1/72 LoTR Dark Riders - Questions

[Valhuen]

Greetings; am assembling a large number of LoTR armies in 1/72 using primarily the Dark Alliance figures with others mixed in. Have had success finding pretty much anything needed except for Fell Beasts to use with the Dark Alliance Dark Riders. Have bought a few3D printed Wyverns and have several Reaper/Nozhul(sp?) minis as well, and nothing seems the right size. If anyone has gone down this path before me I would appreciate any help you can give.

Thanks,

Paul

[Mammoth miniatures]

Perhaps look at WizKids nolzurs marvelous miniatures range? They have some dragony type creatures of various sizes, and the minis tend to run on the smaller side.

[Valhuen]

Perhaps look at WizKids nolzurs marvelous miniatures range? They have some dragony type creatures of various sizes, and the minis tend to run on the smaller side.

Unfortunately nothing in the range works thus far. I have a few dozen dragons and wyverns from the range, and while some of the dragons are perfect size they don't look much like Fell Beasts. There are a lot of 3d printed wyvern models on Etsy, bought a few but thus far they are too small. And the Fell Beast models made for GW's LoTR minis are too large. There has to  be something out there that fits and looks the part, just have not found it as yet

[Daeothar]

It all depends on what you want your Fell Beast to look like. Are you going for the Jackson movie look, or will you consider alternative sources?

Before the movies came out, I myself always imagined the Fell Beasts as something akin to Pterodactyls, and I still prefer that image. And if you'd be willing to go that route, there are several offerings that could help you along. First and foremost, I believe Tamiya makes a Pterodactyl kit. I've built and painted their Raptor pack, and they work very well with 28mm miniatures (or 20, when you want your beasts to be bigger ). The Pteranodon, as they call it, is about 10cm long. Quite large in 20mm, but it has to be able to carry aloft prey or a fully armoured and ringed king of men after all



Also, there are tons of (soft) plastic toys out there, in a plethora of scales. So there's bound to be something that would meet your size requirements. They're really cheap most of the time too.



Schleich or Papo are another source, but they tend to be on the other end of the cost spectrum. Really good sculpts though...

[Hobgoblin]

The creature the Nazgul rides is obviously something like a bird:

"It was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked, and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers; and it stank. A creature of an older world maybe it was, whose kind, fingering in forgotten mountains cold beneath the Moon, outstayed their day, and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood."

Tolkien also calls them "Nazgul-birds" in a letter.

Daeothar's pteranodon seems a good take, although Tolkien did say "Yes and no" when asked if the creature was a pterodactyl:

"Pterodactyl. Yes and no. I did not intend the steed of the Witch-King to be what is now called a 'pterodactyl', and often is drawn (with rather less shadowy evidence than lies behind many monsters of the new and fascinating semi-scientific mythology of the 'Prehistoric'). But obviously it is pterodactylic and owes much to the new mythology, and its description even provides a sort of way in which it could be a last survivor of older geological eras."

So something bird-like with bat-like wings seems the best call. Incidentally, "fell" appears to be just an adjective applied to the creatures, not their name. I don't think Tolkien is talking about the winged steeds here, for example:

"But everywhere [Frodo] looked he saw the signs of war.... Under the boughs of Mirkwood there was deadly strife of Elves and Men and fell beasts."

This Alternative Armies wyvern is sufficiently beaky to count fit the bill, I think (you can buy it without the rider):



Alternative Armies also do a couple of 15mm ones, which might be a bit small. On the other hand, they're probably the right size to have their heads lopped off by a 1/72 Eowyn:





Sadly, the 28mm Asgard winged beast doesn't seem to be back in production at Alternative Armies (could have sworn it was!); it's just about perfect (although this example has its wings on backwards!):



The Reaper Bones vulture demon might give you a good basis for conversion if you lost the arms, added bat wings from another Bones demon and bent/pinned the body forward (easy to do in the Bones plastic).

[Daeothar]

Hobgoblin; that's the passage I based my vision on, yes

Here's another take that seems to be inspired by th Dark Crystal's Skeksis, or maybe even RotJ's Salacious Crumb (they're both Jim Henson's after all)...

[Valhuen]

Gents,

Thanks for the suggestions on the Pterodactyl's and others, will check out the local Hobby Lobby for the pre-painted ones then hit up eBay for the kits. Good suggestions all, thank you.

[Hobgoblin]

One more from Alternative Armies:



Again, you can order the beast separately.

[Luigi]

I really like all the suggestions proposed so far, and would like to add a couple in the same vein

Both from Viking forge miniatures, both very old school, and both very reasonably priced.
Found here and here

[Valhuen]

Just an FYI/follow-up, have found a number of beasts that look the part, all 3D printed via Etsy. Think the sizes are good, just waiting on a few orders to know for sure which one to go with. Won't direct link, but you can do a search for "wyvern" on Etsy and it will bring up a bunch.