Miniature Monday – Hobgoblins UPDATED
For the friends of well organized non-human military and easy to use NPC adversaries, this week we painted some of Bones III hobgoblin warriors!
(posting by Antonia)
We had a busy week (or two) including Dirk’s birthday, so this article might be a bit shorter than usual and, well, even later *laughs*
Some words about the miniatures themselves. Overall the level of detail is quite good, but there are some annoying areas that have – at least in my and Dirk’s versions – gigantic gaps, for example the archer’s arm doesn’t even connect with her body properly. Did you experience similar problems, or was it just our batch?
My Hobgoblins are not even a WIP:
Here you can see how I start many of my simpler paintjobs – I pick some color and roughly paint a thin layer of it on the areas in question, just to see how it works. The next step would be cleaning up, washing and highlighting, but that will have to come later.
Chances are good I will continue painting them, though, because I plan to use them as NPC in a RPG campaign in D&D’s Kalamar setting, where Hobgoblins are a force to recognize.
The overall look I have in mind is a bit in the direction of Klingons (TNG/DS9) so I’ll use a lot of black, dull silver and red as contrasting element.
Dirk indulged in strong contrast this time:
He went for the traditional yellow hobgoblins (as companions to the Oni we painted some time ago) and was looking for strong colors to go with the skin color. Well, violet is definitely working as complementing color, and the red helps to build a bridge between the two.
Dirk is going to paint some more hobgoblins (we bought another 5 sets of them, I think)
Jim also sent us a WIP this week:
He wrote: “The minis are only about 50% done but you get the idea. I’ll probably be able to finish them up while painting the next mini or two on the list. I modified the distinctly Japanese armor by going very metallic but I’m not sure how they will come out.”
Grey skin is an interesting choice for sure, where do you get the idea from? And will you stay there or go in the black direction? Dark grey is a great base for that – on the other hand, if you manage to get a clean distinction between matte skin and shiny metal the otherwise similar shades could be a cool experiment too.
Michael tried out some things with the skin tone:
He said: “My goal for this group was to make them look like a cohesive unit, but still give some individual variation. I was happy with the skin tone too; I mixed Reaper’s Ruddy Flesh with Fire Newt by Army Painter to get a realistic looking orange tinge. I think I’m going to torment my PCs with these guys at some point. :-)”
I think the red works well to tie the band together, and the violet cloak highlights the leader’s position. The picture really looks like it could serve as an iIlustration.
Update:
Arjen sent in his belated pictures even *before* I wrote the article, but I somehow overlooked them anyway:
He wrote that he too did not have enough time to finish them, but he is happy with the color scheme anyway. How did you decide to pick this color combination? From the light I can’t really tell if the skin is just grey or a bit purple, like the hair. It’s an interesting choice for sure!
This week’s gallery:
Coming next:
11/12/18 Bones III Elven Blacksmith (B3 Core)
(I added some of your suggestions already, I might shuffle them around a bit, but keep them coming! For some minis there are no pics in the online shop yet so I’ll add them later.
11/26/18 Bones II Bat Demon (B2 Core)
12/10/18 Bones III Blood Hoof, Minotaur (B3 Core)
12/24/18 Christmas break
12/31/18 New Year’s break
01/07/19 Bones III Christina, Female Cleric (B3 Core)
01/21/19 Bones II Cuth Wolfson, Barbarian (B2 Core)
02/04/19 Bones III Wild West of Oz Wicked Witch plus Monkey* (B3 Core)
*they sell them in packs of three (obviously) but in the KS there was only one piece
02/18/19 Bones II Dub Bullock, Rogue (B2 Core)
Caffeineforge 
Hobgoblins. I do not think there is an official color, though pathfinder describes them :”Hobgoblins’ skin is a sickly gray-green”. So personally I think brown like goblins is feasible, grey is OK, and puke green and mustard yellow are also perfectly acceptable for a fashionable hobgo. I went with grey but was very late sending mine in (Tuesday actually), I hope you can update to include them.
I like Mike’s best this time around. They are the most finished, nice highlights on the hairs, good martial color choice. well done.
I like how Jim picked out some details like the lines on the shield. His grey skin, however, is very even, making the skin look like plastic (yes it is,duh, but it does not need to look that way). If you mixed a light grey with a bit of water to make it thin and did some highlights with it, to break the even tone, it would be much improved, i think.
I agree that there is a large range for skin colors and this is fantasy so I suppose nothing is right or wrong. Mine look the way they do in the pic because they only have the basic colors roughed in. I hadn’t done any shading, highlighting or washes yet. I seriously hope that they would look better when completed!
I had the same problems with my minis as you describe, Antonia. I was going to pull them apart and try to fix them but didn’t end up doing it. Funny you should mention Klingons: I think the big one with the round shield looks very much like Worf! This week’s theme seems to be red and yours are looking good, as hobgoblins favor bright, bloody colors.
Happy Birthday Dirk! I like the purple and red on your minis and love the skin color. It all seems to work well together. It sounds like you have a lot of hobgoblins to paint!
Hobgoblins are described as militaristic and lawful (though evil) so Michael’s group look great as a cohesive unit. There’s little doubt that they live and fight together.
Mine are obviously not anywhere near finished. I, too, am trying for a unified group or tribe look with probably less individuality than either Dirk or Michael. My trusty 1st edition Monster Manual describes their “hairy hides” as ranging from “dark reddish-brown to gray black” and there even used to be a specific paint color called Hobgoblin Gray/Black. I always found it odd that hobgoblins didn’t have any visual connection to goblins and yet bugbears were essentially giant, hairy goblins! I think I actually like Michael and Dirk’s skin tones better, though I’m not changing mine.
In regards to skin tone, when I see gray, I think Orc. I think I’m most influenced by the line of official D&D minis throughout 3rd and 4th Editions, of which I have quite a lot. They weren’t always consistent, but the Orcs were generally gray-skinned, and Hobgoblins were usually reddish or red-orange. I’ve seen yellow skin like what Dirk used on Goblins and Bugbears, but usually not Hobgoblins. Oddly enough, the only green things were reptilian – some Kobolds, Lizardfolk, and Yuan-ti, but never Goblins or Orcs. Anyway, that’s just one line, and I think a painter should go with whatever they like! I also like the idea of there being variation among the species (like with my Bugbears from a year or so ago).
It’s interesting that Dirk and I chose similar colors for the cloth and armor, but applied it very differently. Purple and red (red especially) really evoke that martial feel, so I guess they were natural choices. Everybody included some red somewhere, so there it is! I like adding color to armor (like Japanese lacquered armor), but I’m sometimes not sure how it will look. I think Dirk’s purple armor looks really nice, though, and makes the whole squad look very elite. My pic doesn’t show this because of the angle, but the cord on the big Hobbo is painted the same purple as the Warlord’s cape; I picture it as a mark of achievement or symbol of advanced rank.