Creating Glaurung - questions about modifying a miniature

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

I like this dragon from Reaper. 



It has the size and right look for Glaurung.  The only problem is the wings.
I have not used green stuff or done any real modifying of miniatures. 
Would I gust need greenstuff to fill in the areas where the wings slot in and fashion some scales?  Is this something that is relatively easy to do?

When it comes to painting Glaurung, what colour should he be?  He is called the Golden, but in a lot of art work he is dark, almost black.  One of the older editions of the Silmarilion has him a greenish colour.  And if gold, would you actually use gold paint or use nonmetallic paints?

[SotF]

One thing you could do is go with a black, then add a highlight of gold along with some features of the gold.

The metallic look combined with the black could look interesting for the corrupted/blackened gold.

[wolfgangbrooks]

https://www.amazon.com/Schleich-America-Dragon-Hunter-Figure/dp/B00QKLL4NA/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1510391080&sr=8-10&keywords=schleich+dragon

This one has a similar look and Iron Mitten has used it for his. Plus it should be cheaper.

http://iron-mitten.blogspot.com/search?q=glaurung

[Severian]

I think the Reaper dragon could make a fine Glaurung. I've no especial greenstuff expertise, I'm afraid, but I'd think the sort of filling and scale-sculpting you mention ought to be fairly straightforward.

As for the colour: well, he is called "the Golden", and the Tolkien picture of him "setting forth [from Nargothrond] to seek Turin" has him a yellowish-gold colour, but interestingly the original Lost Tale gives him "scales of polished bronze", which you could make darker or more brass-like as you liked. I'd be tempted to dry-brush bronze on a black undercoat, because I quite like the darker idea. But that's just me. Probably an "authentic" reading would make him shinier, though...

Keen to see where you take this.

[beefcake]

That should be easy to fill in with some GS. I'd fill it most of the way in first leaveing a couple of mm's for a top layer, let it cure and then do the top layer with the scales. Aliexpress has cheap sculpting tools, just look for dental tools and you should be able to pick some up really cheaply if you don't have some already.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Thanks for the replies. 
I had seen the Schleich dragon/Glaurung blog before.  Unfortunately, to get the same dragon in New Zealand is going to be almost as expensive as getting the Reaper dragon sent to me (the Schleich dragon here is anywhere from approx US$35 to 40, to get the reaper dragon from the US will cost approx $50).
And I do like the Reaper dragon.....

[beefcake]

If you spend over $100 AU you get free shipping from Reaper.  

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

That would be a good way of selling it to my wife. "I spent $100 to save money".

[MattW]

An idea for the scales could be using a cobblestone rolling pin (It would add to the cost, but if you're not confident about your sculpting...)

http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/textured-rolling-pins/373-rolling-pin-hobby-roller-small-cobblestone.html


Scales and cobblestones look pretty similar to me!

[Connectamabob]

The existing scales on the model look like they were sculpted by rolling little balls of putty and flattening them against the skin, so that would probably be the way to do it. At the very least, it'd be super simple/easy, and even if it wasn't how the surrounding scales were actually sculpted, the fact that that's what they look like would make it the most visually consistent (TBH, the scales on that model are super lazy). Just fill the wing-holes and smooth/contour them to the level of the skin under the scales, let it cure, then roll out a bunch of different sized wee balls of putty, dab them in place with your finger, and flatten them down with a tool (not your fingertip: a fingertip will add unwanted texture, and won't flatten them in the even way you want).

Some of the best sculpting tools for epoxy putties are actually tools whittled from popsicle sticks or wood toothpicks. Unlike metal or rubber tools, porous wood holds onto lubricants/solvents like water or saliva, so they're actually easier to use without the putty sticking to them. Plus they're easy to customize to whatever shape you need. If you've got a hobby knife and a box of toothpicks, you've got nearly all the sculpting tools you need. The fact that such tools are also dirt cheap is a bonus.

Though if it were me, faced with a $50 shipping charge for a $25 model, I'd just get a roll of iron wire and a brick of polymer clay instead. Even if I was a total noob to sculpting, I'd see the experience as an investment. Large critters are incredibly cheap when you can just opt out of the whole mess by DIYing them.

[WimVdB]

Mithril does make a wingless dragon in their range (specificaly for Lord of the Rings / Middle earth).
http://www.mithril.ie/fire-dragon-mb369-glaurung-box-set-c2x11460318

I have no experience with green stuff or putty myself, so I'm no help here...

[Tactalvanic]

I remembered Ral Partha did some sinuous dragons way back and googled a bit

 http://www.ralparthaeurope.co.uk/shop/dragons-c-60/10363-panther-dragon-p-2010.html

Depending on where you are Ironwind Metals do that and the sea dragon to

http://ironwindmetals.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=266&products_id=7019

Both rather sinous in the right way to my thinking, ie more snake/wormlike although legs are still long.

The panther having no wings is good, the sea dragon looks like an easy fix looking at how they are attached.

Only issue maybe not big enough by today's standard, or of course, what you want it to look like 

I like that Mithril one a little to..

[Connectamabob]

Amazon has some toy dragons that might fit the bill (with repainting). From what I could dig up, it looks like their shipping charges to Australia are much better as well (maybe around 10 bucks). Go to amazon.com and search for "Schleich dragon" for a few options. Like the Reaper dragon, they'd need wingectomies, but some of them have the wings jointed, so the foootprint of what you'd need to mod would be smaller. Plus the sculpting appears to be much better than on the Reaper dragon.

How about this boyo:
https://www.amazon.com/Schleich-America-Dragon-Hunter-Figure/dp/B00QKLL4NA/ref=pd_sim_21_7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YPAVTPZ04MB5FZ635T7W

It's even already yellow, so you might be able to use it more or less as is with just some wash and weathering passes.

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Connectamabob, you have committed the cardinal sin of getting New Zealand and Australia mixed up!
Usually Amazon will not ship toys to NZ, but I see that there is a note that says they will do exactly that.  It makes the cost half that of the Reaper Dragon.

[Connectamabob]

Glad to be of help. And sorry about the NZ/AU goof on my part.