Travels in Middle Earth

[Grumpy Gnome]

Yeah, I love these. Brilliant work.

[Roo]

Wow absolutely fantastic...bookmarked...I shall pour a wee dram and sit back to enjoy the development of this wonderful thread!

[Neldoreth]

I really like the early Medieval character of these figures. Really inspiring stuff!

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[Swordisdrawn]

Excellent work. I've always struggled with my colour palettes for middle earth but you have hit them bang on!

[Ingarsby73]

Thanks very much for all the kind words, people.

Here as a stark contrast to the last post's elves, here's some of the servants of evil.

The trolls are Reaper ogres - both obviously inspired by Angus McBride's pictures for MERP, especially the cover of the "Cardolan" campaign  module.

Continuing the McBride theme, the orcs are principally Oathmark plastics with Warlord heads and Victrix shields. For a bit of variety, some have Warlord heads with Perry or Victrix helmets. There are a few Perry or GB arms in the mix as well. The smaller ones are Mantic goblins with Oathmark heads and arms.

The Uruks were a bit of an afterthought really, using spare Warlord bodies and a selection of random Gripping Beast heads. I made the Isengarders more uniform and armed as per the books with short swords. Although they're not quite as I imagine them, they're close enough for now. The Mordor lot are a bit more individual - as if they got the best kit out of a general pile. Maddeningly, the Warlord figures are bootless. Sculpting greenstuff boots is a frustrating experience - it can lead to a lot of orcs looking like they are wearing the sort of thermal slippers popular with British grandparents in the 1980s.

[March Hare]

Very nice. Can't wait to see more.

[Hobgoblin]

Those look amazing - really quite a chilling sight!

I've done the same thing with the Mantic goblin bodies - it rehabilitates those awful models quite a bit!

[Ingarsby73]

Those look amazing - really quite a chilling sight!

I've done the same thing with the Mantic goblin bodies - it rehabilitates those awful models quite a bit!

Thanks! Yes, the Mantic figures aren't the best are they. But they do make respectable smaller orcs. Like the Warlord orcs really, ropey sculpts that you can use to make other stuff out of.

[hubbabubba]

Excellent. I like your orcs a lot.

[peleset]

This is exactly why I come to the LAF, for the Orcs.

[James Morris]

Magic.  These are wonderful - very sinister and Tolkienesque. Can I ask what the skin colour is on the orcs?

[Ingarsby73]

Magic.  These are wonderful - very sinister and Tolkienesque. Can I ask what the skin colour is on the orcs?

Thanks James.

I use GW's Stormvermin Fur for the skin, with varying amounts of black or white/bone to darken/lighten. I've worked on the principle the smaller the orc, the lighter the skin. I know the world is divided into those who think orcs are brown or black-skinned. I think Stormvermin Fur allows you to say your orcs are a sallow sort of black-skinned, which is how I imagine them.

[Ingarsby73]

The evolution of Turin and Beleg.

After converting a lot of Oathmark and Warlord plastic goblins into how I imagined orcs, I wanted a change. What better than a couple of legendary heroes?

About the only things I was clear about were the helmet I wanted Turin to wear, that he needed a big sword, and that Beleg had to be holding a bow. Turin goes through lots of phases in the tale, and so the image I had of him in my mind's eye is probably a composite. Either that or it's entirely based on the cover of "The Children of Hurin". I experimented a bit with how I wanted Beleg to look. He started out with Oathmark arms and head. But in the end decided he should be like one of Victor Ambrus's elves to keep in tune with the Noldor and Nandor I'd made. So the arms and head changed over time, and Oathmark was replaced by Perry arms and a Victrix head.

As usual, they are a mix of Victrix Dark Age plastics, Oathmark, Perry and Gripping Beast.

[Roo]

Legendary in every sense!  Keep them coming👏

[LouieN]

wonderful looking figures