A CROWN IS BORN../ The Hobbit Dwarves etc.. WIP's & Finished Builds Part 2

Hopefully got my 1/6 mojo back as I actually finished this build, took about a month and I'm looking forward to building Dori next. I'll show all the WIP as normal but like I said he's already finished as I didn't want to start another thread then burn out part way through like I was doing a few years ago before I realised I really needed a break.
This build is the Dwarf Oin, Gloin's brother and Gimli's uncle, he's the 'medic' of the group as far as I can tell (Tolkien didn't exactly give them in depth characters and backstories). Looks like he would be on a Council with Balin, Gloin, Dwalin and Thorin. He's a bit deaf and quite expressive (as I try to capture in some mods later, sorry in advance Peter!).
I started using the official Wetta statue as a reference for him since they created all the CGI and costumes for the films but later get a bit frustrated due to so many discrepancies between that and stills, art work, prop displays etc.. mostly just over colour of his coat. It starts out red then goes a darker shade closer to purple, I didn't choose the brown route as so many of the others are mostly brown, also a lot of them are red so I threw caution to the wind and went with my gut/preferences as I do later with the HS and hair...

INITIAL REFERENCE PICS:

 









USUAL START, CUSTOM BODY CLOTHES ETC..









DRILLED TOO FAR SO HAD TO REPAIR THE JOINT USING SOME MODELLING SPRUE, SILLY MISTAKE:





IRONHOOF'S COUSIN, IRONNIPPLES!



















MAKING WOODEN TOGGLES OUT OF A SOUVLAKI STICK TO USE ON HIS COAT:





I HAD TO GLUE, TWIRL THREADS TOGETHER TO GET THE RIGHT DIAMETER, THEN TIE A GAZILLION CAREFULLY SPACED KNOTS SO i COULD SAFELY CUT IT INTO MATCHING LENGTHS WITHOUT RISKING IT ALL COMING UNRAVELLED:







LOTS OF SANDING AND FILING LATER:























THE BASIC BELT I MADE FROM FIVE SEPARATE PARTS BEFORE I EVEN STARTED TO MODIFY IT TO MAKE IT MORE SCREEN ACCURATE:























MORE SOON FOLKS!  

Was planning on taking a nap but still awake so I'll add some more WIP pics ;-)







FIRST VERSION OF HIS KNIFE:









USING REAL LEATHER TO MAKE HIS MEDICINE BAG:







NEEDED SUPER GLUE AND A VICE TO GET THE LEATHER TO STAY IN THE SHAPE i WANTED:







USED WOODEN CHOPSTICKS WITH A SPOKE PLANE/LATHE TO MAKE HIS LONG POLE WEAPON THAT NEEDED TO BE ANGULAR NOT ROUND BECAUSE...DWARVES..:











THEN WRAPPED IN FAUX LEATHER WITH BRASS AND ALUMINIUM PARTS ADDED:



















GLOVES USING A WOVEN WOOL JUMPER TO ACCENT THEM:











NOW THIS IS WHY I DECIDED TO CHANGE FROM THE RED TO THE DARK PURPLE:













YES I KNOW TECHNICALLY IT'S MORE BROWN BUT THAT'S A BIT BORING AND IT DOES HAVE A PURPLISH HUE TO IT, PERHAPS THE LIGHTING, I DON'T KNOW:









MORE 'CONTROVERSIAL' DECISIONS TO COME...KEYBOARD'S RUNNING OUT OF BATTERY....

Holy cow, this looks good! I'm very happy to see you returning to sixth-scale kitbashing and picking up the dwarves quest. Your dedication to reproducing the detail accurately is so impressive, and the results likewise. Like the weaved patterning on the gloves, the rectangular patter on the belt, the leather goods, the souvlaki sticks buttons, everything! And that Frankenstein-like but perfectly appropriate underlying body, so cool (ironnips made me laugh out loud). Did I see you using foam to fill up the gap in the stomach area while allowing for articulation? Nice. Thanks for sharing, hope we'll see plenty more with these characters and others.

Yay great to see you and the dwarves again! Creative projects really have that bad habit of draining our energy. Would have been easier if Tolkien just made the story about 7 dwarves, like all the other guys did.

Agree with teh Guv, great love for details like the souvlaki buttons and the belt. I also really like the wrapping on the boots. And of course I love that pole weapon. And great work by peter.

Awesome to see you back! Have missed you and your builds!! 

And those are some impressive solutions for both the body and outfit/accessories. Honoured you are sharing this with us! :')

Wow! What a come back, Alex. So glad to see you back and working on your Hobbits again. Beautiful work, and so many cool little details — you never fail to impress with all the little touches. Hopefully, though he’s retired from the game, Peter sees the final outcome of his sculpts and your stellar craftsmanship.

Wow, I remember seeing your works as a lurker in other boards, I was always amazed on how you seemingly magically turned a lot of different parts into fantastic customs that blew my mind. Fantastic work with so much lovely detail.

Thank you all so much for such a warm welcome back! It really lifted my spirits to see all these wonderful and positive replies this morning! And that's saying something, 1) it's morning 2) I suffer from chronic depression so anything lifting my spirits has to be pretty damn meaningful!

GubernatorFan wrote:Holy cow, this looks good! I'm very happy to see you returning to sixth-scale kitbashing and picking up the dwarves quest. Your dedication to reproducing the detail accurately is so impressive, and the results likewise. Like the weaved patterning on the gloves, the rectangular patter on the belt, the leather goods, the souvlaki sticks buttons, everything! And that Frankenstein-like but perfectly appropriate underlying body, so cool (ironnips made me laugh out loud). Did I see you using foam to fill up the gap in the stomach area while allowing for articulation? Nice. Thanks for sharing, hope we'll see plenty more with these characters and others.

Thank you so much GTF! Hopefully another 7 characters to come to complete the 'band' of adventurers... Got some LOTR stuff planned too. Yes the abdomen is completely articulated but his heavy clothes and belt rather restrict it.

Ovy wrote:Yay great to see you and the dwarves again! Creative projects really have that bad habit of draining our energy. Would have been easier if Tolkien just made the story about 7 dwarves, like all the other guys did.

Agree with teh Guv, great love for details like the souvlaki buttons and the belt. I also really like the wrapping on the boots. And of course I love that pole weapon. And great work by peter.

Cheers Ovy! Yeah I'd be done now if it was only 7 Dwarves!!
Peter might be horrified at what happens next... it's by no means meant to disrespect Peter's brilliant work I just decided I wanted a more expressive face taking this character to the max of his grumpy/startled expressions in some of the pics, as if he finally heard what someone was trying to tell him! As for choosing the real hair and real beard route, that's just what I tend to do as I get more posability with the HS and can create more 'action poses' ie: windswept hair, wet bedraggled, super hero fighting and landing poses etc..

skywalkersaga wrote:Awesome to see you back! Have missed you and your builds!! 

And those are some impressive solutions for both the body and outfit/accessories. Honoured you are sharing this with us! :')

Cheers SWS! Means a lot that you guys are enjoying this build!

Stryker2011 wrote:Wow! What a come back, Alex. So glad to see you back and working on your Hobbits again. Beautiful work, and so many cool little details — you never fail to impress with all the little touches. Hopefully, though he’s retired from the game, Peter sees the final outcome of his sculpts and your stellar craftsmanship.

Thank you Striker!
Very sad to hear Peter's retired!!! Who will make all my future sculpts for a more than fair price?! I'll have to learn.. I'm only good at Aliens, robots and monsters!

Theboo-bomb wrote:Wow, I remember seeing your works as a lurker in other boards, I was always amazed on how you seemingly magically turned a lot of different parts into fantastic customs that blew my mind.  Fantastic work with so much lovely detail.

Cheers TTB! Great to meet you! I tend to hoard crap then turn it into things!

Wow! just stunned. What amazing work, so much detail. You have a fine job!

An ode to Peter's sculpt before I change it to suit my fickle artist's temperament!(I had touched up the paint a little bit and added a neck) i.e. : take it a completely different direction, SORRY PETER!!











THESE PICS ARE WHAT SPURRED MY DECISION TO CHANGE THINGS AND GIVE HIM MORE EXPRESSION, THE REAL HAIR IS JUST A PERSONAL PREFERENCE OF MINE AND TO ALLOW MORE ARTICULATION PLUS PHYSICALLY POSING THE HAIR ITSELF CREATING DIFFERENT LOOKS WITH HAIR WAX:













ON WITH THE HERESY! i USED FIMO PROFESSIONAL DOLL ART POLYMER CLAY AND REBAKED IT :















BEFORE AND AFTER FINAL TRIM AND WAX APPLIED (I THINK). ADDED EARS, NEW BOTTOM LIP, HAIR, BEARD, BUSHY REAL HAIR EYEBROWS AND ALL THE BRAIDS MADE FROM REAL HAIR:







HEARING AID, HAD TOO HEAT UP THE STEEL TO RED HOT AND BEND IT GRADUALLY IN THE VICE USING VICE GRIPS, THE FILE IT TO A TAPPER WHILE GETTING RID OF THE SLAG; ALSO USED COPPER WIRE AND COPPER STAPLES OVER THE PVC GLUE HARDENED FELT CARD:







CLOAK & NEW MORE ACCURATE KNIFE:





















INITIAL COMPARISON PICS (TO OTHER DWARVES I'VE MADE) HAIR DEFINITELY WAXED HERE:







WEATHERING DONE TOO:









OIN FINISHED AT LAST:

























































7 DONE...7 TO GO.....

BAMComix wrote:Wow! just stunned. What amazing work, so much detail. You have a fine job!

Thank you very much and nice to meet you BAM!

Damn it! Just noticed I didn't add the distinctive vertical creases on his forehead! I'll do it later and maybe tidy a few bits and bobs up too...

Creases or not, he turned out grand! Looks right at home with the rest of the line-up. With you on the choice of 'real' hair -- good use of the wire to make the braids. And those are some EPIC eyebrows.

WOOOOW!!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderfully crafty and creative process, which was so worth it, because he looks fantastic! Beautiful little details everywhere and I especially love that leather pouch.

skywalkersaga wrote:Creases or not, he turned out grand! Looks right at home with the rest of the line-up. With you on the choice of 'real' hair -- good use of the wire to make the braids. And those are some EPIC eyebrows.

Cheers for agreeing on the real hair decision, I'll add some white streaks in the hair later to go better with the braids, as for the eyebrows, they could have turned into Spitting Image's Dennis Healy!   I'll add some white/grey to them too so they blend in a bit better.

Diana wrote:WOOOOW!!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderfully crafty and creative process, which was so worth it, because he looks fantastic! Beautiful little details everywhere and I especially love that leather pouch.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the build! Nice to meet you Diana!

Thanks for showing the process. Always neat to see people customize their figures. There's something that just feels so much more rewarding when putting something together from different pieces and the solutions to create things from scratch. Well done!

Fantastic build! I love seeing other folk play around with body mods that maintain articulation, and I love all the accessories too.

Nice job, Alex. Amazing job.

Wow. Very risky, very ambitious, and very well done. This guy's hair and beard were really distinctive, and I think you made the right call giving them the "real" hair treatment. Of course you've done this with some of the characters before, and this both surpasses and matches that.

csyeung wrote:Thanks for showing the process. Always neat to see people customize their figures. There's something that just feels so much more rewarding when putting something together from different pieces and the solutions to create things from scratch. Well done!

Thank you csyeung! Yes scratch building can be a lot more fun and rewarding than just kitbashing and is definitely cheaper! LOL.

Lynkhart wrote:Fantastic build! I love seeing other folk play around with body mods that maintain articulation, and I love all the accessories too.

Cheers Lynkhart! These are odd bodies to start with, 8 inch Mego (I think) ones from Austin Powers, The Dr. Evil is my favourite as I get a head start with a jointed bicep and wrist on one arm so he can do his 'Evil gesture' with his pinky finger! lol. Each one comes with a MiniMe figure, no idea what to do with them, Goblins?

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice job, Alex. Amazing job.

Cheers Stryker!

GubernatorFan wrote:Wow. Very risky, very ambitious, and very well done. This guy's hair and beard were really distinctive, and I think you made the right call giving them the "real" hair treatment. Of course you've done this with some of the characters before, and this both surpasses and matches that.

Thank you again GTF! It allowed me to give him ears too! distinctive traits of the two brothers (had to give Gloin ears as well) even if he is deaf! lol.

Turned out fantastic, specially when you gave him that flowing mane of hair and a glorious beard!

Theboo-bomb wrote:Turned out fantastic, specially when you gave him that flowing mane of hair and a glorious beard!

Thank you TTB!!

Just found these concept and progress hair/beard designs using the actual actor for Oin's look:

Right, round 8...Fight! ...er build!

Now you get to slog through the building process in real time with me as I try and work out what the hell I'm doing! The pattern on his collar/shoulder covering is a hell of a lot more complicated than it initially looks, first appears just as a simple diamond pattern but if you look closely you'll see that it's actually a very complicated Celtic 'maze' design with certain parts not crossing other parts, beautiful to look at but a bugger to reproduce by hand! I'll see what I can get the printer and printable material to come up with first.

REFERENCE PICS:

























MADE MOST OF HS BODY AND DUG THROUGH ALL MY DWARF RELATED GEAR TO CHOOSE WHAT WILL BE USEFUL IN THIS BUILD:

Oooh !! YAY!!!

That pattern comes down to two parallel zig zag lines interlocking the next pair. So at the very least you'll just need an edge folded in the middle to form a ^ at the right angle, then press into the material. If you want the look of stitches, then carve some gaps into the edge.

That, to me, looks like the easy part.

Diana wrote:Oooh !! YAY!!!

That pattern comes down to two parallel zig zag lines interlocking the next pair. So at the very least you'll just need an edge folded in the middle to form a ^ at the right angle, then press into the material. If you want the look of stitches, then carve some gaps into the edge.

That, to me, looks like the easy part.

You're right, I could have sworn the lines didn't crossover each other (which would have been the major headache) and did hundreds of 'stop, skip, go' partitions in the pattern but thankfully it looks like by brain just saw a more complicated pattern or I was looking at a particular part where the sculptor missed a bit or the light 'whited out' the lines?