The Fellowship of the Ring

In the 12 years that I've been publishing this blog, I have never posted any photos of my Lord of the Rings models. So I figured I'd spend a few posts showcasing my collection. First up– The Fellowship of the Ring.

I collected and played the Lord of the Rings miniatures game during my time that I worked for Games Workshop (from 2000 to 2005), but I haven't kept up with it beyond that. I missed out on the War of the Ring and all of the Hobbit expansions, so these models (and their paint jobs) are are about 20 years old.

These figures are from the original metal "Fellowship of the Ring" boxed set that GW released in 2001 (except for Aragorn, which I'll discuss below).

Gandalf

This is still my favorite of the various Gandalf sculpts and poses released over the years. I tried to capture the subtle difference in the color of his hat (it's a little more blue than his robes).

 

 

The Hobbits

I love every character in these films, but I think the Hobbits are my favorite. The little guys are all similarly sculpted, so I took care to get all the details right– the color of their cloaks and clothing, so they would stand apart on the tabletop. I even added more hair to their feet by applying a spot of static grass and painting it.

 

 

Merry and Pippin 

 

 

Sam and Frodo

 

 

To represent when Frodo puts on the ring and turns in visible, I made a bare base with footprints to mark his location.

 

 

Boromir

This model gave me the most enjoyment to paint– Adding the detail on his sleeves and bracers, and the scratches on his shield was fun. I also used Citadel Black Ink (which at the time was a little glossy) to add a bit of shine to his long coat.

 

 

The Three Hunters

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli (and indeed, every model in the Fellowship) each provided the opportunity to use different color palettes and techniques.

 

 

Legolas has a lot of subtle detail on his clothing and hair.

 

 

Gimli has a couple throwing axes tucked into his belt that are easy to overlook.

 

 

I'm not sure I like any of the old poses for Aragorn. The model in the Fellowship box had his arms and sword stuck way out to the side, so instead of painting that one, I painted the version from the metal Attack at Weathertop set, but replaced his torch-wielding left arm with Aragorn's arm holding the knife from the Ambush at Amon Hen boxed set. The result is a more dynamic "fighting pose" for Aragorn, but in retrospect, it's a little difficult to get a nice group shot when everyone is standing in a regal "at the ready" pose, and Aragorn is diving forward.

 

 

The Fellowship models remain some of my favorite models that I've ever painted. Such characterful models, and the sculptors really captured all the details from their film representations.

 

"Find the halflings!"

'Til next time!