Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Jet Simian on December 26, 2012, 03:36:04 AM
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hello again.
A promised in an earlier thread(http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=48014.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=48014.0)), I've been slowly adapting and painting Thorin Oakenshield's Company from The Hobbit using GW's old Dwarf Rangers instead of the new movie tie-ins. In light of that, some of my inspiration has been book-based and some of it my own tastes. Here's Balin to start things off:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wvWQJQ5qj70/UNVmwKHpsiI/AAAAAAAAApI/F_d-9snXNP0/s1600/balin2012.jpg)
And here's Gloin, just put up today:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UziMV3os7Xw/UNlxSI4aDeI/AAAAAAAAAqI/A-z2--QSCVs/s1600/gloin2012inset.jpg)
More detail and description/justification/prognostication is in the Oaken's Twelve category over on my blog: http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Oaken%27s%20Twelve
Thanks for stopping by and a belated season's greetings!
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Very cool idea sir, looking quite good too. I may have a go at this myself at some point. There is a box of Dwarven Rangers gathering dust on my workbench, and while I am interested in the Hobbit wargame, I'm planning on using my existing LotR figures rather than the new (expensive) ones.
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Much better than the ones inspired by th film!!!
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These seem so much more true to the book! Well done much more like I envisioned them as described by Tolkien!
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Great work :-*
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Thanks chaps! And here's Ori:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iztxwfISOfE/UN-jXMwG-PI/AAAAAAAAArg/o80ANOQBFHA/s320/oriright.jpg)
Once again, further description and detail here:
http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/oakens-twelve-ori.html
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Lovely stuff!
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Ori looks fantastic, keep 'em coming
Damien
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I've been waiting for someone to do this.
Well done!. I look forward to the rest!
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While I hitherto have not shown much interest in the LotR range of minis, the WONDERFUL WORKS you, Doomhippie, & others have produced from these minis is making maintaining my prejudices difficult. Your brushwork & choice of color are SUPERB. VERY WELL DONE!
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Thanks again to those of you who've commented, and for the positive comments, both a lovely surprise and an inspiration!
Here's Oin, the Company's other twisted firestarter:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GVT9l57RfXw/UOJTdsAb70I/AAAAAAAAAsA/l6NXqy9K-fY/s1600/oin.jpg)
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Phew. After a couple of late changes (i.e. weapon swaps), here are Bifur and Bofur, respectively:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrxRwrkL7is/UOfgyvQui1I/AAAAAAAAAsg/lKcSP2c0tkA/s1600/bifurfore.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fTCHcnJzIS4/UOfgzY0MygI/AAAAAAAAAss/iWvLlqk0Ckw/s1600/bofurfront.jpg)
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Great work on those, this is a fantastic idea. I can only repeat what others have said: they feel much more true to the book.
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Belated update time, and another twinset: here's Fili and Kili!
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0m4Xmc-w_Hc/UPL6uNFQYII/AAAAAAAAAuc/Mhe1e4ubZzg/s1600/kilifront.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_SAvDul1E34/UPL6tEYoaoI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/Li0FK04JDY4/s1600/filifront.jpg)
More pics and apologies at: http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/oakens-twelve-fili-and-kili.html
(http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/oakens-twelve-fili-and-kili.html)
Another update soon!
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Great job! I still have an unopened Box of those and now I'm seriously thinking about painting them as Erebor refugees...
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Lovely jubbly! Some great work on the 'official' Thorin & co has been displayed on LAF recently, but these guys look much closer to what I envisioned from the book. After seeing this I'm tempted to get a box of rangers myself!
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Thanks again for the encouragement and replies, goys.
The GW Dwarven Rangers are a pretty good set of sculpts - I'd say there are two models I'm a bit cool over (and I'm getting to them very soon!) in terms of poses personally, but I'm hoping a good paint job will be able to make them a bit less static. The detail's great overall, though.
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They are sweet. Nice way of putting together the company. Well done.
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Great progress :D
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I simply love your take on the Thorin's company :)
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Very good!! I like the way you have made this your own and using those models is an inspired choice!
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You guys are the best!
Here are Dori and Nori, the purple nasties and last of the double acts in the Company. Lots of angst over colours and green stuff this time 'round:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-du6pAGb95_Q/UP-ZubCSlWI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/TQrHtOG1g2w/s1600/dorifront.jpg)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_zg43x5MUAQ/UP-Zu03CbAI/AAAAAAAAAvY/uFnPu6X2fv0/s1600/norifront.jpg)
(More angles here as usual:http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/oakens-twelve-nori-and-dori.html (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/oakens-twelve-nori-and-dori.html))
Until next time, cheers!
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I'm back to individual subjects for the tail end of the Company! Here's Dwalin:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m6kJsa_t0As/UQWOV_Dw6pI/AAAAAAAAAww/W2Lb91QqkL0/s1600/dwalinfront.jpg)
More detail, description, and complaining about GW's figure posing here:
http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/oakens-twelve-dwalin-fundinson.html (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/oakens-twelve-dwalin-fundinson.html)
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Still going strong I see. :)
Respect for all the wonderful conversions you're showing here. Still like the style of the miniatures.
I was wondering what a blue beard might look like. Maybe Tolkien meant something like a black that almost has a bluish tinge to it? Or a balack beard having turned white and the mixture looking almost blue?
I'm not sure. Of course your take on this matter might be just as good as any I would come up with.
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Thanks, Doomhippie - and I love your Ithilien project! :)
Ah yes, the 'blue beard', one of those aspects of The Hobbit that will presumably forever remain a little perplexing and require further explanation (like disappearing instruments and Dain's Dwarves' "mattocks")
I must confess I probably thought about it more when I had my first pass at these minis around five years ago, and I believe the conclusion I came to was the same as here: blue, but not outrageously so, and in keeping with the pallette of the set. I used Shadow Grey elsewhere with the Dwarves, so I had that covered. The only other consideration was making sure the whole thing looked naturalistic. It's not quite a blue rinse, but it's close!
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It's not bad looking. Shadow Grey has enough grey in it to not make it look like the dwarves fell into a pot of blue paint. It's subtle enough to do the trick. I would have thought that looked really bad but it doesn't. Actually it fits quite well to the way you painted up the models.
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Finally! Bombur and I both pause for breath as I've finished converting his figure and painting him:
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1TAqKwyRbrI/USmeEZIEQFI/AAAAAAAAAzg/O3keQnaSSMk/s320/bomburfront.jpg)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xRn_AY-DffU/USmeE8wtSMI/AAAAAAAAAzs/jFH9yR8G6Uw/s320/bomburside2.jpg)
Now seemingly more Green Stuff than plastic, he's the most ambitious and fraught conversion I've done, but it's time to step away and move on. Four weeks' work, almost!
Much much more breast-and-brow-beating along these lines here: http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/oakens-twelve-bombur_24.html (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/oakens-twelve-bombur_24.html)
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I really like that one!
Great work on the conversion. :)
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There's a LOT to that mini. Bombur is probably the COOLEST of the Crew; a GREAT mini with a FINE paint job...love the colors you chose. VERY WELL DONE!
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Great idea to use those; when I saw the first trailers, my immediate reation was.... 'er, but where are their HOODS?' :)
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This is more bloody like it! No stupid idiotic hairdoos, starched hats or beardless girls! Very very nice work! I enjoyed the Hobbit film but still wish they didn't patronise us by suggesting we'd not be able to tell who was who without making them look like characters from some kind of book of troll-dolls.
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"Well," said Sam, "I'm back!"
Here's Thorin at long last. Thanks again for all your encouraging comments. Another update will follow very very soon...
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8N3f92Wokc/UV_CTtA9shI/AAAAAAAAA1g/EAEd0gEaFGI/s320/thorinface2.jpg)
More on Thorin over on my blog: http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/oakens-twelve-thorin-oakenshield.html
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Some really nice figures there! Much more what I envisioned than the film versions
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"Well," said Sam, "I'm back!"
Here's Thorin at long last. Thanks again for all your encouraging comments. Another update will follow very very soon...
Just one word : GREAT !
In conversion work and in painting too.
Congratulation Jet Simian. By now, i know i'm not alone in my crusade about an easy and simple conversion work available to every one. Imagination is a key word for this concept and you get it ! :-*
Your paint job give them a new life. Especially when you know that this set of rangers are not highly so detailled like other plastic ranges at the moment . Don't speak about the GW price for a box (of only 12 Rangers) today with a not so good mould result in sculpting ! What a pity :-[
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Really nice work, I like the pointy hood and it really captures the right middle-earthish atmosphere.
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Beautiful work - these are really well done! If only the film versions had looked more like these, I might have enjoyed it...
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Thanks everyone!
Like Thorin I have procured a Wizard and a Thief:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-inyZnW_GaAQ/UX1oInuh1_I/AAAAAAAAA3Q/LsQKc0P1gXA/s1600/bilbofront.jpg)
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o8zv0w9vJ9g/UX1oIa4zH-I/AAAAAAAAA3I/e__XJHsOQ80/s1600/bilboback.jpg)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiL-AjiCB3Y/UX1oJuAOcwI/AAAAAAAAA3c/ydai7x3pErU/s1600/gandalffront.jpg)
Both are metal variants from GW's LotR line, including a slightly converted Frodo.
And now the Company is complete!
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BRNldeQcxBw/UX1oKM_SF8I/AAAAAAAAA3o/Yy0glnZyk7I/s1600/company2tier.jpg)
As usual, more detail and pics here: http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/oakens-twelve-rounding-out-posse.html (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/oakens-twelve-rounding-out-posse.html)
There are still two more posts in this series to do, but as far as Thorin's crowd is concerned, I'm done. Phew!
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They're just perfect!!!
Exactly as I think they should look almost.
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Superbly realised and, as I wrote previously, much preferable to the execrable dwarves of the film.
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As a Tolkien fan, I must say I love them! Great work!
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These are fantastic! I was on your blog looking for higher-res pictures. Do you have any of the whole company?
I know many of us intelligent adults would like less condescending fantasy, but remember, The Hobbit was written for children. And, if the movie companies can't sell tickets to everybody, we don't get to see anybody's version of the dwarves. Having said that, as a mother of 3 (ages 13, 10 and 7) I did not like the combination of cartoony dwarves and decapitations of monsters. Pick one. On the extremely positive side, the first thing my 10 yr old son did when we got home was ask for a copy of the book, which he loved so much he started the trilogy.
Back to Oaken's Twelve: Jet Simian your version of the company is imaginative (great mods!) and is a wonderful interpretation of Tolkien's works. I can't wait to show it to my family!
Jev
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They look brilliant! I love the vibrant colours you have used to paint them and the conversions are superb.
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Great lovely work! They look perfect! What a Company!
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Thanks again, everyone. had I known I'd take this long to complete the job I might not have attempted it, but your comments have really made it worthwhile!
@ Jevenkah - sorry, the pics on my blog are the largest res versions, but I might take some better shots some time later. And yes, The Hobbit is primarily a kids' book - it has to be. But it's curious also in how its story changes as it progresses - once you get to Riddles in the Dark there's asinister streak in the story, and The Battle of Five Armies is, I'd say, pretty heavy for a young child to hear. I hope that the choices I've made for my conversions and paintings address both sides to the book, because I reckon both are equally valid ;)
And so, here's a coda. I've done all the Dwarves of the Company including Thorin, now here's my version of his successor, Dain Ironfoot:
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qiDYPvi4zvI/UYXIDYQG4HI/AAAAAAAAA5I/eOHHFJcAaeU/s1600/dainfront.jpg)
It's another GW conversion, this time of the plastic Dwarf Warriors set. As usual, more pictures and waffle on my blog.
http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/oakens-twelve-coda-dain-nainsson.html (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/oakens-twelve-coda-dain-nainsson.html)
Thanks for reading!
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Great work on all of them. And nice thoughts about the Dain miniature and painting style. I'm really blown away by your work here.
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They're just perfect!!!
Exactly as I think they should look almost.
The Crazy Viking has it spot on!
Great work.
Love them all, and the finished product is just great.
:-* :-* :-*
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Very cool! The tucked-in braids were a detail that drew my eye right away. Love the brushwork on the cloak too.
I enjoyed the essay on your blog as well. It had the effect of composing a few different discussions in my head re: war and the gradual but distinct darkening of the subject matter in The Hobbit. My quick take is this: not only was Tolkien a great student of history and the thus the ways war shapes culture, he also fought and lived through "The War to End All Wars". I can't help but think for a children's book at the time, it painted quite a vivid argument for peace. Tolkien presents the both the excitement of war, and its dire consequences.
When you said this was the last of the upright dwarves does that mean you have casualties in the works? Thorin in his final moments? I am curious...
Jevenkah
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Yep - definitely better than the movie crew!
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Very, very nice conversions and paint jobs. I like your take on them much better than the cinema versions, but as mentioned by another poster, I can see why PJ did it the way he did.
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Thanks again, guys!
Hat tip again to Jevenkah - yeah, I agree with what you say about Tolkein. I think his personal experiences on the front are an integral part of his storytelling, and find it interesting to compare the mythos he created (informed by that experience as much as his regional background and academic studies) compared to the other mythologies created by the likes of lewis and Lucas - all very different, each treating subjects like war from quite different distances.
@Little Odo - yeah, I'm sure Jackson has opted for the version of the Hobbit Dwarves we've seen due to the LotR movies coming first and certain groundrules being established. It definitely works for the movie in that regard; cool that we still have other choices in our model making though, yeah? :)
As for my reference to 'upright' Dwarves Jevenkah - a dying Thorin is a neat idea and one I hadn't thought of (I'm sure we'll be seeing a few dioramas based on that in years to come). My reference is to a side project though - my Moria Cutaway (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/oakens-eleven-moria-cutaway.html (http://jetsimian.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/oakens-eleven-moria-cutaway.html)) which is... coming along, at least!