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

Okay, a little break from TKOTD build as I noticed my custom Gimli a very old figure made when DID and ToyBiz were the only options for parts so must be getting on for 20 years now!! Needs an upgrade or two... I have used no modern parts ie Asmus etc.. and made do with what I have at hand. Made a bit of a mess with the real mail at first but got there in the end. Thinned him down a bit, articulated his hands somewhat (so they are still strong enough to hold his full metal and wood axes by DID) then did a bunch or repainting, adding more screen accurate patterns, shortened his jerkin, fixed his double headed axe properly, gave him a new braided moustache and oiled his beard with real beard oil! LOL.

WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE BEFORE UPGRADES









REFERENCE PICS



















TAKING HIM APART









CHANGING THE MAIL, I CAN'T DO THE WIRED WASHER MAIL USED IN THE MOVIE (IT WAS PLASTIC ANYWAY) SO GONE FOR THE MORE HELM'S DEEP INSPIRED MAIL. REMOVING THE GLITTERY MAIL FIRST THEN TRYING A FEW THINGS UNTIL SETTLING ON REAL MAILE.



PAINTED IT WITH TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF SILVER TWICE BUT JUST DIDN'T TAKE, NO IDEA WHY.













USING DOUBLE SIDED TAPE TO KEEP IT IN PLACE WHILE I SEW IT ON AND TOGETHER











NOT PERFECT BUT DOES THE JOB AND BEATS THE HELL OUT OF TRYING TO JOIN TINY RINGS WHEN YOUR EYESIGHT SEEMS TO BE GOING AND YOUR HANDS SHAKE!







THIS IS WHERE I NOTICE A FLAW IN MY PLAN ON HOW TO BE STINGY WITH THE REAL MAIL..





IT JUST MADE THINGS A LOT MORE COMPLICATED! LUCKILY SOME 'OFF CUTS' FILLED IN THE GAPS PERFECTLY.























INSERTED WIRE TO CONTROL THE TUNIC'S HEMM.



PATTERNS! DID I MENTION I'M PATTERN BLIND? LOL..













IT DOES GET CHANGED SLIGHTLY LATER





MOUSTACHE, PAINT ETC..











TOO MANY ISSUES THIS WAY





SIMPLE BUT EFFECTIVE AND STRONG



1ST OF MANY WASHES, SANDING ETC..





BLACK INK AND PAINT TO BLEND, AGE AND CREATE MORE OF A VISUAL 3D EFFECT FOR THE CHAIN MAIL











HIDES THE GAPS AND AND THREAD TOO







AS WAS





STARTED PAINT





MORE BLACK THEN SANDING ON MAIL AND GLOVES/BOOTS



ADDRESSING A MISTAKE BY DID







HAVEN'T GIVEN HIM ANY POUCHES AS I MIGHT PUT CLOAK BACK ON IN DISPLAY



ALL DONE.













































I AM....MITHRILMAN!!

That is some excellent work. Your solution to the chainmail was well done. He turned out great.

[quote="Stryker2011"]That is some excellent work. Your solution to the chainmail was well done. He turned out great.[/quote]

Thank you very much Stryker! It ended up being a war of give and take lol.

Some more pics, with his cape this time, then with his dad (who's on a stand but still a bit taller than Gimli). After that (I feel like going into a Frodo emo diatribe everytime I hear or write that) he's on his shelf in his new place since I've been moving stuff around for the new shelves, getting there! I now have all 9 Ring Wraiths!! YAY! Bummer you can't really see them though... Took me awhile to find the nice ToyBiz 'Collectors Edition' versions with the full armour and fabric clothing, swords still suck and they're certainly not $20 anymore, closer to 75gbp with postage and tax, one came from the States another from Greece.
Got a major new build coming very soon, something I've wanted in 1/6 scale for my LOTR collection since the beginning of the first movie, that's a hint, here's another...18-20 inches tall!




[img]https://i.imgur.com/DqrNJi0.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/CVVcaoS.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/MJGGUYY.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/4cyqC7o.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/n1RdDwJ.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/kqL6OMq.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/06CJOdc.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/sliJXwQ.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/OKpRD90.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/idPC4vI.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/sTpghhj.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/UH25Adg.png[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/DJIeAcp.png[/img]


[img]https://i.imgur.com/mvNbK9Q.png[/img]


Why aren't the pics showing? Is there a new daily limit for uploads or something? Forum bot asked me if I was a bot! Had to do a stupid security test, what's up with that?

I don't know why they are not showing, Alex. Surprised me too. I noticed the link seems to include the [ / img ] part, which seems odd, but when I went into edit mode to separate it with a space, it still didn't show in the regular post, so I reverted to what you had. By the way, in preview mode they show. And they are formatted exactly the same way as the links in your previous post which showed just fine. Had to do the security test too, twice. I don't know what it is that makes a difference here -- it could be a single setting somewhere higher up in either Forumotion or Imgur, or it could be the number of items in a single post, or the number of items in a single day across posts, from Imgur to Forumotion or whatever. In principle, there should be no limit, but sometimes cross-image-storing malfunctions. Hang in there. Meanwhile, we can open each link (preferably in a new window or tab) and enjoy your photos anyway.

The Gimli upgrade looks excellent. I was worried when I read you are going to slim him down, but he turned out great in the end, which is of course no surprise. Very neat solution to the (chain) mail issue, glad that worked out so well.

Funny you should be upgrading a 20-year old set at the same time that I'm doing that myself. Except, of course, mine is infinitely less ambitious. Check it out, just posting it.

Testing:




Seems to work when I try to insert your links with the insert image button.

So cool!

GubernatorFan wrote:I don't know why they are not showing, Alex. Surprised me too. I noticed the link seems to include the [ / img ] part, which seems odd, but when I went into edit mode to separate it with a space, it still didn't show in the regular post, so I reverted to what you had. By the way, in preview mode they show. And they are formatted exactly the same way as the links in your previous post which showed just fine. Had to do the security test too, twice. I don't know what it is that makes a difference here -- it could be a single setting somewhere higher up in either Forumotion or Imgur, or it could be the number of items in a single post, or the number of items in a single day across posts, from Imgur to Forumotion or whatever. In principle, there should be no limit, but sometimes cross-image-storing malfunctions. Hang in there. Meanwhile, we can open each link (preferably in a new window or tab) and enjoy your photos anyway.

The Gimli upgrade looks excellent. I was worried when I read you are going to slim him down, but he turned out great in the end, which is of course no surprise. Very neat solution to the (chain) mail issue, glad that worked out so well.

Funny you should be upgrading a 20-year old set at the same time that I'm doing that myself. Except, of course, mine is infinitely less ambitious. Check it out, just posting it.

Testing:




Seems to work when I try to insert your links with the insert image button.

Thanks for looking into it for me GTF! Perhaps they just don't like me using so much bandwidth with all my build threads!! Probably some dumb analogue bot thing. Still can't see them today either, if it continues it will become a problem for me though.
I'll check out your new thread.

BAMComix wrote:So cool!

Cheers BAM!

Yes, they don't display today, either. I really don't know what happened to them, but I will still mess with it a little more. I doubt it is a question of how many images, but it might be one of how many images from Imgur at one time, or some detail like that. Due to some glitch, the ending of the code ends up as part of the link, which does not seem right, but my first attempt to fix that did not help.

Thanks, and you're right about the Hoth Trooper, which is also an upgrade of an older figure, but I actually had in mind the medieval one.

PS, I tried again, redoing each link. Apparently for some reason it thinks it is spam and gives the security challenge. And when you pass it, it messes up the images so that the links still work as such but they do not automatically display. I do not know what triggered it, possibly a ratio between text and number of images, possibly it remembers deciding this was spam before and still treats it as suspicious. By the way, were your photos always in png format? Although I see some of the earlier posts are also like that and there was no issue.

We have had issues with Imgur before, but have not encountered them in a long long time. I don't know if this covers the same issue, but here is a link to our attempt to get help from Forumotion back then:
https://help.forumotion.com/t155601-imgur-images-and-insert-image-function?highlight=images+do++-display

I don't think it is the same thing, and posting the image link directly (without code) now only inserts a link, not a displaying image. Did you edit the post after first posting it, but before reporting that the images do not display? Because apparently pressing the edit button might (in some cases or at some previous point in time) mess up imgur image display here?

I don't think it is the same thing, and posting the image link directly (without code) now only inserts a link, not a displaying image. Did you edit the post after first posting it, but before reporting that the images do not display? Because apparently pressing the edit button might (in some cases or at some previous point in time) mess up imgur image display here? wrote:

I'm not sure mate tbh but I doubt it, I normally create a post have a read through then swear as I see my typos etc.. and edit after that.

Back to The King Of The Dead (TKOTD)...

Mostly paint and toes I think..





































I also used a dark green wash but didn't take pics before the purple wash. Not sure whether to go with a dry and dusty look or a wet rotten look for him...

That is coming along nicely. I love the green wash (is it also glow in the dark paint?).

Stryker2011 wrote:That is coming along nicely. I love the green wash (is it also glow in the dark paint?).

Cheers Stryker! No glow in the dark paint yet, that will go on last as it's clear. Done a bit more purple work with a paint marker but it's going to be a lengthy process to get the depth of colour and mottled skin colours I want.

I agree, coming along very well. Perked right up after the primer layer was replaced with bone and even blue coloring. Got some Skeletor vibes, too.

GubernatorFan wrote:I agree, coming along very well. Perked right up after the primer layer was replaced with bone and even blue coloring. Got some Skeletor vibes, too.

Thanks GTF! Done more pen painting, looks like 'The Grateful Dead' for now! LOL but these are the 'under colours'.

Very intricate.

GubernatorFan wrote:Very intricate.

The poster or the paint? LOL, both I guess. Just made the huge mistake of watching some Grateful Dead music for the first time (I guess they never made it as big in Europe), bloody hell, they're terrible!! A cross between The Eagles and Jimmy Buffett but somehow worse... I guess you need to drop some acid before you can have your brain distorted enough to appreciate them... At least they chose a great artist for their posters/album covers even if it is all a bit too bright and rainbow like for me but my figure still makes me think of stuff like ths.

I meant the appearance of the color effects on the figure.

GubernatorFan wrote:I meant the appearance of the color effects on the figure.

Understood, cheers!

Getting there now with more shades of green, messed around with the teeth quite a bit, think they're okay now, sanded the bones back to the kit colour, started the eyes and as usual not sure about them, probably will make them smaller. Added yellow later to represent the subdermal fat layer with darker parts for the rotting muscle tissue, I studied A' Level biology in British 'high school' in Greece (grew up there) so at least it's useful for something lol.

Looking really cool, Alex. Like the new colors for the rotting flesh, and all the different levels.

Very impressive, the details pop beautifully. It is a bit lighter than I expected, but probably more striking than the dark reds, browns, and greys I would have imagined. Of course, there the detail would have been largely lost.

Stryker2011 wrote:Looking really cool, Alex. Like the new colors for the rotting flesh, and all the different levels.

Thanks Stryker! Doing my best to make it realistic but in a fantasy setting so a bit of a balancing act lol.

GubernatorFan wrote:Very impressive, the details pop beautifully. It is a bit lighter than I expected, but probably more striking than the dark reds, browns, and greys I would have imagined. Of course, there the detail would have been largely lost.

Cheers GTF! Like I just said to Stryker, it's a balancing act between realism and ethereal magic and I've decided on a course I'm going to take as I type this; to keep him faithful to the movie and have a bit of scientific practicality: juicy on the inside to allow unrestricted movement, a bit crusty on the outside to give him that flakey mummified look, sort of like a Greek tiropita (feta cheese pie with filo pastry) DAMN I MISS THOSE!!

shovelchop81 wrote:Cheers GTF! Like I just said to Stryker, it's a balancing act between realism and ethereal magic and I've decided on a course I'm going to take as I type this; to keep him faithful to the movie and have a bit of scientific practicality: juicy on the inside to allow unrestricted movement, a bit crusty on the outside to give him that flakey mummified look, sort of like a Greek tiropita (feta cheese pie with filo pastry) DAMN I MISS THOSE!!

I am familiar with the Slavic version of the tyropita, which is called banica (pronounced "banitsa"). I love it, as long as the feta cheese (which I personally refer to as "fox poison") is mixed and softened (taste-wise) with cream cheese. And I love your analogy/explanation of how that applies to your approach.

Fox poison?! Sacrilege!!

Added green pastel paint for the skin but you can't see it now, cut the overalls a bit and sepia washed them (seems to be my cure for everything!), inserted his guts and glued them in place, sewed the boot bits together to make a tunic then added a nice red/purple/black colour changing material (no idea what it's called, any ideas out there?) which was glued then sewn on too; then added a small strip to the top of the chest to be movie accurate. Filed and glued the armour together with my 'double glue' trick, then hacksawed it into the battle damaged/rotted state I wanted, I'll file it a bit more later. attached the mail where it needed to be just with a drop or two of super glue. Got a tub of green glow in the dark translucent paint as well.

It's a very complex custom, for sure. Your patience and skill continue to impress every time.

I like what you did with Gimli's chainmail, very practical and saves the material for other customs. The undead dude is coming along really nicely, looks very gruesome.

GubernatorFan wrote:It's a very complex custom, for sure. Your patience and skill continue to impress every time.

Thanks GTF! If I don't challenge myself it gets boring

Theboo-bomb wrote:I like what you did with Gimli's chainmail, very practical and saves the material for other customs. The undead dude is coming along really nicely, looks very gruesome.

Cheers TBB!

Wired his cloak, filed, painted and attached his armour, gauntlet etc..









































I'll probably reattach his waist armour directly to his chest armour rather than leaving that gap for the belt, we'll see.

Very nice progress. Love the quilted tunic. The rather toy-like rib-cage-like armor improved tremendously with your repaint. I take it the red cloak might be tattered-up more before you're done. I wonder if the bluish/purplish colors on the body and head might not be worth making just a tad more subtle.

GubernatorFan wrote:Very nice progress. Love the quilted tunic. The rather toy-like rib-cage-like armor improved tremendously with your repaint. I take it the red cloak might be tattered-up more before you're done. I wonder if the bluish/purplish colors on the body and head might not be worth making just a tad more subtle.

Cheers! Those are decisions I'll need to make a little later, I'm trying to avoid the 'christmas' look of greens and reds and gold I guess by throwing in some colour like the purple to break that up. I've yet to decide whether to decorate his cloak with the obscure markings shown on the statue, they would just be 2D unless I decided to use glue glue to sculpt them, not sure.





Helmet and hair next, might involve some creative mould making and latex casting...

Redone his armour and I'm much happier with it now.

The armor looks much fuller now. Would the belt go over it?