LEN SULLIVAN - US MARKETING MANAGER

Converting. When I began converting my Rangers of Karak Hirn, I wanted to give them a unique theme. I decided to give each of the Rangers a lantern, as if they are watchmen on night patrol. I did this champion as a test for the rest of the unit, and I am pretty pleased with the overall look. To lift the champion higher than the rest of the unit, I used modelling clay and some small pebbles to give a rocky appearance to the base. To convert the model, I used nothing but plastic bits from the various new Dwarf sprues. The only exception is the lantern, which I took from the Mordheim Accessory sprue.

Painting. For me, the two focal points on the model are the lantern and the beard (it's a Dwarf — of course the beard is a focal point!). I began the lantern's lighted area by building layers through the following colours: Scorched Brown, Red Gore, Blood Red, Blazing Orange, Golden Yellow and Golden Yellow mixed with some Skull White. I blended each layer into the last and made each highlight successively smaller. I painted the lantern body with Boltgun Metal and highlighted it with Chainmail. For the very edges, I highlighted with Mithril Silver. For the beard, I began with a basecoat of Scorched Brown over black. Then, I painted the entire beard with Bleached Bone and gave it a very thinned-down wash of Bestial Brown. I went back in and highlighted the raised areas again with Bleached Bone and the very tips of the highlights with Bleached Bone mixed with Skull White. The contrast between the shade and the highlight was not enough for my liking, and I went back in and lined the recessed areas of the beard with a thinned-down Dark Flesh.

KEN KENNEDY - GLOBAL WEB TEAM

Converting. After modelling the Ranger throwing an axe, I thought I would just model a standard Ranger with his great weapon at the ready. Of course, he needs his trusty throwing axe on his back, and a shield to ward off those pesky Wood Elf arrows. He will likely be a standard 2nd or 3rd rank warrior Ranger.

Painting. Once I had all of the metal painted on my Rangers, I went through them and decided what beards they would wear. This model just screamed out to be a Longbeard, so a grey beard it was. Again, I stuck pretty close to the instructions in the Dwarf Army book and started with a Codex Grey base followed by Fortress Grey and Skull White highlights. I used a similar colour for the trim on his uniform, starting with Chaos Black with Codex Grey along the edges. The golden shield is the unifying element for my Longbeard Rangers. I started it with a Shining Gold drybrush and a heavily diluted Chaos Black wash. Then, I went back in with Shining Gold. Finally, I picked out the raised areas and edges with Burnished Gold.

KEN KENNEDY - GLOBAL WEB TEAM

Converting. Time to try a Quarreller Ranger. With his great weapon at the ready, the only place for his crossbow is on his back. Unfortunately, all of the crossbow stocks on the Thunderer sprue had hands sculpted on them. No problem — a little bit of knife work and that hand was history. What remained was not the best-looking handle, but I'm hoping that a quality paint job will cover the blemishes. This Ranger has himself a Ogre head trophy. I added a large glob of greenstuff to the back of the head to flush it out. In hindsight, an Orc or Goblin head would have been a better fit, and I should have modelled a gory neck with Green Stuff.

Painting. This soldier's clothing started with a Midnight Blue basecoat. Once all of the basecoats were applied, I went back and highlighted all the edges and elevated areas with Regal Blue. Finally, I painted just the edges with Regal Blue mixed with just a touch of Skull White. Painting the Ogre head gave me the opportunity to use a few colours I never have used before. I basecoated the Ogre skin with Graveyard Earth and Shadow Grey. For highlights, I added Kommando Khaki to this mix and painted the raised areas. I added a bit more Kommando Khaki to the mix and painted highlights again. I repeated this process three or four times until I was happy with the Ogre head.

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