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

Nice upgrades on Lurtz and Eomer. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the horse and Eowyn. I’m hoping at some point Asmus upgrades Eowyn, or gives us a new one in one of her gowns — the original head sort of sucks, and tends to only look good with the helmet on.

Those are some good upgrades, I've been tempted to get those purses but I'm 100% certain I would just end up with a neat chainmail purse in my room.  The mix of items is very good and so is the colors, they do pop. I also read you not a very christmasy person, neither am I but I'm usually there with the rest of the family because of the food and drink and the occasional gift (Don't get those anymore) then I'm out, kinda like a food raider.  

Theboo-bomb wrote:Those are some good upgrades, I've been tempted to get those purses but I'm 100% certain I would just end up with a neat chainmail purse in my room.

You and me both, buddy.

Missed these updates earlier --- Ovy is correct, Firehoof is a dapple grey. Dappling can indeed be difficult replicate convincingly, though there are some tutorials available on youtube (just search 'model horse' and 'dapples' and something should come up).

GubernatorFan wrote: You've been busy. And I'm glad to see your enthusiasm span far and wide across the LOTR figures. I'd love to see you put them in a single continuous diorama one day. And glad to see that with more display space that dream is coming closer to being a reality.

Cheers! You mean like what I did with my Iron Man workshops?

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice upgrades on Lurtz and Eomer. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the horse and Eowyn. I’m hoping at some point Asmus upgrades Eowyn, or gives us a new one in one of her gowns — the original head sort of sucks, and tends to only look good with the helmet on.

Cheers and yes I agree especially as I don't  even  have the Asmus head! Just noticed this hs' got blue instead of brown eyes but that's a hell  of  a lot better than trying to fix it the other way around!

Theboo-bomb wrote:Those are some good upgrades, I've been tempted to get those purses but I'm 100% certain I would just end up with a neat chainmail purse in my room.  The mix of items is very good and so is the colors, they do pop. I also read you not a very christmasy person, neither am I but I'm usually there with the rest of the family because of the food and drink and the occasional gift (Don't get those anymore) then I'm out, kinda like a food raider.  

Yeah used to get sucked into that but becoming agoraphobic saved me from that! LOL

GubernatorFan wrote:

Theboo-bomb wrote:Those are some good upgrades, I've been tempted to get those purses but I'm 100% certain I would just end up with a neat chainmail purse in my room.

You and me both, buddy.

LOL! I already have my second silver  purse dismantled into a chunk of mail, just waiting on the brass one now..

skywalkersaga wrote:Missed these updates earlier --- Ovy is correct, Firehoof is a dapple grey. Dappling can indeed be difficult replicate convincingly, though there are some tutorials available on youtube (just search 'model horse' and 'dapples' and something should come up).  

Thanks SWS! I was thinking my 'expert'(lol) knowledge of sponge  painting might help with dappling the horse, I'm also  an expert in 'finger painting' not quite up to kindergarten standard, more like painting my fingers by accident!

Done weathering and made a tattered wool soldier's cloak, gave it a nice viking styled  metal clasp set. I need to redo the hilt on her sword as it's all wrong being her brother's sword, needs two symmetrical long Celtic  horse  heads, not asymmetrical wrap around ones. Gave her broken shield a handle and a belt around her waist as that area of armour just looked so  barren without a  belt.

Both of them have turned out well! Nice upgrades!

skywalkersaga wrote:Both of them have turned out well! Nice upgrades!

Cheers! Still working on Eowyn, need to finish modifying her sword to be screen accurate and change her eye colour.
I ink washed Eomer's armour, scabbard and belts then removed the excess with fine sandpaper, gave it a brush off then used acetone free nail polish remover to blend dark and light spots. I also added a buttcap to his lance as it looked odd without one and it acts as a counterweight (like a sword's pommel) in real life. Reorientated the rear of the scabbard harness by adding a brass link so the 'leather' strap lies flat.

Oh finished putting the shelving up too!

The upgraded Eomer and Eowyn figures look just excellent -- even if I realize you are still working on her. Your attention to detail is by now long familiar, but never ceases to impress.
Repainting eyes. Try go get a 4 0 brush (super fine, the finest I have), and paint only the colored part of the eye. Before it dries completely, but after it is no longer very wet, use a sharp toothpick to scrape off any spillover areas of paint beyond the edge of the iris (or over the pupil). I hate painting eyes in this scale, but this seems to help. And of course, apply transparent gloss to the eye afterward.

GubernatorFan wrote:The upgraded Eomer and Eowyn figures look just excellent -- even if I realize you are still working on her. Your attention to detail is by now long familiar, but never ceases to impress.
Repainting eyes. Try go get a 4 0 brush (super fine, the finest I have), and paint only the colored part of the eye. Before it dries completely, but after it is no longer very wet, use a sharp toothpick to scrape off any spillover areas of paint beyond the edge of the iris (or over the pupil). I hate painting eyes in this scale, but this seems to help. And of course, apply transparent gloss to the eye afterward.

Cheers GTF! I just used a brown panel lining Gundam marker as planned which worked well as they are super fine but can be a bit temperamental
about working but it didn't play up this time fortunately, I gave her shadows under her eyes too. I also added thin wire for the pommel and guard to attach to and sculpted the guard's horse heads on both sides out of milliput reinforced with super glue after final sculpting when hard; to misquote Meatloaf "Three Out Of Four Ain't Bad" when referring to the four sides of the horses' heads! . Still needs paint of course.





THE SWORD







WET







FULL SIZE SWORD (LIVE BLADE)



DRY WITH SUPER GLUE





FIDDLY PAIN IN THE NECK SCULPTING TINY HORSE HEADS!!

Nicely done with the eyes and the sword. I can only imagine how fiddly the pain doing the horse detail.

GubernatorFan wrote:Nicely done with the eyes and the sword. I can only imagine how fiddly the pain doing the horse detail.

Cheers GTF! It's still far from perfect and the heads are oversized, I'll detail the mains which might help but the heads tend to crumble if worked on when dry like they are now.

It's going to be quite the task to sculpt those, specially if they are crumbly as you said.

Theboo-bomb wrote:It's going to be quite the task to sculpt those, specially if they are crumbly as you said.

I managed to sculpt the heads to a smaller/correct size and detail the mains using a scalpel mostly. Got an idea for a large Eye Of Sauron display piece too.

Eowyn and her sword finished, still not perfect but not too bad either considering...well everything I guess? LOL.







I ADDED SOME EXTRA GOLD APPS HERE BUT YOU CAN'T REALLY SEE THEM IN THE PICS, IN REAL LIFE IT GIVES OFF MORE OF A 3D BLING



















WELL IF IT DOES LOOK A BIT BIG, SHE DOES HAVE STUPIDLY SMALL HANDS!! LOL.
DAMN IT, IT'S BUGGING ME NOW, GOING TO HAVE TO TRIM IT DOWN AND ADD SOME HILT DETAILS I FORGOT TOO; THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU FOCUS ON THE OBJECT ALONE AND NOT IN CONTEXT DOH!

The sword might be a bit large for her, but am I right in thinking the sword was supposed to belong to a man originally? So maybe it kinda works?

The sword looks really cool. I agree, it might be slightly too big, but as sky said, it was originally meant for a man, so it shouldn’t be trimmed down too much.

skywalkersaga wrote:The sword might be a bit large for her, but am I right in thinking the sword was supposed to belong to a man originally? So maybe it kinda works?

Stryker2011 wrote:The sword looks really cool. I agree, it might be slightly too big, but as sky said, it was originally meant for a man, so it shouldn’t be trimmed down too much.

Not sure tbh, I thought I remembered her training with it in the King's great hall where she was called a shieldmaiden so it might well be hers.

Yup here's a picture

Oh, ok, fair enough, I wasn't sure if you were adhering faithfully to the film canon or just making some conglomeration of the books and the films.

I think what you managed to do here is remarkable, and I wouldn't change it. The horses' heads came out so cute, too. Well, anything related to horses this small will be cute, so don't take offense. I don't remember how it looked like on film, but perhaps the sword really makes sense oversized in her hands. Looking forward to what you do with Sauron's Eye.

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh, ok, fair enough, I wasn't sure if you were adhering faithfully to the film canon or just making some conglomeration of the books and the films.

Well as a rule it's always movie canon with mine unless I need an 'escape clause' for some screw up then it's definitely 'book canon' as no-one is ever going to search all the addendums by Tolkien or his son!

GubernatorFan wrote:I think what you managed to do here is remarkable, and I wouldn't change it. The horses' heads came out so cute, too. Well, anything related to horses this small will be cute, so don't take offense. I don't remember how it looked like on film, but perhaps the sword really makes sense oversized in her hands. Looking forward to what you do with Sauron's Eye.

I get they're cute, a little like sea horses. Still going to shave their mains though!

Well, that's what i was trying to give you ....an escape clause.

skywalkersaga wrote:Well, that's what i was trying to give you ....an escape clause.

Cheers but not needed this time! LOL
NOW the bloody sword's done! Shrunk the crossguard, shortened the grip (as a true one handed sword should be, with the pommel supporting the base of the hand) and added the grip ring details I'd forgotten before.























AND NOW THE NEXT PROJECT: KING OF THE DEAD/OATHBREAKERS!

Stuff actually arrived quickly!! My guesstimated size of the skeleton payed off, bang on 1/6!! It was advertised as 35cm in total including the stand but as I hoped it's exactly 30cm without the stand, nice and accurately detailed too. The brass chainmail purse is smaller than I had expected but does have an extra layer of mail inside as a divider so that sort of makes up for it. I'm going to use a stripped down Dr. Who Cyberman body as a base since it will be cut up heavily to attach bone parts to and I can't think of any other use for that body tbh . You'll see a glow in the dark version of the king there and one of his soldiers for inspiration in this build as well as the usual statues etc.. online. I'll be taking some artistic license with the king as I feel his clothing wouldn't have faired as well as it seems to in the films so he'll be more ragged revealing plenty of bone and mummified skin etc.. might need to buy some liquid latex..





























Typical, he glows fine on camera but my Witchking won't!

Nice job perfecting Eowyn's sword. And LOTR skeletor is going to be fun! Speaking of which, I hope you did not forget to place his funny bone. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

GubernatorFan wrote:Nice job perfecting Eowyn's sword. And LOTR skeletor is going to be fun! Speaking of which, I hope you did not forget to place his funny bone. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Dear oh dear... No it wasn't included oddly enough .

So.. new year, new project then...

Since the articulation on the Cyberman body is a bit pants I took it apart (even with one stubborn screw head stripping out on me ) and increased the articulation for the hips and waist which were virtually non existent before probably to stop the armour from colliding. Now it has plenty of articulation and ir ready to be cut up properly once I've researched some (hopefully existing) concept art for the king.













AFTER TAKING IT TO THE GRINDING WHEEL FOR A BIT













NEW JOINT SYSTEM AND NEW SCREW FOR THE CROTCH





NEW UPPER JOINT SYSTEM, A RUBBER CUP



















JUST MAKING IT UP AS I GO ALONG AS USUAL LOL...

I love that the quest for better articulation leads you to boldly march straight forward where few of us would dare follow. Chapeau! And looking forward to it. Happy New Year!

Ahh! The poor Dr. lost an enemy. This looks to be shaping up to be another wild build.

GubernatorFan wrote:I love that the quest for better articulation leads you to boldly march straight forward where few of us would dare follow. Chapeau! And looking forward to it. Happy New Year!

And to you! Is that the French Foreign Légion's motto or saying?

Stryker2011 wrote:Ahh! The poor Dr. lost an enemy. This looks to be shaping up to be another wild build.

Don't worry, didn't come from my collection, was bought for parts years ago!

Didn't find any concept pics on line but there is some great fan artwork and sculpts out there like this brilliant figure by a Scandinavian dude









I REALLY LIKE THIS, MIGHT BE THE ACTUAL PROP COSTUME AND THE LOOK I THINK I'M GOING TO GO FOR







THEN MORE OFFICIAL LICENSED STATUES















MOVIE STILLS? GRAPHIC INTERPRETATIONS OR STORY BOARDS?







Anyway I'm trying to avoid a 'Christmas look' so leaving the green out except for glow in the dark transparent paint much later down the road. I'm sticking with blacks, greys, dark reds, silver and gold mostly for the clothing; armour hasn't been decided yet but similar to the movie version with more damage. Did some more body mods to remove bulging parts, make room for some ribcage, join the top a bottom of the body better using a screw, washers and a spring etc..













REAL METAL MAIL IN BRASS AND SILVER, DIFFERENT SIZED RINGS TOO

Hard to believe it at this point, but I just know you are going to get there in the end. Your target look is really cool. And I was just saying that my (figurative) hat is off to you.

GubernatorFan wrote:Hard to believe it at this point, but I just know you are going to get there in the end. Your target look is really cool. And I was just saying that my (figurative) hat is off to you.

Oh right, cheers! I thought it might be FFL related because their white hats are venerated so highly in their units and they are famous for marching to death in the past. Although thinking about it I believe they call it a kepi not a chapeau?