painting the mumak

7/30/2019 Painting the Mumak

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LORD OF THE RINGS SBG

MUMAK PAINTING/CONVERSION GUIDE

The Mumakil, or Oliphaunts, represent perhaps the most deadly (and volatile) weapons of any army in Middle-earth. With these great beasts at their disposal, the Haradrim are a formidable force.

When I got my first Oliphaunt, I was immediately impressed by the aggressive head rearing pose of some of the

models displayed on the box. And, much like many people I'm sure, was somewhat perplexed as to there being no

capacity to create this pose from the mold provided. With that in mind, I've searched far and wide for a guide to

converting the Oliphaunt's head; with limited success. As a result, I figured I'd take matters into my own hands and

make it myself!

So now I present, a guide to shift this great beast's neck!

Paints Used:

- Chaos Black

- Codex Grey

- Bleached Bone

- Bestial Brown

- Scorched Brown

- Boltgun Metal

- Graveyard Earth

- Kommando Khaki

- Fortress Grey

- Red Gore

- Blood Red

- Charadon Granite

- Scab Red

- Gretchin Green

- Calthan Brown

Page 1 of 50Mumak Painting Guide - Lord of the Rings SBG

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- Khemri Brown

- Gryphonne Sepia

- Dark Angels Green

- Knarloc Green

- Chainmail

CONVERSION

This was the first conversion job I did. As such, I've attempted to show how a beginner would tackle the project.

For those of you who have more experience converting things than me, the basic principles are much the same; you

can simply do a better job than me!

Converting the neck is actually far easier than it seems. It's basically a matter of cutting away the left side of the

neck in order to stop the head naturally bending down to the right.




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The picture above shows where you need to cut. Just about 5mm in on the Oliphaunt's left side (right side of the

picture).

As anyone who owns this model is probably aware, it's the top left part of the neck that causes the head to sit in the

downward direction. What you need to do is make the end of the neck as even as possible.




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I found the easiest and safest way to do this is to cut small sections off at a time, thereby allowing you to position

the head after each cut and see how your progress is going. It's easier to cut stuff off than put it back on!

Obviously the head will no longer fit cleanly into the neck once you've done all this cutting. That's nothing to worry

about, as we'll be filling it out later anyway.

Once you're satisfied with the neck's new straight positioning, you'll probably be wanting to put the Oliphaunt's

head into place. This is a fine idea, since the Oliphaunt won't be going far at all without a head.

Now, if you wanted to you could simply glue the head into position. However, given the shape of the neck

(especially having been cut up so mercilessly), you'll find that there aren't a lot of joins where you can actually put

the glue in. Furthermore, you'll end up with an exceedingly weak join and the head is likely to fall off.

With that in mind, I glued three pairs of standard bases to one another to bulk out the neck area. This is much like a

pin, in that it creates a much stronger bond between the two pieces.




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It takes a little bit of fiddly work to get a shape that fits well into the neck and offers plenty of contact between the

body and neck. You'll notice in the picture above that the two glued bases furthest from the head are cut in half.

This was essential to get the head to be raised, but it's more a matter of finding what works for the particular angle

you'd like the head to sit at. Be careful that the height the head is raised at doesn't interfere with the howdah too;

this is worth checking as you go along. Once I got a pose that I was happy with, everything got a liberal coating of

plastic cement. The wonderful thing about this type of glue is that it bonds extremely quickly, meaning that you

don't have to worry too much about the pieces falling away while the glue dries.




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Once your Oliphaunt has a head, you can move on to what I found to be the most difficult part of the conversion:

The trunk.

Part of the reason for undertaking this conversion was to avoid having two Oliphaunts on the battlefield with the

same pose. The neck is the main difference of course, but I decided that straightening the trunk would also be a

good idea.

I cut the trunk up into pieces roughly 1cm long with a sharp knife. I ended up using a serrated knife which made

cutting through the thick plastic a bit easier. I would advise against using a sharp knife and pushing down to achieve

the cut. Far better to saw away at it.

Once the trunk is separated into 7 or 8 pieces, I put it back together in a straightened pose. To fill the gaps I used a

modelling clay called FIMO. Any other similar product would do though; in fact green stuff might even be a bit

better. I, however, am not very good at sculpting with green stuff yet so I opted for this easier option.




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At this stage the clay is a bit rough around the edges and can even crumble a bit. This is why green stuff is by far the

better option. Anyway, these problems are remedied in a moment.

Once your trunk is altered, you can move onto filling out the neck. I would strongly suggest that you wait until the

neck is fully sculpted before attaching the trunk to the Oliphaunt's head; otherwise the head will be awkwardly

balanced.

Filling out the neck is quite straightforward. Just be sure to compact the material well so as to prevent loose parts

coming away in future. The good thing about modelling clay is that it's extraordinarily easy to shape, and so you




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shouldn't have any trouble at all getting a neck that looks natural.

Once I'd finished filling out the next, I took a very sharp knife and scored around it to create a skin texture. Of

course, the clay will be covered with green stuff soon, so this particular step probably doesn't matter that much. It

does, however, give you an idea of how the finished next will look and helps you to figure out the direction that the

skin should fold.




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As you can by looking at the trunk in these photos, once you have the head attached the trunk can be glued into

place.

Once everything is in place, all of the modelling clay can be covered in green stuff. This is where you can clean up

any of the rough edges and make a smoother finish. Be sure to score in the skin fold lines too, otherwise the neck




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extension will look very unnatural.




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Don't forget to cover the mould lines with green stuff too. Finally, once the head and neck are complete you can add

the ears. It definitely pays to leave them until this stage, otherwise they'll get in the way as you attempt to sculpt the

neck.

Positioning the ears in a natural way will also warrant some attention with the green stuff.




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Your conversion job is now complete! Now that wasn't so hard was it? I think the real trick in this change is the

positioning of the head with the glued bases. Once you've got a position that you like, filling in the neck is relatively

easy.

Right, the next job once you've finished converting the pose is to get this beast painted!

PAINTING

After hacking away at your poor Oliphaunt and then furiously trying to get all the bits to stick together nicely, the

prospect of painting the model probably seems quite easy now. The good news is that the paint job is fairly easy. The

bad news is that, if you're anything like me, this job requires a lot of patience.

I'm someone who likes to see paint jobs completed, and sometimes that means a balance between speed and quality.

With this particular job, however, it certainly is worth taking the time to do the job properly. You'll only regret not

doing so down the track if you rush it!

First, as always, give the model a nice even coat of Chaos Black. For a model this size, if you don't already you'll

definitely want to consider spraying this base coat on. Painting it on with a brush will take much, much longer; and




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thankfully this stage is one where quality need not be compromised by speed!

Now to the Oliphaunt's skin. For this part, be sure to include the areas around the ropes on the top of the animal's

sides. I'm not sure why, but these bits aren't textured like the rest of the skin.

First mix 2 parts Codex Grey, 1 part Chaos Black and 1 part Graveyard Earth and give this a generous coat over the

skin whilst leaving the deepest recesses black. You'll want to use a large paintbrush for this part as the mix will drybefore you finish if you use too small a brush. Mixes are a pain like that, especially when it comes to replicating

them later.




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Now give it a new layer, this time with 1 part Kommando Khaki added to the last mix.

At this stage I felt that the skin was lacking a little depth, so I gave it a diluted black ink wash. This helps to

strengthen the contrast between the different layers too.




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Now you'll want to give it some highlights to prevent the skin from becoming just one big grey blob. Highlight the

raises ridges of the skin folds with Codex Grey. This will bring out the different layers of skin all the more.

Finally, give the raised areas around the Oliphaunt's head (including the edges of its ears) and the skin around the

top of the tusks a very light highlight of Fortress Grey.




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That finishes off the main part of the skin, which should now have some variation in tones between the deeper

recesses and highest ridges. The scoring of the green stuff around the Oliphaunt's neck will assist with this layering.

Now if you're familiar with any guides that GW have given for this model, you may remember that they give the

model some random blotches of darker colour on the skin. Apparently this occurs in elephants in the wild

(according to a White Dwarf article I read a while back). As such, I gave mine this colouration with a mix of 1 part

Codex Grey, 1 part Chaos Black, 1 part Graveyard Earth and 1 part Scorched Brown. You don't really want to overdothis part though; just a few small blotches here and there should do the trick.




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The next natural progression from this stage is probably to do the war paint, if indeed you've decided that your

Oliphaunt will have it. It's a personal preference, although last time I checked the Battle of the Pelennor Fields scene

from The Return of the King film every Mumak had war paint on. Being the traditionalist that I am, that meant that

this one also had to have war paint. Astute film viewers will no doubt point to the Oliphaunts in The Two Towers as

having no war paint on, but presumably they were on their way to the Pelennor Fields so I guess they were painted

up closer to the battle. Anyway, basically as it comes down to your own preference.

Having said all that, I decided to paint the tusks before doing the war paint anyway.

This is a pretty simple set of steps.

Firstly, give the tusks a few coats of Bleached Bone. I ended up doing three coats, which ensured that the colour was

even the whole way.




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Now mix equal parts Chaos Black with Scorched Brown, and fill in the very ends of the tusks. You nearly need to just

flick the brush over the edges to get the streaks of paint to look suitably thin.

It's a bit of a pain getting this colour to go all the way around the tusks, especially the underside. It's almost worth

painting the tusks before attaching them, although it's not a huge inconvenience.

Next do the same streaked style, but starts them a few millimeters down from the ends, and make them go a bitfurther beyond where the first coat stopped. Do this with straight Scorched Brown, and you should have a gradual

colour transition starting to happen.




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Do exactly the same thing with a layer of Bestial Brown, and finally with Graveyard Earth.




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The war paint is quite easy, so long as you have the capacity for some restraint. Better to use a style similar to that of

drybrushing, as a rougher, less even coat will look a lot more realistic than a clean paint job.

First give the skin a coat of Red Gore. It's up to you exactly where the war paint goes, for this model I went for each

leg and the Oliphaunt's face. The only downer about this particular style is that it ends up covering some of the nice




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intricate layering that was put around the head.




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As I mentioned before, drybrushing the war paint on will make it look a bit more realistic. I imagine the Haradrim

would've had a very hard time getting perfect coverage over the animals as they moved around, so a rougher job

seems better in this case.




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Now go over the red areas with Blood Red. This is a fuller colour, as Red Gore has a tendency to look a little purple

sometimes.




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Once you're satisfied with the colour of the paint, you can add the characters with Chaos Black. I just made the

designs up as I went, putting the odd Eye here and there. One issue I did have was trying to avoid the characters

from looking Japanese or Chinese, but again it's a personal preference. Some people might like that sort of thing.

Here's a look at the leg designs:




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One of the last steps to take with respect to the Oliphaunt's body is to go back over its eyes with Chaos Black,

otherwise he can't see through the war paint!

The Ropes:




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The large, thick, ropes going under and over the Oliphaunt's body were first given a mix of 1 part Codex Grey and 1

part Graveyard Earth.

They were then given a Brown Ink wash.




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The inner ropes holding the big ones together were first painted with Charadon Granite, with Scorched Brown being

painted on the ties every centimeter or so along the way. Boltgun Metal was used for the clasps.

The framework of the howdah on the Mumak's body was painted Scorched Brown followed by a Brown Ink wash.




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The Howdah:




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I started with the wicker parts of the howdah. First a coat of 1 part Chaos Black, 1 part Scorched Brown and 1 part

Codex Grey.

Follow this with a layer of 1 part Chaos Black, 1 part Scorched Brown, 1 part Codex Grey and 1 part Bleached Bone.




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Next, give it a layer of 1 part Chaos Black, 1 part Scorched Brown, 1 part Codex Grey and 3 parts Bleached Bone and

finally a Brown Ink wash.

Next, the wooden framework around the wicker can be painted the same as the wood on the Oliphaunt's body. That

is, Scorched Brown with a Brown Ink wash. The ropes tying the frame together is painted the same as the thick

ropes around the Oliphaunt.

Now the next photo shows a part that seems to be treated differently by different painters.




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The area in the middle seems to me to be the top of the Oliphaunt's back, hence it was given a grey colour just like

the rest of the skin. I've seen other people paint it a brownish colour, so I guess some prefer to make it look as

though some leather coverings are placed on the animal's back before the howdah. This, again, is a personal

preference.

Now for the hide. First it was given two coats of Scab Red to form an even colour.




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Follow this with a layer of Blood Red.




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It's useful at this stage to see how all the pieces will fit together on the Oliphaunt.

Finally the flags were painted with Blood Red, and the designs painted with Chaos Black.




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Before gluing the howdah onto the Oliphaunt, it's useful to sit it together first to make sure it all fits without issue.




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The wooden beams are very fiddly to put together, so I found it far easier to glue the platforms together before

putting the whole structure onto the

Oliphaunt.




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A liberal coat of plastic cement is called for in order to affix the structure to the Oliphaunt's back. Be sure to allow it

plenty of time to dry, otherwise there is a risk of damage to the model if everything isn't attached properly.

One problem with the howdah is that the pieces don't seem to fit perfectly together, I'm not sure if this is a problem

with the sculpt or simply the result of some variation in the pieces. Unfortunately, the only solution is to make the

plastic cement do its job. I found a small blob of blu-tac helped to keep the pieces together long enough for the glue

to set. This can simply be painted over afterwards if need be.

The Base:

The Oliphaunt's base is a large job in itself, but is worth giving the same degree of attention as the rest of the model.

I've seen a few models that have been let down by inattention to this intricately detailed base, or otherwise covered

almost entirely with static grass. This isn't necessarily the wrong approach, but I definitely think it's worth painting

it as well as you possibly can.

The easiest place to start is the dirt surrounding the dead bodies; if you try to do the dead orcs, Rohirrim and horses

first then you'll have a horrible time trying to reach the tight spaces around them.




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Start with a coat of 2 parts Graveyard Earth and 1 part Chaos Black.

Follow this with a coat of 1 part Graveyard Earth, 1 part Scorched Brown and 1 part Chaos Black.




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The idea of this process is to start with the darkest dirt colours and to gradually lighten the higher parts of the

surface. Most of these layers cover about 95% of the previous one; sometimes even more. It might seem like a waste

of effort doing it this way, but several layers will add significant depth to the job.

Next coat is 3 parts Bleached Bone, 2 parts Scorched Brown and 1 part Bestial Brown.

Next, add 1 part of Graveyard Earth to the previous mix.




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Now I started to add a greenish tinge to the layers, just to give it a grassy look.

The next mix has 1 part Kommando Khaki and 1 part Gretchin Green.

Finally, a coat of 1 part Bleached Bone and 1 part Gretchin Green should result in a nice grassy dirt area.

Once the ground is done, I continued onto the horses.

One was painted Scorched Brown, followed by a Browin Ink Wash. (Bottom right on next photo)




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Another was Calthan Brown, again followed by a Brown Ink Wash. (Top left)

The third was painted Khemri Brown with a wash of Gryphonne Sepia. (Bottom left)

The Rohirrim were all given the same basic scheme.

Their trousers were given a coat of Scorched Brown, highlighted up with 1 part Scorched Brown and 1 part Calthan

Brown.

Their tunics were Chardon Granite followed by 3 parts Chardon Granite and 1 part Bleached Bone highlights.

Their distinctive green cloaks were painted Dark Angels Green with Knarloc Green highlights.

Leather armour was painted Scorched Brown then highlighted with 1 part Scorched Brown and 1 Bestial Brown.




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Finally, their metal armour was painted with Boltgun Metal.

Now, a word on the Rohan soldier with his arm cut off. As a general rule, and I think many people tend to agree

with this, blood and gore doesn't really work with these models. More often than not the model in question ends up

looking fake and over the top, which is at the expense of realism.

However, this particular soldier has presumably lost his arm very recently, and so I believe that in this case a bit of

blood is not only warranted but actually more realistic. Just this once!




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There are two dead orcs on this base.

One was painted with Graveyard Earth and Khemri Brown, the other with Scorched Brown followed by Calthan

Brown.




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Once these larger parts are complete, you can go around the other bits and pieces at your leisure. It's very

rewarding to see this large expanse of battlefield take shape and approach completion!

Once you've (finally) finished the paint job, it's time to put everything together.




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The Oliphaunt doesn't tend to fit perfectly into the footprints, so I glued a few bits of sand in each print to give more

contact with the bottom of the animal's feet.

You're Oliphaunt is now complete! How fantastic, you now have a terrifying monster with which to crush your

opponents on the battlefield.

The blood soaked fields of the Pelennor will

tremble!




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I'm currently working on the Haradrim crew for this kit, so stay tuned in the next few weeks for that!




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I hope this guide has helped or inspired some of you to tackle this tremendous project. Whilst it can often take a lot

of time to finish all of this, it's certainly worth it to be able to deploy this monster in all its glory.

Comments, suggestions and criticisms all welcome.

2006


painting the mumak

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