Battle of Mirkwood plus comments.

[ddaines]

Just a couple of points.

I have at last ordered and received this range (thought I had beter get them sooner rather than later as there appear to be good things up and coming, Gold status figs, Gondorian troops etc), and would just like to say how delighted I was with the figures, especially the Elves and particularly the Celeborn figure - the detail on this figure is outstanding. A bit late getting them and most collectors probably already have, however satisfaction should be passed on!

First point I have concerns Mithril orcs. Why are they all bald? Could Chris not at least add a bit of hair to some of them (I'm sure someone will point out a hairy orc) as they do seem to be lacking in this department and personally I think some hair would make them look a lot fiercer. Just a thought - The early Hithaglir orc designs were by and large my favourites. I suppose hair can be added using putty, but......

Second point, is there any feasible way that horse reins can be cast as separate wrap around parts. As a diorama maker and not a wargamer, I still feel frustrated about the removal of the 'infill' metal between the horse reins, I used to drill and carve it out but after numerous cuts and drilling of the finger tips it isn't so attractive an option now-adays. Any progress in this direction would be gratefully accepted.

Anyhow looking forward to the new releases - keep up the good work.

[barliman]

Just so as not to disappoint, there's certainly one Orc with a topknot (not sure if that counts as "hairy", but it's certainly hair) - M288A. There may be others, but I just happen to ba painting some 288s at the moment.

Perhaps shaved heads were an Orc fashion statement, much like they are today - y'know, to hide impending baldness whilst at the same time attempting to look butch and cool (yet often failing on both counts...).

Or, to take another "real world" parallel (er, this IS the real world, isn't it? - I lose track), perhaps they shaved their heads before going on campaign to prevent enemies grabbing their tresses in a close-quarters scuffle?

Or not.

[ddaines]

No sooner had I posted the comment about the lack of orc hair, I took a closer look at a diorama I had created - 'Disaster at the Gladden Fields', and lo there were three of the brutes with the top-knot! Should've looked before I leapt!

But the comments do make sense about the hair (or lack of it), but I'm not sure about the 'real world' though!

Thanks for thaking the time to comment.

Dave. ;D

[Ori]

Hi ddaines!

Do you have pictures of your dioramas somewhere?

regards

[ddaines]

Hi Ori,

yes, they are in the fans gallery under David Daines. some of the pictures could do with re-taking as the camera wasn't the best at the time. Thanks for your interest and hope you enjoy.

David.

[barliman]

Hello again, Dave.

Once you'd got me thinking about the appearance of Chris's Orcs, it brought to my attention an anomaly between the various Orc models in the range. Have you ever noticed how many fingers and toes they have? Most have four, but I've just noticed that at least one - yes, it's M288A again... - has five. I wonder why? (That shows how little else I have to think about, doesn't it?) Was Morgoth having a bad day when he bred the four-finger jobbies, or could one hypothetically argue that five-fingered Orcs are less remote descendants of their corrupted Elf forebears? Alternatively, is Chris is a huge Mickey Mouse fan?

Interestingly, the Half-orcs in LT13 have five fingers but four toes - thereby subtly confirming their half-orc/half-human origins.

[Ori]

Great dioramas dave. I liked them a lot.

You can see mine under Ricardo Fernandez dioramas at Mithril Collector pages.

What are you warking on now? I am doing one with the orcs capturing merry and pippin.

[ddaines]

Hi Ori, a difficult question as I can't discipline myself to work on one thing at a time & I am trying to complete all my Mithrils (almost 100% complete collection). I've worked it out that if I take as long again to paint what I already have and all the new pieces coming up I will be at least in my 80's before I finish and as I am not of Numenorian blood that will probably be beyond me!

At the moment though I am working on a diorama called 'There's a cave up ahead' a sort of passage over the (Misty) mountains where travellers caught in a storm seek the shelter of a dry cave - guess which one! I'm using the storm giant, a couple of the dwarven and mannish travellers + a couple of orcs who just happen to be on the look out as per the Hobbit cave. I thought it would be a nice way to use up some older figures.

I'm also working on a Sauron vs Elendil, Gil-Galad etc. diorama using the Razarac figure as Sauron, but that is now on hold waiting for the new vignette that has just been voted in, so hopefully that will be even better.

A meeting of Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf the White in Fangorn has jumped to the head of my list! and I've started a War Beacon of Gondor diorama using some of the Bree guard figures which hopefully I will finish before another good idea takes over.

The diorama I really want to finish is one of Galadriel & Celeborn in the swan boat coming to meet the Fellowship - I've found an excellent swan boat from an old ornament, I just need to find some decent little Elven boats for the remainder.

Other than that there are lots of little bits on the go, it's just finding the time to sit down and do it.

Thanks for the nice words about my pictures in the fan gallery, I have seen your work as well and have drawn inspiration and ideas from some of your dioramas so if my future dioramas seem familiar you know wher the idea may have come from - I think the gallery and linked web sites are an excellent source of inspiration and ideas.

regards,

David.

[Ori]

One of the best moments in doing a diorama is when you sit in front of all your unpainted minis and decide what to do. And that is where I am now.

I just finished Merry & Pippin being captured by the orcs. It is a small vignette, very simple. I will try to upload it to my site, but I am having problems with my ftp server.

And now, what?

- Big diorama of the prancing poney?
- Celebrimbor at his forge?
- Shelobs lair?
- Bardo killing Smaug?

All of these have already been made by others. I will try to think of something completely new, but if not, I will chose from one of the already mentioned

[ddaines]

Hi Barliman,

I refuse to plumb those depths! Actually I did take a quick peek - it must be a Chris thing, I thought it might be cos sculpting 5 toes might make them too small but the Woses appear to have 5 - I managed to drag myself away before getting too involved. Hope you haven't started something off here with members counting digits etc! As they say, 'Mad dogs & Englishmen'!

Dave.