r/MiddleEarthMiniatures • u/alainreichmann • 2d ago
Hobby First miniatures, need your thoughts
Hi everyone, i am painting miniatures for a long times but never try those dirty and filthy mordor orcs.
I wanted to know your opinions about mine, I only want them to be push to table top ready ++ level, so they can look good in groups, and one the table.
I really like my metallic work, maybe I could improve it ? More rust ? Weathering powder in the recesses ?
What i think is weak is the skin. I only use contrast paint (militarum green and gore-grunta fur for the brownish skin tone). With only one edge highlight, maybe I should paint it the conventional way ...?
My base modell are primed in grey with a light ocre drybrush.
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u/BenjyPaints 2d ago
Lovely work! Key advice for an army of mordor I think, is not to overcomplicate it. You'll likely be painting dozens of orcs, so at this stage focus on doing the simple techniques well (which you're already doing by the looks of it).
Another major point that I find can be overlooked is to get your base done before being overly critical of your work. A tidy base works wonders to round out a mini - especially when the base rim is neat and uniform mini to mini. Reevaluate once your bases are painted - you might find that you'll be perfectly happy with the minis for gaming at that point.
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u/Wichfried 2d ago
I really like your paint work! The only thing to improve for me is the skin tone. Orcs of Warhammer are green. Orcs of Middleearth are not.
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u/Nuke2099AV 1d ago
Orcs of Middle-Earth are green. They're various colours. Green is one of them.
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u/Gimli_43 1d ago
This! Orcs can be a ton of colours in ME. Mostly greenish and brownish tones, but in the movie you see even some blueish colours and also pink tones.
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u/Nuke2099AV 1d ago
Yep the Uruk-Hai themselves range from (in GW colours) Doombull Brown to a black-blue hue. Usually the latter is from the Mordor ones. I remember the original GW metal Orcs being painted browns, human skin colours, ruddy browns, bright green, desaturated greens etc.
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u/Wichfried 1d ago
But it's always a dirty green, never a bright green like Warhammer Orcs or the Orcs in the pictures have.
In the pictures the green is even building a contrast to the red of the cloth. Personally I would try to avoid that with my Orcs, I want them to seem muddy.
But of course everyone may do as he likes. But since the OP asked, that is the only thing I would change... The rest of the Orcs however looks very good by the way! :)1
u/Nuke2099AV 1d ago
I think you should look at old Moria Goblins (which still count as Orcs in Middle-Earth) and what GW recommended. They said to use bright "snot" green. Not my preference for them but that's what they chose to use when the models first came out.
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u/Wichfried 1d ago
Ok, I get the problem now: You are talking about GW, while I had the films in mind.
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u/LoganSwaiz 2d ago
Already, you are creating an army worthy of Mordor!
Honestly, these guys already look solid and ready for the casual tabletop. When I was starting out, my minis were of a much lower quality than yours, but they did the job.
I think my biggest point of comment would be your washes and finishing layers. Make sure to water down the washes you use just a little bit and don't be afraid to go over washed areas with a dry brush to bring back a matte finish and remove some of the gloss. It is most apparent on the shield orc's earthtone tabbard. I had a bad habit of overusing my washes without shaking them well or thinning then and they made my minis come out shiny.