Mid month update

We are just a bit over half way through September and I have decided that I will not enter the Armies on Parade this year. I haven't got the time to prepare my army and the board to a high enough standard for me to be completely satisfied with it. So instead of using up my idea on a board that don't stand a chance in the competition, I will wait until next year and deliver an entry that I can be proud of no matter if it wins or not.
I will keep working on my Dwarf army though, so that I don't get the same problem next year...

The work has been slower than I would have wanted, but the Ranger unit is almost done now. I need to paint some details on the banner, and the weirdly looking horn for the musician. Then there are a few hands holding axes that still needs paint.
When this is done the unit can go in to battle as Quarrellers, then I will paint up the axes (or crossbows for the ones holding axes in their hands already) that goes on their backs to make them Rangers. I will also paint up the pouches with crossbow bolts that they all will carry.
I hope to start doing this when I get home from work today.

I will also start to paint up my "Imperial" Dwarfs today as they will be the next unit out. They are Warriors, but because of their old style they look so different that I will need to field them in a separate unit. When I start to paint them up  I will see if there are some single miniatures with the same look in the box I inherited. If so I will see if I can join them in to this unit to make it a little bigger.

The next unit to be assembled and primed is a unit of Longbeards. They come in boxes of ten and can be max thirty in a unit. I have three boxes, but I think I will make them with two full commands, so that I can either split them in one unit of ten and one of twenty, or in two units of fifteen each.

The three single miniatures I have worked on (two Rune Lords and a Warden King) are almost done. There are just a few details remaining to make them stand out a bit more. I need to paint some thin golden lines and gemstones on to their armor.
I tried to paint gemstones directly on their dark armor but that did not work as planned. Turns out I need a bright background of either gold or silver to get the right effect.  I recently saw a video of Duncan at Warhammer TV painting gemstones, so now I know how to do it correctly.

Armies on Parade 2016?

I see that time is going real fast, so at the moment I am very unsure if I will be able to participate this year. I still haven't finished my Rangers, and I only have one unit of Ironbreakers that are done apart from the Rangers.
This is not enough to compete in the event, and I would rather wait one year and deliver a very good entry, than doing something hasty and use up the idea.
But I will see how it goes, as of now I am working towards the goal of having an entry to present on October 15th.

I am starting to see the end of the Rangers build. Saturday I painted all the skin, and yesterday I painted hair on ten of the Rangers. Today I will paint the rest of them, and hopefully start painting the crossbows.

Also on Saturday I detailed the bases for the Rune Lords and the Warden King. They are now washed, and the runes on the stones of the Rune Lords have been painted in gold. On the Warden King I have painted all the intricate patterns on top of the stone in gold, as well as the runes inscribed at the front and back of the stone. I am quite happy with how that turned out, but not that happy with the trim I painted on the cape of the Warden King, so I might paint his cape again in order to get the trim correct.