'Risk Taker' from KeithS - 'I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way...'

At the very start of this challenge, it occurred to me that the obvious entry for the Risk Taker was going to be the Fellowship of the Ring.  I've had a set of Mithril's figures of the Fellowship for decades, buried away unpainted and still in their blister packs.  This was the perfect opportunity to finally paint them!  So, I present to you my risk takers, representing the Free People's of Middle Earth.

Here's the group shot.

Being both ambitious and stupid, I decided a loose bunch of figs was not going to cut it, so I decided to do my very first (and probably last) diorama.  So, the following is my rendition of "The Ring Goes South," the departure of the Fellowship from Rivendell to the south, before things got too crazy.  Doing a diorama proved to be way harder than I anticipated!  These guys are standing on some really wet glue!

The party is climbing, representing their climb towards Caradhras and, eventually, Moria.  Gandalf is leading, with Aragorn taking up the rear.

Looks like a fine day for a walk.

The Hobbits up close.  What IS missing is Bill the Pony.  I ordered one, but it did not arrive.  I actually picked one up the other day, but realized after it is way too small for these chaps (they are all scaled for 32mm and the pony was scaled for 25mm, and was small for that).  Bill will have to be added later, I'm afraid.  Sam was beside himself.

Gandalf's staff was broken when I got the figure.  I fixed it but it broke off again after painting.  Worse, apparently it went missing between when I finished painting these guys a few weeks back and this weekend.  I had to get creative to top it off -- not my best work but I was (am) running out of time!

Here's one reason for the time crunch.  My first attempt earlier today at a base for the diorama warped -- badly!  I had to start from scratch to recover.  Fortunately I had additional wood and some linoleum to overlay it to avoid the wood becoming warped again.  Ugh.  Painting is easy.  Wood sucks.

Adventures make one late for dinner!

So, along with the Fellowship, I had a figure from Mithril for Bilbo Baggins, and I decided months ago he would be my Curtgeld, as I have always seen him as my favorite risk taker of all time.  From running out of his comfy Hobbit hole to follow Thorin and Company, through Trolls, Goblins, Gollum, Spiders, and Smaug himself, old Bilbo is my favorite risk taker, literary or otherwise.  I hope he proves a satisfactory payment!

I should have a few more minor figs as a last hurrah, but with the Cold Wars gaming convention next weekend, I am about done.  This'll put me nicely over the top of my expanded goal.  Thanks to all the kind comments and encouragement along the way!