Classic Citadel LOTR

[Nord]

Stellar painting on these, er, interesting minis. They definitely have a distinct vibe.

Do you know the sculptor? One or two have a Bob Olley look to them maybe.

[Funghy-Fipps]

Do you know the sculptor? One or two have a Bob Olley look to them maybe.

I believe the range was created by a number of Citadel's sculptors, although discovering who did what is not easy.

Definitely a thread to go in the bookmarks for future inspiration! Wonderful painting of some classically quirky models. Looking forward to more.

[Cubs]

Do you know the sculptor? One or two have a Bob Olley look to them maybe.

I believe the range was created by a number of Citadel's sculptors, although discovering who did what is not easy.

What he said!

Yeah, there's a lot of different guys in distinctly different styles and often variants of the same character.

Thanks for the kind words guys, these classic Citadel LOTR mins are something like the perfect commission for me - they're models that are giving me genuine nostalgic pleasure to paint and photograph, but they're not a range I would realistically hope to collect for myself. Some of them are so rare, it would break my heart that I wouldn't be able to complete the collection.

[Hobgoblin]

Great stuff as ever!

I don't think Bob Olley was involved with these, although some of them have a similar level of "inlaid" detail. Some of the range was definitely by the Perrys - the orcs are very close to the C15 range of the time - and that range got markedly more Tolkienish (more bows and scimitars) before the release of the LotR stuff, perhaps because of a "dummy run" effect. I think Aly Morrison may have done some of the foot-and-mounted characters, and perhaps Bob Naismith was involved too. But as Fungy-Fipps says, it's hard to be sure, as there were no credits in the accompanying ads.

The thing that's always puzzled me about this range is why the excellent orcs of the Red Eye and White Hand were replaced with much goofier and far inferior versions late on.

[Edit]: I'm pretty sure Aly Morrison did the elves and Elrond, along with some of the others. Jez Goodwin definitely did the later Uruk-hai, and I'm fairly sure he did first three smaller ones too: they look like his ogres and hobgoblins.

[Hawkeye]

These are so beautiful! There's something about your painting style, and your choice of tones, that brings out perfectly the essence of these miniatures. They've always been a favorite range of mine, even though I don't have many of them (I'm happy to have Gandalf in my collection, and keep meaning to repaint him, and I think Thorin might be somewhere in the lead pile too), but I'm reminded, seeing your wonderful renditions of the models, how good the "little folk" of the range were - in particular the hobbits and the dwarves, although I have to say that Golem is such a characterful miniature too! Add to all of that the superlative basing on these models, which for reasons that are quite beyond my comprehension I forgot to say anything about last time, and you have something really special here. Superb thread.

[Cubs]

These are so beautiful! There's something about your painting style, and your choice of tones, that brings out perfectly the essence of these miniatures.

That's very kind of you, thank you. I'm an old-fashioned sort of painter so I guess it suits the old-fashioned miniatures. I always concentrate on faces and I think sculptors used to do the same, before newer materials and CAD made dynamic posing (and generic snarls for some reason) more of a focus.

[dinohunterpoa]

I'm an old-fashioned sort of painter so I guess it suits the old-fashioned miniatures. I always concentrate on faces and I think sculptors used to do the same, before newer materials and CAD made dynamic posing (and generic snarls for some reason) more of a focus.

PERFECTLY said!

[Anselm van Helsing]

Very inspiring painting. I've got some of the minis, mainly Hobbits and a couple of dwarfs. Lovely olschool models. You really do them good with your brush. 

[Driscoles]

Cubs !
Youre brilliant !!

[Admiral Benbow]

Fabulous work on that classic range, Cubs, very lovely! Have to check my own collection ...

[Cubs]

Starting work on the old 'Fellowship of the Ring' Boxed Set now.

First up are Frodo, Sam (I love the pots and pans on his back) and Bill the pony.

[Cubs]

Then their Shire companions, Merry and Pippin.

[Cubs]

Strider in his weather-beaten ranger garb.

[Cubs]

And Gandalf.

[Hobgoblin]

Superb! Gandalf's the pick for me (the best figure, I think), but the faces on the hobbits are brilliant.