The Ride of the Noldor!

My elvish host has some cavalry at last. Technically these are in the Vendel listings as "Men of the West Cavalry  MOWC1". But I liked the cloaks, which seems very elvish to me, and variety of poses. So much to Will Hupp's puzzlement, I ordered these instead of the "High Elf Cavalry HEC1".

Being elves,  they have to be on white horses, and grey cloaks get mentioned a lot by JRRT in connection with elves too. White plumes tie them into my mailed spearmen. This limited palette meant that any colour would draw the eye, so tunics and trousers were kept neutral with raw linen and medium brown. 

The white lances are striking. The shields are painted with Tamiya acrylic air brush paint for the brightness and clarity. I originally wanted to have the star held by the Two Trees of Valinor but that got crowded and silly, with the trees ending up looking weedy. So just the simple bold star.

When I told my gamer friend at work about painting the horses white his reply was "Do you hate yourself?"

Well, no. Fortunately a very talented friend gave me a private tutorial many years ago on painting greys, which I haven't really used up until now. Burnt umber undercoat. Mid grey over top. Then dry brush lighter greys until you get to white. Finally I used a very thinned out white over top to blend the layers together and smooth it all out. Pay special attention to the large muscles and the neck. I highlighted the noses, eye ridges and edges of the ears too.

These are 25 or 30 year old sculpts, and it shows on the horses. There is a lot of flash between the legs, but as you can (or can't ) see, it's not noticeable and I just cleaned up what I could. 

The last thing some orcs will see. "Elendil!"