Painting Mahud

Since I had so much fun assembling my first two Mahud warriors the other day, I decided to move them to the front of my painting queue.

There is very little information regarding the warriors of Far Harad. Tolkien mentions that some fought at the battle of the Pelennor Fields, saying they were ‘black men like half-trolls with red tongues and white eyes...’ It’s not a lot to go on.

In the movie, we see a couple of men from Far Harad serving as drivers for the Mumaks. Both are dark-skinned, bald and covered with garish red and white face paint. It’s a rather effective ‘warrior look’ in my opinion, and I decided to use it as the basis for my own warriors.

For the most part, painting these figures was a little bit dull. Since they are mostly naked, there isn’t a lot of detail to pick out, which is my favourite part. It was only after I got the basic flesh and clothes finished that I really enjoyed it. With my red and white paint, I went to town painting little dots and lines on them, trying to give them that fierce warrior look. For awhile I didn’t think it was working, but when I put a couple of white dots under their eyes, the figures really seem to come together.

I think the key for me is to not paint too many of these figures at one go. If I space them out, I am actually more likely to maintain my interest. Anyway, these are the only two I’ve got constructed at the moment, and there are plenty of other figures waiting in the queue.