#MESBG Middle Earth Goblin Town - Town and Moria terrain

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Middle Earth Goblin Town... err town. Liam had passed on these pieces for my birthday, I think there'd been some collusion with Otty on this. The two big platforms had been glued together but I could see from Garfy's showcase at Tale of Painters, having them separate was more versatile. So I split them, primed them Red Oxide and then then did a bit of black overspray to get some variety/darkness into the finish.

I probably made this ten times more difficult for myself in how I approached this. A heavy drybrush of VGC Leather Brown.

Then Charred Brown on some of the planks for variety.

I added a strong tone wash on this test piece and then Skeleton Bone drybrush for highlights and I could have almost left it here. But obviously I didn't.

With all the pieces shaded I tried adding some mouldy green planks in, which I thought looked cool.

Then the bone drybrush made them much too light. I think I ended up going back in with a Leather Brown drybrush in places to tone it down a bit.

Meanwhile, I sponged/stippled on some black art acrylic on my Moria pillars to add a bit of texture.

I did the same for Balin's sarcophagus, the stonework on the trapdoors and Leather Brown on the spare scribe and weapon piles.

Lots more was done on the other pieces and the last of the Fellowship.

I then went through the interminable process of highlight all the bones and skulls on the platforms. Mot forgetting all those bits attached to the poles. I added various stains on the wood too, but they don't really show up. Then I varnished the whole thing. I've run out of Army painter Anti-Shine [I don't even think they call it that anymore]. I've been using Miniature Paints Matt Varnish with mixed results. It's been more of a satin finish on figures and definitely was more 'glossy' than matt on the wood. On my Goblins it had even started to leave an almost frosty look on the bases in the recesses. This was something that has evolved over time, it was definitely not as bad when I painted it on or the next day or so. Anyway, with these slightly shiny wooden planks I tried fixing it with my big bottle of Winsor & Newton Matt Varnish. I tried it alongside a bottle of Craft Acrylic Matt Varnish. The consistencies were wildly different, with the W&N varnish being thin and transparent, while the craft acrylic was milky coloured and slightly thicker than normal paint. Testing it on the underside they both made the paint very matt, with the Craft Acrylic making the paintwork just a tad lighter looking [as far as I could tell]. So I went with W&N across the whole surface. To be fair these will have models moving over them so additional protection is worth it. Now I just need to get back to a varnish I am confident in and happy with.

That corkboard will make a display board for or Midweek MESBG tournament. So, that's another thing to do alongside the remaining bits of terrain. And another Great Big Wooden 'BIG BUILD' Stamps of Approval.