil army posted as I go along painting it
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