Back in the Saddle

My painting output always slows down in September. Mainly it's due to the new school year starting, but this year has had a wealth of other distractions, from gaming events to home improvement issues.

As ever, my route back in involves getting a couple of easy wins, and there are not many wins easier than Black Riders.

You might notice that these two are not GW models. Or at least they are not GW LotR models. I'm not actually sure of the manufacturer, and given the price I paid and the shinyness of the metal, I'm not entirely sure that they aren't recasts.

They aren't up to the same standard as the GW range, and there are some notable differences: wider hoods, lack of armour, and weapons.

Rather than try to ignore one of the major differences and paint the arms silver (which would have looked odd), I opted for doing them Matt black as an homage to the Black Riders in the Ralph Bakshi film.

However, I drew the line at adding the gleaming red eyes, but have done that on all of the horses, because they have red eyes in the Jackson films.

One of the two Riders also has a polearm, which is not only not film or book accurate, but also deeply impractical for cavalry.

I didn't bother making any conversions simply because this is all for the benefit of a single scenario in The Quest of the Ringbearer campaign.

Here they are with the official models, and there's a clear difference in quality and style, but at £7.50 for the pair, I'll live with it when the official models are £10 each. Cheaphammering does involve some sacrifices.

Just three more to go before Frodo can make his Flight to the Ford, but the hobbits still need to Escape from Bree and survive an Attack at Weathertop, so they might be a while.

More importantly, however, I'm making progress of another sort at last.

Acquired: 129

Painted: 168