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Writer's pictureBlaxkleric

"Nameless And With No Will Of Their Own..."

Updated: Oct 18, 2023


"...The Castellans of Dol Guldur are but one facet of the Cursed Tower’s sleepless malice who now serve Mordor."

This 28mm metal Castellan of Dol Guldur is produced by "Games Workshop", and can be bought as part of a three-figure blister from their Dark Powers of Dol Guldur miniatures range. "Faceless spirits that have fallen to the control of the Nazgul", I actually plan to use it as a Black Númenórean for my Barad Dur army having discovered that the Nottingham-based company no longer manufacture such figures for "The Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game".


The first of my entries into this year's Zomtober challenge was originally given an undercoat of "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before being enthusiastically dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal and drenched in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. I then, in contrast to how I have previously painted my Castellans, 'picked out' his belt with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna and "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade.

"Games Workshop" WIPs - The Mouth of Sauron has been primed, base-coated, shaded and dry-brushed

Furthermore, I layered the miniature's ornate armour, sword and Morgul Blade using some “Vallejo” Gunmetal, sploshed these with “Citadel” Nuln Oil and later dry-brushed these areas with (more) “Vallejo” Gunmetal. In the past I've next applied a little “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade to my ghostly warriors' armour plates, helmet, gloves and boots. But on this occasion I decided to apply some "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade to these various regions first before sploshing them with Reikland Fleshshade.


Other bloggers taking part in Zomtober 2023 are:


Sticking with Zomtober, I have also made some progress on a couple more of the miniatures I aim to complete as part of this month's challenge - The Mouth of Sauron (Foot & Mounted) by "Games Workshop". These metal figures were bought second-hand many moons ago, and were seemingly made 'paint-ready' during one of the recent Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenges (AHPC) I've participated in. As a result, I'm hoping to power through "the Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dûr" within the next week or so.

"Pendraken Miniatures" WIPs - This King Tiger is slowly having its details 'picked out'

In addition, I've begun working in earnest on a vast array of different 10mm World War Two armoured vehicles by "Pendraken Miniatures" which I've bought at this year's Salute and Colours. Foremost amongst all the Shermans, Matildas and Humbers are a pair of seriously hefty Tiger II tanks, which are destined to join my Axis forces attempting "the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front."


Having perused the painted pictures on the manufacturer's website I believe this particular duo of Königstigers are sporting Henschel turrets, as rather frustratingly it doesn't actually say on the clamshell's packaging and there's a few variants of this particular Panzerkampfwagen design available in the range - an infuriating omission which sadly plagues quite a few of their shows' wares. Happily however, the multi-piece models were pretty simple to assemble, so have been quickly based, primed and base-coated...

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Dai Dead
Dai Dead
Oct 16, 2023

Love all the LotR goodness in this post! Mouth of Sauron was one of my favourite characters in the trilogy. Even though he featured so briefly, I just loved the design so much.


King Tigers! THose allies better take those massive guns seriously!

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Oct 16, 2023
Replying to

Thanks Dai. Plenty more LotR goodies are in the wings too, as having completed my last trio of Castellans, I've just finished the Mouth of Sauron (foot) as well. Might do a couple of Nazgul next...😀


The King Tigers are cracking models, and hefty beasts even in 10mm. I've got a third one waiting in the wings too, so at some point my Axis Ardennes force will be fielding three of the beasts.

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caveadsum1471
Oct 12, 2023

Excellent looking Lord of the rings undead!

Best Iain

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Oct 12, 2023
Replying to

Cheers Iain.

My real worry is that these Castellans have really got me back into LotR in a big way, LOL!! So I might try to squeeze a few more figs in before the month's end. 😉

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undercoat2670
Oct 09, 2023

Really fantastic looking Castellan of Dol Guldur. That dirty armour looks terrific. Great model.

The Mouth of Sauron is very spiky isn't he! He was very creepy in the film so I can't wait to see the finished model.

A King Tiger! You are loving your 10mm tanks aren't you. Are you working your way through every WW2 vehicle for this project? Lol. Looking good so far.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Oct 09, 2023
Replying to

Thanks Undercoat. I'm very happy with how much easier the Castellans have been this time round to paint, having done their armour first rather than their cloaks. The Mouth of Sauron looks similarly as straightforward to paint too - hopefully.


I've actually got three of the King Tigers to paint, having inadvertently ordered a third direct from Pendraken Miniatures for some reason..!?! They are truly massive, even in 10mm and will certainly go some way to helping me field every German WW2 that the company produce. LOL!!! 😁

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Michał Kucharski
Michał Kucharski
Oct 09, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

Another great looking painted stuff!

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Oct 09, 2023
Replying to

Cheers Michal. More Castellans to come as I've already finished the blister's other two figures. 😀

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wargamesterrainworkshop
wargamesterrainworkshop
Oct 08, 2023

Excellent job on the Castellan Simon, I like the dark looking armour, and the Agrax wash has added an interesting tone to the armour, I prefer it to the effect that Reikland normally gives. The Mouth is off to a great start, on a character that was in the film for far too short a time ! LOL

The tanks are coming together quickly as well.

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Blaxkleric
Blaxkleric
Oct 09, 2023
Replying to

Thanks Dave. The brown/copper shades definitely help distinguish the armour from the Castellan's blades imho, and help tie the figure in with its master Sauron - whose armour I painted in a similar manner.


I thought the Mouth of Sauron was excellent. Though I'd have liked Aragorn to have subsequently faced the Dark Lord himself rather than the troll they changed the scene to at the last minute. There were some interesting cuts in the final LotR film as I also much preferred the version with Sir Christopher Lee in it too rather than that gawd awful last 30 minutes watching Frodo get on a boat. LOL!! 😁

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