Games Workshop makes two excellent fell beasts in their Lord of the Rings line. The model is fragile, but has some nice details and is highly evocative of the scenes in the film. Here are some collected images from my recently completed Witch King on Fell Beast model.
The model itself was a challenge to assemble. There were many large gaps that needed a good amount of putty work, but who needs a few hours of their life away from something this cool?
The beast was base-coated with a dark dark brown and built up with increasingly lighter shades of gray. Burnt umber washes were applied to many parts that I felt were getting too monochromatic gray. I thought this model was going to be simple to paint, but it's subtleties were a real challenge. Some passages make me particularly happy: the glow from the sword on the rider, crosshatching on the beast's neck, veins in the wings, detail around the teeth/mouth, and armor on the head. Giving the rider reins attached to the head of his mount was an effort worth the annoyance. If you want a headache some evening, try painting thin, white filament a dark color and attaching it to a 28mm scale model.
The base was given equal attention and I tried some new techniques. Thanks to PsychosisPC on the WWHFB.com forums for a tip: mixing Italian seasoning herbs into the sand of the base! The leaf clutter gives the ground a little more visual interest. I took another look at The Two Towers film for foliage inspiration and created the little dead grass puffs to match some of its scenes.
The Witch King model originally came with a giant mace. I've seen some other folks convert him to carry a flaming sword and I wanted to do the same. The sword has a larger scale than the rider as it is a green-stuffed WHF orc weapon, but I liked the hightened attention it's scale brings. Boom! That dude has a big flaming sword. If only we were all so lucky.
Here's a shot during the conversion:
