'L'amour' from ScottB - 'Arwen'

Lets be honest, Tolkien was never a romantic writer, it was only the screenplay form PJ et al that we got any kind of on screen romance going on, but it was clearly an underlying theme in the written stories.

It was as close as I can manage for an entry for L'amour!

Regards
Scott

'Nostalgia' from ScottB - Gandalf

When I get nostalgic about my gaming, and think back to those early days and where it all began, there is always one character that shines out above the rest... and that character, is Gandalf.

I think it was back in 1982, when I was 12, that I first read the Hobbit... and that book, not surprisingly fired my imagination and set me feet firmly on the road to eventually becoming a gamer...Gandalf was there in that story, and remained with me as I subsequently read my way through the Lord of the Rings... and those inspirations eventually lead inexorably to the world of D&D and starting to collect and paint miniatures... and back then in the 80's GW brought out an LOTR range long before the movies were ever made... and I started collecting and playing with those figures... found memories, even though those figures are long since sold off, largely due to the recent movie matching range that GW subsequently produced.

And now I find it quite comforting in a way to have come along the gaming road some 30 years later and I am still as enamored of this character as I was back then... the Movies from PJ, and the casting of Sir Ian McKlellan could not have personified a Gandalf better that matched the figure my mind had imagined.

I still recall tearing up as I saw Gandalf ride his cart into Hobbiton that first time... and again when he fell from the bridge at Khazad Dum, even though I already knew he didnt actually die then!

I guess I have remained affectionately bound to the character of Gandalf, as these years and still remain so now, and still enjoy watching Sir Ian's portrayal of the character every time I re-watch the movies...

For me there is no better definition of Nostalgia, as Gandalf.

The figure I present is the mounted pose, from the recent range of LOTR figures from GW, matching the movie characters. This pose is relatively rare, and now sadly long OOP. So getting your hands on one is not an easy task, and they still command quite high 2nd hand values subsequently.

I was very fortunate in acquiring this figure last year in way of a trade online, with none other than Tim Kulinski - he of authorship fame of the Legends of the High Seas rules - a wonderful pirate skirmish set, based on the Core LOTR SBG game.

Due to GW's strange business practices... the withdrawal of Warhammer Historical, loss of the product range, and subsequent poor treatment, and lack of any apparent real support to the LOTR/Hobbit games system, Tim had understandably decided to wash his hands of GW, and no longer play LOTR, and thus sell off his collection... and subsequently he offered me his Gandalf, as part of a large bundle of figure trades... and consequently two parcels winged their corresponding ways across the Pacific... and so, there I had in my hands, finally, a mounted Gandalf the Grey.

But with a typical backlog of figures I was working through, Gandalf found his place in the lead pile and patiently waited his turn...

And thus in summary, now I am pleased to have finally finished him and the Nostalgia round was the perfect excuse to get him painted up and finished!

A relatively simple paint job as matches the grab colours the character is named for! Getting the face right was a little tricky under the brim of his large hat, and sadly doesn't show well in the pictures due to the angle of the pose. But its there I assure you! ;-)

I do look forward to giving him a try out in the game, a mounted wizard gives the character better mobility, raised line of sight for spell casting and a bit of a buff to his meager combat prowess, gaining the bonus of a cavalry charge... the 10pts spent on the horse are well worth it!

And though he may have taken what seems an age to grace my game table, I guess I can sum this by quoting the character himself;
"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins!..Nor is he early... He arrives precisely when he means too!" ;-)

Cheers
ScottB - NZ

'Antihero' form ScottB - 'Boromir, Son of Gondor'

After Curt's elaboration on what constitutes an Anti-hero, and me trying to keep to the LOTR theme of my overall entries... Boromir had to be the choice.

Proud and loyal son of his father; Denethor II, mighty warrior and brave leader of men, Captain of the White Tower...

He only wants to defend his people, and understandably so, against the armies of Mordor, that lies right on the border of his realm...

He valiantly accompanies Frodo as part of the Fellowship of the Ring,... but ever it seems the prescence of the Ring gnaws at him, until when chance comes, he cannot help but make a move for it...  though not I feel for personal gain or power but simply to be the strongest, he, or his father could be, to defeat their enemies and free the world of the threat of Mordor...

But that way can never work... even as mighty a man as Boromir would have fallen to its malevolence... but thankfully we never see this end... as thing go wildly wrong at Amon Hen, where the Fellowship is scattered during the attack of the Uruks from Isengard...

Boromir fights valiantly but in vain, redeeming his honour, in defence of the weakest members of the party, slaying many orcs, but eventually paying the ultimate price...

 The last words of Aragorn, at Boromirs Death... "Be at peace, son of Gondor"... always bring a misty eye...

'Comedic' from ScottB - 'Radagast the Brown'

Radagast the Brown, one of the five Istari, and a wonderfully characterful friend and ally to Gandalf the Grey.

His portrayal by Sylvestor McCoy was simply inspired I thought. Certainly not how I first imagined him, but a brilliant rendition none the less.


He brought drama, and also a slight comic relief, to the grim tale of the dwarves of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield in their Quest for the Lonely Mountain, in The Hobbit.

Seeing him scampering about on foot was wonderful... but then to see his transport, was a bewilderment!

When I first heard the rumors before the movies release, I shook my head in disbelief... but as soon as I saw it in the movie... it just worked! Hilarious, fun, inspired, novel. Great stuff...

It quickly became one of those must have models upon its release... not that I envisage using it in every LOTR game I play, even if it is remarkably effective on the table top!

The model itself is a 28mm scale multipart Finecast resin kit, from GW, and took some trimming, and greenstuffing to have it ready to paint. I decided to paint the component parts, then assemble the the whole and base it at the end. It would have been just too awkward to do otherwise.

The minor niggle I have is that some of the rabbits have the void between them and the next rabbit in the line, filled... I trimmed away as much of this as I could, but for a couple of the connections it was just a necessity as with just the sides reigns joining otherwise, would not have been stronger enough to support the model. But if you can see past these minor effects its a great model :)

It is mounted on a large oval base, that lends itself to a little diorama work in its own right, and the kit includes two small side features; broken tree stumps, one with a small spider at the base, the other with a bird, looking startled into flight as Radagast zooms past, to add to the overall effect.

The bird I decided to simply paint black with a little dark grey drybrush to represent a Raven as these birds are mentioned throughout the tale, so it seemed appropriate to use. The thrush is also in the tale, but the bird on the model looked far too big to be a thrush.

So there you have it...my Comedic bonus round entry... if a nutty old wizard riding a sleigh through the woods pulled by giant rabbits doesn't make you grin, nothing will!

'Hot' from ScottB - 'Tauriel'

My Entry for the Hot Bonus Theme Round, is Tauriel, from GWs The Hobbit range of Miniatures.

Here I am laterally thinking 'Hot' as in 'Hot babe'... ;-)

She's certainly not in quite the same mold as Xena, but she certainly has a certain charm about her despite staying covered up and not revealing acres of flesh!

Plus she's somewhat more dashing than Arwen ever was in the LOTR (despite her standing up to the Ringwraiths at the Ford of Bruinen)...

A lot of folks seemed to dislike her inclusion in the movie, cos she wasn't in the books... But I like her inclusion and plot line she weaves with Legolas and Kili... It makes the tale a little more  interesting than just 13 dwarves trudging across the landscape... and besides most female viewers who aren't Tolkien-nuts need some love interest in any movie to keep them interested!

So I say Yay for Tauriel, woohoo!

She's a 28mm scale figure from GW and is a multi-part plastic kit. Easy to assemble and no "Failcast" issues...

I didn't like the example painting from the GW 'eavy metal team so looked more closely at the images from the movie and tried to better match the dark maroon pants and brown boots. I also wanted to try and better define the face and eyes a bit if I could.

I included the rear and side shots as I was unsure of the rear knife scabbard thing when I painted it, so wanted to show how I decided to do it in the end, as another kinda quick release knife/dagger available.

I did find the sculpted face a tiny bit too round and the actress Evangeline has the typical high cheekbones and narrow angular face as an elf should, so I tried I bit of shading on the models cheeks to try and hide them a bit. It was the best I could manage...

I also decided to try a different flock style than the usual static grass, thinking that the WS scatter turf material would look better in the dark mossy undergrowth in Mirkwood...

Hope you like it :)

'Myth' from ScottB - 'The Giant Eagles'

For my 'Myth' bonus theme round, I offer you a pair of Giant Eagles, from GW's The Hobbit/ LOTR line.

The idea of a Giant Eagle is fairly mythic in itself, but I did recall this mythological beast cropping up from my D&D RPG days... a Giant Eagle back then was refered to as a 'Roc'...

I did a Google on the Roc, and found it was a mythic beast from ancient Persia ...

Heres a link from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roc_%28mythology%29

Back to the models and these are again nominally 28mm scale, but are large beasts mounted on large 'flying bases'...

To give an idea of scale I have included a pait of unfortunate orcs in the last picture, who I believe are about to become 'lunch'.

They are plastic multi-piece kits and went together very well. 2 Eagles per box, and you can vary the wings between the torsos, giving you a couple of options on the final pose.

Painting was straight forward, with base coat, shade wash and highlight with drybrushing before final details of eyes, beak and feet were completed. Based and varnished to complete the job.

The movie work by PJ depicting these wondrous creatures was a pleasure to behold, particularly I thought in the first Hobbit movie; An Unexpected Journey,... have rescued the Company, from Azog and his hunter orcs,  they fly them to the pinnacle of rock known as the Carrock... these sweeping flight scenes over the scenic landscapes, put to Howard Shore's masterful music, I always find incredibly moving...