How I Paint Things - Men of Gondor

The brave Men of Gondor are the shining silver line between Sauron and the rest of Middle Earth. Bloodied but defiant, they have stood against all the worst that Evil can throw at them, and by their enduring sacrifice is the rest of the world kept safe. Luckily, they're dead easy to paint, too! READ MORE:
With the return of Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game (arguably, the Return of the King of GW's rules sets and one of my favourite games) it seemed like it'd be useful to demonstrate how to paint up some of the most common and reliable troops available to any Good commander. With a solid stat line and good defence, the Warriors of Minas Tirith are a must-have for any point in the battlefield that absolutely must be held!
The tips on painting silver armour will also be useful for any other miniatures you've got that might be wearing plate or other big, blocky areas of metal - D&D miniatures tend to have a lot of chunky armour if you're playing the right classes!
How I Paint Things is a series of simple instructional videos designed to help the newcomer through some of the basics and demonstrate how the very simplest techniques can still give you some great results that're easily replicated. Aimed at the beginner to painting miniatures, there might be one or two tips or tricks that help even you old hands!
Remember you can follow/reach me at the following places:
/ sonicsledgehammer
/ sonicsledge
If you like what I'm doing and you'd like to chip in, why not check out my Patreon or Ko-Fi? How I Paint Things will never be behind a pay wall, but anything dropped in the tip jar is greatly appreciated and really helps.
/ sonicsledgehammer
ko-fi.com/docwholigan
PAINTS USED:
BASES:
Leadbelcher
Bugman's Glow
Abaddon Black (or Vallejo Flat Black)
Retributor Armour
LAYERS:
Cadian Fleshtone
Kislev Flesh
Ironbreaker
Eshin Grey
Skavenblight Dinge
SHADES:
Nuln Oil

[@swellerferret2506]

Im so happy he to told us how to paint the shield, never heard anyone mention that in any other gondor soldier tutorial before.

[@JakobDrawitsch]

For people who find the armor highlight to be too bright: You can do the highlight before the Nuln Oil, that dampens the shine a bit. I also find plain white to work pretty well for the tree on the shield. Nuln oil darkens it a bit and not only overshadows the places where you went a bit off the line but also gets it pretty close to the movie originals :)

[@lewismillar6632]

One brush to paint them all, one pallete to hold it all and in the recess, shade them. Also i was wondering how you would recomend painting astra militarum vehicles in your winter theme, im thinking of making a mechanized company, Again as usual great video and keep it up.

[@DigitalVanquish]

Simple yet effective paint job of the basic troops.

[@johnkelley9877]

Great figure painting tutorial! simple yet realistic looking. Thanks for sharing this.

[@battlemind]

Thanks for this SSS. This is even simpler than my method for Gondor, and will speed things up even more. Thumbs up!

[@FrostandFists]

Great tutorial, my man! This knight of Gondor looks incredible! ~ Wolfbrother Methos

[@philRminiatures]

Amazing work, love this impressive armor...

[@pWndConan]

Love the paintjob🤗 would love to see more from middle earth

[@lukehill9492]

Looks great! Love accessible models like this

[@rienzieduardosandovalmoral4843]

Gracias por tu trabajo. Excelentemente pintado de las miniaturas 👏👏👏

[@jeffrichards5106]

Great job! doesn't look like it would be too difficult. Thanks for the video.

[@thanasisgeronimos9124]

nice work...plane and simple and effective

[@1sixscalecrafter351]

Hey Sonic Sledgehammer Studio, Good day or Night to you. :D Thank you for the Quick and Easy to follow instructional Video. Once again, you gave us a much faster way to paint the mini and get them on to the gaming table. Excellent Job! Take care and have a wonderful day. Peace & Joy :D edit: Fun Stuff. Thank you once again.. back to my mini painting :P

[@PepSoundZ]

Nice video as always! can you do maybe a chaos marauders or beastmen ungors gors?

[@basicminiaturepainting]

Wonderful stuff

[@wingnut1917]

Great job on that

[@marksmith3031]

Excellent and informative as usual, but when will we see a Blackstone Fortress painting tutorial???

[@Guru_Swami]

Ah yes, I see where I’m going wrong. I’m using more of a dab for knuckles when I should be using more of a blop! LOL Thanks fo another great video!!! 🤙🏽

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Don't forget the alternative power of the 'blip' and the 'wee touch' as well. ;D

[@marcellocolombarini1653]

Nice job👍🏻

[@sleepsinleaves]

Tickle the tree!

[@thundergoat421_6]

Damn, I had hoped you would show how you would have based the model as well!

[@Samanar]

Would you consider doing more tutorials on the Middle Earth SBG? I'm looking forward to starting several warbands for the upcoming Battle Companies (skirmish with 4-10 models) with my son and would love some advice on how to go around painting different models. There's some cool models in range to be honest... Thanks!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

If I happen to have any more appear in my collection! The Men of Gondor it turns out are the only guys I still had lurking in any boxes; the rest I would need to head out and buy. Otherwise I'd definitely be drybrushing the snot out of some Uruk Hai. ;D

[@donsk1022]

Can you do a Rivendell warrior? pleaseeeee!

[@RafaelSouza]

Nice painting. How did you do the base?

[@Sgt40K]

Nice and quick, I like it. You should do a series on GW models that can be used as D&D. This guy would be a nice Paladin or guardsman.

[@Dardle_]

Great tutorial. Please could you do uruk hai warriors if you get the chance

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I thought I had some Uruk Hai lurking in my spares box at some point - I used to have a 1000pt army of the buggers! I can't seem to find them, now. Not sure where they would have gone hiding!

[@josepantonigineblade9912]

Before you use the Leadbelcher for basecoat you have put a base of abaddon black or is it directly? Thank you and good video tutorial!

[@bfderycke]

Excelent

[@nickgarstang6446]

Hey man loved the vid but could you tell me how you based the mini because I’ve been searching for days for a scheme I like and when I found this vid it not only showed me how to paint my new army but also showed me a basing scheme I like the look of

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

This guy I started with Stirland Mud, then a heavy overbrush of Golfag Brown for a couple passes, then finished with a light drybrush of Tyrant Skull and a couple of tufts. Done!

[@nickgarstang6446]

Thx man keep up the good work

[@MrSheffcity]

Really nice painting. Simple but effective! Im new to painting and have some of these guys on the way... i only have a chaos black primer. Would that be alright as there is a lot of black?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

You'll probably still find it easier overall to start from the black primer and paint the whole thing in a couple of passes of silver, then go back with fresh black. But it'll certainly work! Just an extra step to do, is all. :)

[@Syrlantar]

Tickle the tree to give it a snickering of silver

[@renatoe3417]

Hi, did you prime it with brush? Can I do that ? I can’t find that paint in spray

[@dotdot3842]

Where can I get the paints?

[@KrogunDK]

I would do the shields of these guys in different dark colors. Crimson/red, Dark blue, teal, dark purple and black. That is certainly not true to the movies, but I think It'd make them look a bit more alive. The black and silver can be a little boring I think. Solid vid as usual.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I've seen them done in a dark blue before which was actually really nice. Being fantasy figures, of course, there's not really a 'right' way to paint them - unless Tolkien said so in any one of eight hundred or so appendices! ;D

[@Nick-kg5fm]

How do you do the bases?

[@Voldstag]

How you make the baseplate?

[@davidclayton3476]

Brilliant tutorial. One question, how you do the bases?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

This chap was Stirland Mud, then a drybrush of first Golgfag Brown, then Tyrant Skull. A tuft from the Middenheim Tufts box and done! I've actually done a whole video on bases where I think I go over this one, along with a couple of alternatives. :)

[@davidclayton3476]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Thank you for your response! I'm really happy with how they've turned out! Shame I can't post a picture in the comments.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

​@@davidclayton3476 Glad to hear that it did turn out the way you wanted, though! :)

[@Sturmhawke]

Still waiting for some more Middle Earth miniatures on this channel thanks.

[@Dakotah7272]

Do you water down all of your paints?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

There's a little bit of water in my brush when I take them from the pot, but I don't water anything down in the pot itself. Leaving it at its usual consistency in the pot gives you more control over how much you thin it out or what effects you can get on the palette.

[@ric1194]

If you haven't got the leadbelcher spray, what else would you recommend?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Either Gunmetal or Platemail from The Army Painter will do the job. You could also start from a mid-tone grey primer and just put a couple of thin coats of metallic paint on with a brush to get started.

[@ric1194]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio So something like a Mechanicus Grey spray would work well then? I've only got Chaos Black and that Grey primer

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Yup! A grey primer works really well for most things.

[@ric1194]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Great! Thankyou for your help! Now to follow the rest of the guide 😁

[@danieldyason8711]

please do osgiliath veterans

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

They'd be pretty much identical to these guys, maybe with a bit of Rakarth Flesh or Steel Legion Drab for the bits of bundled cloth and equipment they're carrying.

[@theOneThatWas]

I have a question..

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Which is...?

[@Moose_97]

Just started collecting, I've already got chaos black primer but do you need to use the one that was used in this vid or is it optional?