Miniature Monday: Harsk, Dwarf Ranger
Dwarves are not known for their bond with nature or their affinity to the surface world, but as you will see, there are some rare individuals among that race that get out and wander around in forests and meadows…
(posting by Dirk)
First I thought it’s just another dwarf, but this one is really rich in detail. Is backpack is packed with a lot of adventuring gear, I especially like the tea pot. And the axe is covered in fine runes, as it is fitting for a great warrior.
Since I had only a little time to paint this week, my mini is a WIP:
I chose the usual colours for rangers, greens and browns, but wanted some contrast color to stand out. So I painted his tunic red, perhaps his clan’s colors or a hint to his wild temper which lets him charge recklessly into combat.
He will be part of a traveling adventurer party on a diorama base which I’m hopefully be able to finish when their adversaries are to be painted at miniature monday…
Antonia’s dwarf is of the southern variety:
Antonia said she wasn’t that inspired by the mini (she admits she is not a “dwarf person”), but somehow a name like “emerald guard” got stuck in her head and she decided to paint the dwarf with a lot of green. He is dark skinned because she plans to used him in a tropical/equatorial RPG campaign, which also could explain why he doesn’t wear metal armour (leather is probably the bikini version of armour for a dwarf?). Since she didn’t have time for highlights the mini is still very dark overall, but with our little son crying through a lot of nights lately we just don’t seem to find the time for anything…
Arjens mini is also a WIP.
The idea for this ranger was to paint it in all kinds of brown. Also, Arjen told us he got some problems with his camera: some lower layers of paint are visible with the camera, while they are not visible with the naked eye, which gives strange effects. Nevertheless, the contrast between the blonde hair and the dark red gloves is an interesting choice that keeps the color scheme from being monotonous!
Jim painted his dwarf in light colors on skin, hair and clothes:
Jim brought up the question if dwarf rangers are to be of the below ground type or above ground. A really good question I didn’t think of, an underdark ranger would have been interesting, though none of our painters picked up this idea.
Jim chose an above ground, woodland type ranger. He liked to paint the mini and was excited by the lots of little details: The tea pot was also his favorite. I like how nuanced the dwarf’s face turned out! Funny how so many of the minis are light haired this week, normally you’d see dwarves mostly as brunettes or maybe redheads.
Michael’s dwarf might be scottish*:
Michael realized after starting this mini that he ends up reaching for the same paints sometimes; his Harsk began looking like he belongs to the same sewing circle as his Aeris mini from a few months ago. To add some distinction, he turned his plain green cloth parts into a tartan plaid with orange stripes. A really nice freehand which gives the mini a lot of character.
Michael didn’t want to cut out the support peg, so he hid it in a bush. A good idea which can be used on many occasions.
*on the other hand, which dwarf isn’t?
This week’s gallery:
Coming next:
04/02/2018 Bones III Pathfinder Troll (B3 Core)
(Update: I added some of your suggestions already, I might shuffle them around a bit, but keep them coming! Links are coming later because the reapermini page acted weird while I tried to access it.
As you can see I prepared a lot of date entries but am still looking for mini ideas. Post your suggestions if you like! The ‘Type of mini’ placeholder ist just that, if you want something else tell us!)
04/16/2018 Bones III Eastern Encounter I: Tengu, Crow people (B3 Core)
04/30/18 Bones II Aaron the Conjurer (B2 Core)
05/14/18 Bones III Werebear (B3 Core)
05/28/18 Bones III Nazeera Bloodraven, female fighter (B3 Core)
06/11/18 Bones II Bugbear Warband! Hunter, Warrior, Leader (B2 Core)
06/25/18 Bones III Let the dogs out: War Dog and/or Foo Dog (B3 Core)
07/09/18 Eastern Encounter II: Oni demon female and/or male (B3 Core)
07/23/18 Bones III Quinn, Iconic Investigator (B3 Core)
08/06/18 Catch-Up Monday – your pick from Bones 1 & 2 incl. extras. What about some demons (toad, wolf, slime…), a dragon or a giant?
08/20/18 Bones II Skeletons, as many as you like (like this or this or this one) Here you can find the Bones 2 Core Set picture, look for “Shambling Dead”. On reapermini.com you can search for “skeleton” and check the bones minis to find them. If you have other skeletons to paint just send us pics of those!
09/03/18 Bones III Ogres (guard, smasher, clubber) (B3 Core)
09/17/18 Unhooding woman
10/01/18 Bones III Bregan, Valkyrie (B3 Core)
10/15/18 Bones II TBA
10/29/18 Bones III Hobageddon: Hobgoblin warriors (B3 Core)
11/12/18 Bones III Humanoid TBA
11/26/18 Bones II TBA
12/10/18 Bones III Animal/Monster TBA
12/24/18 Christmas break
12/31/18 New Year’s break
01/07/19 Bones III Humanoid TBA
01/21/19 Room for your suggestions!
Caffeineforge 
Nice work, everyone. One interesting tidbit on this is how I either misinterpreted or reinterpreted part of the model. I actually didn’t paint him with a cape or cloak, or not much of one. The parts around his shoulders I painted as his front, making it a leather breastplate with pauldrons. I painted the cloth on the bottom like I did the loincloth bit, and the rest of the cape cloth, I just kept very dark.
Dirk brought up that there are no Underdark rangers. I almost went that way, but then I decided I wanted to decorate the base with the bushes to hide the peg. Anybody else have a backup plan they almost used?
I like the splashes of red in Dirk’s to add more color and variety in a traditional ranger scheme.
Antonia’s does look like a uniformed guard. Do you have other minis that are painted in the same scheme?
Arjen’s looks very well-traveled. He has a gritty old warrior vibe to me.
Jim’s could be a stocky Viking. Great details and highlights. I will say his clothes do look freshly laundered for a ranger, which does make for a great looking model.
It’s interesting that we all pretty much went in the same direction with this one. A few variations, to be sure, but the mini largely dictated the color scheme. I still need to go back and finish a couple of things, particularly that axe head! Michael’s comment about stocky Vikings is right on, as I usually visualize dwarves as Scandinavian or Germanic. Probably the Tolkien influence! Good stuff, everyone!