Looking for the archetypal Elf Ranger

[FramFramson]

My wife says that archetypal is actually what Noah drank on those long nights at sea, but my thesaurus (a dinosaur that tells me alternate words) begs to differ...

I've been trying to find a really sort of quintessential/universal elf ranger for some time. I had a few requirements on my list:

1) Relatively high quality sculpt. Not a fan of melting bodies or horse-like faces.
2) Roughly 30/32mm. A lot of promising figures have been rejected for being a full head shorter than my other figures... or a full head taller in the case of the new GW "heroic" elves. People sometimes say to just use whatever scale figures and roll with it, but I can't really (I've tried!). Scale is such a problem for me because I use larger bases than most people (35mm for unique figures and 30mm for grunts), so out-of-scale figures become really really obvious.
3) Not obviously "wood" elf or "high" elf. Some light armour like a breastplate is fine, but he shouldn't be in full plate. Nor should he be covered in vines or use those goofy half-masks GW is fond of. Basically a figure that could be from either clan/sect/faction/whatever. Something that could pass for a border-captain for high-elves, or a very worldly wood elf.
4) Melee primary, range secondary. Basically a sword-wielding figure, clearly showing a bow somewhere on him.
5) Has a real "travelling adventurer" look to him. This is harder to pin down, but usually means he has travel gear and maybe a cloak at least. He should also have a determined look or a look that shows he has some fight in him.
6) Conversions are okay. So if there's a human body that lends itself to a head-swap, I can get an elf head (I can get a head. Get it? Ahhhh sorry...). Or maybe he doesn't have a bow, but does have a good place to mount one.

I've seen plenty of figures were sort of close, just nothing that was "it". Some good examples are:

A couple of Red Box figures:





Sadly, all the RBG figures I've gotten are NOT the advertised 30mm. They're much closer to 25mm and very obviously smaller than my other figures.

Next...

This guy is pretty keen. I like his gear, I like his pose, I like his attitude (he's so full of character!). He doesn't have a cloak and is a little cartoonish, but that's not necessarily bad.





The problem is that this is obviously an old figure and may be impossible to get ahold of. Also, I have no idea about scale or even what he's called!

Finally...

Here's a Reaper model:



He's okay, but I just really hate that pose for some reason. Plus there's no really practical place to add a bow, unless I resculpt the whole cloak.

Just fishing around for suggestions if anyone has any!

[Comsquare]

I like that one, from Mad Puppet Miniatures



32mm
He's named "Woodelf ", but looks fine as a generic Ranger to me

[mweaver]

I like the Aenur, Sword of Twilight figure.



Out of production, but he usually goes for reasonable amounts on eBay.  GW's shadow elves - not the newest ones, the previous ones - have some poses that might work.  Some do have scarves wrapperd around their lower faces, but not all.

The Red Box Games are very nice, but they are a bit small compared to GW, Reaper, etc.  (I cheerfully use them anyway).

[blacksmith]

How about Tom Meier's:

[Engel]

Ill guess you allready have checked all of Tre´s Aelfars but if you havn´t theres allso these.

http://red-box-games.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=100

http://red-box-games.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=15&products_id=44

[Funghy-Fipps]

Some of the GW LotR stuff is rather nice, though the scale is a bit up-and-down (older: smaller, newer: larger).

This or this (there's loads of cheap LotR stuff on ebay) might serve your purpose.  Whatever you decide let us know! 

[FramFramson]

At 25mm the GW stuff is on the too-small side (I have a Legolas around here somewhere), as are the Red Box figures. Which is a shame, because they're beautifully sculpted.

As for Aenur, he's a much more of a rogue or assassin, but it's moot - I'm already using him, as well as his fellow games day compatriot, the Selafyn Elf hero (probably my favourite Mini ever).

that Mad Puppet figure is very nice, though a little too underdressed/wood-elf-ish for the ranger role. I might still pick him up though - I need a wood-elf bandit leader too, and he looks perfect for that!

Does anyone know more about the second figure in my first post? The pictures are from Thantsants' Orc's Drift thread.

[Heldrak]

Does anyone know more about the second figure in my first post? The pictures are from Thantsants' Orc's Drift thread.

That figure is a "Silvan Elf of Mirkwood" from the original mid-1980s Citadel LOTR range (later rolled into the Warhammer Wood Elf range). Sculpted by Jes Goodwin. Due to scale creep it will be very small by the standards of today's figures (closer to 25mm than 28+). That figure comes with 5 different variant heads:

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Lord_Of_The_Rings:_Alternatives#ME-31_Silvan_Elves_of_Mirkwood_Alternatives

[Svennn]

That figure is a "Silvan Elf of Mirkwood" from the original mid-1980s Citadel LOTR range (later rolled into the Warhammer Wood Elf range). Sculpted by Jes Goodwin. Die to scale creep it will be very small by the standards of today's figures (closer to 25mm than 28+). That figure comes with 5 different variant heads:

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Lord_Of_The_Rings:_Alternatives#ME-31_Silvan_Elves_of_Mirkwood_Alternatives

If you do want to go with this one I have literally dozens of them in the attic and I am sure I could let you have one.

What about the Spyglass elf? Not sure who if anybody picked up the moulds when Mr Buddle stopped doing them.

[Steve F]

What about the Spyglass elf? Not sure who if anybody picked up the moulds when Mr Buddle stopped doing them.

Heresy, I think.

[Svennn]

Heresy it is but the one I was thinking of is actually a female

[Comsquare]

Hei,

I have a very similar Citadel Woodelf to the Silvan Elf, which I measured.
He's 25mm to the eyes, 28mm top of head and 30mm to top of hairknot.

Didn't found a pic of him but it's one of the Elfwarriors range

[alrith72]

http://www.reapermini.com/FigureFinder#detail/03257 rogue type but could be used

[FramFramson]

That mini always makes me laugh... he reminds me of an overeager kid. "Hey guys! We gonna fight today? Huh? Huh?"  


I found an interesting possibility. Andreas always makes beautiful minis, but I didn't know they made 30/32mm fantasy. He's more of a swordsman than a ranger (and snarly enough to be a dark elf), but I could work with him. Sure is a dynamic sculpt!



By the way, which particular spyglass elf are you guys talking about? Every time I find a link to Spyglass Miniatures (be it the old site or the relaunch), the link is dead. So there's no real catalogue of Spyglass stuff for me to look at.

[Heldrak]

Spyglass stuff now sold by Heresy:

http://www.heresyminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_18_19&zenid=af202b7df0cfd39ff15e71b82ac3ab51

The female Ranger in question is Shae (possibly too wood elfy and unarmored for your taste). Heresy's own Celistophel may fill the bill, but I'm not fond of the sculpt, myself.