Midpoint of the Game of Thrones project reached and the next noble house is unbowed, unbent and unbroken

With only eight Bretonnian Knights to work with, I have now reached the midpoint of my Game of Thrones paint-job conversion project. In keeping with my aim to continuously work with different colour schemes, the noble houses of Westeros I have completed so far all sport very different colours namely red for House Lannister, yellow for House Clegane, mid-green for House Baratheon of the Renly faction and light sky blue for House Arryn. Pleased at having achieved this mini-milestone, I felt it fitting to take a group shot of all four knights together side by side for the first time.  

Knights of House Arryn, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Clegane

For better or worse, contrast on the knights was intentionally kept low because if the difference between the highlights and shadows was too drastic it would have resulted in a satiny look on the caparison (decorative cloth covering the horses). Instead, I wanted a more cotton-like texture for the caparisons. Although I do not know for sure what material was used to make caparisons during medieval times, I doubt that satin (likely to be expensive both historically and in an epic fantasy setting such as Game of Thrones) would have been used on a knight/warhorse set to go into battle.

Getting each house heraldry on the shields and caparisons afforded me plenty of freehand painting practice

Each knight's helmet was chose to reflect descriptions or story plots in George RR Martin's books

I have been fortunate in that the existence of appropriate and relevant parts from the Bretonnian Knights miniature sprue enabled me to customise each knight's helmet to reflect the characteristics of each individual house or at the very least portray parts of the storyline of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. House Lannister and House Arryn was fairly straightforward with bronzed lion (albeit a winged one) and a falcon respectively adorning the helmet; so too was House Baratheon with the antlers. Meanwhile, a bronzed boar with a knife sticking out its back was a House Clegane homage to their masters the Lannisters who had masterminded King Robert's death-by-accident.

Opposing factions face off against each other to decide the fate of Westeros

Any enthusiasm to paint a knight and warhorse from my current favourite noble house i.e. House Targaryen was quickly doused when I realised I haven't quite figured out how to do a miniature freehand version of its heraldry which is a three-headed dragon. Until I overcome that significant obstacle, I am proceeding with House Martell which has a predominantly orange colour scheme. As with the other knights, I managed to find the perfect helmet for House Martell ... one with a coiled serpent around a spear-of-sorts. The horse's pose was also perfect as it captured a dynamism of a serpent springing forward which complemented the angled lance attached to the knight's right arm.

Assembled knight and warhorse (shown sans shield) for House Martell

It's ironic that as my Game of Thrones miniature project gathers pace I find myself stuck at Book Four of the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series. For some reason I seem to have lost the urge to turn the pages. So I decided to take a short break from George RR Martin's book and get myself reacquainted with the Star Trek Universe, specifically the books that pick up the story right after Star Trek Nemesis, the final movie involving the original cast of Star Trek Next Generation.

Taking a break from 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series with some Star Trek books

Resistance, Before Dishonor and Greater Than The Sum deal with the Borg who are now unlike how they were portrayed in the movies and TV series while Q&A sees Picard saving the universe with Q's help. Sword of Damocles is a story involving Riker's new command Titan that occurs sometime around the happenings of the other novels. I have finished four and am in the midst of the fifth book, all in less than a month. That's how good a read they are. There are actually many more books after the ones you see above, around 36 in total and counting, so I have barely scratched the surface of must-read Star Trek fiction. Something to keep me occupied during any free time not dedicated to painting miniatures and until I eventually pick up where I left off in Martin's A Feast for Crows. 

House Arryn Knight & Warhorse [Completed]

For the first time in my Game of Thrones miniature paint-job conversion project, I was completely stumped by how to paint a noble house's heraldry - more specifically that of House Arryn. This had contributed to the long delay in finishing knight numero quarto which had previously seen me paint knights of House Lannister, House Clegane and Renly's House Baratheon. The main stumbling block was the fact that House Arryn's heraldry has a perfect circle encircling a falcon and crescent moon. Painting symmetrical geometric designs is a skill that I am not ashamed to admit I do not have.

House Arryn knight on a warhorse [Completed]

House Arryn heraldry was adapted slightly to fit the heroic 28-mm scale miniature

In the end, to simplify matters seeing that this miniature was at 28-mm heroic scale, I took a step back from my usual obsessive compulsive painter tendencies to faithfully recreate designs verbatim. So that meant dispensing with the perfect circle around the falcon and crescent moon; the latter two was painted in creamy white as per descriptions I read in the Game of Thrones novels. In another first of sorts, I also dispensed with the usual careful 'planning and design' step I have for freehand painting attempts and decided to just 'wing it' - pun unintended - when painting House Arryn's heraldry.

A truly majestic bird ... the falcon

To paint the life bird resting atop the knight's right arm, I used the majestic Peregrine Falcon as the main point of reference. It gave a very nice contrast to the bronze falcon sitting on top of the knight's helmet. Meanwhile, the metallic silver of the knight's armour was given a blue wash to add a bit of dynamism to it. Moreover, it tied up nicely with the overall sky blue look of the House Arryn knight.

Contrast on the sky blue bits was partly subdued by bright lamps used in the photography session

Front and back view of the House Arryn Knight and Warhorse

Knight's armour was given a blue wash to make it look livelier as well as tie in to the overall colour scheme

Overall I am rather please that I have managed to persevere up to this stage of the project which has seen four knights from different noble houses being completed. To be honest, I am surprised I have gotten this far. That it has has been fun has obviously helped. Well four down and four more to go.

Bronze metal bird on the knight's helmet contrasts with the real life falcon on his right arm

As high as honour ... the motto of House Arryn

360 view of the House Arryn Knight on a Warhorse
For a 360 degree view of the House Arryn Knight and Warhorse - essentially a Bretonnian Knight painted in the colours of a noble house in the land of Westeros as described in the Game of Thrones books - please see the YouTube video below. For other videos, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Be sure to choose the high definition (HD) option for the best view.

Although I am spoilt for choice as to my next noble house of Westeros, I am still unsure which one should be my next subject matter in this Game of Thrones miniature paint-job conversion project. I have only four Bretonnian Knights left to work with and as things stand they would most likely be painted in the colours of House Targaryen, House Martell, House Tully and House Tyrell. Next up will be House Targaryen if I can figure out how to paint its heraldry which arguably is the most difficult of all the noble houses. If not, I might attempt something simpler. Till then Valar Morghulis.  

Choosing the colours of House Arryn, Game of Thrones

A simple online search reveals a confusing range of colours being used to represent House Arryn, one of the lesser noble houses in George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, more popularly known by the title of his first book Game of Thrones (GoT) in the HBO series. From dark blue to greyish blue to sky blue, I was spoilt for choice and that resulted in my miniature paint conversion project - of the noble houses in Westeros, the world of GoT- stalling for quite a while, until now.

Work-in-progress paint conversion of a Bretonnian warhorse into a House Arryn warhorse

Warhorse now awaits freehand painting of House Arryn heraldy designs

Based on what I could make out from some scenes in the HBO series, I have seen dark blue as well as greyish blue (with a hint of sky blue) being used. The former didn't appeal to me because it was too close to the blue used by House Tully (yet another noble house I plan to paint) while the latter seemed dull. So I settled for a blue that was more light-sky-blue with less greyish-blue undertones. 

Two promising colour schemes for House Arryn

I haven't completely abandoned the idea of using greyish blue in the overall colour scheme- for example on parts of the knight that sits atop the warhorse - but the final decision to go ahead rests on how the metallic greys of the knight's amour will look against the greyish blue hues.

House Arryn warhorse work-in-progress (front and back view)

To obtain the 'light-sky-blue-with-some-greyish-blues' colour scheme I had to use Reaper Master Series paints such as Blue Liner, Ashen Blue, Sky Blue and Ghost White mixed in various ratios.

Blue colour schme used for the House Arryn warhorse

Meanwhile, I added purer forms of sky blue into parts of the House Arryn warhorse (see below) in order to brighten up the whole miniature. The neutral browns of the warhorse's leather reins provide some contrast to the lighter blues. With so much brown already showing up via the leather reins, I then opted to paint the horse grey which in turn complemented the light blue colours as things came full circle. To add a bit of 'pop' to the overall colours, I glued on some bright green grass on the base. 

Purer sky blue colours were added to brighten up the overall look

Two main things remain undone; firstly painting the knight and House Arryn heraldry. Secondly, I foresee a tough challenge in getting the falcon on the knight's arm to look realistic and life-like.

Progress so far on the whole miniature, knight and warhorse of House Arryn

It feels great to finally get my Game of Thrones project underway again. To date, I have only finished knights for House Lannister, House Clegane and House Baratheon. Finishing the knight for House Arryn will make it four with another four nobles houses to choose from the eight-miniatures GW Warhammer Bretonnian Knights set that this project is based on.  Good times lie ahead for sure!