Tutorial: How to paint Thorin Oakenshield from the Hobbit

It’s the day before Christmas, and a few of you might have some Hobbit related goodies under the tree, if you have then this tutorial might prove useful.  Thorin II Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain is quite a simple model to paint, mainly comprising of blue, black and silver. In this 17 step tutorial I explain how I painted the the leader of the company of Dwarfs. More after the jump.

This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of how to paint. For the beginners, I will explain the techniques as I go along. Each picture below shows four chronological steps. Underneath each picture are the corresponding instructions. Each step shows the paint I used during that step. It’s good to have reference material close to hand to check colours. I used google images for film stills and Games Workshop’s 360º pictures on their website were a great help. 

Paints you will need for this tutorial:

Black Undercoat (technical)

Cadian Fleshtone (layer)

Bloodletter (glaze)

Doombull Brown (layer)

Kislev Flesh (layer)

Eshin Grey (layer)

Stormvermin Fur (layer)

Karak Stone (layer)

The Fang (base)

Ironbreaker (layer)

Agrax Earthshade (shade)

Abaddon Black (base)

Runefang Steel (layer)

Kantor Blue (base)

Macragge Blue (base)

Alaitoc Blue (layer)

Stirland Mud (techhnical)

XV-88 (base)

1. Undercoat the model. The model and details are small, so I hand undercoated the model (rather then use a spray) with Imperial Primer.

2. I painted the face and fingers with Cadian Fleshtone. I painted around the beard. 

3. I changed the hue of the skin using Bloodletter glaze. Dwarves are a little more red in complexion then humans.

4. Doombull Brown is a red based brown, I watered it down heavily and then then shaded around the eyes, nose, inbetween the fingers and around the face. 

5. I highlight the face with Kislev Flesh. You’ll notice I highlight the nose, but in the finished pics the nose is more red. This is because I later go over the nose with Bloodletter glaze. Also if you’re feeling brave this is the opportunity to paint the eyes with a thin black line and two white dots.

6. Using Eshin Grey highlight the hair, the elbows and knees, boot straps and back mounted sword scabbard. 

7. Highlight just the hair with Stormvermin Fur.  Paint the fur inbetween the bootstraps with Stormvermin Fur.

8. Highlight the fur on the boots with Karak Stone. 

9. Highlight the straps, scabbard, elbows and knees with The Fang.

10. Paint Orcrist, the chainmail, belt, sheathed sword handle and steel toe cap boots with Iron Breaker. 

11. To dirty up the metals wash with Agrax Earthshade.

12. I used Lahmium Medium, water and Abaddon Black to create a really fluid mix which I could use to line the chainmail to add more depth and shading.

13. Highlight all the silver areas with Runefang Steel. 

14. Paint the tunic and forearm guards with Kantor Blue.

15. Highlight the previous stage with Macragge Blue.

16. Add some edge highlights of Alaitoc Blue.

17. I used Lahmium Medium, water and Abaddon Black to create a really fluid mix which I used to paint on some patterning to the forearm guards and lower half of the tunic.

Finally base the model in a way which fits in with your collection. I used Stirland Mud texture paint highlighted with Karak Stone and the base edge was painted with XV-88. Static grass and scrub were glued on in small clumps.

For more Hobbit tutorials check out my Bilbo, Gandalf and Goblin tutorials. If you are recieving the Hobbit boxed game for Christmas and want to know more then read the Tale of Painters review. If the Thorin tutorial proves popular I may add another one (maybe Gloin). Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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