Sculpting a stag for Radagast

EDIT: Forgot to post the WIP-pics of the stag... it seems this post is just a bunch of reposts of the earlier projects. And don't click around too much on the page I linked in the end of this TL:DR-post.

Godday. I have been sick, again. A regular cold which left me enfeebled and weak. And today I made my sorry state worse by eating lots of Indian food - since I can hardly taste anything I thought I'd make a strong tikka-masala which I now have to pay the price for.
    Belly-issues aside. Some sculpting have happened, albeit really slowly...

The stag resides in the middle, accompanied by my other Radagasts, for completion and comparison. Below some of my inspirations, with a peculiar little deer crossed-over in the middle of the image, who has fangs. Maybe something for a Mordor-themed evil twin of Radagast, called Gradagast, mounted on his evil mini deer with fangs. Or something, I don't know...

   

I wanted to show some progress on my new take on the hobby: Slow work with characters. All the guys below will receive additional licks of paint, especially in the face-department.
     Gandalf the White was in fact painted by my blogging-colleague mr FoB but the model is now in my hands for some reason.

 

Gandalf Grey from Mines of Moria, Gandalf Grey-homemade, Gandalf Grey from The Escape from Goblin Town, Gandalf the White on Shadowfaxe (metal) and furthest back you can see the homemade cart and homemade Gandalf the Grey riding it.

The model in the middle comes from another range and has been converted a bit. Her face doesn't fit very well with the Lord of the Rings models... we'll see if I either try to better it somehow with GS or just leave it and try to fix it with the paintbrush.
     The Elrond model and anyone of the two Galadriels will be used for a themed tray of a little bit of the White Council. A little bit, you ask: Yes, the exact number of individuals that frequent these very unfrequent meetings is unknown to me. So I have not yet decided which models I will include or if I just go the easy way and follow the rulebook. When I bought the box The White Council, it included Erestor, Glorfindel and Cirdan except the four standard models mentioned in the War of the Ring-rulebook.

And all the Sarumans, Pallandos and Alatars I am working on at the moment. Work is really slow and I will try to read some painting tips on faces and a few other little tips on painting true 28 mm models. The difference between the LotR-range and high fantasy ranges is quite obvious for a painter with barely acceptable skills besides the "acceptable for the table top", which is what I have always just aimed for. Aim for the berry bush, hit the ground, or however the saying goes...
     All the models have their specific places in different armies. The different Saruman-models, as a good example, comes as " ... of many Colours" as well as a part of the Council of Wizardry and also for another obscure purpose which might be revealed in a future post if I ever finish it...

Lastly, some news on the state in my part of the city: Burning cars here and there, worse crimes here and there. The fire department goes in without sirens or lights, douse the fire and go back, sometimes being stoned and sometimes not. And I am not talking about clump foliage...

This time, the religious celebrations that end a certain period of not-eating that some groups in this country practise, didn't turn into the regular fire-fest as it did earlier times of "celebrations", but the "disturbances" was notable and continued weeks after.
      No reports in any papers about this of course, the only ones noting it are people on a large forum, but even there it is barely mentioned because it happens everywhere.
      Undereducated and not-so-sharp police officers were (again) searching through the staircase in my flatblock yesterday, knocking doors, asking irrelevant questions, creating the same sense of annyoance and insecurity that the criminals do, because we seem to live in A clockwork orange where the pool of recruits for the police is the same pool the criminals swim in... And I can only assume you have all missed this criminal record.

I shall end with a happier note:

This is the "actor", M. Persbrandt, who will play Beorn in the next Hobbit-movie.

When I saw the trailer (of the movie which I took these prints from) in the cinema many years ago, my pals and I weren't the only ones who started laughing, in fact, almost everyone had a good laugh when they saw this actor in his yellow wig. I imagine Peter Jackson and his make-up team did a better job with him in make-up. I am already counting the months 'til the next movie premiers.

Gandalf the Grey DIY, phase 3

I have sculpted a lot on the free hours I got between BS and work. Gandalf's cloak needs quite a lot work because I changed the position of his right arm. The bigger challenge will be Saruman. If I get off work early on Friday (not likely) I will start tinkering with some sort of armature or look through the bits-box...

Not really sure on Galadriel. She looks like a proto-Galadriel, as depicted by some communist illustrator in the late 70's. I am considering to cut off her hair and redo it... not likely to happen, but I am considering it.

Pallando the Blue. I "forgot" to take pictures of Alatar because he just aren't up to my standards (albeit rather "embracing" and "open" standards, but still).

I would also like to take this moment to plug Laughing Ferret's giveaway. He runs one of my favorite blogs out there (no, I am not participating - I've got way too much hobby stuff already - I am honestly just promoting his little competition) and I can highly recommend it.

Wizards and Wagons in 28mm

Here are the projects that are on the workbench at the moment:

Galadriel, a little more than basecoated, to the right, by Games Workshop. To the left, a little nymphadore from unknown producer. Got her for 25 SEK! She had originally been sold for 85 SEK. To get such discount is unheard of unless you go to the paypal-needing sites, which are awesome but I can't use due to ideological reasons (being a crazy net-hater and all). Take the last part with a few grain of salts. 2*59*9[11]

However cheap she was, there are still lots to do if I ever want her to look slighly like Galadriel. Not decided on whether or not she will be in war-form.

Enter Scrollfest 2013... Below we have candles that are soon sculpted to within acceptable parameters as well as some bottles. The little thingie in top right position is a practice-piece for when I try to make Galadriel's Mirror.

Candles are huge, but rightly so because I have been inspired by actual cathedral candles.

Alatar. The first version, based on a Christian Priest from Perry Miniatures. The second version's basic structure is made out of mixed parts. He looks a bit dodgy (besides the fact the sculpting is still in sketch-mode), to be honest, so we'll see how the projects end. Either based and ready within the week or in to the bin...

Practicing my humble sculpting skills, I will try to make a standing Gandalf. Cheating my way with an almost finished head! And below, as promised, some more pictures of Gandalf's cart. I must say I am mighty pleased with this, even if Gandalf didn't turn out ace, the project as a whole is greatly satisfying.

Readers with eyes may notice that this in fact is Gandalf the Blue. I can't be held responsible for what have happened. I tried to make him grey but he turned out blue, clearly this is Coat d'Arms fault ;)

Here are the whole platter of projects. You can see the Saruman-project close to this text. I am not amused by this particular project. Again, we'll see how it ends. Though I can say it doesn't bode well for Saruman.

Alatar. Model to the right is the one I converted up (sort of, didn't do much) for The Council of Wizardry I did earlier.

GBU for August 2013.

Another General Blogging Update. This is normally a sign that the everyday-life of Sweden has cramped my hobby-style. As is norm under said circumstances, I just relax and post other people's stuff:

So, what's been going on in our human world of hobby? Well, someone posted this picture of Elrond looking at a sword while another elf is watching him. The white arrow probably suggests something, but my funny-center isn't active and I do not care. Maybe one of you, dear readers, do know and care to explain?

Furthermore, some English person have understood what 40K is, Swedish readers will probably understand (after a while) that this add says "Warhammer 40 000 United Kingdom" and that it is not an ad for homophiles.

These Japanese men shows what is good with our hobby. This could've easily been taken at my local store - the looks and gestures are all the same. With the obvious exception for the guy in the far left --->




To the left (or below depending on how bad blogger will screw this post's formatting up) we can see one of the few in the world who owns one of these babies. At around 10K SEK it is highly wakarimass that there are so few owners. Wait, it costs more than 10K SEK, I think it goes for 1000 GBP... that's 12 000 SEK...
     And here's the 1000 GBP-billion dollar question: What would a model equivalent to this scale and price be in the Lord of the Rings-hobby?

Another international hobbyist. His hair suggests he is from France, but his jeans and the window says America, which doesn't matter since this information still didn't help me when trying to find the link to his works. Nevertheless, how cool isn't that Orthanc, built with what I assume is Lego?
    The ease with which one can identify oneself with a half-crazy hobbyist like this is very amusing.

And the girls keep doing their hobby. "Cosply" which means "look hot" in Japanese. I cannot see how this is relevant to this post, but then again, this whole "GBU"-thing is quite irrelevant in itself.
   I think she is Sakura from Dragon Ball.

If someone missed this last year, or whenever it was first posted (I always assume I am two or three years behind every new meme and "internet sensastion"). Naturally, he is joking, "trolling", but it is still quite funny.





So, it seems that the rest of the world is doing their thing. What have I been up to? I have decided to keep doing quite time-consuming projects that won't take up so much space. Hence, all other projects have been put to halt: The Rhûn Automatons (take up too much space), The Rhûn project, finishing of Elven Swan Sky Chariot (still, I need a better name for it) and a few other bits and bobs. Banned from the table are large formations, because, as stated earlier, I have ran out of storing space... I said that three times now...
    Currently, I am still pondering on whether to restart the Alatar and Pallando projects and give them better modes of transportation instead of rocks and winds, because they look unbalanced and frankly, quite ugly.
     Saruman's slave drawn wagon haven't even been started. It feels like I've lost my hobby-mojo... So, I am going to try and mix it up. With perler beads or whatever they're called and later, I shall try to sculpt a Galadriel and Saruman (not from scratch, but more or less). It shall hopefully be interesting and get me back again.

To finish it all, I show you this beautiful picture for a TW-project (Total War) which I have no idea how it ended if it ever. The pic looks pretty sweet, though...

The Blue Wizards on high fantasy bases, part 1

It is a work in progress, hehehe... this is a mess. Earth-elementalist-base can be seen in this image. Below we have the clichée air-elementalist base:

A whirlwind. I have always thought that Alatar and Pallando, blue as they both were, and each connected to one specific valar, had their specific roles and "themes" if you like. Just like Radagast the Brown were connected to earth, forest and animals. And Gandalf the Grey had his role as a seeker of wisdom and kindness and also being kick-ass awesome wizard fighter. And The White Wizard/of Many Colours had his.
     So, the themes for these blue wizards I decided were to be that of the blue sky (and the plains beneath them stretching far east, were they both went) and the blue mountains and waters. And rocks. I had a nice little background written down... now it seems mixed up and illogical. I'll have to get back to anyone interested when I get this in order.

Above, Saruman, some wheels and the parts for the human wagon pullers (a mix of Mantic and Perrys'). You can see some basic sketches of the wagon. It'll all be placed on a 120 mm base.

And the project of doing hobbits from 1:72 Zvezda peasants. I got some pro-tips on how to get the paint to stick on these poly-ethylene models, so I am more inclined to continue this project. They look so-so, but I think they'd work well for the War of the Ring-system as it is based on large amounts of models.

That's it for tonight, I am going to close my window despite the heat because I do not want to hear the disturbing fight outside between two small groups of animalistic males. Good night!

Gandalf's Cart, painting done

Typically, I would like to point out several flaws and points of not-so-well painted parts but tonight I will just leave it be. It's just a hobby, after all.

Below are the parts that make Gandalf slowly roll down the roads of the Shire and elsewhere.

His cargo sort of makes him look like an icecream seller. The rods are supposed to look like rockets, not icecream or lollipops/chupas. Oh, well... This project was satisfying and a nice way to forget work. People insist on planning work-outings more often than I prefer, because they have to be planned in between normal social life and hobby time. And these social gatherings always ends up with work-talk. Why oh why do we then get together, especially when 80% of work time consists of complaining about work and how we want to be elsewhere? Be elsewhere to complain about work! WHiICH I am doing NOW! ACTIVE CAPS, I think I'm going crazy. It is a national-sport, I realize this just now, a Swedish national sport: Complaining about work. Which is what I am doing right now. Abrupt end.

Gandalf's Cart, part three

Last sculpting-/DIY-update before painting.

As always, there are a lot of little flaws that needs fixing. I will also make reins for good ol' G-dalf (as they say in the tougher parts of Hobbiton) to hold. Need to fix the wagon to the horsie... and some more things, come to think of it. Now that I look at this picture, I realize there's a lot left to do... hm...

Planet of the Apes... Poor Pallando, the rock rider, looks like a monkey. Inspiration for the base (which is not shown here) comes from EVERY elementalist-wizard ever sculpted... It's just that I've always loved the look of heavy rocks in weird shapes on top of each other. Klichée, yes.

Gandalf's Cart, part 2

I realized my updates have become rather text heavy, so here's an overcompensating text-less update. Part three of this project awaits, but next sculpting session is probably Wednesday.

Gandalf's Cart (homemade)

More or less homemade/DIY. The wheels are not sleek enough but I find them acceptable. I've just laid out the basic sketch of Gandalf, there's a lot left to do. But in this stage, I do not need worry about any fingerprints because the parts will all be covered by new green stuff. Except for the top of his hat.
      The head is a Mahdi Ansaar from Perrys (the nose was good enough, the rest will be hidden by hair and beard), the torso is also from Perrys and the arms are from two different sets. I used these parts to get the proportions right since it has proven almost impossible for me to sculpt a human sized figure from scratch. I need a hand to hold, basically.

Below are the parts I am trying to make, in my own version - I have no idea how a cart looks like, the only ones I've seen IRL have been donkey-drawn carts in development countries, but they had real tires and a simple boarding. Gandalf's is a marvel of engineering, consisting not only of sleek wooden wheels but also elaborately carved pieces of wood as well as wicker walls. Well, marvel of engineering might be a bit of a stretch, but still...

I am also trying to sculpt/convert versions two of Alatar and Pallando. If they come out allright I'll put them on special bases which should be themed stormy and rocky, respectively, plus some form of locomotion-thingie. That's the basic idea of this project: I want all the five Wizards in some sort of vehicle:

1) Gandalf. Gandalf's Cart. Started.
2) Radagast. Radagast's Rabbit Racer. Done!
3) Saruman. Not sure what to do...
4) Alatar. Hmm... might go over the top and less discreet as, for example, Gandalf treats magic, which might mean I will make Alatar riding a storm, or something equally warhammery.
5) Pallando. Keeping with the theme that he is bound to Manwe (or is it Orome, I am thinking of), I will make him look a little bit more "from the East" and almost dwarvy. The same thing with him goes as number four: Him riding some sort of magic-related thing.

Why the magic? Because it should be easier to sculpt.

Below is Mithril Miniatures' Saruman with Palantir. The blog where I found him on said it was Gandalf, but I think it is Saruman, an opinion based wholly on the look of the model's belt and the palantir by his side. Maybe I just copy the palantir and make a scenic base with Saruman... Anyway, in the image above, the model to the right, is some sort of Uruk-servant I've started to construct, in case I make a horrible slave-drawn wagon for Saruman (the Uruk being some part of this in some form), but I don't think that's in the spirit of Saruman, yet how evil he might have turned. Think the human-pulled wagon from The Road. I don't think it made it into the movie, read the book, it is equally good.
     So, are there any suggestions out there? I have gotten really good suggestions over the years which I used in my different projects. Especially liking the one about Radagast riding a stag (or elch?)... which I also really want to sculpt... but I digress. Any ideas for a vehicle for Saruman out there?