You're going to hear me Thror!

So, I have finished my first figure from The Hobbit: Thror, King of Erebor.  He is one of those ludicrously expensive Finecast pieces but at least I got him at Dark Sphere so got him at a discount.

Like some of Games Workshops Tolkein figures he is a bit of an amalgalm of looks from the film.  His distinctive beard jewellery comes from the scenes inside Erebor, particularly, in the extended version, from when he meets the elves.  Yet the model is in fighting mode but in the film the beard jewellery (beardellery?) isn't worn in his brief battle scene.  

Incidentally, most painted figures I have seen make the colour on his beardellery blue but the stills from the film show it as definitely black so I dug out mt little used Humbrol number 21 gloss black for this.

I had no issues with this Finecast figure other than the cost and a rather bendy sword which I couldn't get to straighten out however much I (carefully tried).  No holes or pits or any of the other things people moan about.  The only issue was the complication of cutting him from the sprue which has much chunkier connectors to the figure than a plastic figure and alittle more carving away of excess material is, therefore needed.

Some Erebor dwarves next!

The Desolation of Smaug supplement

The bear necessities

You don't have any posts on the blog for eight months and then two come along within a few days!  My renewed enthusiasm for all things Tolkien has been engendered by watching the extended version of The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey and listening to the new Howard Shore soundtrack for The Desolation of Smaug.

I went into Games Workshop in Oxford Street yesterday to pick up the warriors of Erebor, as I liked the Battle of Dimrill Dale in An Unexpected Journey between the dwarves and the orcs.  

I also picked up the supplement for The Desolation of Smaug which has five scenarios from the new film (including one for their £40 set of Thorin's company in barrels!) but also three built around the Battle of Dimrill Dale from the first film.  It also takes each of the scenarios for the first book and the second and puts them together to build one continuous campaign.  This, of course, is probably why we haven't seen any gaming articles in White Dwarf this year as there are scenarios in the book based on the film, plus some more generic ideas for battles in Mirkwood.  One of the scenarios, however, requires 18 mirkwood spiders.  These cost £22 for two so you will need to spend £198 on spiders for this one!

There are some pictures of a few figures which haven't been released yet, including Beorn in his bear form (top) and armoured orcs of Gundabad (above) which look like an imminent plastic box set.  I'm not sure about the design of these but at least they look quick to paint as they are quite uruk hai-like.  The Laketown guard look very silly, I'm afraid, but that isn't Games Workshop's fault!  What there isn't is any hint of Smaug so perhaps he will come for the final film.

So for me it will be dwarves versus orcs for a bit (although those Mirkwood rangers do look awfully nice!)

There are some painting guides and pictures of other people's armies to pad it out a bit and, of course, profiles for the new figures.

Starting a couple of Dwarves...

Despite the rubbish support for The Hobbit from Games Workshop I still like some of the figures and have started work on a couple this weekend.  I watched the extended version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this weekend in preparation for going to see the Desolation of Smaug over Christmas (I have to wait until my daughter returns from university!)  It was she who selected Bombur for me to work on.  I also wanted to have a go at a Finecast figure so pulled out my outrageously expensive King Thror to do.  I had hoped to paint him on Sunday but events conspired against me so I have only just started him.

Thror is a two part Finecast kit with an additional shield.  I couldn't find any faults on mine except for some slight damage to part of the shield rim which I have fixed with greenstuff.  The sword is very flimsy and is as bendy as an Airfix Ancient Britain!  I did need to use a bit of liquid Greenstuff to fill some slight gaps between the two halves when stuck together but it would have been the same for a metal kit too, I think.

I've got plenty of pictorial reference for both figures but they are very small so I think I may have to break out a new Windsor and Newton Series 7 for them!  I tried to do a bit on Thror last night but I have realised that I am going to need daylight to work on black undercoated figures.  I bought the new Howard Shore Hobbit soundtrack today but it seems, rather like An Unexpected Journey, to be lacking in strong melodies which certainly wasn't the case for his three Lord of the Rings scores.  Still, it's atmospheric stuff and means I now have 17 hours and 18 minutes of Howard Shore Lord of the Rings music to paint to, which should keep me in the right mood.

I also bid on a few metal LotR figures on eBay today as I notice that many of the LotR figures have disappeared from the Games Workshop catalogue and, eventually, I want to get them all!